..Easy to understand difficult to do.
Quote by Nate Regier in Compassionate Accountability
I don’t have an opinion today on that
I was thinking today, what do I think about X? I turned thinking into overthinking and concluded that sometimes I’m not ready to give my opinion. I haven’t thought enough about it, I don’t have expertise in said area or just don’t even care enough to dig deeper.
I’m going to try and simply say to my inner self “I don’t have an opinion”.
ah much better.
Don’t worry I’ll do it myself
When something needs doing it is easy to insist it is done the way you know. Which spins into saying to a teammate “don’t worry I’ll do it myself”. They lose agency and you end up doing something they could have done by them and you did that other important thing.
Next time you hear yourself saying “I’ll do it myself” try to catch yourself and see what happen.
The trust battery for a CEO
In my career to date I have always had a slight (common?) distrust of those higher up in the organisation. Trust on a personal level is gained through interactions, Rarely do most people in a workforce get to know the boss. I have heard all sorts of rumours of things that I am alleged to have said that I didn’t. Or someone will have second-guessed something I did and assumed a different thing. Our worldviews may be different and the sum of “assuming or guessing” can make gaining high levels of trust a problem.
Knowing this has made me really think how I can reduce this problem. When I started 16 months ago I regularly shared a slide which showed a graphic of a battery that was half charged with 2 of 4 bars. Enter the Trust battery. Tobi Lütke who is Shopify CEO has talked about the concept that when you start a new role people probably trust you about 50%. With each interaction you either charge or discharge the trust battery.
So over a year into my role I recently had a moment where someone really took a leap to trust me. Yah. But that being said mostly people I feel are at 50%. One of my objectives this year is to see if I can get more people in the higher side of the battery than the lower side.
How?
By doing what I say i’ll do and showing through actions and transparency. Doing but then not sharing is def one piece of the puzzle as unless folk see/hear actions they can be left unsure and that battery fails just a drop more.
On listening to advice
Should you listen to advice from others? My answer would be that you should always “consider” other people’s advice if you are stuck and you have asked!
The actual answer to your specific question is nearly always “it depends”.
It depends on XYZ with a smearing of your own context. so having advice from others will let you think differently and maybe come up with a more informed position. Because if you already knew the answer you wouldn’t be asking.
Reading List 2020
Last year I managed to read 11 books. I’d like to get 12-15 this year
- Grit by Angela Duckworth finished 13 Feb 2020. Paperback ISBN 9781785040207. In short people can do well in life by practicing and not giving up and this can beat “talent”.
- The only Investment Guide you’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias finished 21 Feb 2020. Paperback ISBN 9780544781931. A witty read that basically suggests you should come back when you have £10,000 or more in savings ha! The section on how to save money is very useful and my aim this year is to try to save 20% of my earnings…..
- Sprint: Solve big problems and test new ideas in just Five Days by Jake Knapp finished 27 Feb 2020 Paperback ISBN 9780593076118. A short guide with case studies on how to tackle a problem and produce a prototype in five days. Lots of useful tips I’ll be trying out this year.
- Red Notice by Bill Browder finished 19 April 2020 kindle isbn 9781448170937
- Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond finished 3rd May 2020 Paperback 9780099302780. Huge thanks to my local bookshop for delivering during the pandemic!
- Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein paperback ISBN 978014104001 finished 14th June 2020. A highly readable look at how using “nudges” we can help ourselves and others make better decisions – useful for home and work.
- The Spook Who Sat by The Door by Sam Greenlee finished 26 June 2020. Paperback ISBN 9781943138173. A really good read that is about one black man’s vision set his people free.
- The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi finished 10 July 2020. Paperback ISBN 9780575088894. My first SF novel in ages and it was good to be lost in other worlds!
- How to Stop Worrying & Start Living by Dale Carnegie finished 29th July 2020. Kindle. A short run through of things we worry about and letters from people who came out the other side – a good read during the pandemic
- Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala finished 13 August 2020. Kindle. We’re both born the same year and so much of his descriptions of his teens and 20’s match mine (London / Bristol) – from literally countless stop and search*, school folks murdered, shots fired, and the mix of Ghanaian/UK/USA influences. Akala is a gifted writer and I really enjoyed this book. I have seen him rapping live in the past too so it is nice to reconnect too. Highly recommended. *Ive been stopped walking, cycling, driving/passenger and motorcycle.
