125 meetings, 3 tweets, 2 shifting goalposts

Since my last post on the 11th April things have been somewhat busy. I've started my new role at work and I am in the middle of meeting everyone in each of my new teams in France, Spain, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. Since the 11th April I've had 125 meetings, many of which have been extremely interesting. I'm off to Zurich for a couple of days this week to finish off these initial conversations. During the last couple of weeks I've also worked out how to Tweet (follow me at @ajdobrien) and I'm currently in the process of trying to work out the new look and feel of this blogger site - lesson of the day - you can't stop progress.

Mind your own business

In a recent conversation with an uber smart guy (running the privately owned CIA type organization), he said that the problem with Silicon Valley these days is that too many really smart people live in a world of abundance, and therefore unfortunately spend their times using their considerable brain power to fix problems that don’t really matter. This reminded me of everything I’ve read about frugal innovation in the developing world recently, and it prompted me to start thinking what companies and businesses might look like in the future... there were a few things close to my heart that my thoughts centred on…

Always on…today we live in a society of instant gratification that includes things such as LEDs on Blackberries that flash constantly as soon as one receives a new email, 24/7 TV, iTunes downloads on mobile phones and Facebook likes. Whereas there may well be some sort of yoga flavoured backlash in the future as people wish for greater time for reflection and simpler pleasures, now that Pandora’s Box has been opened, businesses have to live in this new reality. One of the most interesting ideas I heard on this topic is that companies need to understand that there is an internal and an external clock, and that very often the two run at different speeds. This begs the obvious question how do you ensure your own tempo is in synch with that of your key customers, and how do you effectively dial up or dial down your own speed as a company as required for different types of customers whilst retaining a consistent feel and culture in your own organization? Could the style, culture or “pace” of customers be a better way to classify them than by size, industry sector or geographic location?

Data deluge….another facet of life and business today is the sheer volume of data and information that exists and is being created every minute of every day, and the fact that all of this spans across producers, market places and consumers, effectively creating what one might call a “network of intelligence”. What I like about information is that it is information regardless of whether it is in the emerging or the emerged world – it’s something of a leveler in that respect. I heard an interesting quote from someone who works closely with Nike. He said that senior executives in Nike have started to ask themselves if they are still in the running shoe business because at times it feels more like they are an information management company as they try to understand their customers better, (even to the extent of collecting running data whilst people are wearing their shoes). Another interesting quote was in the Economist article (http://www.economist.com/node/21547217) which examined whether or not online match making actually improved the chances of finding a soul mate. The article stated that, “The greater choice is unarguable. But does it lead to better outcomes? …the very volume of alternatives may be a problem. Studies on consumer choice, from boxes of chocolates to restaurant wine lists, have shown that less is more. Half a dozen bonbons, or a dozen bottles, are easier to pick between than 30 or 40...(Dr. Finkel) found studies which showed that when faced with abundant choice, people pay less attention to characteristics that require thinking and conversation to evaluate (occupational status and level of education, for example) and more to matters physical. Choice, in other words, dulls the critical faculties”. Physical, online or virtual, companies and people are going to have to work out how to manage and exploit all that information whether it be to have a consistent approach to a customer across all channels, to find new opportunities based on more sophisticated analysis of data, or adhere to rules and regulations in a timely fashion. At any rate, in a world of abundance, having more is no longer enough; simply collecting more information is not the same as learning how to find out what’s really valuable.

Travel and face time….Another thing which dominates my working life at the minute is the need to travel and meet people face to face. I often wonder if we can ever reduce the amount of travel and still be as or more effective (e.g. through reduced fatigue). Businesses have had Tele-Presence for a while now, and as much as we see lots of younger people being comfortable with technologies such as LAN parties and Skype (e.g. the young Indian son of an ex-Wipro colleague who was living in LA and who asked his Dad if they could “hang out” on Skype when he was in Zurich on a Saturday morning). However I still can’t help but think that genuine trust and friendship only comes when you actually meet, touch and look people in the eye. Maybe technology will still be able to take us a step closer e.g. maybe we can have shared electronic whiteboards that people in Bangalore and Paris can share and draw on simultaneously, maybe we will even one day have Star Wars-esque enhanced virtual reality where life size holograms can give you the impression of having a colleague from a far flung destination in the same room as you, and maybe younger workers will be more comfortable to do more of the initial work with people they have never actually met in person, but in a globalised world with different languages, cultures and customs, I can’t believe that even they won’t benefit from being able to walk in corridors and stumble into chance meetings, and to go out for dinner after the allotted 60 minute meeting has been completed. No matter what I might read in George Orwell’s 1984, and although I do believe that leaders will have to learn how to communicate through multiple new channels simultaneously, I don’t think we’ll get to the complete virtual leader any time soon.

Funny Food

I definitely have a sweet tooth. A meal without a dessert has always felt like unfinished business to me and I think it’s safe to say that I’ve got an odd relationship with food – anybody who is concerned about putting on 300 grams between January 1st 2010 and January 1st 2011 surely needs help in some form or other. The other thing which I learnt about myself recently is that at times, I when I treat myself to something that I really shouldn’t, I often find myself wolfing it down at break neck speed as if that will lessen the misdemeanor and or guilt. This is despite the fact that taking my time would actually be much better from both a utilitarian and a health stand point. Funny old world I suppose.

Fly me home Hans

I am currently sitting in the airport at Bangalore waiting to take Lufthansa flight LH755 to Frankfurt before a connecting flight back to Toulouse tomorrow lunchtime. The wedding of a friend in Kochin yesterday was beautiful, definitely unique, and successful, (i.e. they are now happily married if nothing else, although apparently there is some bizarre Indian tradition called Bride Burning or Dowry Death which requires him to kill her within 24 hours http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_burning), and I’m really looking forward to seeing the family and eating some European chocolate now that it’s Easter.

A few things struck me during this particular India trip… (1) I’ve been speaking with an Indian colleague for a few weeks now but on Thursday we made more progress in a 10 minute face to face conversation with a whiteboard than in about 4 hours of intercontinental phone calls; (2) that whilst the young team in India might have less client experience, their passion, enthusiasm and desire to work is most uplifting and in sharp contrast with some people back in the old world; (3) that as much as I am increasingly comfortable in India, and even enjoy some of the sweeter smells, it’s not a place where I could ever live permanently; (4) that the day I am the father of the bride, I must remember not to stand on my daughter’s veil whilst leaving her at the altar; (5) that in multi cultural weddings a few words in the local language go a long way. As a result of (very) briefly addressing half of the wedding congregation in the Malayalam dialect, I now have two new Facebook friends including the local wedding singer (who made me laugh when I caught him using his Android phone to read the lyrics of Bryan Adams’ “everything I do I do it for you” whilst singing at the end of the ceremony); and that (6), there are some people in life who are have a greater attention to detail than me, that these people are typically German, and that even in India, the antithesis of organization, it is very useful to have a German maid of honour and second groomsman – respect to Rebecca and Frank for their ruthless efficiency on Saturday in the face of a relentless wave of Indian approximation.

Don’t watch the eyes

Shane’s mum Monica is an absolute treat. She really got into my good books this weekend when she said that she thought that I looked youthful and fresh. I on the other hand seemed to have spent the last 18 months monitoring the ebb and flow of the bags under my eyes ever since the arrival of the twins. And it was only this morning I got a shock when looking in the mirror – I’ve been so focused on my eyes that I hadn’t seen two and half furrows quietly settle into my brow. I’ve no idea where they came from, but this eye and brow combination, some obvious flecks of grey up top, a bad back, a cut on the side of my mouth and an inexplicable desire to listen to classical music earlier in the week, makes me think middle age is well and truly upon me. With all this physical and mental decay swirling around me, I suspect I’ll be happy tomorrow morning with tonight’s decision to upgrade to business class for the overnight flight to Germany.

Deeds not words

On the flight to India I took the time to watch the film “The Iron Lady” all about Margaret Thatcher. It was enjoyable enough, although not a patch on “Les Intouchables” that I saw recently. That said, there were some choice lines and ideas in there which I absolutely want Sandie to see once see has read the following background article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher. One of my favourite lines was when she was remonstrating with her doctor that people in the 1980s were too focused on how one feels and not enough on thoughts and ideas. I paraphrase, but basically she said “ideas become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become destinies, why do people not talk more about ideas”. Another idea which I liked, and which I am about to oversimplify massively, was when she said that we strive as people to ensure that our children have better futures than we did – I was reminded of this when I spoke to one of the other wedding guests who lives in Bangkok who told me that for the last 12 years he has been paying $35,000 a year for his daughter’s education in an international school…

God bless you Joseph

When I used to get lost whilst running in Paris I always had my Carte Orange (metro ticket) which meant that I could get home to the Vaugirard station safely. That system doesn’t work so well in Bangalore for obvious reasons. So when after running for about an hour this morning I found myself particularly lost in a shanty town somewhere in the sprawling 8 million person metropolis that is Bangalore, I was starting to get a bit concerned. The first conversation with a non English speaking dalit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit) didn’t go so well. Thankfully things took a turn for the better when a kind motorcyclist called Joseph pulled up on the dusty dirt track road. He explained that my hotel was a good 5 miles away. He told me to hop on to the back of his bike and off we sped back to the city centre (I decided not to ask to see his driving licence nor if he had a spare helmet because this was obviously de rigueur for any self respecting Parisian moto-taxi). As I got on his bike he introduced himself and wished me a Happy Easter. It turned out he too was a Catholic with a Protestant mother. I enjoyed the chat as we bombed along (when the Indian roads permitted of course).The whole ride lasted about 10-15 minutes; definitely another good experience in a country in which I am feeling increasingly comfortable.

Third time lucky, very lucky sir, yes sir

I finally managed to get to India at about midnight on Wednesday. After the fiasco on Monday I was told to drive back to Toulouse on the Tuesday, this time to get to Bangalore via London. Imagine then how un-amused I was when I arrived in Toulouse to see those Tuesday flights cancelled as well…in fact the only time during that day when I was even more annoyed was at 9.30PM that night. At that time I received an email from Air France saying that my Wednesday morning flight from Pau to Paris had also been cancelled. They told me to fear not because they had put me on a later flight to Paris, and although that would mean that I would miss my connection, that was not a concern, because they would put me on a flight to Bangalore the day after. Ridiculous…but if living in France for over 10 years has taught me anything, it is to know when to throw a good fake strop. One 10 minute outburst later I had secured a place on the 6AM flight to Paris the next morning…yes you guessed it, from Toulouse. So, off to bed for 4 hours and then up at 2AM to drive to Toulouse for the third time in three days. By contrast the flight to Bangalore went very smoothly. That, you would think, should have been it for one week…but no, when I found out this morning at 6AM that my domestic flight to Kochin had been cancelled because the airline (Kingfisher) had gone bust, it really was just water off a duck’s back. By 6.30 I had a flight with another airline (Indigo) and a full refund in my back pocket. In the true spirit of the glass being half full, a later flight means that I can now go and get a 90 minute massage on my sore back this morning in my rather plush Bangalore hotel. After the week I’ve had, I think I deserve it.

Poisson d'avril

Up at 3AM for a 2 hour drive to Toulouse to catch a flight at 7AM after my flight from Pau was cancelled over the weekend. However more strikes in Toulouse meant everything had to be pushed back until tomorrow, so I then had a 2 hour drive back to Pau. I now have another 2 hour drive back to Toulouse tomorrow morning to do it all again, but this time I need to fly to London to get to Bangalore because there are no flights from Paris to Bangalore on a Tuesday. Guess who's the April fool in this whole story?! Mental note: focus on the glass being half full...so let's look on the bright side - the whole fiasco meant a bit more time at home and a well deserved siesta this afternoon with Maxime after having picked him up from school.