Hargraves Anthology - Sharing Conversations - by Juliet Chandler

-

– H ARG RAV E S IN S TITUTE A N T HO LO GY –

Juliet Chandler

-i-

– H A RG RAV E S IN S TITUTE ANT HO LO GY –

Juliet Chandler

Copyright Š Juliet Chandler 2016 EDITOR Stephanie Oley COVER ILLUSTRATION Mark Carnell DESIGN & LAYOUT Mettle Design Co. PUBLISHED BY Hargraves Institute Pty Ltd (ABN 23 120 509 659) Suite 402, 12 Century Cct, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 Email: HI@hargraves.com.au First published in June 2016

Copyright Notice No par t of this book may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Hargraves Institute Pty Ltd or Juliet Chandler. Juliet Chandler endeavored to contact copyright holders to request permission to reproduce all copyright material. Where we have been unable to contact copyright holders, if notified, we will ensure full acknowledgment of the use of copyright material.

Terms This book does not constitute professional advice. While all reasonable care has been taken in its preparation, Hargraves Institute does not make any express or implied representations or warranties as to the completeness, currency, reliability or accuracy of the stories and thinking. This book should not be used or relied upon as a substitute for professional advice or as a basis for formulating business or personal decisions. References to other material do not represent endorsement, sponsorship or approval of third par ties, or any products and services offered by third par ties. To the extent permitted by law, Hargraves Institute excludes all liability for any loss or damage arising out of the use of this book.

Contents Introduction - Allan Ryan ............................................................................................................ 1 Preface - Juliet Chandler �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3 Excitement - Mike Baldwin .......................................................................................................... 7 Reinvention - Annalie Killian ....................................................................................................13 Bio-innovation - Jane Cockburn ............................................................................................19 Design - Brandon Gien ................................................................................................................23 Prototype - Sam Bucolo .............................................................................................................27 Openness - Lyndall Strachan ....................................................................................................31 Controllability - Andrew Wilson ..........................................................................................35 Catalyst - Tess Julian......................................................................................................................39 Energy - Mirjana Prica ..................................................................................................................43 Relevance - J. André de Barros Teixeira ...............................................................................47 Faith - Angela Peverell .................................................................................................................51 Significance - Bill Healey ...........................................................................................................53 Value - Phil Preston ......................................................................................................................57 Unconsciousness - Julie Toma .................................................................................................61 Sharing - Deborah-Ann Allan ..................................................................................................65 Relationships - Dan Liszka .......................................................................................................67 Next? - Scott Bourke ....................................................................................................................71 Afterword .........................................................................................................................................75 Bibliography....................................................................................................................................79

Introduction Conversations in the Hargraves Institute family

The more I work to find the secrets of innovation and share best practice, the more I realise that success comes from both best practice and different practice. Uniqueness is a vital ingredient for successful innovation. The more organisations embrace lean, six sigma, agile and design thinking, the greater the need to create difference.

An impor tant area for difference is in leadership of innovation. Leaders must embrace best practice. Leaders must also be authentic, be themselves and not try to copy a persona.

Yet leaders of innovation recognise that they need to work in the optimum space between doing things right and doing the right things. This tension is pulling them in opposite directions.

Having known Juliet for several years, I greatly respect her passion for knowledge and her energetic inquiring mind. Her initiative to explore conversations and engage with the fundamentals of innovation captured my imagination. My enthusiasm increased with the positive feedback from par ticipants.

Everyone interested in leading innovation, doing innovation and being innovative needs to understand the power of individuality and authenticity.

Understanding the unique drive of individuals, teams, stakeholders and customers is a vital ingredient of future success.

-1-

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

The power of conversation and engaging with an open and deep thinker, like Juliet, unleashes deeper understanding of you. This is the foundation of enhancing your individuality, your authenticity and influence, especially when communicating.

This anthology is just the star t of an experiment. I invited a diverse group of innovation leaders to par ticipate, and the feedback was positive. Every leader shared positive experiences of their involvement, provided great insights and allowed us to publish their stories. These stories will open your mind to different ways of thinking. You cannot cut and paste, or easily extract the foundations of thinking from these stories. What you do next may change your life.

The experiment continues with more leaders, more conversations and more stor y sharing. We intend to work with leadership teams to catalyse both individual and team performance improvement. Our goal is to contribute to improved performance again and again, to enable people to change and businesses to transform with their people.

“

To create change, we must first change ourselves

Allan Ryan

�

Founder and Executive Director, Hargraves Institute

-2-

Preface Why publish a Hargraves Institute anthology?

In late 2015, Hargraves Institute invited 18 people working in Sydney to share their thinking and personal stories of corporate innovation in oneto-one conversations. Hargraves appreciates how individuals think, and believes that diversity of thought enhances innovation. In this anthology, we are shining a light on individual thinking and the energising movement of thoughts between people, using the form of conversational stories.

An anthology?

For context, anthologies are collections of stories organised under overarching themes. The themes for this anthology are innovation, leadership and change. Sub-themes include meaning, uncer tainty and belonging.

Anthologies are not structured ‘how-to’ guides. They are literary containers for a number of individual stories about experiences and beliefs, shared in conversations at a moment and place in time. Often writers tell their own story in anthologies, with an editor providing an introduction.

In the Hargraves Institute Anthology, we have reflected back selected extracts from the many stories shared by each individual in conversation.

The dialogue inspired re-telling of stories, with musing on interpretation and the addition of other thinkers for a broader perspective.

I use the word ‘stor y’ loosely, as some individual chapters require abstraction. As much as we might tr y, the real lives of the living do not neatly follow a stor y or presentation structure. Memories filter, -3-

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

conversations digress and we randomly jump around when sharing thinking. As we move from one thought to next, we miss oppor tunities to appreciate the significance of profound statements. No true stor y of a living person can be told in five acts with a definite arc in the middle.

It would also be false to suggest every story has a resolution.

What is shared Ever yone featured here works in innovation in Sydney. Some have worked in other domains and for companies in different countries.

There were shared interests across the group, as well as agreement and different perspectives on these common interests.

Innovation wisdom The intent in writing an introduction is not to draw any conclusions.

After such a project, it would be simplistic to suggest we could give answers to complex problems for easy application in another context.

It is also wor th acknowledging that The National Innovation and Science Agenda was released in the middle of these conversations (December 2015). Most conversations did not cover the Agenda, politics nor innovation policy, although we did explore a few of the themes in the stream of discussion. While policies, funding and government suppor t may come and go, we will always have people wanting to interact and connect with other people through conversation and stories.

Will the anthology be valuable for you?

Although not written by an academic, this anthology is arguably written for thinkers. It is for readers who are willing to slow down and think about how we understand the human experience of work.

Deriving value from this anthology requires active reader par ticipation.

Expect some leaps of thought that will not make sense on your first reading.

We cannot articulate whether or why you personally should read this anthology. There is no single answer to either question because your context and focus are different from everyone else we spoke to. I do not believe in labelling people or segments as part of a target audience. “Leaders and business thinkers interested in innovation� is as specific as I will be.

-4-

Preface - Why publish a Hargraves Institute anthology?

Hargraves conversations My entrĂŠ to innovation came from being in a position to obser ve frustration about the level of innovation capability in large companies.

It led me to Hargraves and its generous community. Members have remarked at how helpful it was to find a sense of belonging with other innovators, when they felt alone in their companies, working on the edge of business-as-usual. They could par ticipate in conversations at events about shared issues.

When I wanted to focus my career on one-to-one conversations about thinking, Hargraves was there for me again. Often, individuals are misunderstood when considered or addressed as group members.

Conversations with Hargraves provided personal and meaningful connections, and more impor tantly, the oppor tunity to act.

How to read this anthology Conversations and stories connect if we are open to possibility, so we recommend you star t reading with an open mind. This anthology may be unlike any corporate publication you have read. We do not always highlight who these individuals work for nor what they have specifically achieved. Individual and corporate identities are disassociated to focus on individual thinking and personal stories.

Different preferences can lead to outright rejection and disinterest. That is the risk we are willing to take. The anthology refers to many books, authors and philosophers. This is not to pretend we know, because we don’t. These references simply scratch the surface on potentially relevant history for the purpose of looking at innovation from another perspective.

References are shared as oppor tunities to test the serendipity of digressions and fur ther exploration.

There is no need to read this anthology from front to back. Choose any theme that resonates, or randomly select a stor y. As you read, you could pause and focus on a word or sentence that captures your attention. What does it mean to you? How would you develop your thoughts in a conversation? How different are your stories to the ones featured? What do you disagree with? What would you like to know more about? Please share your thoughts with us.

-5-

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

The value in reading this anthology will come from the conversations you have with your own thoughts and with other people about how you think and why.

On relevance Suppose you think this anthology is far too abstract or philosophical.

The content may seem irrelevant. Hold that thought. Now imagine a person you need to influence to achieve your goals. How well do you understand them? What if they are completely different from you and you do not know how or why your thinking differs?

The opportunity What if we have conversations about our differences with people unlike ourselves? What might we learn about assumptions, blind spots and misunderstandings? What new thinking about innovation might emerge? There are questions posed throughout the anthology which may prompt fur ther discussion. Please contact Hargraves if you would like to par ticipate in fur ther conversations. We look forward to hearing your story, what you think and why.

Juliet Chandler

-6-

Excitement Mike Baldwin, Head of Transaction Solutions, Westpac Institutional Bank

They say boredom results from a life that is predictable. Doing the same thing for a long time, with no escape. Mike Baldwin mentioned boredom three times in our talks, and he always used it in referring to his career transitions.

Could Mike’s active response to boredom tell a story about what helps people to flourish? Does this commonly experienced emotion contribute (albeit at an early stage) to a leader’s ability to execute innovation projects?

And most impor tantly, is boredom an innovation catalyst?

Mike Baldwin is Head of Transactional Solutions for Westpac Institutional Bank. If he under took a profile questionnaire on thinking styles (such as that developed by Marc Bonchek, repor ted in Har vard Business Review, November 2015), he would mostly likely be described as an energiser, a producer, a connector and a coach. He can see the big picture as well as the details, and he can execute projects because of his action-oriented and encouraging style of leadership.

He might see himself differently. But inspired by Mike, I am going to try the Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew method of story sharing, as noted in an interview with him by journalist Thomas Plate: Just write me up exactly as you see me. Let the chips fall where they may. Tell the true story of me, as you see it.

-7-

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Lee Kuan Yew was speaking about how to build a nation: Singapore. He wanted to tell the story to the western world. Mike read this first-person account of nation-building in a trilogy of Lee Kuan Yew books after the SWIFT Sibos conference, and found it interesting.Why? Because the founder of modern Singapore and former Prime Minister of more three decades, later also an autobiographer, is a frank, straightforward and pragmatic guy.

LKY, as he is known to some, cared little about what people in the west thought of him. What he really wanted was to tell his story to the people of Singapore. “They think they know me, but they only know the public me.”

I too came to know only a fraction about Mike during our short conversations.

We star ted with his education in aerospace and nuclear engineering. He had signed up for fleet duty in the US Navy, then secured a position working on the Admiral’s staff. There were no armed conflicts during his term of service, so Mike never went to sea. But there were big events for the nuclear industr y, including the Chernobyl disaster, and painful lessons learned from the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.

Those lessons included human failures. Summarised in non-engineering speak, one cause attributed to the accident in Pennsylvania was that people didn’t sufficiently value the impor tance of pressure in engineering.

He cited an example from his own experience to illustrate this point.

