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    The next generation

    Three significant events happened this week. On Tuesday, we proudly witnessed our son graduate from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours. Tim is a member of the cohort of 2011, the so-called earthquake cohort. He has endured the trials and tribulations of the Christchurch earthquakes, and we are convinced he and many others are stronger for the experience. On Wednesday, ANZAC Day, we remembered those New Zealanders and Australians that fought for freedom in wars in faraway places. Many returned, but many young lives were lost. Lest we forget. And then on Friday, we received a large package of information relating to our daughter's AFS student exchange. Megan leaves in mid-August to live in Belgium Flanders for 12 months. The experience will change her life, as it changed mine when I participated on an AFS exchange to USA in 1979-80.

    Together, these events reminded me of our responsibility as parents and adults to prepare the next generation, and to provide them with space to make their contribution in life. We all owe it to our kids and those that follow to give our best to this task. How will you prepare those you influence to become significant contributors in the world?
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    Boardroom motivations and habits

    Governance
    Some very interesting articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review recently—articles about motivation, meaning and habits. These articles caught my eye because they were very different from the usual diet of (very good) economic, business and leadership articles. The majority of HBR's articles can be categorised as "tools and techniques that readers can apply to improve their business". In contrast, these articles focus on the person—on improving one's self and one's contribution—and they are just as applicable in the boardroom as amongst the wider workforce. That's right, directors are not immune. These articles are relevant because we seem to be living in a world where selfish motivations take precedence over "community good". I wonder how many corporate failures could have been averted had the characteristics described in these articles been apparent in the boardroom? Perhaps the global financial crisis and subsequent recession may have been averted as well?
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    Philosophy + perseverance = insight!

    Research
    A couple of months ago my PhD supervisor recommended that I read The Arch of Knowledge by David Oldroyd. The book provides a concise (if you call 400 pages concise!) history of the philosophy and methodology of science. In other words, it's about how knowledge is created. My supervisor said I should read it because doctoral students need to understand this stuff.

    When I took on this challenge, I expected to skim read the book and move on. However, after persevering with the densely packed text for a couple of weeks, the opposite has happened. Famous philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, Galileo, Hume, Popper) and their theses have slowly become real. I've been drawn in. Along the way, I've gained an insight that may well enable me to frame my research in a new way (I'll expand on this in a separate post later). If this insight has legs (I think it does), it should be good for governance research all round.

    Reading Oldroyd has provided another (unexpected) benefit. My vocabulary has been expanded—albeit mainly with Greek and Latin phrases like ex suppositione, ex ante, a priori, and a posteriori—by quite some margin. Now if I can get my wife's agreement to allow Greek and Latin alongside English, I might have half a chance of beating her at Scrabble!
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    The Board's role in Value Creation

    Governance Research
    In the last couple of days, I've been involved in a very significant discussion with a panel of governance experts from three countries (Canada, USA, New Zealand). We've been exploring the notion of value creation and the role that boards of directors could (should?) be playing in creating value and building wealth. This has been a timely discussion, because it has come not long after my latest research piece which explored this very topic! So, what role should governance boards play in value creation and the development of strategy? Here's a summary of the three main insights from my research:
    • Company performance and the level of board involvement in strategy development appear to be linked (active involvement is better)
    • The quality of strategic boardroom decisions are highest when proposals are directly linked to agreed strategy
    • An open and direct communications style amongst directors (including vigorous debate) is conducive to effective decision-making
    I expanded on these points in the group discussion so won't bore you here. Suffice to say, the Board and executive management should work together to identify and agree core purpose (what and why), goals (metrics to measure progress) and strategic imperatives (the big things to be done to achieve the core purpose). Why is doing this together important? It helps with buy-in, with alignment, with the speed and quality of decision-making and, crucially, with the Board taking an active (and accountable) role in creating and building value.

    The panel explored a wide range of related topics, some of which are country-specific. You can read the full discussion here (it's a long and rich discussion—86 posts—but well worth the read). If you'd like to discuss this topic further, or explore how to improve value creation in your context, please contact me. 
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    Managing tensions

    Phd Research Time Management
    One of the things I'm re-learning as I continue on my doctoral research journey is this—that critical thinking and a broad, open mind are two crucial characteristics that need to be mastered and maintained. The sheer volume of material available at my fingertips (through electronic library systems) is mind-blowing. A simple search on "governance AND high-growth" revealed thousands of peer-reviewed academic articles and books. With this volume of material, where do I start? Clearly, my searches need to become more refined and more specific (and they are). I've found it relatively easy to go down seemingly interesting and relevant pathways, only to subsequently find that I'm miles away from where I need to be.

    Learning involves the management of tensions. On one hand, an enquiring mind is good, very good. On the other, the vastness of the pool of information is such that you simply need to become ruthless about what gets explored and what gets left. The question that begs to be answered is: "How do I manage this tension"? As I continue to write my research proposal, I've embraced two techniques that seem to be serving me well:
    • Manage my research time ruthlessly. For me, this means 1/4 of my time reading books, 1/4 searching and reviewing academic articles, 1/4 thinking (often as I ride my bike!), and 1/4 writing. Without this guide, it would be very easy to gather stuff and miss the thinking and writing parts.
    • Ask and answer two questions immediately after reading any title or abstract. How does this fit? Why does this fit? By ruthlessly asking and answering these questions, I've been able to reduce my reading list by 40-50%. That's got to be good for time management!
    Like many things in life, managing the doctoral research workload is about managing tensions effectively. What works for me may not work for you though. And that's OK!

    How do you manage the tension between effective enquiry and information overload?
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    Sacrifices...no unshod child in our city

    Ever wondered about the sacrifices people around you make as they pursue their goals? Some people are motivated by quite selfish goals. They'll go without in one area to potentially win big later on. These people often get ahead, but equally often these people stand on toes and some are despised because of the selfishness. Others however are motivated by making sacrifices in order to make the world a better place. Simon is someone that fits in this latter category. I want to tell you about the work he is doing to help children who live in some of the poorest areas of our city.
    Simon runs the Shoes Project at our local church. He decided one of the ways we could help our neighbours was provide shoes to every child (yes, every single one, that's thousands of kids) that attends a decile one primary school in our city. He negotiated a deal with a sports shoe company and put the word out there. He asked people to make a sacrifice, to give money, to help a child. And guess what? They did. His workmates gave. So did local businesses, and so did people at our local church. Even other kids. People were moved by not wanting these children to go through winter without decent shoes. You see, with good shoes they'd stay healthier, and learn more at school. People took up the opportunity to forgo some of their own hard-earned money in order to put shoes on the feet of a child who either didn't have any or whose shoes were quite simply falling apart. 
    And do you think the kids appreciated the gesture? You bet! The project made the front page. Simon started with one school. When the sacrificial donations made by many were added up, there was enough money to give every child in two schools a new pair of shoes. All this has happened in the last four weeks. It's exciting! There's nearly enough money to do the third school, but there are so many more children still missing out. 
    Would you like to be part of this? Can you sacrifice $26 to fund a pair of new high-quality sports shoes for a child? If so, please contact me by email or Twitter and I'll connect you.
    This weekend, Easter, is when Christians the world over look to the core of their faith and the sacrifice God made. Dying for the sake of others is the ultimate sacrifice anyone can make—Jesus did this. Funding a pair of shoes for a growing child in a poor suburb is a much smaller sacrifice, but one with huge upsides.
    Why is Simon doing this? It's all about improving the wellbeing of our community and the society we live in. Simple as that.