Leading Change: Handbook Entry, Week 10

Journal Entry – Week 10,
06/10/08

Here we
are at the penultimate week, praise the gods. This group assignment
has been tough because of the personalities involved however I have
been staunch in the face of folly and brought things back on track
through some tough negotiating. I’m amazed how some people can
actually keep talking until they physically run out of oxygen. I
wouldn’t want to be in an argument with them.

So what
struck me this week? This quote is a good one…

“How
dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, not to
shine to use”

I’ve
made a few attempts to actually use some of the things I have learned
in that last 2 years in this MBA journey and I finally managed to
achieve something. Oddly enough it was for the leadership paper, not
this paper but the timing with the lectures on leadership seemed to
fit quite nicely. I’ve been working on a leadership challenge
project for creative leadership MMBA 545 under Dr MacDonald. The
idea was to put myself outside of my comfort zone and find leadership
so I advertised my free services as an MBA guru of everything on the
Cable Car Challenge website and waited for the emails to roll in.
And waited, and waited and finally got pissed off and tried to think
of something else to do. Then I got an email from a young chap who
didn’t make the shortlist but wanted to keep working on his
idea anyway. That kind of enthusiasm I can respect so we met up and
chatted about his idea which is actually quite good. Anywho, I gave
him a whole lot of suggestions and some ways of taking it forward by
gathering people around him who understand the vision and sent him
off down the path of leadership. I got another email from him the
other day and the advice is working too! Good on him I thought.

The reason
I prattle on about this in the final handbook entry is because most
of the previous entries have been about how much I learned that week
and how I intend to use it in the future. Last week I actually put
something into practice. Job done.

Unfortunately
I’m not actually that good at taking my own advice. During the
Teachable Point of View exercise I realised that no one was really
all that interested and those who were listening didn’t get it.
I haven’t figured out how to sell the idea that I’m not
the innovator who had the big idea. I’m the guy who is the
right hand man of the innovator who keeps things on track and makes
the big things happen. The problem seems to be that no one in New
Zealand seems to be able to understand that these are often different
people. I think it might go back to the recurring theme through the
paper regarding control and equity. New Zealanders don’t seem
to be able to let go of their idea or admit they need help to make it
a big deal. They like to think that if you have an idea you have to
do everything yourself otherwise you might have to share the rewards
with someone else. I find this a bit silly when the whole modern
world is geared towards specialisation but there you go. The lesson
I have learned from this is that I don’t think that the
opportunities for me to really make something of myself are here in
New Zealand, they are in the United States or other countries where
they understand that making ideas in something big is a team sport
and you need to share the reward around. It reinforces a belief I
have come to that New Zealand is a great place to retire after you
have made you money overseas. Being rich here is really good fun.

My last
thought for this journal is related to the Rosenzweig article about
the halo effect. I like the way he sums up strategic leadership as:

• Gather
  information

  
  

• Evaluate
  it thoughtfully

  
  

• Choose
  actions with high probability of success

  
  

• Don’t
  let uncertainty get you down

  
  

I’m
really good at this sort of stuff. The trick is that I have to move
to an environment where people respect this kind of thinking. Again,
the lesson learned is that I need to get out of New Zealand.

To sum up,
the strategic options before me are many but they fall into a few
basic categories.

Firstly, I
could continue with a meaningless career in the Information
technology industry, take my $200,000 per annum and try to buy
meaning in the rest of my life. Nothing wrong with that, good supply
of cash, the industry isn’t going away and I could afford a lot
of fun hobbies. Time frame is short, reward adequate.

Secondly,
I could try a more high risk approach in the same sort of industry by
working for a product company that is prepared to deal me in some
shares. Rewards high, medium time frame, opportunity to prove myself
in some way. Sounds good.

Thirdly, I
could bail out of the Information technology industry and move into a
career where the rewards are true power. Law appeals because I could
specialise in Intellectual Property issues which would expose me to
lots of ideas driven people because they would have something to
protect and I would be able to offer that protection. It would also
leverage the skills I already have but in a more business like way.
Finally, it’s a real profession with a quasi-monopoly
structure, reasonably high barriers to entry and a real professional
body that you have to be a member of in order to play the game.
Quite different from Information technology where any dingbat with an
IQ of over 70 can get a piece of the action.

And on
that note Sam left the room to make a cup of tea while the options
spiralled through the air…