To test whether Mike had indeed achieved the results on his academic transcripts (about seven years later), the navy recruiters asked him to create an equation showing the rate of change of pressure on the bottom of a dam. He was given a diagram drawn on a piece of paper from the men’s room as the basis for his calculations. The resulting naval engineering experience was fascinating; the paperwork in the office, not so.

Mike flew quickly through his days working in technology in the airline industr y before he landed in Australia, seeking greater excitement (and better weather for outdoor spor ts) than was typically available in Dallas, Texas. Despite his obvious intelligence and track record in sales, general and regional management, Mike experienced human roadblocks in the form of job interviewers who failed to appreciate transferrable skills.

Mike’s Australian inter viewers were parochial about industr y skills; Americans are more open-minded. Just as he star ted to doubt his potential,

-8-

Excitement - Mike Baldwin, Head of Transaction Solutions, Westpac Institutional Bank

he was saved by a compatriot who clearly recognised his potential and believed he could move into financial services.

That was eight years ago. At the time, he had never considered banking.

Today he is excited by the sector, his mind constantly stimulated by ideas for great new solutions for banking customers, new revenue streams and different business models that generate a reasonable profit. Mike has helped Westpac on its innovation journey by being an advocate and change agent for different thinking.

Before I arrived, Mike pulled out an innovation presentation he has previously delivered. He flipped through the slides and shared his beliefs about innovation, why it is impor tant, where to star t, principles to remember and an anecdote of internal conversations around project funding. “That’s all there is,” he said, laughing.

Listening to Mike talk at his natural fast pace, you could be fooled into thinking that leading a team of innovators and implementers in one of Australia’s largest companies is easy. He might create this impression, with phrases such as: “I’m no different from anyone else.” That was his humble response when asked how he applies lessons from past experience while analysing the present and contemplating the future. It is a deliberative skill that some would argue seems lacking in leadership.

Yet he is aware that he could have a cultural advantage in exploring possibilities in innovation. A self-professed eternal optimist, Mike is not hampered by the tall poppy syndrome which is said to characterise those who identify themselves as Australian.

“You [Australians] don’t want to stand up and be too great, and you have a fear of failure. Where does that leave you? You can’t screw up and you can’t be the best. Therefore, you have to be in the middle.”

He chuckled, with warmth and humility, for Mike also believes he is not a creative nor a visionary. He says that he is surrounded by good people, who he listens to, recognises, motivates and advocates on behalf of.

He is not fazed by uncer tainty. If Mike sees an oppor tunity to innovate, or a chance to experiment, he will pursue it, ar ticulating considered reasons for his decision. He will acknowledge there could be other or better ways,

-9-

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

but going one way is the best way to star t solving customers’ problems.

He energises himself and those around him in the process: creating prototypes and creating products is exciting. He also sees great potential in analysing data.

No doubt Lee Kuan Yew’s pragmatic approach to creating a nation resonated with Mike. LKY may have reaffirmed beliefs Mike already held, while also raising his conscious awareness of wise leadership in practice.

Despite often needing to respond quickly to his team, Mike believes in addressing problems with fur ther questions. He will also reflect in quiet time on both problems and decisions to align people and improve outcomes. He asks questions like: –– What have you tried?

–– Who have you talked to?

–– What have you thought about?

–– Where are we tr ying to get to?

–– What is the barrier?

–– Why is there a barrier?

When we talked about fascination with the new as a driver of innovation, Mike said new solutions had to be practical. ‘New’ is only valued by institutional clients if the solution can be applied to a problem such as the drive for better customer experiences, increased efficiency, productivity and revenue growth. Acting as a change agent for different thinking in this era of fintech star t-ups has meant established institutions need to move faster. Processes are being streamlined in gradual iterations.

Minimum viable products are tested, evidence of take-up is measured earlier, and incremental improvements are made in faster cycles.

In his innovation presentation, Mike quoted Thomas Edison on inspiration and perspiration. It seems the two share a fondness for practicality, for the inventor was, “primarily interested in finding out how [interesting scientific phenomena] could be practically applied”, according to Edison biographer, Paul Israel.

- 10 -

Excitement - Mike Baldwin, Head of Transaction Solutions, Westpac Institutional Bank

Reading between the lines of another biography, Edison tried to prevent boredom too. “We want no coolies here… we shall have none.” Long before the machine age debate of today, Edison said the progress of machines demanded progress of the mind. Minds, just like farms, he went onto explain, need good fer tilizer to drive growth.

Mike is now content working with his mind’s present state of activity.

When he tires of the time he needs to succeed at innovation in banking, he will find more fun and excitement outdoors – that other great upside of living in Australia.

Postscript After Mike Baldwin approved his story, Peter Toohey, author of Boredom, was invited to review the introduction. Toohey responded: “Boredom is an important catalyst for innovation. Chronic boredom, the sort that encourages risk-taking, may be even more important for the successful entrepreneur. Boredom is also linked with problem solving (through the link it has to daydreaming).”

- 11 -

Reinvention Annalie Killian, Founder, Amplify

Indulge in fictional reality Before directing The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan held the camera at his shoulder because proximity was impor tant. He could hide or reveal objects through direction and change the story. He could guide your interpretation to connect, by por traying relatable fear in scenes that heightened reality.

They could have stayed longer in Narnia, that secret country which existed in the minds of children. All you needed to get there was a stage with a wall, a chair, a clock and a wardrobe. It could draw you in, but to receive the message, C.S. Lewis said you needed to disengage. Passivity was blindness.

The Bad Romance was another mystery. The Lady (Gaga) had free will to see, think and do what she chose. Yet those who could influence her fate still had the advantage. In submitting to play their game, the world would go around. Spines would be tested and innocence lost. Her hidden message, examined by The Vigilant Citizen, could make you seriously question gender oppression. It was one step away from social and racial oppression and the for tunes built with the help of slave labour.

