This evening it was my privilege to present the inaugural IBM Prize for Mathematics at Oxford University which is awarded for the top performance in the Honour Moderations exams at the end of 1st year.
The evening started with a talk on the mathematics of bell ringing (think church rather than door or hand) from the retired head of mathematics at GCHQ. I followed this with a short overview of IBM and why we are interested in mathematics graduates before presenting the winners with their certificates.
Sitting in the lecture room was an interesting reminder of attending lectures over 20 years ago when I was doing my own degree. The room was much the same but I did notice the seats had been reupholstered and the blackboards have been replaced by whiteboards.
After the talks the other speaker and I were taken to Christ Church College for dinner which was very good. Hall is impressive even without the floating candles I was sure it had when I saw it a film a while back....
Over coffee after dinner the conversation ranged over sculpture, ancient Greek manuscripts (Epic and poetry), Greek mathematicians, trisecting angles, Euclid, von Neuman, and all points in between :-)
Monday, 17 January 2011
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Reflections on the Chartered Management Institute's Annual Conference #li #cmiconf
Last week I attended the annual CMI conference at the Royal Garden Hotel in London.
In a format like last year we were treated to an impressive range of speakers across various leadership topics. The seemingly mandatory photographer was there to intrude on events by taking repeated flash photographs of the speakers while they were presenting. It seems that this is a requirement for any significant CMI event and I have to say I've never understood why. I was hugely amused though when we were showed a video created for the CMI reflecting on events of the past 12 months and it included a warning that there was some flashing images in it - but no mention of the photographer who had been snapping away for some while in the room !!
I was a bit puzzled by the title of the conference "From Mediocrity to Excellence" which, though I'm sure it wasn't intended as such, did seem like a bit of a downer on the leadership capabilities of the attendees and at the same time a "slight" overselling of what results might be achieved by attending.
As had been the case last year we had a late change to the programme due to a planned speaker not being available and so missed out on hearing Karen Brady talk which was a pity - especially as I had stayed up the night before to make sure I had watched a recording of that week's Apprentice to see what she said in case she referred to it in her talk :-(
So here are some thoughts that I jotted down from the day - most of the presentations are up on slideshare ....
First up was Ruth Spellman Chief Executive of the CMI. She talked about the progress the CMI is making both in terms of membership (now over 90,000) and in terms of brand recognition (now appears in the Superbrand survey top 500 - some 35 places above the CIPD). Talked about the importance of management qualifications and showed a video about work Serco has done at Doncaster prison using CMI training to increase the capabilities of their leadership team with great results. Right at the end of her talk was an interesting idea - keeping a weekly "Learning Log" to capture what you've learned each week and from whom. I thought this sounded like an interesting way of triggering reflections on the week gone by and capturing thoughts from it - may give it a go.
Next we had Mike Southon, a political and business columnist for the Financial Times. He talked about a range of topics, two things in particular caught my attention. He introduced the idea of 7 stages in life.
He also spoke about "Talent dynamics" and the importance of creating teams that balance the skills of the members. Again from the political sphere he spoke about the Labour team of Blair (star), Mandelson (deal maker), Brown (accumulator - eye on the money) and Campbell (mechanic - making things happen).
On the topic of money vs wealth he suggested that money is what you have in the bank and wealth is what you have left if the money all goes - ie reputation, trust, respect etc
After a break for coffee (and some rather lovely cake) we reconvened to hear Rob Law (he of Trunki fame - sit on suitcase famously broken by Theo on Dragons' Den). He talked about the history of his company, challenges faced and how they overcame them. Importance of picking the right people and and making sure they were engaged with the company was highlighted and he spoke about some of the things they do. Their new office space was deliberately fitted out in a vibrant and wacky way consistent with the company values. Interested to hear how they had an education fund of £1000 per employee which enabled them to grow new skills - intriguingly they can now see a reduction in consultancy costs as the staff they have gain broader capabilities. Also touched on how important it is to make events memorable - highlighted a Christmas dinner that they had one year which was run at a cookery school so the staff actually had to cook their own meal. Years later it is still remembered fondly.
The last slot before lunch was taken by Jo Salter who was the UK's first fast jet pilot in the RAF. Lots of interesting background on how she progressed through the RAF to take that role and the challenges associated with being the first women to do so. Four keys to success that she offered....
After a break for a very nice lunch we reconvened for the afternoon session which was kicked off by Stephen Howard - CEO of Business in the Community. In an echo of comments made by Mike Southon in the morning he noted that we tend to spend the first half of our life chasing success and then decide to focus less on success and more on making significance - making a difference. Talked about his role and Business in the Community and came across as someone really thrilled by what he gets to do each day - lots of reference to things being "fun". He recounted a story of meeting Mother Theresa on a plane in India. She asked him what he did and then as he started to talk about his role (at that time a company CEO) she interrupted him to ask "no, what do you do that matters". Seemingly the conversation had a profound effect and his encouragement to us was to think about how we can use our position and where we are to make a difference in the world. "What can I do today that will make the most difference?"
Professor Lord Eatwell (CMI Chief Economic Adviser) spoke about the latest Economic Outlook published by the CMI based on survey of its members. The news wasn't great with significant drops in business optimism since the last survey 6 months ago. Whilst this was driven by a big decline in the optimism of those in the public sector (perhaps not surprisingly) there were also declines in the responses from both the not for profit and private sector as well.
As noted above Karen Brady was unable to attend the conference so we had a substitute speaker in the shape of James Cann. In a wide ranging talk he touched on some of his own business successes and how he had got to where he is today as well as some thoughts relating to his role as a Dragon.
To finish the day we had the rather amazing Chris Moon. His website has a short video that talks about his background so I won't repeat it here. Instead here are some thoughts I jotted down while he spoke...
All in all it was a good day. Whilst I like hearing from the high profile speakers I do miss the smaller breakout sessions that used to be a feature of the CMI conferences. These smaller scale presentations added a lot of value by covering a wider range of topics and providing a chance to make connections with the speakers. Some years later I am still linked with a number of the people whose talks I attended - either through subscription to their newsletters/blogs or in person.
In a format like last year we were treated to an impressive range of speakers across various leadership topics. The seemingly mandatory photographer was there to intrude on events by taking repeated flash photographs of the speakers while they were presenting. It seems that this is a requirement for any significant CMI event and I have to say I've never understood why. I was hugely amused though when we were showed a video created for the CMI reflecting on events of the past 12 months and it included a warning that there was some flashing images in it - but no mention of the photographer who had been snapping away for some while in the room !!
I was a bit puzzled by the title of the conference "From Mediocrity to Excellence" which, though I'm sure it wasn't intended as such, did seem like a bit of a downer on the leadership capabilities of the attendees and at the same time a "slight" overselling of what results might be achieved by attending.
As had been the case last year we had a late change to the programme due to a planned speaker not being available and so missed out on hearing Karen Brady talk which was a pity - especially as I had stayed up the night before to make sure I had watched a recording of that week's Apprentice to see what she said in case she referred to it in her talk :-(
So here are some thoughts that I jotted down from the day - most of the presentations are up on slideshare ....
First up was Ruth Spellman Chief Executive of the CMI. She talked about the progress the CMI is making both in terms of membership (now over 90,000) and in terms of brand recognition (now appears in the Superbrand survey top 500 - some 35 places above the CIPD). Talked about the importance of management qualifications and showed a video about work Serco has done at Doncaster prison using CMI training to increase the capabilities of their leadership team with great results. Right at the end of her talk was an interesting idea - keeping a weekly "Learning Log" to capture what you've learned each week and from whom. I thought this sounded like an interesting way of triggering reflections on the week gone by and capturing thoughts from it - may give it a go.
Next we had Mike Southon, a political and business columnist for the Financial Times. He talked about a range of topics, two things in particular caught my attention. He introduced the idea of 7 stages in life.
- 21-28 - try as many things as possible
- 28-35 - serious attempt at something
- 35-42 - maybe decide to try something different
- 42-49 - at the peak of your powers
- 49-56 - maturing self awareness
- 56-63 - start to worry about your legacy
- 63-70 - elder statesperson
He also spoke about "Talent dynamics" and the importance of creating teams that balance the skills of the members. Again from the political sphere he spoke about the Labour team of Blair (star), Mandelson (deal maker), Brown (accumulator - eye on the money) and Campbell (mechanic - making things happen).
On the topic of money vs wealth he suggested that money is what you have in the bank and wealth is what you have left if the money all goes - ie reputation, trust, respect etc
After a break for coffee (and some rather lovely cake) we reconvened to hear Rob Law (he of Trunki fame - sit on suitcase famously broken by Theo on Dragons' Den). He talked about the history of his company, challenges faced and how they overcame them. Importance of picking the right people and and making sure they were engaged with the company was highlighted and he spoke about some of the things they do. Their new office space was deliberately fitted out in a vibrant and wacky way consistent with the company values. Interested to hear how they had an education fund of £1000 per employee which enabled them to grow new skills - intriguingly they can now see a reduction in consultancy costs as the staff they have gain broader capabilities. Also touched on how important it is to make events memorable - highlighted a Christmas dinner that they had one year which was run at a cookery school so the staff actually had to cook their own meal. Years later it is still remembered fondly.
The last slot before lunch was taken by Jo Salter who was the UK's first fast jet pilot in the RAF. Lots of interesting background on how she progressed through the RAF to take that role and the challenges associated with being the first women to do so. Four keys to success that she offered....
- Be open to opportunities that present themselves
- Surround yourself with people who make you feel good and fill you with energy and maintain a "glass half full" mentality
- Take responsibility for our actions - how we choose to behave drives what we do
- Enjoy the journey - have goals but rather than just focus on meeting it then setting another make sure you enjoy the ride along the way as well.
After a break for a very nice lunch we reconvened for the afternoon session which was kicked off by Stephen Howard - CEO of Business in the Community. In an echo of comments made by Mike Southon in the morning he noted that we tend to spend the first half of our life chasing success and then decide to focus less on success and more on making significance - making a difference. Talked about his role and Business in the Community and came across as someone really thrilled by what he gets to do each day - lots of reference to things being "fun". He recounted a story of meeting Mother Theresa on a plane in India. She asked him what he did and then as he started to talk about his role (at that time a company CEO) she interrupted him to ask "no, what do you do that matters". Seemingly the conversation had a profound effect and his encouragement to us was to think about how we can use our position and where we are to make a difference in the world. "What can I do today that will make the most difference?"
Professor Lord Eatwell (CMI Chief Economic Adviser) spoke about the latest Economic Outlook published by the CMI based on survey of its members. The news wasn't great with significant drops in business optimism since the last survey 6 months ago. Whilst this was driven by a big decline in the optimism of those in the public sector (perhaps not surprisingly) there were also declines in the responses from both the not for profit and private sector as well.
As noted above Karen Brady was unable to attend the conference so we had a substitute speaker in the shape of James Cann. In a wide ranging talk he touched on some of his own business successes and how he had got to where he is today as well as some thoughts relating to his role as a Dragon.
To finish the day we had the rather amazing Chris Moon. His website has a short video that talks about his background so I won't repeat it here. Instead here are some thoughts I jotted down while he spoke...
- Stick to your values - respect other people
- When facing death you are haunted mostly by the things you haven't done and the people you could have helped.
- Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's overcoming that and doing what we know we need to do
- Do not assume the role of victim whatever happens
- Be focussed on where you are now - make use of time you have
- Never take things personally, listen to what people say and don't rush to judge
- Never underestimate the power of belief - he talked about a pig he had seen that was tied with a piece of string to a wooden stake. Clearly the pig had the strength to get the stake out of the ground by pulling on the string and hence get free but it didn't - why not. As a piglet it was tied to the stake in the same way and tried to get free but eventually realised it couldn't. Later when it was tied up in the same way it "knew" it couldn't get free so doesn't try.... ie it becomes constrained by it's belief that it can't get free.
All in all it was a good day. Whilst I like hearing from the high profile speakers I do miss the smaller breakout sessions that used to be a feature of the CMI conferences. These smaller scale presentations added a lot of value by covering a wider range of topics and providing a chance to make connections with the speakers. Some years later I am still linked with a number of the people whose talks I attended - either through subscription to their newsletters/blogs or in person.
Sunday, 19 September 2010
A week of looking inside my head - physically and metaphorically
As I looked back at the last week it occurred to me that amongst the normal ebb and flow of the days 2 things stood out - and both concerned looking inside my head.
On Tuesday I met an ENT consultant to look at the results of an MRI scan that I had a couple of weeks ago. (A few years ago I had a couple of operations to remove a cholesteatoma from inside my right ear. Not unsurprisingly I have been left with a residual tinitus in the ear which isn't a big problem but did get worse earlier this year. The MRI scan was mainly a precaution to check whether there was any sign of the cholesteatoma regrowing.) I'm pleased to say that the results came back without any evidence of return. It was fascinating to be able to see the scans of the inside of my head even if the orientation was a bit difficult. The image showed nose at the top but right ear was on left of screen - ie you need to imaging that you are standing at you feet looking up at a cross section through you head. Lots of detail of bones inside the ear, brain etc and, as he moved the computer mouse to pass through the images, an alarming sudden appearance of my eye balls in brilliant white on the screen !! There was some white stuff on the image inside my ear which is probably swelling due to a previous cold or other similar infection and should hopefully just sort itself out over time. Consultant said there were 2 options ... A) leave it alone and it should hopefully settle down by itself or B) open the ear up again to have a look around inside..... pleased to say that we both felt option A was the best.
In preparation for a workshop that I am attending later this month I had to complete a Hogan Test this week. The test is designed to give some insights into my leadership strengths, risks around how I may behave under stress, my values etc. I completed the lengthy questionaries and booked a 1 hour feedback session where the results would be explained to me. I've done a number of these sorts of tests before and am always fascinated to see what the results come back as, and how what they say maps to my own self perception. On Friday I had my call to discuss the results and was very fortunate to be assigned a lady who clearly had a lot of experience in administering and explaining the results of these tests. We had a great discussion about what the results said about me and more broadly what sorts of things the survey can highlight. I am going to be moving to a new role in IBM in October so this also gave an opportunity to think about how the profile identified by the test fitted with the likely needs of the new job. I'm pleased to say that the fit between my profile and the new role look good - I thought it was a good fit when I accepted it but it's nice to see some validation of that choice in the data from the test. Really looking forward to the workshop in a couple of weeks and learning more about the test and what it shows.
On Tuesday I met an ENT consultant to look at the results of an MRI scan that I had a couple of weeks ago. (A few years ago I had a couple of operations to remove a cholesteatoma from inside my right ear. Not unsurprisingly I have been left with a residual tinitus in the ear which isn't a big problem but did get worse earlier this year. The MRI scan was mainly a precaution to check whether there was any sign of the cholesteatoma regrowing.) I'm pleased to say that the results came back without any evidence of return. It was fascinating to be able to see the scans of the inside of my head even if the orientation was a bit difficult. The image showed nose at the top but right ear was on left of screen - ie you need to imaging that you are standing at you feet looking up at a cross section through you head. Lots of detail of bones inside the ear, brain etc and, as he moved the computer mouse to pass through the images, an alarming sudden appearance of my eye balls in brilliant white on the screen !! There was some white stuff on the image inside my ear which is probably swelling due to a previous cold or other similar infection and should hopefully just sort itself out over time. Consultant said there were 2 options ... A) leave it alone and it should hopefully settle down by itself or B) open the ear up again to have a look around inside..... pleased to say that we both felt option A was the best.
In preparation for a workshop that I am attending later this month I had to complete a Hogan Test this week. The test is designed to give some insights into my leadership strengths, risks around how I may behave under stress, my values etc. I completed the lengthy questionaries and booked a 1 hour feedback session where the results would be explained to me. I've done a number of these sorts of tests before and am always fascinated to see what the results come back as, and how what they say maps to my own self perception. On Friday I had my call to discuss the results and was very fortunate to be assigned a lady who clearly had a lot of experience in administering and explaining the results of these tests. We had a great discussion about what the results said about me and more broadly what sorts of things the survey can highlight. I am going to be moving to a new role in IBM in October so this also gave an opportunity to think about how the profile identified by the test fitted with the likely needs of the new job. I'm pleased to say that the fit between my profile and the new role look good - I thought it was a good fit when I accepted it but it's nice to see some validation of that choice in the data from the test. Really looking forward to the workshop in a couple of weeks and learning more about the test and what it shows.
Monday, 16 August 2010
Downs Benefice Parish walk - Day 1 Minstead
Today was the first day of the Downs Benefice Walks - every 2 years the benefice runs a week long series of walks. This year we have a series of 6 circular walks close(ish) to Winchester all with some literary theme.
Today's was an 11, or so, mile walk (at the end my pedometer said 27,158 steps which feel about right) starting and ending at Minstead.
We had a lovely day for the walk and at 9:30am an intrepid group of 16 walkers headed out from Minstead into the forest.
The walk was a lovely mix of tracks, road and open areas in the New Forest and we saw our fair share of ponies as well as some free roaming pigs.
After lunch we stopped in Brook at the Green Dragon pub for a quick beverage and to collect another group of people who would be joining us for the afternoon section of the walk.
Our numbers swelled we pressed on back through the forest to Minstead, stopping off at the village church to see Arthur Conan Doyle's grave and look round the lovely church.
The day finished with an ice cream at the suddenly very busy village shop.
Few photos from the day in a set on flickr - here
Today's was an 11, or so, mile walk (at the end my pedometer said 27,158 steps which feel about right) starting and ending at Minstead.
We had a lovely day for the walk and at 9:30am an intrepid group of 16 walkers headed out from Minstead into the forest.
The walk was a lovely mix of tracks, road and open areas in the New Forest and we saw our fair share of ponies as well as some free roaming pigs.
After lunch we stopped in Brook at the Green Dragon pub for a quick beverage and to collect another group of people who would be joining us for the afternoon section of the walk.
Our numbers swelled we pressed on back through the forest to Minstead, stopping off at the village church to see Arthur Conan Doyle's grave and look round the lovely church.
The day finished with an ice cream at the suddenly very busy village shop.
Few photos from the day in a set on flickr - here
Sunday, 1 August 2010
New Wine - Local churches changing nations
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| Our home for the week |
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| Looking down from our pitch on Brown 4 |
Each year we enjoy the worship, hear great teaching, and spend time with friends on the campsite. The girls enjoy the freedom of taking themselves off to their sessions and activities during the day (this year Alice was in "Boulder Gang" and Helen was in "Club One"). No matter how many times I go the scale of the event always impresses - for example Boulder Gang is for just for children aged 10 or 11 but they still have around 500 children attending !
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| Numbers for dinner swelled by day visitors |
Among the many highlights for me this year a few were ...
A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in running this year's conference and I pray that the people attending this week will be similarly blessed as were those there last week.
- Simon Ponsonby's great teaching in the morning bible study sessions in Venue 1. He was supposed to be looking at 5 parables from Matthew 13. However after 3 insightful sessions he decided that the other 2 he'd prepared weren't as interesting so changed tack and instead gave us a session on love based around John 21v15 and a talk on Joshua 3 v5.
- An interesting explanation of the famous "turn the other cheek" passage suggesting that, when taken in the context of the time it was written, this is actually an example of taking an effective non violent stand against injustice.
- Mark Griffiths telling the story of the "The Happy Prince" at the All-Age Celebration, having a "reverse collection" (a bucket passed from person to person and rather than putting money in you take out a small gold coloured disc), and being challenged to perform an act of kindness over the next 4 weeks that costs us something, in time, emotion or money, but which has no chance of being repaid.
- Hearing of the inspiring work of the Street Pastors - volunteers who spend time on the streets on Friday and Saturday nights (10pm - 4am) being with and helping the people who are out at that time - largely club//pub goers.
- Browsing the marketplace and talking to people about the HoverAid charity and the work that it does reaching the otherwise unreachable in Madagascar
- Hearing Adrian Plass talk in the ToyBox Cafe - a wonderful mixture of the amusing and the serious. Including why Joseph is the character in the bible who best understands inner wholeness, why having a note of the names of the mid 90's Sri Lankan cricket team tucked away inside your bible could prove useful, and the importance of not trying to navigate further than Milton Keynes before you are married,
- Mark Melluish (following Simon Ponsonby's lead) and abandoning his planned talk for the final evening and instead talking about Love. Based around the story of Bartimaeus he talked about the importance of being interruptable, ready to stop, listen, pray and make room for others in our busy lives.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in running this year's conference and I pray that the people attending this week will be similarly blessed as were those there last week.
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Weekend of dance
A busy weekend draws to a close. Friday saw us heading up to Durham for my mum's birthday party on Saturday. It was great to catch up with family at the party and over the weekend. She had booked a band for the evening and we had a great time doing lots of English Folk dances and watching the Irish Set Dancers in our midst perform some figures - now we just need the time to process the videos in iMovie.
This morning we headed back down south - thankfully we had a clear run with no real holdups along the way so we made it back to Winchester in time for Platform School of Dance's annual show.
Alice did a Rock & Roll number and a Mambo with her Saturday Latin class and I did a Jive with the rest of the Tuesday evening adult Latin group - more videos in need of attention. This was quite possibly my first time dancing on stage - only time will tell if it will also be the last..... I have a sneaking suspicion that having got us to do one this year the pressure will be on to do so again in next year's show.
This morning we headed back down south - thankfully we had a clear run with no real holdups along the way so we made it back to Winchester in time for Platform School of Dance's annual show.
Alice did a Rock & Roll number and a Mambo with her Saturday Latin class and I did a Jive with the rest of the Tuesday evening adult Latin group - more videos in need of attention. This was quite possibly my first time dancing on stage - only time will tell if it will also be the last..... I have a sneaking suspicion that having got us to do one this year the pressure will be on to do so again in next year's show.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Brag!
Over almost 12 years in a range of Management roles at IBM I have taken part in a lot of annual appraisal meetings, interviews, 1-1s, career discussions etc in which I have heard people talk about what they have done.
I'd noticed of course that some people seemed to be better at communicating what they had been up to than others. People's reputations also varied hugely, and not always in line with what I thought I could see of their work.
In a chance conversation with one of my US colleagues over coffee one day he recommended I read Peggy Klaus' book "Brag! The art of tooting your own horn without blowing it."
I did and found it to be a very interesting and thought provoking read that gave me an insight into what I had observed in all those meetings.
Today I got to give a talk at work based on some of the ideas from the book plus some thoughts of mine relating to our particular work environment.
I get a real buzz out of doing presentations like this on topics that interest me and where there are often no clear right or wrong answers. My audience obliged with lots of questions and discussion and the materials that I had prepared proved to be a good fit for the allotted time.
If you are looking for ideas and advice on how to ensure that you are effectively communicating your achievements and desires for the future then I really recommend Peggy's book to you.
I'd noticed of course that some people seemed to be better at communicating what they had been up to than others. People's reputations also varied hugely, and not always in line with what I thought I could see of their work.
In a chance conversation with one of my US colleagues over coffee one day he recommended I read Peggy Klaus' book "Brag! The art of tooting your own horn without blowing it."
I did and found it to be a very interesting and thought provoking read that gave me an insight into what I had observed in all those meetings.
Today I got to give a talk at work based on some of the ideas from the book plus some thoughts of mine relating to our particular work environment.
I get a real buzz out of doing presentations like this on topics that interest me and where there are often no clear right or wrong answers. My audience obliged with lots of questions and discussion and the materials that I had prepared proved to be a good fit for the allotted time.
If you are looking for ideas and advice on how to ensure that you are effectively communicating your achievements and desires for the future then I really recommend Peggy's book to you.
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