Doug Shaw

Books, Builders and Brainstorming

Day One of the book writing experiment: I’ve had a weird day, builders moving in to start work on a major project probably not the best addition to the mix. Still, first couple of chapters finished. It’s going to get much tougher – I don’t know how I know, but I do.

Following my pleas for inspiration I want to share a great piece of feedback I received from Chris Plush. Chris is a great guy, he’s bright and he makes me laugh too. Here’s what he sent me:

The Plush road to inspiration……….. (pick one or more)
1. Go for a run (yes, I have run around New York at 4.30am)
2. Music. I have playlists for everything.
3. Visualisation. I am a huge fan of this and it has served me well when I feel like chucking it all in. What does success look like and what will it feel like – the mind is a powerful thing and the body will reward positive thinking!!
4. Small steps Mr Shaw. If it’s all getting a bit overwhelming, break it down into small bits – give yourself small, achievable goals; write them down, tick them off (and reward yourself with chocolate!!)
5. Call on others. Anyone who gives a damn about you will take your calls and listen to your rantings and wailings and then put you back together again. You’d do it for them, they’ll do it for you.

Lastly, we are thinking of you and are with you ….. good luck, you’ll get it done and it will be readable (well it had better be anyway). I’ll expect your call at 1am then???

There’s more inspiration and support coming in and I will continue to pass it on as the pressure rises 🙂

It's the write time, it's now

What do you do when the chips are down, it’s midnight, you’re frazzled and you need inspiration, motivation? Do tell, inspire me please!

Ok, here’s the deal. Today I agreed to co-write my first book. Cool. I’m excited. I love stories.

I need to get a final draft to the editor by next Friday. Yep. Next Friday. Things can move real fast out here. I thought I could be quite zippy when @ BT, not really.

The adventure starts on Monday and the next few days are going to be really different for me, I expect there will be panic buttons pushed too. I will try to find a few minutes each day to scribble down how I’m feeling and what I’ve learned in those precious, 24 hours.

No Talent Required

I keep reading that the recession is over? There are an increasing number of indicators that seem to support this claim. When I was employed by BT I recall listening to and reading stuff from on high about the need to change as recession bites so we (BT) can emerge stronger and quicker. Makes sense, I can relate to that. I was surprised then to hear on last night’s news that BT is to halt its graduate recruitment scheme, at a time when we appear to be slowly emerging from a recession. Consciously shutting off a vital inflow of new talent. How does a move like that make BT stronger, or quicker?

In my humble opinion, the Grad community in BT was a very good one. A lively bunch, keen to learn and keen to bring their enthusiasm and new thinking to bear inside an organisation that’s extremely resistant to sustainable, purposeful change. I loved working with the Grads and was always happy to forgive their understandable lack of experience in exchange for their challenging, constructive attitude. Whether we like it or not, most large organisations have a tendency to wrap themselves around people and achieve conformity after a while, thus the Grads were a scarce and valuable resource. They created a culture within a culture, and they try hard to let that breathe and in turn, infuse the organisation. It’s a difference, and big business should be about integrating difference, without losing it. Tony Tjan writes compellingly about culture as competitive advantage. I like what he has to say and I think the Grads make a vital contribution to that aspect of the business.

BT is blaming recession and headcount reductions for the scheme’s cessation. That’s a shame. This small annual intake of new blood is vital for the organisation to thrive, it needs it. Against this backdrop BT says it needs to lose 15,000 people from the organisation. I don’t doubt that and my experience shows me it could and should lose many more. There are huge swathes of ineffective, fearful managers clogging up the machine. Insufficient numbers of them don’t add value, in fact they take it away from the business, and BT’s inability to rid itself of them at the expense of the Grads speaks volumes. I don’t blame these managers personally, the culture that exists within ferments fear, duplication and job justification among other things. That said I really don’t see how turning off a scheme that allows 130 new bright brains in every year is going to help take the company forward.

BT closes Grad recruitment scheme – how unimaginative, how dull. Who’s going to challenge the grey suits now?