Ambiguity Annalie Killian, founder of Amplify and its flagship event, Amplify Festival, enjoyed puppet theatre and cinema when she was a child. She looks back

- 13 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

and credits these experiences for teaching her how to deal with ambiguity.

“Apparently, children exposed to theatre at a young age do better at abstract creative thinking. Why? I think theatre cultivates the ability to suspend belief.

The ability to realise what is real and isn’t real, to completely surrender to imagination of a reality that is a possibility, but is not real. It is this ability to hold reality and unreality in the same space. Theatre is one way to cultivate the brain’s ability to deal with ambiguity from a young age. If Australia is going to focus on STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] skills, and throw away the A [arts], we will not get a better result.”

Experiencing suffering Annalie spent her formative working days in the turmoil of South Africa’s transition from apar theid to democracy. It was volatile. The experience fur ther shaped her thinking about reality and ambiguity.

How do we understand apar theid? Apar t-hood. ‘Separateness’. The intent that won an election in 1948. Separate neighbourhoods. Racial segregation was legislated. A formal hierarchy was put in place with the deliberate aim of concentrating power with the minority. The hierarchy was shaped by the history of colonialism and the quest for superiority.

Ar tificial boundaries were created among people to prevent unification and to hinder any challenge to power. Those legislated ar tificial boundaries were followed by tangible perimeters of homelands, with people forcibly removed and displaced. The neighbourhoods they lived in could not be reached, even with a finger tip in the street directory, as Mark Gevisser tried to do in a game played as a child. Apar theid officially ended in 1994, when F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela reached an agreement. The politics was only par t of it. Healing years of suffering lay ahead. “You see with ver y different eyes when you’re in a vulnerable emotional state.”

Called to healing After Annalie said her purpose at the time was to heal the divide that existed in South African society, I thought about the pain of segregation and division through the lens of apar theid, and researched the country’s healing process. I found an anthropologist and sociologist from the University of Western Cape, Dr Lionel Thaver, who had this to say at the 2008 South

- 14 -

Reinvention - Annalie Killian, Founder, Amplify

African conference on ‘Leadership, Social Transformation and Healing’.

The African modality of knowing suffers dislocation, displacement, dissolution, dissociation and dissonance. Transformation and healing have to deal with this epistemological displacement…

Thaver asked the audience to consider “sciolism”: superficial knowledgeability (and its relationship to healing).

Healing entails the re-integration or finding a way of organising different modalities of knowledge that do not reproduce the kinds of hierarchies that exist… healing is about caring… If we care enough, we will find our way back to… our humanity.

I also found American journalist and commentator Bill Moyers had produced a documentary, Facing the Truth, about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Commission was formed to investigate human rights violations and to heal South Africa as par t of its process of reinvention. In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu: We found that very, very many of those who came found the telling, just the telling, in a way, a very cathartic, a very healing thing.

Moyers also remembered the life of Maya Angelou upon her passing in 2014, by replaying her 1988 ‘Facing Evil’ conference speech. At the end of her speech, Angelou recited The Mask, a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar which addresses the theme of reinvention. I felt this resonated strongly with Annalie’s thinking: We need the courage to create ourselves daily. To be bodacious enough to create ourselves daily… I think that the courage to confront evil, and turn it, by dent of will, into something applicable, to the development of our evolution, individually and collectively, is exciting… honourable.

Reinvention in Australia Annalie found more people in need of healing, and it manifested in her the desire to reinvent corporate Australia for a new era. Another form of separation underpinned the context in which Amplify was created.

- 15 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

“It wasn’t that the system was sick per se,” Annalie said. “The corporate system was ser ving an era from the past. Vastly different requirements were arising, for which there were no guidebooks or business school or MBA notes to look up. These were brand-new scenarios that no one had the answer to.”

At first, Annalie doubted her ability to take on something she had not done before. But she relished the quest. Built on a burning platform with an open minded and suppor tive chief, Amplify became a journey of democratised and catalysed learning, engagement of the senses and making of spaces for people to do work they believed was wor thwhile.

The world came to the people in Sydney and other AMP offices via video link. The public was freely invited to learn online.

The speed of change brought about by vir tually frictionless digital systems drove Annalie’s learning vision. She was impatient to change the status quo, yet she saw also how corporate models could be evaluated against the significant societal events she had experienced up close.

Her inspiration to engage the senses at Amplify came after attending the Banff Centre for Leadership in Canada as well as from her time at the Aspen Institute, which was most memorable for the blended learning experience. The blending of ar t and business. Daniel Pink’s book A whole new Mind helped Annalie refine the language to present the business case for Amplify and deliver tangible business value at scale to ensure the festival’s longevity.

Scale and meaning Scale has become a measure of wor th in corporate Australia, as industrialera managers seek economies of scale. Along with poets and musicians, sculptors were at Aspen too. The sculptor takes a ruler to scale the features of a marble statue with precision. Sculptor Anish Kapoor has said, “scale is ever ything”:

“

Scale is another one of those unknowables. It’s not to do with size. It is to do with the relationship between size and meaning.

”

- 16 -

Reinvention - Annalie Killian, Founder, Amplify

Annalie found meaning in curating learning at scale and speed, to enrich the experience of corporations. This is what Anish Kapoor may describe as the “interplay”. There is little meaning in an unheard talk, an unseen illustration or an unread ar ticle. There is value in speeches, illustrations and ar ticles used as teaching aids, to extend recall and contribute to a generative ecosystem.

Generative ecosystems Annalie wanted to heal what was flawed in the system, contributing to what she cared deeply about. She wanted to be immersed in generative circles of value. In communities.

Etsy, a marketplace connecting makers and consumers, is one example of a generative ecosystem. In November 2015, Etsy’s revenue was repor ted as growing to more than $USD65m for the September quar ter and it had attracted a new competitor in Amazon Handmade. Etsy has grown through the power of network effects, its value increasing as more individual creators join to launch micro businesses, doing work they love. Makers have quit day jobs which were making life feel too shor t.

It is not a stretch to imagine Etsy as healing disenfranchised creators, while also serving discerning consumers who crave differentiated products (like a vintage first edition of the poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar).

Etsy seems a perfect match for the book Business Model You, by Tim Clark and Alexander Osterwalder. Annalie took the book away on holidays.

A book to inspire and heal those who have fallen and become victims of work, it was also a travelling companion for How the World Sees You: Discover your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination, by Sally Hogshead.

In founding and growing Amplify, Annalie created a stage for innovators to fascinate business audiences. Fascination needs form to work in the corporate world. This in turn takes working on the edge, and translating emerging concepts into the language of leadership.

“Not ever yone would hire a woman with orange hair.” Those who do feel her magic.

Having grown in ever y experience and formed a team to continue the festival, Annalie is embarking on her next reinvention.

- 17 -

Bio-innovation Jane Cockburn, Founder, Kairos Now

Most ideas are like par ticles. Minute fragments and abundant. To be material, they need to be organised, structured. Subject them to electric fields and then accelerate them.

In her work as a stor yteller, Jane does not use too much detail or opinion to enable the space for learning. To shape stories, her preference is to use the story spline method. If you have watched a Pixar movie, you might recognise it as the curve which passes through a number of plotted points. The line rises and falls with momentum.

At the star t of her career, Jane worked in a joint venture for thyroid disorders with an endocrinologist at Westmead Hospital. At the time, children in inland China were suffering from mental disabilities believed to be caused by low thyroid hormone levels at bir th because their mothers did not have enough iodine in their diet.

A biochemist, Jane worked in a small team to design thyroid assays, or diagnostic tests. She was in her element, using magnetic par ticles to pull out what to measure. Sheep number 67 was her favourite to feed when, accompanied by an amazing boss, she would go to draw blood to collect polyclonal antibodies. It felt good. Jane was a direct contributor in developing and transferring technology to China. She visited twice, going out into the countryside and speaking at English classes in the community. “That was really eye-opening for me. They were interested in the fact that

- 19 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

I owned a car, I lived out of home, I chose where I lived and I chose what I wanted to do. I had so much choice. There were parents there that had children who lived over 300 kilometres away,” Jane said.

They had no choice of their own. Under Mao Zedong’s regime, all Chinese workers were under state control, with the Communist Par ty and government officials controlling their social, political and economic behaviour.

The day before the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4, 1989, Jane left China. But not before she squeezed in a visit to the Great Wall on a small side tour, as the others had been cancelled when mar tial law was declared.

With her job in China completed after a week, Jane left feeling for tunate.

She had choice and she was cared for. The beautiful people at the Institute of Atomic Energy in China had shown her great respect, more than she felt she deserved at her age.

“I had my whole life ahead of me.”

Life ahead star ted with two years’ backpacking, including six months in France where Jane got a job running a ski chalet. Using a bit of nudge theor y (as now applied by some utilities in invoice collections), Jane soon had guests voluntarily making their own beds. Then there was more time for skiing.

She returned to another scientific role: diagnostic work in a lab on the supplier side of the biomedical industry. Using the heat generated by a microwave oven, she would destroy the proper ties of a protein, disrupting molecular structure. Jane found comfor t in her work, until her performance review, where she shared what she wanted to do in her career.

“

You’re too ambitious for a female.

”

She walked away, thinking, “Are you for real? Just because I’m female you’re going to stop me progressing?” She was determined to prove him wrong.

Looking back, it was a glass ceiling moment. If she was to progress, that lab was not going to be the right place. The exchange sparked a search for

- 20 -

Bio-innovation - Jane Cockburn, Founder, Kairos Now

the right company, instead of just the right role. It marked a progression to large corporations (such as Kodak, which was successful at the time), which had beautifully designed biochemistry machines.

“The serum would drop down through layers in the slide. Not one drop of water was needed. These slides would be moving around machines between incubators. It was beautiful. I just loved it,” she said.

Jane had a succession of roles which built on her skills of empathy, collaboration and translation between the worlds of science and business. There was the two-year stint in Hong Kong, where she freely asked customers questions that her native team felt would have been disrespectful to ask themselves. There was her break from the corporate world, working for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and ferrying broadcasters around the city. She also held a pivotal role at Cochlear, a company she had always admired, but felt she would only join if she could deliver true value. And she did, leveraging design thinking to connect with healthcare customers and drawing on her technical as well as adaptive skills, to deliver highly successful projects.

As founder of the transformational change organisation, Kairos Now, Jane is focused in the space of reframing problems, believing it is a critical step to complete before a business can think through new ideas. In a customerled innovation process, Jane engages with customers and consumers to express their opinions, visualise the amorphous nature of problems and she then facilitates the collective shaping of desired futures. Helping clients get closer to their customers is the ar t of Jane’s interaction. Focusing on public health service delivery in this way is her passion.

Each story of innovation may not have an immediately visible story line.

But there are waves of development, rising tension and positive resolution in every lifetime.

- 21 -

Design Brandon Gien, CEO, Good Design Australia

They are watching, for there is gold to be found in observing behaviour.

Between us and every product or service we love is one common factor.

It is the conduit between creativity and innovation. It defines interactions and triggers emotions. It is what you see and what you don’t.

Design star ts with questions about how things work. An industrial designer takes a screwdriver to the exterior and pulls the interior apar t, to see how the pieces collectively make it whole.

Designers delve deep into materials, shape and movement. They imagine how our world could be better. Life is experienced in micro moments.

Designers see oppor tunities to redesign the dated, to tackle our frustrations and magically create items that are unique, ingenious and beautiful.

It is the ar t of putting each tile of the mosaic into place that creates its total value. But how do we evaluate each completed mosaic, when the fragments used vary so greatly in every work of ar t?

Brandon Gien is fascinated by design in all its par ts: its history, influence on daily life, the design industry’s awards, our ability to empathise and the role of design in shaping the future.

Design Awards In 2008, Brandon set out to analyse a selection of design award assessment methodologies by under taking a PhD. The result of his studies was a new

- 23 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Design Evaluation System comprising seven criteria and 21 questions (thoroughly explained in a 280-page thesis). The system now suppor ts judges of the Good Design Awards to consider award entries across its various categories, which include product design, service design, digital design, communication design, social innovation and more.

Innovation features in the judging criteria of all Good Design Australia’s award categories, although it is called “disruption” in the business model category.

Like designers, innovators are also said to be driven by the need to address frustration. Brandon remains frustrated that design can be misunderstood to mean only fashion and colours. If Australia is to be truly innovative, he believes the country has to be design-driven.

Design, done well, makes creativity and innovation real and tangible.

Brandon wants to hear the word ‘design’ wrapped into the advice of everyone who is speaking about or seeking to champion innovation.

He believes we are star ting to see positive change in this direction.

He argues that there is no room for bad design, par ticularly when a large component of a service is provided digitally (such as in banking and travel).

Design-led companies, including Apple and Uber, have changed consumer expectations of our digital interactions.

The ability to put yourself in the seat of the customer is what makes the difference in driving innovation. Designers strive for joy. That joy might be invisible to the naked eye, because intelligent design often happens in the background. To quote a former Good Design Awards judge, Michelle Berryman, Director of THINK Strategy (USA): “Joy is not accidental.”

Smiles and feel-good emotions come because someone has thought about us as individuals. Empathy is the magic ingredient. For some companies, such as Centor, a door designer and manufacturer, evoking empathy may include creating life-sized cardboard cut-outs of customers like Mary. The cardboard persona of Mary, a woman renovating her home, was placed in the office while the Centor team collaborated on their strategic planning. They delved deep into Mary’s life, her frustrations and most impor tantly, her interactions with her doors (from product selection to installation and family living).

- 24 -

Design - Brandon Gien, CEO, Good Design Australia

The challenge which Brandon passionately believes in, while acknowledging it as a big call, is that design can play a greater role in reducing our carbon footprint. Brandon says companies are still producing junk, such as appliances that are not energy-efficient.

Design can help us to better live within the planet’s means. For design to impact sustainability and deliver on the needs of discerning consumers, designers may need greater influence in the decision-making process. In the 2015 Good Design Awards, BMW was recognised for placing ‘Design for sustainability’ at the core of its i3. The premium car is electric-powered, manufactured from recyclable materials and features interiors sourced from responsibly managed sources. It’s the type of design approach Brandon believes that organisations everywhere need to take.

A piece of history Brandon treasures the black-and-white archival footage of Prince Philip congratulating the winners of the Prince Philip Prize for Australian Design. He refers to the Prince Philip years as the heyday of modern Australia’s design industr y recognition. It was a time to celebrate the application of design to Australian life for economic progress.

The inaugural winning product was a grain har vester, submitted from the historic Murray River town of Mannum, South Australia. The prize remains a milestone in the histor y of South Australian agriculture and a thread in the stor y of the innovative mechanisation of farm labour.

In winning the award, Kenneth Gibson and David Shearer Limited: “showed once again the wisdom of following the requirements of the man on the land.” This dot on the timeline is also an important event in the innovation tale of Horwood Bagshaw engineering, which lives on in Mannum today.

- 25 -

Prototype Sam Bucolo, Professor Design Innovation, University of Technology Sydney

Where are we up to? Here today, with hopes for the future and some ideas about how to get there. There are problems to solve and possibilities of what might be. If not today, then one day we will search for our true purpose, more meaning and a greater sense of belonging.

Sam Bucolo is an experienced facilitator, lecturer, speaker and interviewee.

He facilitates design-led strategic processes to move enterprises forward.

One step leads to another within the context set. The meta problem, Sam’s passion and choice of focus – education, capability-building and living standards – may not be evident to all at the beginning.

Asking questions does not always get to the solution. It depends on the stage.

First, Sam says we need to challenge thinking and consider whether a given problem should be reframed. What if problems are reframed as possibilities?

Sam has witnessed people having no idea of what the person across a table from them was saying. As an undergraduate, he once drew 100 trees twice, from two different perspectives, in 20 minutes. Should we look at the standard of living sequoia from the base of the other side?

What if we could improve the standard of living in this community?

Choose any neighbourhood, city, countr y or organisation. What if we spent more time discussing how people are experiencing isolation and belonging in communities?

- 27 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Design-led innovation is typically thought of in terms of understanding and designing for the customer. This diversion was for purposeful reflection.

How many dimensions do people have when they are considered not only as customers of a single organisation, but as members of various communities? Where do customers feel they have the strongest relationships and the greatest sense of belonging?

Sam is amazed by the number of organisations that have no consistent view of the customer. His book, Are we there yet? Insights on how to lead by design, which was written to share career insights and star t applying design processes to business, considers the customer problem in detail.

Having a conversation about customers is an oppor tunity to test readiness to move to new dialogues about meaning and purpose. This may require stopping before sharing data or learned theor y. Slowing down the dialogue potentially reduces the likelihood of time wasted solving the wrong problem.

Donald SchÜn, philosopher, urban planner and author of The Reflective Practitioner, influenced Sam’s thinking with his approach to reflect-inaction and reflect-on-action. Sam gained the foundations of his reflective practice in a Queensland hospital, as a recent graduate of industrial design. He worked across the hospital between surgeons, engineers, nurses, patients and carers. He moved between operating theatres and wards, observing interactions and creating a bridge between disciplines to facilitate perspective-sharing and different thinking.