- How To Be An Antiracist by Dr Ibram X. Kendi finished 27 August 2020. Kindle ISBN 9781473570979. Just read it!
- Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers finished 29th August 2020. Kindle. A book about making things happen. Each chapter is 1-2min read and concisely gives you food for thought and more importantly action…or not. Many of the chapters are also available via his podcast if you prefer to listen. Derek donated all $250,000 raised from the books sold to the Against Malaria Foundation.
- Your Music and People by Derek Sivers finished 6th September 2020. Kindle. I respect music enough not to play any instruments and I def can’t sing or rap ha. This book is aimed at helping “musicians” to get their work out in the World BUT you can replace “musician” with any other role and find Derek’s suggestions useful. I really like that creativity isn’t limited to the actual songs but is just as true for marketing/business/connection. I’m looking forward to my print copy later this year.
- The Art of Possibility by Ros Zander and Ben Zander finished 13 September 2020. Kindle. A good format book that asks us to transform how we can open up our world view and from I to We.
- The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple finished 6 October 2020. Kindle ISBN: 9781408864401. The book details how a company grew into an “empire within an empire” and is as much a business book as a tale of the horrors of war, greed, betrayal and loot. Recommended.
- Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World by Jacqueline Novogratz finished 21 October 2020. Paperback ISBN 9781250798770. Such a great book. Jacqueline has been around the globe countless times helping people to make sustainable businesses that have a real social impact. I think it is an important book for anybody in business but certainly those of us in the non-profit sector. In a time of needing revenue more than ever Jacqueline shows that patient capital is where we can really add value.
- It Doesn’t have to Crazy at work byJason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson finished 17th November 2020. Paperback ISBN 9780008323448. As Sara and I start to lead BMT this week and England is in national lockdown I wanted to re-read this book which is packed full of 1-2 page suggestions for working remotely and having a calm company. With most staff having to remain at home until at least 3rd December now seems like a good time to help us all remain calm digitally at least. I see no reason that we as a cultural sector can’t remain calm and use digital tools with intent from now. I don’t want being in the office to be a sign of “doing the work”. It isn’t physical vs remote, it is taking the time in 2020 to see if there is another way to leap from how things were to fixing some of our old habits that may be comfy but not as effective as the tools and processes of 2020 could let us be. Plenty of good reasons for human contact too!
- The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins finished 17th November 2020. Kindle. As I embark on my first CEO role this week I wanted to sense check with Sara how we’ll get momentum. Although we have all of the parts in our heads, this book brings everything together so was worth the read. Working as a job-share it is good to have reference material to align. I like how the guide is aimed at all job levels too. If I had to choose one highlight it is “build credibility early” as nobody knows you from your old success. Otherwise known as a trust battery.
- Range – Why Generalists Triumph in a specialized World by David Epstein finished 30th November 2020. Kindle. A really good book that uses lots of examples across fields to show that generalists do well not just specialists. A chapter towards the end describes me well and uses the term Polymath which seems pretty fitting for me – someone who covers lots of areas inside and outside my current domain, without any-longer being a specialist (in my case computing/digital). I’ve previously read some of the research examples such as Grit (see book 1 above). I have talked a lot about “T-shaped” skills being ever more important in the culture sector and this good is a handy nod to this being one of the possible futures you could choose.
- The Whole Picture: The colonial story of the art in our museums & why we need to talk about it by Alice Procter finished 4th December 2020. Hardback ISBN 9781788401555. I was really looking forward to this book and it didn’t disappoint. I often like to ask “why” and Alice doe’s a really good good of answering the “why” regarding types of museum, objects and stories that are shown and not shown to the public with an eye on colonial history. Each chapter gives you helpful context with an easy to understand rationale, making the book an easy read for a big subject. The conclusion chapter is something i’ll be dipping back to regularly as my role means that i’m part of the problem but can also be helping lead on readdressing. How can we get over ourselves as people who want to stay employed but yet have a duty to evolve, unlock the stories and relinquish control to who have been directly affected?, Alice says it best right at the end “We have to keep rethinking, keep reframing who we remember and how”. Personally I find it interesting that my journey from working class kid who has taken an unusual path to being a CEO of “the museum establishment” now affords me an opportunity to collaborate on a future path that can choose unlock with intent. Thank you Alice for such an important reminder.
- The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin finished 28th December 2020. Paperback ISBN 9780241470046. You should read everything by Seth and I also recommend his podcast Akimbo. Seth makes the point that the only work worth doing seeks to make change happen and you need to be on the hook and stop hiding. The book uses 219 examples to help you remember that you can get better and ship work daily by having a process. I am a fan.
Using an Asda self serve scanner with 50 items
Used this self scan at @asda today to buy 50 items. Between my slowness and the software lag we counted 12 customers served in the same time it took me with roughly same or bigger trolley. Not quite the future of retail yet #retail #retailtech
Tell me what you discover in my data
Unless I’m at risk of being fired for sharing data I happily throw out our numbers publicly. Money, satisfaction, raw data on X, y and Z. I think that sharing is vital and by sharing it leads to connecting with others seeking similar answers. I get messages from people across the globe who have googled an issue and found a talk, tweet or blog I’ve shared. I’ve already done the work so sharing costs me nothing but has led to real connections.
An unexpected benefit has been that others have spotted trends or interesting insights that I’ve overlooked. Everything looks like a nail when you’re welding a hammer. Opening up the data gives a new perspective which can only be a good thing.
So please do tell me what you see when you look at my data or dashboards.
P.S. I get push back from others who think they aren’t able to share their data verbally let alone publicly – I’m fairly confident an FOI request could be made on 99.9% of things you haven’t shared. So share because you can not because you’re being forced to.
Field notes from Oslo 2018
I was invited to Oslo, Norway to give a talk and workshop to a network who represent 200 museums and galleries. I had previously visited Norway twice before and it’s definitely under the radar for most people. I arrived to Heathrow Terminal 2 early and used this as an opportunity to see how the shops were. Airports retail is often interesting as they usually invest in beautiful displays and make a lot of money. The mini John Lewis was a standout and I nearly fainted at the £68 at Dixon’s wanted for a MacBook air to hdmi connector which I passed on. The flight was full and they insisted my bag go into the overhead storage. This of course led to the breaking of my iPad screen. I still really really hate flying and my stomach felt like I’d been through the ringer even though the flight was smooth!
Oslo airport was impressive with great architecture and food shops as I whizzed by. The airport run into Oslo centre was via the efficient express train. It is only about 20mins and £20 each way. You can simply swipe your credit card for payment which is probably as frictionless as you can get. After a short walk to my hotel I went for dinner on the harbour at Olivia Aker Brygge with my host Elisabeth. Most of the city seemed closed which surprised me as they want to increase tourism. More food options on a Sunday evening please.
We had a very pleasant meal and chat.
The network met Monday to have a session with Innovative Norway to hear about the latest tourism plans. As the sessions were in Norwegian I had alternative plans to pass the time. After a nice walk through the Royal Palace Park and a glance at some royalty arriving with an escort I met with Ingrid who works at The National Gallery. The Gallery is most well known for displaying The Scream by Edvard Munch. I had an hour to really look around the retail offer and hear about the new plans for 2020 when the Gallery relocates to the the new location at Aker Brygge. I was stunned to hear that they will retain the existing building too. Great work whoever negotiated that deal. The retail offer had a really nice local artist and bespoke range that was also very popular. The long layout spread between two levels is challenging so I’m sure the team will be pleased to move to the new build where they will have three retail offers. I insisted on seeing the stockroom too as a lot is gleaned from the stockroom. I am very grateful to Ingrid for taking the time to host me.
