A note from me

As I prepare this edition of the Newsletter, the festive season is getting underway.  

I recognise that this isn’t a very festive time for many people in the world at the moment and add a few words on this later in the Newsletter.  

Nevertheless, for those of us fortunate to be able to celebrate our different traditions in our different ways with family and friends, it is a special time of year.  

For our family, this is the time to prepare for Christmas. The tree and the decorations are up, with my wife ensuring that everything is pretty spectacular yet tasteful.  The decorations on the Christmas tree are a mix of traditional lights and baubles with special memory pieces like a Dodo and a Camel!!  The Dodo is, of course, my personal mascot and the symbol for this Newsletter, and the Camel is an amusing reminder of one of our first dates which included a very unsteady camel ride together in Pasadena of all places. We had to cling on to each other very hard to prevent ourselves falling off, and the rest, as they say, is history!!!

I particularly shifted into the festive mood yesterday as we went to a friend’s Christmas gathering in the afternoon, then I watched my beloved Everton football team on the tv winning an important game. After this, we had a suitably attired group of friends round at our home to watch the Final of “Strictly Come Dancing” on the tv accompanied by yummy snacks and drinks.  

For those of you not familiar with Everton, they are battling relegation from the Premier League after a harsh and record-breaking points deduction for a minor financial accounting error. For those of you not familiar with “Strictly Come Dancing”, it is a BBC TV show that annually brings much joy to viewers through a competition in which novices struggle to learn ballroom dance to a very high standard. Subtly, however, it is also normalising and mainstreaming previously neglected or marginalised communities through also highlighting the common humanity of people with different disabilities or sexual orientations - all in a very unsubtle cascade of glittery costumes and fake-tans!  

Actually, now I come to think of it, the Everton team and the contestants on “Strictly Come Dancing” are displaying many of the characteristics being highlighted in this edition of the Newsletter.  I hope you find the following material informative and helpful.

My Bi-Weekly Guide

Strategic Character - The 5 C’s.

The 5 C’s:

This newsletter builds on previous editions introducing scenario-thinking and humility as aspects of what I consider to be “Strategic Character”. The mnemonic “So Heroes Can Practise Purpose” can help us remember all these features, with the “S” and the “H” referring to those previously covered attributes.  Now we arrive at the “C’s”.  Cultivating these “C” characteristics will help you and your teams build stronger strategic character. 

Curiosity:
The “S” and “H” attributes considered previously are essential for exploring possible future landscapes and for understanding how these may emerge from current and historical circumstances. However, to give appropriate attention to this requires a strong drive for exploration and understanding.  Intellectual curiosity is the essence of this drive to explore possibilities, humbly learn from different perspectives, and understand how the world works (and can work).  

Creativity:
To channel curiosity into constructive change, however, means developing fresh insights that can be acted upon. It means shaping the way people think and act. It means crafting analysis, storylines and images that capture the imagination. Successful performance of these creative crafts develops from the cultivation of creativity.

Collaboration:
Effective strategic action requires both coherent insights built from the contributions of multiple perspectives and also coherent steps from the multiple parties required to execute activity. The coordination of creative and executive endeavours requires collaboration between different actors. In addition, for many innovative developments, the collaboration must often take place across traditional boundaries whether national, public-private, or between business sectors. Understanding and cultivating non-traditional collaborations is of such importance that a separate future Newsletter will be dedicated to the topic.  

Courage:
Societies, organisations and individuals generally react to change or innovative approaches in the same way that bodies react to foreign proteins – they reject them! Resistance and opposition will usually be experienced and need to be addressed if progress is to be made. This demands not only resilience from practitioners and promoters of change, but also a fair degree of courage to step forwards knowing that this is likely to be opposed or denigrated in the first instance.  

Commitment:
Pushing strategic changes forward requires emotional strength, consistent application, and many hours of investment over a prolonged period. This is not something that can be approached half-heartedly or fleetingly. Like the intensity of effort being shown by the Everton team at the moment, and the energy and skills being shown by the finalists of Strictly Come Dancing, hours of practice and dedication in the arena are essential. Commitment to the cause is the characteristic that binds the other 4 “C’s” together.  

Whatever your phase or role in life, I hope you are finding this attention to building strategic character meaningful and helpful. I also hope that if enough people and organisations build these characteristics we may be able to address more effectively those troubles in the world that are currently bringing misery to millions, and to avoid or moderate the worst of possible future troubles.  

I wish everyone reading this, no matter what your circumstances, a safe, secure, restorative and heart-warming time now and in the period ahead.

Question of The Fortnight

Every fortnight I’ll be asking a thought-provoking question in hopes of sparking interesting and enlightening discussion.

I’d love to hear your response! You can do so by simply responding to this email.

Today’s question is:

What are you curious about, and why?

Join The Dodo Club

I’m building a community and, of course, it’s called The Dodo Club.

Why? Because we all want to avoid the fate of that unfortunate bird. And by sharing some of the insights I’ve picked up over my four decade long career - including as Head of the Shell Scenarios team - I’m going to help you do exactly that.

I am building a space where we can have interesting and enlightening discussions on relevant topics that can have genuine impact.

I plan to host live, interactive seminars, run forums on relevant topics, and create a bank of materials that can be drawn from in times of uncertainty.

We’re still in the early stages of building, but if this sounds like something that might interest you, I’d be honoured if you would sign up below: