Friday 29 July 2011

Lord Digby Jones

I was fortunate to receive an invitation to listen to Lord Digby Jones speak at Pera in Melton Mowbray this week. He made an impassioned speech without notes on the subject of "Growth through Innovation". His visual imagery of the Taxi driver providing for his son to learn skills so that he would in future sit in the back of some else's Taxi was excellent. The most powerful of the images however was the likely direction of countries such as China and Brazil this Century. Not surprisingly he was also a strong advocate of the importance of skills in this country as one of the routes to grow UK plc through Innovation.

He entertained his audience by confirming all of our views that Governments just don't get it when it comes to business. The recent Bombardier news, being so local was extra relevant.

Of course as he is a Leicester Tigers fan like myself, it makes me a little biased. To read more about him yourself, click on the link above.

Sunday 3 July 2011

Calcs and Assumptions

Never underestimate the value of doing a little analysis. I say a little because a limited amount of calculation puts you a surprisingly long way ahead of those that don't, or can't be bothered. And I say a little because if you think carefully about what to calculate it limits what you have to do, to just what is important.

And remember the assumptions you make. Write them down, let people know. Often the thinking that sets the assumptions is more important than the calcs. They set out the quality of your thinking, they prompt a debate.

So:
Decide what it's important to calculate
Think about what assumptions to make and write them down
Do the simple calcs and draw the conclusions.