An interesting week

As I travel home this Friday evening I muse on an interesting week.

The first item that comes to mind is something I find beyond my understanding. I learnt at the start of the week that a man(?) I know - no names,no pack drill - who has been party to a painful divorce, yet claims he wants a relationship with his three daughters, chose the end of Father's Day lunch with them to announce he had got married abroad two weeks earlier and they had not been invited.

Now I have struggled to understand his behaviour during the drawn out divorce process, but this takes his behaviour and my incredulity to new depths. There is a risk in judging when you are not in the shoes, but as a father/parent there must be responsibilities and behaviours that are the minimum if one wants to be thought of as a (hu)man!

Enough of that and onto a more positive item. I have blogged a few times about the Judgement Index. I do so not because I have any beneficial connection, but rather that I believe it really has a successful future that has not been realised yet. As a result I and some very intelligent, experienced and successful people are acting as an advisory team to the UK business founder. We met this week and two things struck me.

The first was the goodwill and generosity in the room; generosity in time and advice. It is rewarding and energising to be part of that sort of group.

The second was that we identified what I think is an exciting opportunity. Until now the Judgement Index (JI) has felt a little like a solution looking for a problem. This has both diluted the message/proposition and led it into a crowded market place for recruitment and development tools.

Instead when we came back after a breakout session there was a clear identification that RISK and the management of risk offers a compelling target. What business does not want to manage its risks and if one offered a way to identify team members who handle risk less well, would not want to know? The JI can do so much, but it can identify a propensity to follow or not follow rules, how strong an individual's moral compass is, and how well they are aware of and consider peripheral events and information.

If we can help the JI navigate this route then I see an exciting future.

The last two items of my week's reflection were honest, heart on the sleeve blogs from two friends. The first was about how hard his first year building a new business was and how he made mistakes and almost gave up ( http://stopdoingdumbthingstocustomers.com/learning/hard_lessons/ ). For me the point was that I had no idea that he was finding it that hard - he hid it well! I truly hope and indeed think that I did nothing to make life more difficult for him and indeed did unlock a little business for him, but I do wish I had been more aware.

The second was a lady who has onviously struggled this last year and realised at last that one does not have to live at 110 miles an hour, that ones health is more important than almost anything else ( http://redspringsmedia.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/were-just-so-busy-except-for-me-thankfully/ ). It seems she almost drove herself into the ground with her whirlwind lifestyle. Fortunately she has realised and seems to have a great partner to help her find a better balance and pace of life. I wish her well.

Ah well onto another weekend and then a new week. I wonder what it will bring?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad