I wish I could bottle this......

These are pictures of real roses that are currently in my garden. I have no idea what strain they are as they came with the house 16 years ago, but their scent is wonderful. It is sweet, subtle and oh so entrancing, especially after the rain has just freshened the air.

I suspect that this year's strange delivery of deluge and heatwave has helped their development, but they have grown with no help from me and look wonderful.

I may not be able to bottle the aroma, but I can capture and share the images so here they are.

Great innovation and immense spectacle.

I was not sure that I would watch all the Olympic opening ceremony, but I did. It is not that I objected, but rather had not felt the fever. I do not have any tickets for the games, but have lays been ready to watch on TV.

I am a bit of a softy and always feel a lump in my throat at the end of "Cool Runnings" - the story of the first Jamaican bobsled team. If you have seen the film you I'll know the part I mean.

Anyway, back to the opening ceremony. I can't recall bothering to watch previous ceremonies, but as it is our home games and know a few people who have been involved I decided to have a look. I am glad I did. It was quite a spectacle.

I could appreciate the staging and being British I "got" the story, but it was the innovation that held me - right up to the end. The seat-side lighting and it's use to present images, video and an interesting background was a first and one I am sure will be repeated in the future. It clearly added a new level of audience participation. It would appear it cost the best part of £10m, but all told was money well spent.

Alongside the lighting Danny Boyle was brave in his choice of music, avoiding the safe option of using old dependables like the Rolling Stones. Instead there was a lot of current music and pulled upon local London talent. Dizzy Rascal, Rizzlekicks, Arctic Monkeys, plus Emily Sande. The use of a deaf children's choir to sing the national album was inspired.

Next we saw the Queen as a Bond girl. It appears she was a willing and happy participant in creating the illusion that she was arriving by helicopter an parachuting in to the stadium. It showed that she had a sense of humour and ready to make gentle fun of herself. I won't go on, but want to mention just two more.

The first was the torch itself. How impressive was the story around that. It started with the copper petals that accompanied each team, through their appearance as an impressice flat floral arrangement that lit in sequence and finalise rose up to meet in the centre as a concentrated cauldron that blazed with pride and original design.

The last, and to me the most innovative, was the use of seven up and coming sportsman and women to light the torch. There had been endless speculation about who (individual) would be the final orch bearer but to have seven past Olympians nominate seven prospective Olympians and to pass the flame to them along with the responsibility to light the cauldron just seems so appropriate. I wonder why no-one thought of it before, but I bet it will be used again.

In the end Britain did two things it is good at, put on a spectacle and innovate! It was a time to be proud.

Oh My God.....They want me to fold up a blanket!

This post is written from the inside of what I imagine is the inside of a teenage girl's head - I will let you guess who?


Well, yesterday was my birthday. Mum and Dad made an effort and put up banners and balloons and things and laid my cards and presents out. I was still in my PJs and I let them kiss my cheek as I closed my eyes and screwed my face up (yeuck); they had tried after all. I got some presents, but mainly money that I want to spend as quick as possible, but I will come back to that.

There was no point in getting dressed so I went back to bed, school holidays and all that. They had asked me what I wanted to do fro my birthday and suggested Westfield, but I did that last year and the year before - do they think all I live for is shopping?

Instead they arranged for my cuz's to come round this evening for bubbly and nibbles, so that should be OK.

I did get up late morning when Nan & Grandad came, but only appeared after I had put on all my makeup and false eyelashes, put my hair up and put on a new bright orange flourescent jumper. I looked good!

The afternoon was (grudgingly) OK and then later on my coz's came. They are fun even if they always raid my wardrobe and never give it back. We had plenty of bants (that means chatter) and a fire in the firepit and then chocolate cake.

I have spent loads of time looking at internet shopping and hope my Mum will take me out to the shops soon. There must be another bag I need or some shoes or some jewellery or another jacket or some makeup or........well you get the picture.

My cuz invited me to a picnic in the park today with her and her mates. That was fun. I took a blanket from the car and went with my cuz to the shops to get food. There were two guys playing guitars and I called them over - one was as old as my Dad. They played good.

When I got home I grabbed the blanket from C's car and left it on my Dad's. He asked if I had the cover for it and luckily I found it inside the blanket. He then asked me to fold it!! WTF Why should I fold it? He said something about returning it as I had found it so I put him off with a "in a minute" and went inside to watch TV.

After a while he asked again and I said "in a minute". This happened a few times until he lost patience and started bugging me. I told him I wanted to sleep, but he kept on so I grabbed my phone and went to my room.

You know what he even dumped the crumpled blanket in my room and thought that would make me do it. I just threw it out an over the stairs.

What planet are they on!?!?!?!?!

Refreshing Honesty

Please reply with a smart formatted CV with a snappy overview of you and your suitability. 

Due to the high number of applicants expected for this role, I will only be able to contact successful potential candidates. If you have not heard anything a week from application, I am sorry but you have been unsuccessful.

Anyone looking for a new role understands that this is a difficult market for all concerned including the agencies who are often faced with a plethora of candidates and a dearth of roles. I am not looking to criticise, but rather comment on the piece I saw recently on a job advertisement.

I have seen the problem personally when applying for roles over the last few months. I know the need for prompt response and endeavour to do two things; a) I look to only respond to those roles that interest me and for which I think I am a valid and credible candidate - why waste my time? -, and b) to respond actively and quickly.

In one particular case I received an email "Invitation" to apply for a role at around 6pm. I responded within half an hour and called the next morning. At that point I was advised that the agency had already screened 150 applications BEFORE I even received the email and had over 200 left to look through.

If you consider that they are probably restricted to sending three candidates through and that they are not the only agency working in the assignment, then you see the sort of numbers involved, even allowing for overlaps.

From all this the hiring company may receive, say 15 candidates from five agencies and I know from other feed back that there are instances the may interview just ONE and an internal candidate.

As I said I do understand this is the way it is and that the agencies and individual recruiters are working hard to make the best of a tough market, but as a candidate the worst thing is to be left in the dark about your candidature as it (hopefully) progresses. This need not be much, even a polite "thanks, but not in this instance" is appreciated.

Unfortunately, a recruiter keeps you fully informed and updated on progress or  lack of progress seems to be somewhat exceptional. The norm seems to be "contact on activity" ie they call or mail just when needed, but it is not uncommon to feels as if you have dropped into a blackhole and hear nothing at all.

On my part I try not to bug recruiters with regular calls (maybe I should?) and instead keep in contact with those that seem most appropriate every few weeks. I look to gauge the right balance and hope I get it right.

So it was with some surprise I saw the comment reported above at the end of a recent advertisement from a major, respected agency. At least it sets out the expectation. In truth this was not one I applied for.

What was interesting was that I subsequently gained some insight from the other side through a mutual friend. He had been speaking with the recruiter involved who had been commenting on his own frustration at being swamped  with completely inappropriate applications for any role he advertised. The example given was the number of new graduates applying for any role they see, especially roles that demand experience.

In this market I cannot criticise anyone for trying as hard as they can to find work - we all know it is extremely tough for graduates. I also know having been a recruiter, that agencies will only keep seeing work from hirers if they only show credible candidates per the hirer's role specification. They are caught in the middle and it is not a comfortable place.

So back to the headline for this blog, I thought the inclusion of the statement in the advertisement was refreshingly honest.

Personally I will still value most highly the recruiters that demonstrate a commitment to communication, even in these difficult times, and knowing the numbers involved, stay positive in my efforts and encouraged that I am seeing opportunities even if they are frequently slow to progress and hard to close.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Is this the new London

Many cities have iconic silhouette skylines. London was no exception with St Pauls, Tower Bridge, Big Ben etc.These have often been combined on branding and touristy information.

So it was with some surprise that I crested a hill in North London today heading south. The sky line lay in front of me and I saw the silhouette shown above. While the Gherkin is not as new its shape and design warrants inclusion.

I wonder if this is should be the new London Icon?

Between a rock and a hard place

Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where doing the right thing may be wrong....or maybe not. I am in one of those now and writing this may be my only outlet. The situation is that a friend of my wife has had a recurrence of cancer. This is after beating the first round six years ago. He has a wife and young family and his doctors are not offering much hope here. His wife has researched and been in contact with a Mexican clinic in Tijuana called the Oasis of Hope run by a Dr Contreras. There they offer alternative therapy using treatments that are banned in the US (and I guess the Uk). She is convinced that this is the answer for him and the family is, with some embarrassment, trying to raise £40,000 to send him there and have asked family and friends to help. That said he has blood clots and won't be able to travel until the end of the year anyway. As is my way, I did some research on this clinic and it's offering and hence my dilemma. From what I can see there is little positive comment online about this clinic or the treatment. The general sense seems to be that while the care may be good (there are some questions here) they are more concerned and maybe only interested when you have money to pay their apparently large bills. A number complain that their attention and care evaporates when you have no money. In terms of the treatment, the explanations make sense to someone like me, but only conspiracists who believe that the US Government has banned treatments to intentionally harm its people actually try and support it. Now I now of the placebo effect and the power of hope, especially for those with no other way forward, and maybe this could fall into those categories. Certainly I would feel bad being part of taking hope away from this man and is family. So..... On the one hand my instincts and the balance of what I have found out suggests that any money raised or given will do more to increase a fraud's wealth than do anything to help a sick friend other than strip his family of any money they have. On the other hand this is giving them hope and focus and may, just may bring about some positive outcome. My dilemma is whether to say anything or not? If I do and they change their views as result then I will have taken away the main hope they have and may save them some money. If they do not believe me then I have merely damaged the relationship between my wife and this family and reduced the support they feel they have. If I say nothing, the most likely outcome is an expensive, yet I fear ultimately futile period. Also, and this may sound mean, I will feel reluctant to do as much to raise money for them......that could be awkward. So, to misquote Hamlet, "To speak or not to speak, that is the question?" Any thoughts or observations are welcome.

Betting on the contest between bulldozers and ostriches.

I know, I know....the title sounds like one of those joke cartoon football matches or the opening to a bad joke. Well, in a way, it is a bad joke, but in this instance I am talking about the current tussles between the finance industry and it's regulators.

Over the last week or so I have attended a number of forums, working groups, plenary sessions and breakfasts that all have a bearing on the topic one way or another. The composition of the groups has differed with little overlap, but overall has included representatives from the industry, consultants, suppliers,trade bodies and a few self-confessed geeks. I have observed some common themes and a few messages that can maybe carried between them.

While The City has always been a pretty collaborative place, I have seen these types of groups spring up before. The causes are primarily two-fold and this case I think both apply. In no particular order, the first is when the industry is overwhelmed and/or confused by the demands placed on it to change. In these instances the firms try and become part of a wider and hopefully more effective lobbying body; lobbying whoever they need to. The second is when consulting firms and suppliers are trying to ramp up engagement and rustle up business. This may sound cynical, but when everyone is busy and understand matters the level of talk diminishes.

So what have I seen this last week or so?

#1 A common and unanimous agreement that there is an incredible amount of change descending on the finance industry in the next couple of years and much of it is unco-ordinated and riddled with inconsistency. Examples are Dodd-Franks, FATCA, LEIs, EMIR, solvency II, etc. This change is in varying degrees of detail and clarity, with little joining it up.

It was reported that the accusation that regulators are not working together was true. While at the highest level they are all looking to implement the intent and spirit of the international agreements, when one looks at then drafting of detail and subsequent implementation they various regulators are working in silos with "local" influences and interests clearly seen.

#2 A good proportion of attendees believed they can lobby the regulators to dilute the impact either by softening rules or widening exemptions. There are however those who have been closer to the regulators who say little or nothing is up for discussion and that the announced changes WILL happen. This was captured in the comment that the regulators view is that the industry has had its chance and mucked it up, so now the regulators are in charge....end of. Of course the regulators answer to politicians whose attention is firmly placed upon public sentiment and future electoral chances. There is as we know little sympathy for banking and, by association, for the wider industry, so the chances of regulators being directed to soften their approach are microscopic.

#3 An ex-regulator pointed out that regulators measure their professional success, by reference to other regulators. They are not driven by a desire to make the markets better or to help firms do business. Instead their gauge is how many elements of regulation have they enacted. This is the predictable outcome, almost 30 years on from the start of modern regulation. At the start many who went to staff the new regulatory bodies came from the industry and had a founding in and links back to it. Now most of the regulators are "career" regulators, who have done nothing but regulation and whose ambitions are either within the regulatory or political arenas. The moral is not to expect the regulators to think like or be particularly interested in issues outside the drafting and enactment of regulation and the satisfaction of their political masters.

#4 The reality of the "new world" will be rather different than the original architects envisaged. A prime example is that in trying to de-risk the derivatives market the expectation was that there would be one or a small number of linked clearing houses. It looks now that there will be a plethora of clearing houses as many jurisdictions a requiring a local solution. This means that the new world will be much more complex than expected and there will still be residual risks as a result.

#5 There was a recognition/interpretation that there is a unwritten design to deflate the derivative market through the new collateral rules. Less acceptable collateral and increased demand for what there is, will raise the cost of trading.The feeling is that this was seen by regulators and governments as the most acceptable market to impact (ie not equities or fixed income). It was felt that many still see this as a back office issue, but it was clear that the impact will be much more marked on front offices than many currently expect.

#6 One constant view is that this will add cost to the manufacturing and management of financial products, costs that will all be passed on to the consumer, but like #3 this is not a concern of the regulators in their search for the holy grail of transparency and consistency.

An analogy that was used was that of security at an airport. It is not hard to see that were every passenger required to be totally naked (transparent) then the risk of terrorist attack on a plane would be much reduced, BUT it would certainly discourage many from flying at all. It seemed very apt!

So back to the title....I used it as it seems that the regulators will be as relentless and irresistible as bulldozers, while many in the industry are still hoping that if they adopt a stance akin to that of an ostrich, ie head in sand, then the demands will dilute and be delayed. I think I know who I would back.

Maybe we need more intellectual doping in financial services?

Today in The Times there were two articles about Bradley Wiggins and the Sky Team's dominance of the Tour de France. Most of the article was about the team's response to adversity, ie their poor showing in 2010, the selflessness of many team riders who put their team leader's interest ahead of their own, and the power of doing the right thing; in this instance Wiggins slowing the whole field down to allow the victims of a sabotage attack time to catch up and join the race. These are all great advertisements for what can be so good about sport.

This is more exceptional for this event given that it was riven with the scandal and the prevalence of illicit performance enhancing drugs just a few years ago. It shows how one can clean up an event if one really wants to and the necessary leaders emerge. There may be parallels with banking here, but only time will tell.

Of course there are critics ready to pull apart the work of Dave Brailsford and Team Sky. The most prevalent has been the suggestion that they have the deepest pockets and have just bought "talent". Here I am thinking of Manchester City, Chelsea and many banks. In truth it appears that four other TdF teams have spent more than Sky, yet trail them in the event.

Brailsford attributes the success to "intellectual doping" and reports that while almost all the cost of other teams goes in salaries to riders, he has invested a £1 million pounds more than others on researching and supporting his team. It is reported that he looked at the salary levels and structures of other teams and the correlation with success. He also pays more on technology, coaching, sports science and high performance support.

The results currently speak for themselves and remind me of what (Sir) Clive Woodward did with the England rugby team in 2003.

If one looks at the other parallel, it could be argued that much of financial services is guilty of just applying the blunt instrument of more money in salaries and bonuses in the chase for commercial success. Some would say that we are now seeing the limitations and risks of that approach

While undoubtedly many involved in financial services have high IQs, maybe the industry could benefit from its own form of intellectual doping, ie spending the money in the right places, not just on high salaries to match huge egos. Just a thought.

Footnote. I have just re-read this post and find myself chuckling at the idea of one of finance's "masters of the universes" selflessly sacrificing his (or her) success so that another could succeed - it just isn't in the current set of DNA.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I see things!!!!

This is nothing as dramatic as the film "The Sixth Sense" in which the young boy saw dead people, but rather the result of an exercise I did with the learning set I belong to. I mention it here because the results resonated with some feedback I had recently received and all-in-all it set me thinking. That is enough reason to record it here.

A friend brought along and led us through an exercise called GRRAAACCEEESSS. The initials stand for

• Gender
• Race
• Religion
• Age
• Ability
• Class
• Culture
• Ethnicity
• Education
• Sexuality
• Spirituality

I suspect we only scratched the surface, but the question posed was to consider how one differed from the group's we operate in and with that awareness consider how that difference impacts on interactions.

We then as a group shared our thoughts and insights.

For me, I focussed on three aspects. The first was pertinent to the group and that all my experience was within Financial Services and none was in HR. This gives me a different perspective on some matters, both in terms of my contribution and my take-aways.

The next two were more interesting. I am not small. At 6'3" and an ex rugby lock forward who is no sylph I have a significant physical presence. I have a strong voice, am typically an extrovert and a lot of self confidence. My wife has also commented how I "puff up" when I talk about something I am interested/passionate about. "Puff up" are her words, and she has explained this a sitting up straighter, shoulders back, chest expanded, voice levels rise, etc.. This discussion with my wife has been about experiences at interviews recently and have a particular relevance as that enlarged presence could be (and I suspect at times is) intimidating to interviewers.

The last relates to my skill/ability/curse (if you like) to determines patterns in data and behaviour and extrapolate the future implications and outcomes of these far more rapidly that most people I meet. I think it would be described as having a strategic, big-picture view of the world around me and the actions of others. This is not a conscious thing, it is just something I do. I only half joke about the curse aspect, because it can be difficult and frustrating to see things others have not seen yet and may not be ready to discuss or appreciate. On the plus side it does permit me to design and orchestrate complex change.

The next aspect was to consider if these "differences" were readily visible or invisible and whether they had been vocalised with the other parties - especially relevant when first meeting people such as interviews.

The physical presence aspect is definitely visible! I can't lose 6 inches from my height, but I can be more aware of my actions and the reaction of others. I can learn to control the puffing and maybe the vocal elements, but I am wary of trying to make myself something I am not - I doubt that will be useful in the long run.

The ability to see things is where I am thinking hardest. Again being aware helps, but additionally I will be looking for better ways to use that ability and contribute it to discussion.

This is not the end, but rather just part of a journey. I would suggest to readers that they too might want to consider how they differ from the groups they belong to and how that may impact on their effectiveness. I cannot promise total enlightenment, but I suspect you will find something interesting in the exercise.

Educating The Heart

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all" - Aristotle

 

My daughter has now returned from her trip to India. She was deleriously tired last night after a long, long journey home, via Dehli. I received a semi-comprehensible call pleading to be met at the coach drop-off with a pizza. She sounded so tired, yet happy that I thought, why not?

On the way I picked up a double pepperoni, stuffed crust pizza and after a short wait in the car was met by a member of the walking dead. She stumbled across to me and I got as hug (red letter day!!). We gathered her bag, or should I say that I did, she said her goodbyes and we got in the car.

As she went to sit down she saw the pizza and crumbled in delight. She sat on the seat and as she ate the spicy slices she was pretty much crying in pleasure.

When she had eaten enough, we did talk about her trip, but it was obvious that she was struggling to keep any train of thought. Her sentences drifted off and silly smile sat on her face. She was almost incoherent.

At home she fussed over her dog and pulled a few things from her bag. This had not been a holiday and she had missed one of the two shopping trips when she accompanied a friend who had fainted to hospital. My gift was a bag or aromatic Indian coffee. I may no sound like much, but I could see the good intent on her face.


At that point she crashed into bed only to be up and buzzing again this morning. She was beside our bed at 7:30 (it has been unusual to see her before midday on free days in recent months), but with the trip and time difference she was stoked.

Not only that but she grabbed a laptop and then got on the bed between my wife and I to show is photographs from her trip. I struggle to remember the last time it was OK, let alone a good idea in her mind, to get in between us ( I think she was sick and wanted TLC from her mum ), but this time she was there and shining.

She has since crashed again and is asleep where she "fell" on our bed.

The reason I have posted this is because she also handed me a small book(let) called "Best Quotations For All Occassions". She had been given this when visiting one of the schools in Bangalore. It is a collection of 2030 quotations collected and printed by someone called M D Keshava Murthy and is inscribed "Token of Love and Affection" and dated.

On the back cover was the quotation shown above and it struck me that to hear her recount her trip and her time with the children and schools in India, this trip definitely qualifies asan education of her heart. Only time will tell, but I think these last ten days will be something of a watershed in my daughter's appreciation of the world around her - if so then the money spent and the time taken will be a great investment in her future.

Finger crossed.

TXTS from India

What follows is simple "cut and paste" of text's received from my daughter on a school trip to India. I have removed the names, but that does not detract from the growing enthusiasm that comes through. I am so glad we managed to get her on this trip as she seems to be getting so much from it!

A better future?

Just landed in mumbai, got to wait 5 hours for next flight. Airport so long and hot, shattered god knows what time it is. Lots of love xxx

On the bus to hostel, only a short flight on a mini plane. So shattered its unreal, off to sleep until 2 then off to a market and dinner and bed till 8 xxxx

Room nice but basic, quite big! So much nicer than I thought, streets are busy and dirty but colourful. Campus is absolutely huge, almost got lost going to breakfast. Market then bed now, up at 5am tomorrow. Xxxxxx

Off to bed, market was hot sweaty and we got harrassed by annoying kids. Everyone was walking in bare feet and there were goats, cows and dogs everywhere, so shattered, up at 5 tomorrow for a long day of sight seeing:) night xxxx

Morning! Got up at quarter to 5 this morning:( just had a 2 hour coach journey and now we are at mcdonals, some people went to the restaurant but I wasn't having curry for breakfast like I'm all for broadening of the mind but that's a bit of a joke. Just had egg mcmuffin 2 hash browns cappacino and an oreo mcflurry, absolutely loving life. Really hot and it will only get hotter:( doing elephants tomo, so going to silk factory and brick building or something, something historical god knows. So one more hour on the bus then we're there. Love to paaaaaps. Peace out xxxx

The message I just sent was at about 4am your time I think but I just realised it didn't send! Oh my god, just went to a palace, all stone so we had to wear bare feet, then it rained and we got soaked and when I mean soaked I am drenched. Then we got swarmed by children stealing all the pencils was so funny. Classic! On way to mohannas own village, then gardens then dinner. Xxxx

Omg just been to a village, really need to cut back texting you lol. But thought I had to, just went to mr mohanna's old village (oh wait earlier I had a ride on some truck pulled by cows was scary but so fun) anyways we got SWARMED by children they were everywhere there is the funniest picture of me with my arms up and the whole of the village kids behind me its hillarious. We walked through mohannah's old house where cows sleep next to them! They made us sit on rugs and stuff and made us eat stuff like sweet potatoe which was disgusting but did it to be polite haha off to some palace so getting home late:( and I'm soaked bad times. Much love xxxx

Morning, just been at the zoo all day, had a safari trip where we saw lions tigers bears warthog buffallo that kind of thing, then went to zoo and saw all the animals (including free roaming monkeys which jumped on rob) SO cute there were babies too! And omg biggest thing, didn't get to ride elephants because indias version of rspcc said they had to be treated right, anyways there was a baby elephant (still giant and bigger than me) we named it nelly even though it was a boy but hey, I got to stroke it and hug it, was massive! Its trunk was all over me, its skin was so hard but it had black wirey hair all over it was amazing, everyone took loads of photos, my cameras got really bad quality pictures and it runs out of battery all the time so I'm missing out on everything so I've only got 3 pictures since we've been here. What a joke. About to look at a tree for an hour, have lunch, mass then home. So funny xxxxx getting all aggs because there were groups of boys perving on us girls staring and saying nice figure and taking pictures of our legs C-L-assic. Anyways, off to a posh school tomorrow, looking forward to that, still over excited about my elephant experience! Boiling here absolutely roasting but having fun. Lots of love (to ma pops she say I no like monkeys biting my friends ellen) xxxxxxxxx

Its half 6 here, on the wya home now have dinner then bed. Went to posh school this morn, 4000 india boys outside for registration full choir and band, big ceremony for us, woman on a podium with mic said our names and we walked up and she put flowers round our neck and we got stared at wherever we went. Went to sociology and maths lessons (so boring) classes are massive. Then we watched basketball against us and them was fun. Had breakfast+lunch there in massive conference room. Just been shopping in busy town, got a few bits, going shopping tomorrow so will look for some jewellery. Just waited 50 minutes for coach that broke down! So shattered and tired, another school tomorrow but its a poor one. Tummy fine, xxxxxxxx says he's so surprised no ones got the shits but I haven't eaten any meat apart from the odd bit here and there and a chicken burger but that was mcdonalds so it should be okay. Err that's all for now, SO excited for hena next sat! Gunna cover myself lol anyways peace out xxxxxxxx (love to pops) xxxxxxxxxx

Wassup. 10 past 1 here on coach to lunch in some resturant. Just come from average school but still poor (thursday and fri are the schools that have NOTHING) was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Classrooms were so tiny and they were SO small, all singing and clapping in indian it was so amazing. Saw the head teacher who had made puzzles and things out of matchboxes because he's got no resources its so sweet he was lovely. I'm so hot and sweaty, they latched on to us and didn't let go, after they read/danced/sung it was so cute then we did the okie kokie and head shoulders knees and toes. Gave out loads of pens/sweets/teddies and their faces lit up was SO cute. Then they said 'so come back tomorrow' :'(:'(:'( amazing though. Off to shopping again after lunch then home for early night bout 7. tell dad ipod batt has only just run out and I've been using it on the flight and ever single day since!! Shame I haven't got any photos:( other people do though so its fine Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Morning. Just went to 'average' school even though it was ridiculously rich with computers and cinemas. We sung o beate edmundi to them and they sang their school prayer! Was so cute they were so tiny. Off to kebab restaurant for lunch then possible art gallery then shopping and home! Short day today, so far 2 are down with the sh*ts, getting quite scared it might wipe us out but we're going strong so fingers crossed! Lots of love xxxxx sent that text early this morn but I attached a picture and it still hasn't sent so god knows when you will get it! Just been to an art gallery, I thought it was amazing but everyone took the mick and hated it but anyways. Off to shopping now. Xxxxxx

Hey. On train home. Basically my longest day today, woke up at 5:45 had breakky, then was a bit late because xxxxxx wanted to take her time after yday so we went in xxxxxxx's car! Went on train was SO fun typical indian train hot sweaty, packed people selling you things but mohanna let us lean out the edge but holding on it was SO fun!! We were going proper fast. Anyway then omg, we got on a tuk tuk was the most fun thing ever!!! They are so tiny and you have to hold on because they are bumpy but they played indian music so loud and we were dancing all the way, and on the way back to the station we sat at the back so our legs hung over was amaze. THEN probs the most emosh day of my life, don't think I've ever cried so much. We went to a really poor school, all the kids lined up and we gave them pencils rubbers chocolate and toys, and I saw 2 kids with my toys and that set me off lol then I made everyone else cry too, was jokes looking back. My friend also got to hold a brand new bubba really dark too! Cutest thing ever, then we walked round the village holding their hands and skipping and what not, was hard to communicate because they don't speak english but anyways. We went to a temple and they played instruments (typically indian) and I was dancing it the center!! Banter!! SO warn out, I held three children at once! Was the most amazing day ever, friends have loads of pics. They put up a plaque saying donated by steds like the desks and roof and stuff was so cool. Tuk tuk ride back was soooo fun with mr xxxxxx absolute joker and 'miss xxxxx' was showing me her dance moves C-L-assic. On train back now will take 2 hours then off to KFC for dinner only because its such a long day and we won't have time for tradish indian meal. Most amazing day so far! Tell dad I said thanks for the text having an amazing time!:) peace and love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Morning, really short day today, visited some random school 3 hours away in the rocky hillside, gave them usual bits and served their lunch was cute! Then we get the news that a boy who was meant to be on the trip- his dad died in a car crash on the way to get a kidney transplant because he was dying already how sad. We all said a prayer. Moving on errr just stopped off and watched some old men making pots and what not out of clay by turning the wheel himself, but there was a sheep that sounded like a human which was even better lol. Hopefully be able to shop when we get back but not sure..otherwise no one it getting a gift lol. So that's it! Off to some tribes tomorrow then dressing up for prize giving and henna then home sunday! Peace out xxxxxxxxxx

{more to come}

The Emperor's New Clothes & Modern Trust

There are times when I have felt like the little boy in the Hans Christian Anderson story The Emperors New Clothes . This boy was the one that saw and had the courage to tell the King he was naked, that the "magical" clothes he had been sold were non-existant. For a while the boy was derided as no one wanted to point out that the King had been conned.

The relevance here is that for a while I have been saying that trust in the workplace has eroded, if not disappeared, and that either we need to find new and better ways to build trust or accept that it has gone and find new ways of working. The trust in question is at many levels; between peers in the work place, between employees and employers, between businesses and their customers, between regulators and the businesses they oversee, etc, etc.

I was first aware of the question that when I joined Flemings, the British Investment Bank now part of JPM. I had previously worked for North American Banks and I was quickly struck by the fact that in Flemings one was inherently trusted, whereas in previous employers there numerous checks and balances on anything I did.

At that time with the City of London, there was a background of personal responsibility and trust and those that could not be trusted were recognised and treated accordingly. When a certain media mogul took an unexpected late night swim from which he did not return, Flemings was unaffected. The reason being that the senior directors had met the man in question and decided that he was not someone they wished to do business with, so they didn't, even while many other organisations did.

As trust has eroded there has been a growing attempt by politicians and regulators to bolster/re-establish trust. Their primary tool is more and more prescriptive rules and reporting. This is because they are betting everything on what they call transparency. While transparency is no bad thing, I would and have argued that it will not restore trust, but instead creates additional work and extra costs, while removing the likelihood of individuals exercising unpopular judgement.

The biggest problem is that the various parties in any discussion come to the table with very different interests.

This happened again yesterday at breakfast roundtable I attended, where the discussion was around how to respond to the ever growing and disjointed demands of regulators. The opening comments were largely aimed at the various regulators and their lack of connected thinking. One person did use the word trust and I took that as an opportunity to raise the question of a need for new working models that reflected the fact that trust has been lost and probably cannot be recreated.

At the time of making the comment I immediately felt a little awkward, as if I had come in from "left field". While the discussion went back to pointing fingers at demanding regulators, I was pleased that around half an hour later in the discussion two of the respected contributors acknowledged that trust had been lost, as I had commented. Maybe my timing was off but the point did hit home.

In the analogy of the Emperor's New Clothes I see the labyrinthine web of regulation as being the "new clothes" meant to restore trust around the "Emperor" that is financial services. But it doesn't! And worse, in this case, it seems unlikely that we can go and find new clothes that will deliver trust.

Instead we need to work out how to live with a naked Emperor and all that may mean in new ways of working. I feel as if others are starting to "see" the situation and if they are it is possible we can pull our heads from the sand and get on with building that new world.

Fingers crossed.

A world on its head

Yesterday I ventured onto the underground - something I rarely do these days. A young girl got on, say around 20-25, and sat down. She had one of those "big" bags that girls carry over their shoulders and carry everything including the kitchen sink.

In this instance she pulled out a pair of studio (large!) headphones and started unwrapping around five feet of cable attached to them. Having placed them over her head she then reached in for her music player. What she pulled out was one of those small matchbook sized players that she connected and daintily attached to a bag strap. The relative size of the two components seemed out of balance.

The reason I now comment on this is two fold. The first is that many things have been turned on their head these days. While I am not old enough to have used valve radios or wind-up gramophones, I do recall when no music system was portable other than wireless radio (but we still relied on pirate radio for any decent music!) and few supported any sort of headphone. As music systems have got progressively smaller (I now carry around 17 days playing time of music!), earphones have become the norm. While for a long while the headphones became smaller and smaller too, it now seems that discerning listeners are returning to larger ear enclosing headphones. The relative scale of these components would seem to be counter-intuitive, yet it links with the second reason I thought to blog today.

This second point is that there are still some fundamental truths in the world. In this case the size and operation of a human ear has not significantly changed in the last few thousand years and I see no reason to expect these to change in the foreseeable future. This constancy sets some boundary constraints on what "good" looks like for technology using the ear to deliver information to the brain.

In order to isolate the ear from outside sound the ear pieces need to be big enough. So colour, material covering and some style does differ the basic size is common. Similarly the generation and delivery of quality sound is dependent upon the cavity within which the sound is created, in this instance the inner volume of the ear. This again sets minimum parameters if one is looking to delivery quality.

Of course one does not have to follow the herd as we can all set our own compromises. Personally I don't carry a big bag so I don't want to be carrying around large headphones; my ear buds are good enough and highly portable. In contrast I carry a larger music device, in my case an iPad. I use and carry that iPad for many other reasons so why would I want to carry another device?

Having said all this the summary is that while compromises are perfectly acceptable, they need not set the new "good" as good has a more enduring foundation.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Should "Secret Boss" be compulsory in Financial Services??

For a while I have enjoyed the "Secret Boss" documentaries, both the UK and US versions. For anyone that does not know the format it goes this way. The "Boss" (usually the CEO) goes undercover for a week in his/her own company. They assume a new identity including visual image and work with a number of low level employees across their organisation. This is usually under the guise that they are part of a TV programme following someone changing career or similar.

At the end of the week those same employees are called to head office and the ploy is revealed. Most employees come out well, hidden gems if you like, and are "rewarded" in some way. Of course the employees will have been carefully picked and I am suspect less successful encounters may be editted out, but still it is impressive and often surprising to the CEO.

The key is the feedback and insight the "boss" gets about what is right and not so right about the company. They do seem to gain a degree of humility and certainly better understand the human side of their company (the behaviours, values, frustrations and potential) as opposed to the numbers contained in spreadsheets that are their more usual fare

This may sound wrong, but some of the shows have been quite moving and have certainly shown how highly employees value recognition and how loyal many are.

Last night the "Boss" was head of a nightclub group. He admitted that it was over 18 years since he had put in a full shift in a nightclub which just shows how far he had moved from the engine room of his business. I suspect he is closer to the norm than the exception in this.

I did feel uncomfortable about the reliance on selling cheap alcohol as a way of enticing young clients in, including drinks at 80p in places and "but one, get two free" in others. The problems of alcohol abuse are well documented and his discomfort with the result of his nightclubs drive to bring in business in a difficult economic environment was clear. Many of his staff shared that concern, but keeping the businesses afloat and staying employed was their main worry.

It appeared that in at least one case his view on the importance and viability of a venue was affected by his encounter with the people.

As the programme ended I could not help but reflect on the parallels with banking right now. There is a troubled public image, some organisations are uncomfortable financially and there are many, many good people working hard to keep the wheels moving. Yet I wonder when was the last time a CEO (or other senior manager) did anything more than a "Royal visit" - ie breeze in, say a few words, shake a few hands, breeze out - within their own organisation.Would any of them invest a week of their time to go undercover and meet the rank and file on an equal level?

Would the heads of Investment Banks have looked at their organisation differently. Indeed what about Investment Management and Insurance companies? I know that the regulators do have to approve certain roleholders as being fit and competent, but maybe they should require top executives to take a "secret boss" week every year or so? It could not be exactly like the TV format, but I am sure it could be done and I think it would help rebalance some important aspects of the culture.

What a great golf hole!!! The 5th at The Isle of Purbeck Golf Club, Swanage.

This is the view from the 5th tee at the Isle of Purbeck Golf Club near Swanage. I think it is one of the most impressive holes I have played. Not only are there great views towards the Isle of Wight.

The hole requires a blind tee shot over the marker pole circled in yellow to a narrow sloping fairway bordered heathery scrub. The second shot is to a green on a spur (see the red arrow).

It is not the hardest hole on the course, but certainly the signature hole. It is worth visiting just for this hole.

Is modern project management really multi-supplier, virtual vendor, contract management?

Last week I attended a meeting of a "learning set" I belong to. This is a group who voluntarily meet and support each other's learning. It grew out of a group called IQEQ, who were interested in developing improved Emotional Quotients (EQ) in environments typified by high Intelligence Quotients (IQ). Most of the group, apart from me, have a link or background to HR, but now occupy a variety of roles.

Meetings are facilitated and the largest part is where a member brings along a challenge they are facing, outline it to the group and then listen to the group reflect and explore the question(s) posed. Interestingly as the proposer of the topic, once you have outlined the issue, you can make no further comment being entirely an observer until the very end when asked for any closing comments.

This last meeting I brought questions related to how modern working life (at least in my experience) is making the establishment of trust more difficult, particularly in project/change teams. Given that most team and project management thinking has been built on the supposition of trust, are their new tricks to be learnt of has the world changed?

The initial briefing is only 10 minutes or so. Necessarily, while drawing upon personal experience from 30 years of driving business change in financial services, I generalised slightly to illustrate the issue. I firstly laid out the trust formula

In this context intimacy relates to an understanding of how the other person ticks, what affects them and how they are likely to respond to developments.

I then summarised my experience of projects teams over four decades.

My summary was this was a time when project resources were largely permanent employees who have worked together before and have a strong connection with the organisation they are trying to change.

In the 90's as organisations shed staff there was a greater use of external and contract staff, but the project manager (the role of programme manger was only just emerging) was involved early on, recruited his (or her) team and managed all the parts. Usually resources were dedicated to the task and allegiancies were still pretty clear even if one did have to invest in team building early on.

With the new century the pace of change grew as did the pressure to keep costs down. External/contract resources were increasingly important as were the number of people within the business assigned part time and thus required to multi-task. Job security was falling. As a result of these changes the project/programme manager had to wear a lot of hats pulling many pieces together. Loyalties were increasingly unclear, there was less face-to-face contact and the self-interest of project members was higher. The pressure for quicker results and less money to invest in training/team building was also true.`

It feels as if now the programme manager often parachuted into a specific role and "given" many of their resources (for good or bad). While it is often said that the programme manager is accountable and responsible, in practice most/many decisions are outside of their hands. Communication is increasingly impersonal and "sanitised", with a sense of creating the right impression being more important than facing up to and dealing with the real issues.

The question I posed was

So then I listened. I half expected that the group would say that the modern world was not one of teams, but of groups and that expectations should be reset/adjusted. That said I had HOPED that the team would have some suggestions as to how to accelerate the development of trust.

What I actually heard was interesting. The first part was that the group felt that trust was still important and those that had not seen the trust formula before recognised its value in analysing the basis of trust.

The second part was more interesting in that the group quickly homed in on the fact that modern project management as descreibed is much like contract management with many, many, small or individual suppliers. I wanted to say, "no that is not what this is about or what I meant", but according to the rules of the group I had to stay silent and listen.

The group did not move of the contract management theme no matter how hard I wished them to and despite the fact they did revisit the questions before the end.

I did not get out of this session what I expected, but I do find myself reflecting on the fact that they may be right, that my natural tendency and preference to create a work environment based on trust needs modifying for the workplace I now operate in. I do not know how hard that will be, but as they say, being aware of the problem is a large part of the way to solving it, as is the wish to do so.

If this resonates with you as a reader please do let me know and share your thoughts too. 

There is a daffodil in every dustbin!

This is a quote from Eric Sykes whose death has just been announced. While I am too young to have heard his earliest work, he has been a regular on TV and comedy all my life.

He will be missed, but maybe the quote above is something we should take and hold onto in these days of relentless crisis, scandal and depressing news.

When the sacrifice of a lamb is not enough! - Marcus Who?

When it was announced that Marcus Agius would resign as Chairman of Barclays the general response was "Marcus who?" And "Why?"

The public face of Barclays was undoubtedly Bob Diamond, the CEO, and he had repeatedly refused to stand down.

What a difference 24 hours makes! Oh, how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in some meeting rooms yesterday. This morning an "angry" Diamond announced his resignation, albeit with a reported £20 million pay off - I just hope we don't then hear he has only paid 1% tax on that.

Mr Diamond is seen by many as the architect and leader of a culture of arrogance and was head of the investment bank at the time interest rates were being "fixed". By contrast Mr Agius was not there in 2006, so one can hardly describe the debacle as something that happened on his "watch".

It feels as if Mr Agius was offered up as the sacrificial lamb hoping that it would satisfy the baying hordes. It was argued that major stakeholders had been thinking for some time about getting a stronger Chairman to face up to the force that is Mr Diamond - 'nuff said, I think.

I am not sure what happened, if it was viewed that people saw through this subterfuge or indeed if Mr Diamond's involvement is now seen to be deeper, but it does feel that the CEO's resignation is a more appropriate response. After all, he along with many other senior bankers have long argued that their huge rewards were justified by the complexity and risk they were responsible for, so when their performance is clearly below what is expected then they should go. This would be true of more junior employees, so why not for them.

Now Mr Agius, gets the chance for a more proper exit, after he has provided interim leadership to the Barclays' Executive Committee while they search for a new CEO.

I do wonder which other "masters of the universe" will have to fall on gilded swords before we are through this crisis? I suspect many will be checking just how soft a landing their pay-off terms will provide. Mr Diamond may be "angry", but this is about taking responsibility and whether he jumped or was pushed (hard) as I suspect, this is no less than the revelations about the behaviour of Barclays under his leadership seem to deserve.

Roll on Wednesday's revelations.