From the virtual to the real

Strava is a great site for tracking my cycling and running exploits (if that is not too grand a term) and I was delighted to have a group of new virtual friends, even if they all seemed to ride quicker than I did. However to have found some of my real life friends (with whom I have broken bread and drunk Guinness in various European capital cities) on Garmin Connect has made me even happier (check out ajdobrien at http://connect.garmin.com/). After the last ride of 2012 today up the Col de St. Ignace, I start 2013 with some real life sporting friends even if many thousands of kilometers separates us and our training rides. Now to get my cousin and brothers all Garmin'd up! 

New Year's Resolution #1

...Remove all bits of titanium from my body in 2013...lucky then that earlier today I planned the operation to remove the plate from my left forearm for Friday 18th January. I had the plate put in a couple of years ago after a fall with Quolchique Saint Aubin which resulted in a triple fracture. The operation to remove it will require an overnight stay, although it will be performed using only a local anesthetic. I actually had a similar fall and break about 6 years ago. At that time the operation required a general anesthetic and the recovery was much more difficult. Two years ago I remember being struck by how medicine had moved on in only 4 years as I watched the anesthetist put my arm to sleep one nerve at a time over a period of 30 minutes or so. In a weird sort of way, I'm intrigued to see what happens in a couple of weeks.

Management guff but they found my Achilles heel

I received this motivational link from a colleague...I was naturally going to ask for the sick bowl, until I found out that over-achievers like lists....ah, lists, my precious lists...http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2012/12/28/13-things-overachievers-do/ and http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2012/12/25/15-things-overachievers-do/

Toto the click

I’ve been riding the same horse Pich de Toulven for the last couple of years. Despite his undoubted qualities he’s a complex beast, and he himself has also evolved and matured quite significantly since we first struck up our partnership. As with many things in life one can always justify the mediocre results one might achieve; in the case of Pich things such as the double change of jobs, the arrival of twins, and the lack of sleep are all too easy to call out. However about a month ago, shortly after my last inauspicious show, it seemed like something clicked, I had what I like to call an epiphany moment (my coach Michel prefers to say, “oih, l’irlandais, have you finally understood what I’ve been telling you for two years, or was that just a stroke of luck?”). 

As much as every horse has a different morphology, there seem to be a set of basic principles that have to be applied (in different doses) to all horses; rebound in the canter, a horse balanced on both shoulders coming out of the corner, a little check as you start the final run into the jump, lifting up the horse’s head to lower his hindquarters, the application of a bit of leg pressure in the last few slides, soft hands over the jump, and for me, making sure my legs stay in place as I come down on the other side.  The last month has seen me manage to put all these different elements together on Pich with some pleasing results. However it was only when I rode Toto the trotter earlier today did things really start to sink in. From an equine morphology point of view, Toto is the polar opposite of Pich. However Michel insisted that the same principles applied to both horses, all I had to do was to find the different mix of doses for this new mount. It took me a few minutes but afterwards the lesson was learnt, and indeed this afternoon’s session will undoubtedly help me cement the progress of the last month. Is 2013 the finally going to be the year of Pich de Toulven and Aidan d’Aquitaine? 

Mid life retirement

I remember a few years ago asking a recently retired mother in law what the week ahead held in store for her. She started her response by pausing, and then saying, “well Monday, I need to go to the Post Office, Tuesday...” I’ve made fun of her ever since suggesting that when going to the Post Office becomes the main activity of your day, then you really know you’re on the downward slide. However when I look at my activity report for this morning it runs something like, “got up, dressed three small children and had a shave”. And the worst thing is that I was actually quite proud of myself to have been able to get everyone in a state of dress with freshly cleaned teeth! Maybe I should put those stones back in a box now that I’ve discovered that the house I live in is made of glass (http://www.goenglish.com/PeopleWhoLiveInGlassHousesShouldNotThrowStones.asp). On the bright side, at least Frodo managed to save the world last night so it's not all bad...

Spanish Sharks and the Return of Kings

Today was meant to be an afternoon of physical exertion up the col d’Ibardin. Instead it turned into a day out in San Sebastian with Sandie, Maxime and Gaston. Eating a chocolate brownie and drinking a vanilla milkshake after a visit of the aquarium took a lot less effort than slogging up a Basque mountain on a bike. The day was made even easier by the fact that Capucine spent the day with her paternal grandparents in Biarritz. San Sebastian is a wonderful place. We saw the old town, the aquarium complete with seahorses, star fish and sharks, and some parts of the modern town. I was really taken by it. It’s only 50km from Biarritz so definitely within striking distance on a bike, although I suspect I’d need some tapas and pincho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pincho) style re-fuelling on arrival before contemplating a round trip. After getting back to Biarritz the evening was dominated by the third part of the Lord of the Rings triology. I have amazed myself as much as anyone by being able to watch all three films this week. I decided I wanted to see it after the last au pair, Jessica, waxed lyrical about it. I really didn’t think it would be my type of thing, but I have to admit I’ve really been quite taken by it. I have definitely preferred some of the other films I’ve seen recently e.g. Argo (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024648/) or the intouchables (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/?ref_=sr_1), but I’m very happy to have invested the time watching the Tolkien classics over the Christmas period. Right back to the end of Sam saving Mr. Frodo…hopefully!

Christmas Precision

I took Maxime to mass on Christmas Day. He still struggles to sit quietly for an hour (or any period of time longer than about 90 seconds). I was however very appreciative of his precision when he told me he had decided to go for a wee..."outside" (the church). Both Father Christmas and Baby Jesus heaved a bit sigh of relief.

Santa's French

This Santa thing is brilliant. It's not just the fact that it is the best child behaviour management technique ever invented, it's the level of sophistication in that technique that has been developed over the years. Maxime has been wonderfully behaved for the whole of the month of December, well ever since we started opening the doors on the advent calendar to reveal little chocolates. Chocolate at breakfast?... On the 1st December he thought all his Christmas' had come at once (they almost did - this is only his fifth). Needless to say Capucine and Gaston also cottoned on quickly. And just when you think the "Santa only brings presents to good little boys" must wear out after the first two weeks, it doesn't. And even better, from the middle of December onwards introducing the phrase, "you have to be in your bed because Santa comes round to count the little boys in their beds to understand how many toys he has to bring", merely serves to add extra authenticity to it all; I have never seen Maxime run to his bed like he did tonight. Tremendous. It's just a shame that we can't do this all year round, but that's when I realised that full time work in the months of November and December roughly equate to fourty-one 35 hour working weeks...clearly there's a significant chance that work-shy Santa is French.

A hangover worth having

It was more difficult to get to Madrid yesterday than expected. A passport mix up with Sandie meant I missed my original flight after having driven 90 minutes to get to the airport in San Sebastian. Thankfully I managed to get to Spain a bit later in the afternoon after the au pair had transformed herself into a motorway passport delivery service. It was worth it. 2012 isn’t finishing in Spain the way I wanted, but I was adamant I wanted to see the team again before the end of the year. It was the right decision. I went to the office party and it was good to relax with the team and have a few drinks after a few draining months. The headache I had when I got up at 6.30AM to fly back to France this morning was well worth it. I’m now in Biarritz after a round trip to Pau during the day to pick up the family. We’ll be here for the next two weeks and I’m looking forward to the break. We’ll see what 2013 brings, but for the minute I’m more interested in seeing what Father Christmas will bring.

Strava and my imaginary friends

What’s all this about Big data? Everyone seems to be talking about social media, open, machine to machine and now personal data lockers http://www.economist.com/news/business/21568438-data-lockers-promise-help-people-profit-their-personal-information-know-thyself. Could this really be true? As the end of the year approaches I am managing to find a bit of time to play around with some of the gadgets I’ve bought over the last couple of months. I received a personal GPS and heart monitor for my birthday and which I now use religiously whenever I take my bike out or go running. I just worked out how to upload all this information onto the web. Apparently I can start to link to my friends to compare our respective workouts, speeds and power ratios. What’s even better is that whilst I try and find some real friends, the website www.strava.com gives me some imaginary friends to compare myself against, because “Frederic Tonera” and “Mark Telfer” are obviously real people…

BMI Book Cover

I read the following Economist article recently http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21568389-state-can-do-some-things-encourage-people-eat-less-not-lot-fat-chance. When I first read the initial article, it fell into the “mildly interesting and thought provoking” category and no more. That was until I sat on very small plane with an extremely large chap. That particular flight was a most unpleasant experience – having the window seat whilst the man on your left literally overflowed into your own personal space wasn’t great. The fact that he drank Coke and ate Air France cookies the whole time just rubbed salt (or sugar) into the wound. That hour long flight got me thinking about the time when I lived in Denmark working on a project for a pharmaceutical company with a load of diabetes statisticians. Oh how a BMI tax sounds so seductive and easy…except for the fact that I recall endless debates about how exactly one measures BMI – it doesn’t seem to be that simple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index. However, this theoretical debate, which would indeed limit one’s ability to implement a BMI tax, was not as compelling as the following letter from Dave Powell in Bristol who said, “muscle is a lot denser than fat, so BMI doesn’t necessarily indicate fitness. To give an example, Mo Farah, one of Britain’s outstanding Olympic champions, has a BMI of around 21 (based on height and weight figures I found) which puts him in the BMI’s healthy category. But another great Olympic champion, Steve Redgrave, at a towering six-foot five, would have had a BMI of around 26 at his peak, which would indicate that he is overweight. Taking things a step further Mike Tyson would have a BMI over 33, which was off the scale on the BMI calculator I used. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to be first in the queue to inform Mr. Tyson that he is morbidly obese”… But the real moral of the story? As I got off the plane, the fat chap passed me my jacket and was the most charming of gentlemen. I suppose one really shouldn’t judge a person by his BMI score.

As good as it gets?

The kids have been sent off to Pau with their mother. I am now sitting on the couch in Biarritz waiting for the finals of my favourite UK TV programmes “Strictly Come Dancing” and “X-Factor” after also having managed to get the bike out for almost two hours this afternoon during their siesta. I’ve just tidied the house and there are bananas, fresh milk and vanilla ice-cream in the fridge. For a cleanliness obsessed 35 year father of a young family, does life get any better than this?

Dance, and bike, before the music starts

I often think that my initial spells in Oxford and Paris might have been more enjoyable if I had been readier to embrace the particularities and inherent character of each place. It’s not just a case of not dancing faster than the music it’s also a case of singing in tune with it. That said, every now and again it is beneficial to stand out from the crowd. Although I personally am, France is definitely not a country of early risers. Hence my delight to be able to get up at the crack of dawn and get a not insignificant part of my Christmas shopping done by 10.30AM this morning without having to fight with a flood of furious festive shoppers. Two hours in the mountains on my new bike in the afternoon added a feeling of virtue to the smug spring in my step. The upshot was that I felt at ease easting copious amounts of chocolate cake at Maxime’s second birthday party today in Biarritz. Round that all off with a healthy dose of X-Factor fun and it’s safe to say that it’s been a good day all round.

Getting back in the saddle

The problem with being passionate about the job that you do and the people in your team is that you leave yourself open to the risk that sometimes it makes you sad. Over the last couple of months the ideas have been coming as ever but the blog postings have not. I’ve been embroiled in a few rather complicated topics which have taken up a lot of mental and emotional energy. The sadness comes from the fact that despite my being personally committed and completely convinced of a plan that I had developed, another route has been chosen by senior management and it is one that is likely to have a human cost. I suppose it’s somewhat ironic then that when I started to write this particular posting, I found an earlier half-finished posting which started by saying, “there are so many different lines of reporting and management that decision making power is all over the place and that people who sit together on a daily basis have much more ability to influence things than people who are travelling remotely, regardless of level of seniority in a company.” As I sit here in my new role as influencer rather than one of the two owners or decision makers who are finalizing their top down 2013 plan, I must make a mental note to be careful for what I wish for.

So that somewhat cryptic explanation aside, what else has been going on since Gaston and Capucine’s second birthday…

I find that we as adult humans tend to try and create generalizations to serve as short cuts in this time starved world. Despite getting better at trying to avoid living life at one million miles an hour, I unfortunately do the same – I’ve recently managed to refine and express my classification of French people into two categories. I believe that all French people are either râleur-moteur, or râleur-casseur. Basically this means all French people like to complain, although half of them complain and then try to make things better (“moteur” or a motor for change) , whereas the other half complain and then do nothing positive (from the verb “casser” which means “to break”). The trick in France is to surround oneself with the first type of person. A real life example is after a French team complained that there were never any social activities for them, I then arranged a series of nights out. Hardly anyone turned up. They only came after I pointed out to them that this was something they had asked for. Vive la France.

At work, I have had a number of key new people join the team in France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It’s been nice to see the building out of a team in line with the initial analysis and definition of a strategy that was done. Only six weeks after their arrival things are really starting to pan out nicely, and this quarter’s financial results should back that up. I’ve got a couple of new strong operational leads which means I can start thinking about what we need to do a few months down the line. I personally have spent an inordinate amount of time in various internal meetings most notably “quarterly business reviews”. A section of these meetings have always been dedicated to people’s views on 2013. This has been most surreal (and largely a waste of time) because this year’s annual planning process is massively top down (very different to last year’s consensus based approach). Sitting in internal meetings is bad enough, even worse when they talk about topics that you know that you, or they, can’t actually influence. Apart from that I’ve been travelling pretty much as normal taking in the sights of Madrid, Zurich, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. I’ve also been down to Lisbon, or Estoril to be more exact. I took it as an opportunity to stay with a friend and meet the latest addition to his little family.

At home we had a change of au pair – we swapped an outgoing Nebraskan for a more reserved Californian. Lauren has been with us for a few weeks now and is getting used to the noise, disorder and general hustle bustle of life in a wet and chilly French town.  I’ve also had a few more horse jumping competitions with some very average results, but I think I might have made a breakthrough (how many times have I found myself writing that over the last two years with this animal?!). We’ve addressed challenges associated with his back legs, when he turns left, when he turns right and now, most recently, with his head…Surely there can’t be much else I need to think about before he’ll jump a clear round for me? Anyway I persevere because Michel is convinced that the end is in sight…

So it’s been a busy two months although there is one thing that stands out for me. After significant personal investment in one particular topic a decision was made contrary to my recommendation. Both of the options being discussed revolved around a significant degree of change. I am now ok with the fact they chose a different option – that can always happen. The irony is that last week we sold a new medium sized contract to a new client, and as an immediate result they threw two months of discussion out of the window and opted to retain the status quo. What I take from it all, is that if you are genuine about wanting to do transformational change, then you need to do something different. Lots of people talk about transformation as a good thing, but there is a much smaller number of people are prepared to embrace a different daily life as a result. This power of inertia has made me more cautious about choosing which problems to try and fix – are people really ready for big solutions?!