Next I was due to meet Véronique from Astrup Fearnley Museet. Astrup Fearnley Museet is a private museum which re-located to the harbour in 2012. The building is stunning and set amongst law firms on the Fjord. I chuckled when I discovered that the collection store is under the water line. Brave! The retail area was designed by the architect so it has some very “interesting” challenges as is always the case with non-retail experts. That being said the shop looks amazing both as a piece of design and how Véronique and team have carefully considered the products and visual merchandising. Even the floor power had beautifully designed metal covers. I got to hear about how the team work with artists for in-store workshops and are constantly finding fun ways to engage with customers. I was mightily impressed with the retail. The product range was as good as anywhere i’ve ever been and they are quite rightly profitable.
I was visiting on a Monday when they were closed to the public which gave a rare chance to quickly explore the galleries including Jeff Koon’s latest exhibition and the permanent collection which includes Damian Hirst. The museum is a popular place to hire too and I enjoyed the visit. If the shop had been open and I had more time I’m confident I would have spent lots of money. The match boxes made using the collection were a personal highlight – the low light throughout winter means matches are a very popular purchase. They will launch an online shop before the end of the year.
Jeff Koon’s sculpture – Michael Jackson and Bubbles
By this point it was mid-afternoon and we rejoined the rest of the group to get a coach to a number of museums and galleries outside of the central. We started with the home of Roald Amundsen who was the first person to reach the South Pole in 1911. The house is located about 45min drive from the centre of Oslo on the Fjord in the type of location that these days money can’t buy. The house has pretty much been left as it since the day Roald left it for the last time. The home is restricted to 2000 visitors per year so I felt pretty lucky. The tour was in Norwegian but my partner in crime Mathilde Emilie Johnsen kindly kept me in the loop.
Our next museum was a cartoon museum with gallery called Avistegnernes Hus, DrØbak. The space was across two floors with plenty of cartoons (Newspaper cartoons) and was showing photography from Willibald Storn. Our host gave an overview of the history of the space which is famous in the newspaper cartoon world. Tasty local apple juice made for a very pleasant time.
Next we took a ferry boat across a Fjord to an island to Ank Oscarsborg. A fortress that was in use until about 2000. We had a wonderful dinner and great conversations about Norway. I really enjoyed the afternoon and evening not only to see the museums but to just “see” Oslo and surrounding area as the bus whizzed around. A quick beer at the hotel saw in midnight. Tuesday was my day to deliver a 90min talk with discussion and a practical workshop. I love days like this which hark back to my time delivering training at University of Leicester and for Jisc as part of the University of Bristol. I feed off the energy of the room and we all get to exchange ideas and challenge everything. I always learn a lot too even as the presenter. For example the majority of the room said they were running at 35%-40% gross profit margin. This makes it hard to be profitable and was a nugget for the day which I used for reference. The group seemed to really enjoy the day and I loved a short session where each person gave a 5min presentation with photos of their retail offer. A good way to see where they come from and the scale of the retail offer. If I had to guess which two areas they really engaged with the most I would say making a roadmap and learning what your museum “touch points” are. A roadmap using trello is a quick and easy way to work with colleagues on delivering incremental benefits. A touch point is any point of contact that any member of the workforce has with a visitor. There was a definite lightbulb moment when the room realised just how many interactions a visitor can have. The point is to surface opportunities to delight a visitor and to show that retail needs to be out in the museum not just in the retail space in order to maximise the opportunity to raise awareness. Follow the visitor. In practice it may be that placing a display in the cafe or a sign in the toilet is a way to become visible to visitor who would normally just skip the retail offer by default.
After the sessions I headed to the airport with a few of the group. I had a few hours to spare so got to people watch and relax after a long day on my feet. I had a quiet flight back and crawled into bed about 3am.
I would like to thank everyone that I had the privilege of talking to and Norway continues to be a delight. I hope to return for more workshops in the next year.
[Music I listened to: Belly – Immigrant, Edvard Grieg – The Best of Grieg, 6Lack – East Atlanta Love Letter, Travis Scott – Astroworld, Westside Gunn – Supreme Blientele].
TRANSFORMATION: SCALE, SCOPE AND SPEED
In the latest of our collaborative articles which address key issues facing the business community, Zak Mensah, Head of Transformation for the Culture team at Bristol City Council, shares his thoughts on what businesses need to do to avoid the pitfalls that can hamper the most well planned transformation projects.