The Daily Networker

For Oscar Wilde it was temptation.  For me, it’s Pringles.  One of the few truly irresistible things in the kitchen, it’s a little too often that I’m tossing another empty tube towards the bin.  Or should that be the recycle bin?  Have they joined the Green revolution?  I would imagine that it’s conundrums like this which the Pringles Helpline exists to solve.  If only they were open beyond five of an evening, I’d have the answer for you right now.  I wonder if anyone ever calls that number in an unstoppable face-stuffing panic, having eaten too many crisps.  It really wouldn’t surprise me. 

Recycling was on my mind this week after listening to that rather infuriating song which combines Sweet Home Alabama with that seventies number, Werewolves of London.  Kid Rock’s remix raced to the top of the charts this summer as he sang about being ‘caught somewhere between a boy and a man’.  I’m not sure of the identity of the two gentlemen in question, nor am I sure of how one divvies up the royalty payments in a smash-hit-mashup.  What I do know is that these ‘mashups’ are all the rage in cyberspace at the moment.  The combination of two sets of data to form a slightly more interesting sum of the parts is even getting the government excited this month, with the results of their ShowUsABetter way competition.  From crime maps to plotting the location of your nearest school, technologists all over the UK are imagining how public information could be used more interestingly, with their favourite cooking ingredient often being the trusty Google Maps.   

I’ve even got Google Maps on my Blackberry these days.  Sadly this was of no use whatsoever when the darned thing was pinched out of my hand in nearby Clapham several months ago.  Before you cast your faith in human nature into the Pringle Dustbin, you’ll be pleased to hear that the device was returned safely just three days later, thanks to the fact that I’d cunningly filled out the owner information, complete with my email address.   Let this be the lesson, reader, rather than deciding to avoid sunny south London after dusk.   My saviour, the takeaway shop owner, is to be congratulated and thanked, for returning my beloved possession quicker than you could say AbraKebabra.   

My bolder Blackberry confession is that there is one little function which I have yet to re-enable on my latest handset, sent to me two weeks ago.  That function is none other than email.  Yes, technically, I can still go online to read my messages (once you WAP, it turns out you can, just, stop), however the constant drip-drip-dripping of messages has, for now, been turned off.    And let me tell you, just between us, it’s been amazing.  More creativity, more spontaneity, more enjoyment of the simple pleasures of time to myself during the day.  I’ve not yet decided on whether the tap will stay off for good.  But I thoroughly recommend a Blackberry holiday at the very least.  Go on, treat yourself.

Confessions are not what tend to make a business networking site like Linkedin tick along.  In common with its younger, more casually dressed relative Facebook, members register in their own name.  Which makes me wonder; where is all of the anonymous venting, ranting and plotting taking place?  Be it the off-the-record advice or the job-hating cathartic diatribe, is there a FacelessBook waiting in the wings?  One which will echo to the sounds of credit-crunched execs letting off steam?  At the very least, I think that a hotline should be created.  Perhaps it could run from five in the evening until nine in the morning.  I know just the people to run it. 

Imagine my concern when two consecutive ‘tweets’ from the Telegraph News Twitter account today read;

Donkey rides disappear from Margate beach after 120 years

and…

6-foot boa constrictor on the loose in Kent

Thankfully it turns out that the two stories are in no way connected. 

Many years ago, London’s networking queen Carole Stone used to produce Any Questions for the BBC.  Unsurprisingly, this fuelled the creation of one of the UK’s largest and most influential address books.  Nick Pisani, who previously edited Question Time will find his wealth of high level contacts more than handy in his new role at Intelligence Squared.  This week, another excellent BBC producer, Newsnight’s Peter Barron announced that he is leaving to join Google, as head of communications and PR for the UK and Ireland.

At Google, Peter will work with Rachel Whetstone, newly appointed Global Director of Communications, who will be based in Silicon Valley. Rachel is married to Steve Hilton, who went from co-founding Good Business to working as head of strategy for David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party.  His equivalent at Number 10 is Stephen Carter, who previously ran Brunswick Group, and OFCOM before that. 

All of this makes me wonder; who is going to produce our flagship TV programmes in the future?  And I think you can guess where I’m going with this one.  Alistair Campbell, your country needs you.

Disguise, deception, youth crime, random acts of kindness. Once in a while a story comes along which captures the spirit of the news…

Now no cheating by skipping to the bottom of the post.  Who is this being oveheard by ABC News?;

A:”You should be on the beach. You need a break. Well, you need to be able to keep your head together.”

B:”You’ve got to refresh yourself.”

A:”Do you have a break at all?”

B:”I have not. I am going to take a week in August. But I agree with you that somebody, somebody who had worked in the White House who - not Clinton himself, but somebody who had been close to the process - said that, should we be successful, that actually the most important thing you need to do is to have big chunks of time during the day when all you’re doing is thinking. And the biggest mistake that a lot of these folks make is just feeling as if you have to be . . .”

A:”These guys just chalk your diary up.”

B:”Right. In 15-minute increments . . .”

A:”We call it the dentist’s waiting room. You have to scrap that because you’ve got to have time.”

B:”And, well, and you start making mistakes, or you lose the big picture. Or you lose a sense of, I think you lose a feel ..”                                                                 

A:”Your feeling. And that is exactly what politics is all about. The judgment you bring to make decisions.”

B:”That’s exactly right. And the truth is that we’ve got a bunch of smart people, I think, who know 10 times more than we do about the specifics of the topics. And so if what you’re trying to do is micromanage and solve everything then you end up being a dilettante but you have to have enough knowledge to make good judgments about the choices that are presented to you.”

 Barack Obama (B) and David Cameron (A) might enjoy;

The Slow Movement

In Praise of Slow, by Carl Honore

Slow Planet (the ‘Global Hub for the Slow Revolution’)

Slow Down Now (strapline;  Multitasking is a Moral Weakness)

 

 

When Liam Black left 15, Jamie Oliver’s foundation, I wondered what he’d do next.  The first part of the answer comes in the form of Wavelength 100, a two-day event connecting social entrepreneurs and private sector businesses.  Over lunch at One Alfred Place this month, we talked about the idea that two people in completely different jobs or sectors could, at heart, be trying to solve very similar problems.  And how bringing those two people together could result in some powerful reactions.  

I met Liam at a dinner hosted by James Lawn and Bronwyn Kunhardt, founders of Polecat.  Sitting opposite me was the excellent Katie Ledger.  We kept in touch and last week Katie did a superb job hosting the Catalyst Awards final. 

Liam Black once told a Guardian interviewer that his first vocation was to become a priest.  Jim and Bron went from Microsoft to found Polecat, measuring the social impact of social media.  Katie used to present the news on ITV and Channel 5 and now helps business leaders get their story heard, and is writing a book about portfolio work.  Different people, different paths.   

Last year I met the inspiring Dalton Leong, who changed path from his City career to run the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice.  Just this month I spent the morning at the St Giles Trust, run by former investment banker, Rob Owen. 

Two weeks ago I hosted some Speed Networking between employees of ten investment banks, here in London.  Although the mood was extremely positive, talk turned often to passions beyond the city. 

Regardless of where people are holidaying and what they’re reading this summer, I wouldn’t mind betting that we hear about some pretty major career changes from some pretty influential people come September.     

The UK Catalyst Awards have been announced and I’m just back from a buzzing morning of ideas and quality conversation.

The people’s choice award (with more than four times as many votes as the second place) went to the Freeconomy Community.

“The Freeconomy Community is a skill, tool, space and land sharing website to build closer, stronger communities through the power of sharing. Freeconomy is about sharing the skills you’ve learnt and learning those you haven’t. By mapping other members who are within 10 miles it makes it easy for members to locate one another in their communities and means that people develop new relationships with people who live near them. It has over 5,000 members and there are over 1,000 vetted skills and over 700 types of tools on the site. No money changes hands for this skills exchange as people share simply for the love of it!”

Other winners include Wheelies (the night club in Second Life), School of Everything and Liftshare.

The awards were created to do three things;

1) To highlight and publicise the number of projects already in existence which use social media to encourage community action.

2) To inspire other to have a go at this kind of thing

3) To connect the shortlist and winners with the things they need to grow and succeed

Time will tell how successful we have been in doing these things.  To have four ministers in the same room as leading activists, companies and funders is a hopefully a good start, and a small part of a growing movement in this area. 

A year ago today the Catalyst Awards were an idea in a speech by the Prime Minister.  

“…we must do more to move beyond old, dull and all-too-familiar ‘one size fits all’ solutions and we must do more to encourage a stronger culture of innovation to generate new ways of advancing social change.

To recognise and support new ways of utilising existing and widely-owned technology for social ends we will introduce a Prime Ministerial Award for Social Technology”

Just imagine what could be achieved by this time next year.

