X : Has UK Gov handled COVID well?
Me : Many things we could have and could still do better on. However, compared to letting this virus run rampant then I applaud the action taken. But there are costly lessons (in terms of lives) to be learned and that needs a Royal Commission.
Me : I would also emphasise that we're not through this yet by a long shot. No, things are not "perfect", they never are. There are failures in the system and unfortunately those failures mean loved ones. But there are also good efforts being made. Hence my encouragement of Gov.
X : You're not answering the question. Is UK Gov handling this well?
Me : We could have and could still do better on many things. Let us leave that to a Royal Commission. Now is not the time. We should start by supporting positive actions being taken.
X : No criticism?
Me : Criticism is fair (there are many things we could still do better) but start by first acknowledging and supporting the positive actions being taken. Remember, we have some who believe the virus should be left to run wild.
X : There are a lot of armchair experts out there.
Me : Agreed. That's one of the problems. Along with misinformation, confusion and some misteps. However, there has been positive action taken and that shouldn't be ignored but supported and acknowledged first.
X : Are you referring to @MattHancock comment on "divisive"?
Me : Yes. I think his response was completely fair and I'm a member of the Labour party. I also think the accusations and some comments on twitter are disgraceful -
Me : I'll put it bluntly, back in March, PHE figures had between 318,000 to 530,000 dead by Spring 2021. That's what we were facing and could still do if left to run rampant. Regardless of misteps, we must support the positive action taken.
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X : Thoughts on a return to office policy?
Me : It happens for two basic reasons:- 1) loss of status symbols (top floor office etc). Many execs need these to say "I'm the boss" 2) headcount reduction (i.e. people will leave) due to a weakness in the finances.
Why?
X : What about productivity and innovation?
Me : Those are "reasons" given but they're all bogus and don't stand up to scrutiny. However, there is a third.
X : Colloboration?
Me : Stranded assets - offices etc. No exec likes looking at an empty building they spent £300M on.
X : Basically - status symbols, weaknesses of finances and political capital?
Me : Sounds about right.
X : Did you see Amazon has a return to office policy -
Me : Oh. That's concerning.geekwire.com/2024/survey-by…
X : Our strategy doesn't align with our business.
Me : How do you mean?
X : We create these strategy documents but they never really get implemented as the day to day business takes over.
Me : That's common. Can I ask a question?
X : Sure
Me : ...
Me : Do you map?
X : I've heard of your technique but we don't use it.
Me : Ok, so your business operations is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : And your strategy is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : What made you think they would align?
X : They are supposed to align and we wrote our strategy on our understanding of the business.
Me : Your wrote your strategy based upon stories. There's no means to create a consensus of your landscape, to challenge what your are doing. There is no mechanism for alignment.
X : Why do you continue to use twitter / X?
Me : Because I like the tool and the crowd.
X : Do you support @elonmusk
Me : No. I disagree on many of his views.
X : He is far right.
Me : Perspective matters. US is generally more right wing & Silicon Valley especially so.
X : What do you mean by "Perspective matters"?
Me : Elon's views are not that unusual for Silicon Valley - . There's a lot of support based upon a different view of economics and government.
X : Different?
Me : Different from Europe. cbsnews.com/news/trump-jd-…
X : People should just accept it?
Me : No. They should argue against it. The "left" did itself no favours by diluting its voice across multiple platforms.
X : Are you left?
Me : I view the market as tool to be used in the common interest of society. I'm a socialist.
X : What do you need to do in order to map a business?
Me : Ask ... 1) "Who are the users?" (at the least, include consumers and the business) 2) "What are their needs?" 3) "What is the chain of components required to meet those needs?" 4) "How evolved are those components?"
...
Me : Once you have done that, allow others to challenge it. Even better, build the map with others. It really is that simple.
X : But creating a map is difficult.
Me : Only to those used to making decisions without understanding users, needs, the supply chain etc.
X : How common is that?
Me : In business? The majority of decisions tend to be made with no understanding of users, needs, supply chain and how evolved those components are. We tend to rely on gut feel and stories with little to no effective challenge.
dX: How do you deal with strategy?
Me: First, we need to answer the Where question, which depends a lot on the what and why.
dX: And?
Me: Ok, some very simple steps ...
Step 1: Visualise your environment. That means getting people to discuss, collaborate & challenge in order to create a "good enough" map of your environment. Should be a couple of hours.
Step 2: Look at what's changing which is competitor moves, your moves & economic patterns.
Step 3: Using the map, determine where you could invest/focus on. You're not making a decision yet, you just want the options. By now, you could have spent four hours on the exercise.
Step 4: Decide where you should invest i.e. look at the options using why & what
Those born in the 1890s experienced electrification, telephone, radio, television, nuclear age, penicillin, two world wars, commercial flight, computer age and a moon landing. By the 60s we had AI, VR and 3D printing.
Today, we have the internet / www and have improved stuff.
Is it me, or is human progress slowing down? Great breakthroughs, moments of change, and radical transformations seem like a thing of the past. What we call "revolutions" in industry today seems mostly a marketing slogan.
If you think back to 1957 and the Mark I Perceptron machine that was built at Cornell, then consider the changes in the previous 60 years ... you can't help but think they would be bitterly disappointed with how slow we have progressed in the following 60 years.