Sam feels for tunate to have had the oppor tunity to change systems (and not be confined to medical product design), and laments the lack of similar roles available for young designers today. Equally, he is grateful for the oppor tunity to apply his skills within the industr y and across disciplines from his base at the university.

Sam is challenging thinking and breaking boundaries, as he enters organisations at the leadership level to discuss holistic change where actions that drive desired outcomes are often intangible. He senses soul and reluctance at work, and facilitates connection and purposeful activity.

It is a connection he shares with Hargraves.

- 28 -

Prototype - Sam Bucolo, Professor Design Innovation, University of Technology Sydney

“Innovation is not a problem, leadership is not a program and change is not something that happens in a Gantt chart. Overlaying a human element. That is what Hargraves is all about. Hargraves is about the people and getting them to share their stories.�

Well-told stories carr y people to what is next. Thank you for sharing your thinking and your stories.

- 29 -

Openness Lyndall Strachan, Innovate Lead, Coca-Cola Amatil Australia

Lyndall opened her eyes to the world after the legal cases she heard temporarily closed the gate on the happy border of her bir thplace of Sheppar ton. Where did she star t after an outline of the purpose of our conversation? Unfinished formal qualifications. As I looked back at the end, I felt her narrative should have begun instead with being open to everything. Exploration, oppor tunities and possibility.

Describing herself as an open book, Lyndall shared feelings about where she has been and where she might go in the future. Expect some surprises, because she has surprised herself while adapting to shocks that have unfolded around her.

First, as a young registrar serving as a clerk of cour ts, she heard horrifying true stories of lives torn apar t. During her time as a member of the legal administration, she witnessed the cycle of disadvantage and heard evidence of lives breaking. Beliefs, traditions, customs and hierarchy all played a par t in these stories.

After working in the cour ts for a few years, Lyndall opened her world to adventure. She sought out open spaces of natural beauty in Europe and the excitement of open-all-hours’ New York. The experience opened her mind to a career in travel, and she went on to spend 11 years in the industry. In her role at Flight Centre, Lyndall found she loved leading

- 31 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

people, as she opened franchise travel agency doors in Sheppar ton and Mildura. The Mildura agency she established was profitable in its second month, adding to the brand’s overall market leadership and huge growth trajectory.

It was a challenging, awful time as well, Lyndall recalls. People stopped travelling overnight after the September 11 attacks closed airpor ts.

Ansett was placed into administration and there were outbreaks of Sars and bird flu. After leaving the travel industr y, Lyndall briefly ran a Boost Juice franchise before Cyclone Larry wiped out banana plantations across Queensland, and operating prices spiralled skywards.

The hardship of the collapse was a catalyst for her marriage breakdown.

“This [my divorce] had a huge impact on my life, and definitely changed my perspective on a lot of things and how I approach life now,” she says.

Lyndall has a high benchmark for what ‘tough’ is. Tough times call for innovation. Lyndall remembers the owners of Flight Centre reinventing the company to maintain growth. They hired the best people and trained teams during the downturn, so they would be ready to advance when the customers forgot their fears and were ready to travel again.

Travel fears brought fear out in the open. Lyndall is not openly afraid, but she appreciates that those who go looking for danger will find it. She believes you can be lucky or unlucky in life. She saw people become fatalistic in this new climate of fear : “this is how it is.” Her mum still questions her annual trip to Bali, but being open means a need for constant new experiences.

“Life goes on. Don’t look back and have regrets. I’ve lived a good life. There is nothing I haven’t done… there’s still a list of things to do. But nothing has stopped me from doing what I wanted.”

On top of Lyndall’s list is travel, perhaps South America, with her latest lead role in innovation coming a very close second. Who knows after that.

“

You don’t know what’s around the corner. You have to be open to opportunity.

- 32 -

”

Openness - Lyndall Strachan, Innovate Lead, Coca-Cola Amatil Australia

Innovation could so easily have been the path not taken. After being offered an internal promotion to a new role in learning and development, Lyndall initially declined, as she had no interest in moving from Melbourne to Sydney. At the final hour, when the role was to be offered to an external candidate, Lyndall removed the blocker and opened herself to change. It was a confident step of career-rebuilding after divorce.

“I hope my decision means that the candidate who missed out is also on an alternative right path elsewhere,” she says.

Working as a business par tner for a single division constrained her need to engage across the business. She saw greater possibility in working on the edge of change, in new product development. It was her chance to open her mind and continually update the way she looked at things. She was open to ideas from everyone and frustrated that those with ideas did not have faith in themselves to put them forward. Examples she shares from her multi-life story provide encouragement for others.

In the book Moments of Impact by Chris Er tel and Lisa Soloman, Julia Wada of Toyota Financial Services said: “Openness allowed us to have deeper conversations...”

This testimonial, from a strategic conversation, along with a comment from Richard P. O’Neill about the learning that happens when we are open to it, highlights the oppor tunity for innovators like Lyndall.

Lyndall inspires thinking about openness from many angles. She made me wonder about opening imagination, opening lungs and releasing bad energy. It seems a bit airy fairy when spoken or written down. How do we open ourselves to get to where we want to go? We can only be “open” to stuff when not stressed or judgmental. Openness suspends judgment. How do we know when we are open to inquiring into deeper awareness, to discover what the universe has in store? Lyndall said it sounded like Eat Pray Love.

But, at the end of the day, “It’s your life. People can think what they want, but [you have to] deal with your own stuff.”

- 33 -

Controllability Andrew Wilson, General Manager, Strategy, Planning & Innovation

After his readers had absorbed Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman hoped they would have different water-cooler conversations about judgments and choices. While acknowledging that people make appropriate judgments most of the time, he wanted readers to understand errors “in others and eventually in ourselves.� Kahneman aimed to enrich the conversation by publishing a work with richer and more precise language about thinking and choices.