I know from the WebMission experience how fun and effective visiting another city in the company of a group of fellow entrepreneurs can be.

So I’m hoping you’ll pass the word around about the Digital Mission, which is actually two trips in one.  Led by Sam Michel of Chinwag, interested companies will need to move quickly as the application process ends at midnight tonight.

There are two Digital Missions planned:* Digital Mission to Web 2.0 Expo in NYC, 14-20th Sept, 2008

* Digital Mission to SXSW interactive, 13-17 Mar, 2009

Please spread the word, or if this appeals to you then get applying!

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13

Peter Grigg writes an interesting post over on the Make Your Mark blog on the subject of work experience.  In it he asks us to consider a different world;

“ Work experience projects that use the talent of young people to result in real business innovation and real customer feedback from young people.

 Long-term mentoring and networking opportunities as additions to work experience and careers fairs.

Young people’s insights and skills (e.g. with social media) being used to inform good business and corporate responsibility.

Updates from Twitter during a placement that keep parents, schools, colleges and other interested parties engaged in the work experience as it happens. ”

Now you may expect me to pick these ideas up and run with them, however this touches on something which has been troubling me the last few times I’ve been into London schools, so I’m going to share it. 

I agreee that young people have a great deal to add to the business environment and I love the idea that they should be encouraged to contribute their ideas.  However, in the schools I visit,  there are more urgent challenges which need talking about, and which work experience can address.   I say this having left every one of those schools completely energised by the students’ potential and talent.  It’s how they are communicating that potential which worries me.

It is not an exaggeration to say that some of the students I’m meeting do not have the ability to speak properly in a business environment.  I’m not talking about ‘How Now Brown Cow’, I’m talking about their ability to construct a decent sentence which does not contain the word ‘innit’.  Beginning a pitch with the words;

“Well, like, this is gonna, you know, like, be a great fing”

Is a sure-fire way not to get a job. I don’t care how you talk with your mates, there are some simple techniques for speaking in business and you can learn them pretty quickly if you want to.   

 I shudder to think how some of them would get on trying to make a telephone call to a potential customer, let alone meeting them for the first time.  After several minutes in conversation, I am almost always inspired by them, however the first impression is too often absolutely dreadful.  Who is teaching them how to shake hands properly?  To make eye contact?  To do up their shoelaces when they are making a business presentation?  It staggers me.  These are all things which can be learnt and which a business environment can encourage and develop.

The level of ignorance around what certain careers involve is also unbelievable.  I had lunch with a fantastic guy this year who told me that he wanted to be a lawyer.  After talking about how enjoyable it would be to represent someone in court, he added that being a lawyer would also mean that he didn’t have to read any books. He was 15 years old, not 5!  Who is explaining to schools what jobs involve?  Another student was amazed by my advice that being an actor might involve quite a bit of sitting around.  And so it goes on.  This is the second area where work experience can play a powerful role in clarifying what certain people do all day. 

We all know that school tricks us into thinking that the world is all about working all by yourself. Through work experience, students can see what it’s like fitting into a team, being resourceful and (when well run) having their own ideas and making them happen. 

There is a worrying sense of entitlement which I’ve noticed around this subject.  A certain amount of huffing and puffing at being asked to do the stapling on the first day.  The idea that this could be a simple way of discovering whether you’re fit for anything else completely passes some students by.  The idea that it’s a smart way to test initiative before allocating the next role is beyond comprehension.  Of course, some work experiences are run badly.  It just occurs to me that the bottom rung seems the logical place to start, rather than elevating someone to student-creative-director-in-residence on their first morning.  At Hit Entertainment (one of my first internships), I was told to go and sort out the brochures cupboard.  This took several days.  At the end of it, I knew more about what the company did and didn’t produce than half of the other people in the building.  When asked to photocopy a document, I (rightly or wrongly) read it.  When given a menial task,  I always followed up with the question “would you like me to…” followed by a guess at what the next step might be (post it/call and tell them you’re running late/tell John they’re here/have a think about some other options).  Almost always the answer was yes. 

So I would love to help Peter in inspiring more productive work experiences.  However I want to encourage students to see the opportunity as a chance to develop their communication skills, to find out what a job REALLY entails and to use it as a way to exceed expectation and show off how resourceful they can be.  Everyone thinks they can run a company better, and some of those ideas are powerful and valuable.  The trick might be to earn the trust and respect of colleagues through a series of tasks well done before unpacking some of the really exciting stuff.

Now where did I put my stapler?