I’m writing this from a slightly different perspective. Today, thanks to a knee injury last week, I’m no longer my usual self, bounding up and down the stairs. It’s painful to walk around and I have to think consciously before moving in case I hurt myself.
Yesterday, I spoke at IBC, the International Broadcasting Convention, in Amsterdam. Usually I speak at conferences where I know the subject and the audience well. This time, I was the outsider, who didn’t know the jargon and was stunned by all the new technology around me. I spent some time in a futuristic living room designed by Cisco. The walls were covered in screens showing video, information and friends in their own homes watching the same content. When the screens were switched off, they matched the wall paper on the wall around them. It was mind-boggling:
I experienced another perspective on the way home. My sore knee meant that I needed special assistance from check-in to my plane. I had to wait near check in until close to boarding time, when a lady collected me and whisked me in a buggy to my gate and then, via a wheelchair, to my plane. I’ve never gone through security and passport control so fast!
The world looks quite different from a wheelchair and I’m profoundly grateful for those at Schipol Airport, Amsterdam and Birmingham Airport who looked after me so well, making a conscious effort to look down and talk to me at my new level. It would have been so easy to have looked over me, especially when passport booths are designed for people to stand at.
So, how does all of this relate to Business Analysis and Leadership and the book? I think it does in two ways.
(1) Business analysts need to remember that there are a whole range of different perspectives that we need to be aware of and understand well.
(2) Our book is designed to reflect this reality by bringing in 28 diverse contributors, each with a slightly different view. I think that the different voices and perspectives add a lot to the book. Let me know your view of how this works.
Next week, I’ll be back in my own area at Business Analysis Europe Conference 2013 in London. If you’re coming, do say ‘Hello’ and I’ll be delighted to introduce you to many of the authors who will be there. There is a panel on Leadership and a session on Tuesday afternoon related to this book. See you there!
