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    Twelve months on: living the dream

    Governance Management Performance Phd Readings Societal Wellbeing Strategy
    Today is an auspicious day (well for me anyway). Musings was created twelve months ago today. At that time, I wanted (needed?) an outlet through which new ideas, thoughts and reflections could be expressed as I began to grapple with the demands of a PhD. 

    When I set out, the goal was entirely personal: Musings was a vehicle to share my thoughts and ideas about governance, strategy and societal wellbeing. I had no idea whether Musings would make it beyond a few months (or a few entries for that matter!), or whether anyone would read the entries. I wasn't really bothered either. To my surprise, my motivation to share ideas remains intact, somewhere between 50 and 200 visitors view the site each day (that number is slowly growing over time), and quite a few people have either posted comments or contacted me directly.

    Looking ahead, I plan to continue writing, because the process helps me refine my (doctoral) thoughts. The focus will probably narrow slightly (to strategy, decision-making and governance), as these topics start to dominate my thinking time (I've discovered doctoral research does that to you). One twist though: I'm going to move from writing for my sake, to trying to provide "value" to readers. To do this, I'd appreciate some feedback. Are there some topics or themes that you'd like to read about in the coming months? If so, please post a comment! In the meantime, postings will continue at the pace of 2-3 postings each fortnight.
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    On governance: Can (should?) one size fit all?

    Governance Readings Research
    This is one of the perennial questions of governance. It just keeps coming up. Almost every month I am asked to comment on the "best model" of governance. 

    Governance is hard to grasp as a concept. What's more, it is a complex and socially dynamic phenomenon. Governance has lots of moving parts, and things change, depending on context. Indeed, no universally accepted definition for "corporate governance", "IT governance", "policy governance", or even "governance" itself seems to exist. The OECD definition of corporate governance, written in 2004, is widely recognised and generally accepted, however many directors and owners of smaller companies question how it fits their circumstances.

    Back to the question. The research literature is fairly clear: the pursuit of a one-size-fits-all governance model—or an optimal Board structure for that matter—does not appear to be practical, feasible or even desirable. Just as different organisational structures and operating policies make sense in different settings (who'd apply Fortune 500 structures in a SME?), different governance models also make sense in different settings. So, the answer is "no"—but that begs another question: how should one go about implementing effective governance in an organisational setting? Well (you're not going to like this), it depends.

    Clearly, working out how to implement an effective governance framework is important, because the question keeps coming up. I've decided to try to tackle this question over the coming weeks. I'll share what I learn through Musings. Watch this space!
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    Reading: On Galileo, the spyglass and human endeavour

    Readings Societal Wellbeing
    I've just read a short, approachable article that reminded me of some rather interesting background reading I did 6–12 months ago. Throughout the early stages of my doctoral research, I was encouraged to read about some of the "big names" in scientific endeavour: Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Crick & Watson. While my research is very much positioned in the social science field, my supervisor suggested that reading widely would help me to  understand how great minds went about their work, how they recognised "opportunities", and how they achieved breakthroughs.
    A key learning to emerge from all this background reading is that Galileo, Newton and Einstein all employed an iterative technique of discovery. They cycled around an inductive–deductive loop, inferring a theory and then testing it. They modified existing tools in order to conduct previously unknown tests. And this is what made their work effective.
    As we approach Christmas, and look at the night sky, we can thank Galileo for recognising the spyglass might be useful to understand the heavenly bodies. And I thank my supervisor for helping me recognise the inductive–deductive loop, a technique I've adopted for my own research.
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    What is the purpose of economic growth? 

    Phd Readings Research Societal Wellbeing
    Note: This Muse is somewhat different from many previous entries. Whereas most prior entries record aspects of my doctoral journey, or make suggestions about a range of topics, this Muse simply poses a question: "What is the purpose of economic growth?".

    I'm raising this question now because I realised, while re-reading some PhD notes today, that a statement that appears several times in my papers is heavily loaded. The statement is: "High company performance is an important contributor to economic growth and societal wellbeing". Today, for the first time, I realised this statement somehow assumes that economic growth and societal wellbeing are some how "good", and therefore worthy of pursuit. But why? What is the purpose of economic growth? What is the underlying driver? 

    Before you get too excited, I'm certainly not devaluing economic growth as such. Rather I'm asking why we humans pursue it. I don't have a clear answer right now, but I will ponder this question over the coming days, do some reading, and try to form some views.

    To kick the discussion off, Benjamin Friedman, the political economist, writing in 2006, asserted that "Economic growth—meaning a rising standard of living for the clear majority of citizens—more often than not fosters greater opportunity, tolerance of diversity, social mobility, commitment to fairness, and dedication to democracy. Ever since the Enlightenment, Western thinking has regarded each of these tendencies positively, and in explicitly moral terms."

    What do you think? I love to hear your ideas—considered, wacky or otherwise!
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    Expanding one's horizons...

    Readings Research Time Management
    One of the promises (or more correctly, one of the aspirational goals) I made when setting out on my doctoral journey was to read widely—particularly in "off-topic" areas. My reason was selfish: to expand my horizons, maintain a sense of sanity and (hopefully) trigger some new ideas, because the sheer volume of on-topic material is enough to intimidate even the most ardent student.

    However when I paused for a few days after completing the confirmation process, I realised that progress towards my "read widely" goal had stalled somewhat. In the daily routine of reading about governance, strategy, research methodologies, philosophy, and the theory of knowledge creation, I'd lost sight of the bigger goal.

    Having realised what had happened, I decided an active remedy was required. To this end I have explicitly reserved an hour a day to read off-topic material. Further, I have decided to embrace the novel genre (for the first time in my adult life!), and specifically the so-called modern classics. A search engine provided the starting point: To Kill a Mockingbird. Next in line is yet to be determined, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know!
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    On becoming "globally influential"

    Readings Societal Wellbeing
    Every day, news stories and articles from a plethora of sources arrive in my email inbox and news reader software. The deluge is self-inflicted—I need to read widely for my doctoral studies. Mind you, having a voracious appetite for general knowledge doesn't help much!

    Every now and again, an article seems to lift itself off the screen, seemingly to attract extra attention as my eyes scan down the headings. Today, one such article was the "Top 100 global thinkers for 2012" list, published by Foreign Policy magazine. I looked at the FP list, because I was fascinated to know whether Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma or the Pakistani student Malala Yousafzai featured anywhere. To my surprise (and delight) both appeared in the top ten.

    It seems that, in 2012 at least, global influence is strongly correlated with politics and activism. With one exception (Sebastian Thrum—a computer scientist who has been working on the driverless car), the top ten are all activists or politicians fighting for various causes. It's not until you read further down the list that musicians, economists and business people start to appear.

    The point of this muse? Perhaps if you aspire to become globally influential, you should turn to politics in a volatile state, or embrace a vital cause. But most people motivated by these endeavours couldn't care less about fleeting appearances on "influence" lists. Rather, their primary motivation is the cause they've chosen the invest their hearts and souls in, and the enduring impact of their efforts. And therein lies a lesson for us all, as we ponder our role in society and contribution to it.