Randomness Andrew Wilson star ted his career in biomedical engineering, and now works in strategy for a consumer company. He became interested in Kahneman and decision heuristics while under taking his MBA. It was a perfect oppor tunity to explore the concept of randomness. I had star ted thinking about it after another par ticipant mentioned EconTalk and randomness featured in the episode I chose to play. Andrew believes the world is random because it is made up of an infinite number of controllable elements and it turns on the controlled decisions of millions. What happens then, he says, is less controllable than most think and much results from luck. But if we can tell ourselves stories about the way we have exer ted control through choices, we believe in our capacity to influence.

- 35 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

To illustrate his point, Andrew rever ted to his school and university rowing days. He had analysed the elements where luck had played a role alongside control in his teams. Was it possible to explain the success achieved in terms of the propor tional mix of luck and skill? Andrew came to accept that assigning causality to controllable factors was an approach prone to error.

He had subscribed to the belief espoused by Kahneman, that “luck plays a large role in ever y stor y of success.” Was it his reading of Kahneman (and Nassim Taleb) that caused him to hold that view? Both authors had an undeniable influence, relative to a lifetime of other experiences (such as doing his MBA and receiving multiple concurrent job offers). They mixed into the infinite selection of events Andrew’s mind would have to choose between before he ar ticulated a considered point of view.

We might be able to make our own decisions, but there is only so much we can do to control the choices that are presented, or the options that appear to us. Think of a high-value purchasing scenario or a career change, for example.

Andrew is fascinated in the self-rationalisation that follows choice. He animatedly recalled what experiments have shown about post-choice behaviours, citing one study which compared changes in selections, where the variable tested was permanence against reversibility. The concept of self-rationalisation provided more evidence for the hypothesis that our unconscious will kick in when it seems necessary, to make us feel better about ourselves.

Forming a hypothesis Andrew had developed and solidified a scientific approach to thinking from his engineering undergraduate degree and his work as a management consultant. To solve a problem, he would form a hypothesis, test it, determine a conclusion and decide what to do as a result. As a method of working on the unknown, it makes sense to break complex problems down into manageable pieces so you can star t somewhere.

He said it was helpful as long as you didn’t suffer from an availability or confirmation bias.

- 36 -

Controllability - Andrew Wilson, General Manager, Strategy, Planning & Innovation

“

Forming a hypothesis is important.

Locking yourself in on a hypothesis is extremely dangerous.

”

Rationalisation could be a blissful defence against regret. Yet while justifying the logic behind a major life decision is one thing (par ticularly where the consequences may suggest an error was made), rationalising significant decisions in companies heightens potential downside risk considerably.

Think of the practical reality of working within the corporate world moving at speed with assets, for example. There are difficult conversations to be had on the economy, competition, markets, growth and losses. If a potential or actual loss for one company were explained by a competing company’s good for tune in gaining an advantage, what should the victims of bad luck talk about? Andrew offered some constructive suggestions.

One was that hard work plays a big par t in minimising the potential impact of misfor tune. These days, a high por tion of Andrew’s day is devoted to thinking, analysing, strategising, predicting, forecasting, calculating and re-calculating probabilities. These are complex and inquiring market and corporate assessments, a process Andrew described with the simplicity of conviction. Therein lies the talent of a man who said he is not good at sitting still.

Andrew exudes confidence in describing what he knows. Where I have the capability to offer an opinion, I would also argue his judgments could mostly be confirmed. There was at least one thought, however, which could be refuted. It is not to say I think he was wrong. Perhaps it is merely a reflection of the different experiences we have available to draw upon; perhaps it is an oppor tunity to share learning among different connections.

The thought in mentioning it, is this: When we slow down to search for more facts, we can build more associations and come to appreciate different views. As ideas are reactivated, they build pathways to connect.

Is this unintentionally ambiguous, or deliberate? It is up to you to choose what follows your thinking, when it’s within the realm of control.

- 37 -

Catalyst Tess Julian, CEO, Catalyst Exchange Pty Ltd

Tess kept returning to the same theme.

It was how she described her character as the youngest child in her family.

It shone through her entrepreneurial spirit. It was the way she answered a question about human behaviour and her study of literature. It was a theme she had developed as a teacher of English and drama.

It is a recognised trait of merit in a leader. Associated with men more often than with women. A defining characteristic of all entrepreneurs, and a par tner of focus.

It was likely one of the innovation competencies included in the framework she developed for the government in her consulting work. Tess had observed that it was lacking in people who feel they are not innovative or creative. Because fear inhibited it. So she works on developing it in the first 15 minutes of every workshop she facilitates.

Conference speakers who fail to share their battles diminish it in audience members. It could be overdone in a speech. She had walked away from the latest conference she attended, questioning a woman’s authenticity because of its excess.

Leading a workshop is akin to a staging a performance where she can feel the wonder of it in herself. But it’s so fickle, she can lose that feeling as quickly as it came over her.

- 39 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Our attitudes about it in ourselves change when we focus on the kernel of what is driving us. It can be the key to unlocking the best in people and to make work more interesting and fulfilling.

We can model our behaviour on those who demonstrate it most effectively.

Confidence. Confident. Confidently.

How do we encourage confidence in others to make working lives better?

This question motivates Tess Julian in her role at Catalyst Exchange. She has developed a set of tools and a process for working with groups inside organisations, to instil a feeling of greater confidence among employees.

It was her choice of subject-matter to share with Hargraves’ members in this anthology. Tess would like to share thinking about what builds and what diminishes confidence in individuals (specifically, those working in teams or in organisations).

Tess’ entrée into innovation came through her role setting up a commercial consultancy unit within Australia’s TAFE (Technical and Fur ther vocational Education) setting in the 1980s. The model of training was changing at the time to reflect the industrial relations award structure. Tess was one of a group that was introducing more interactive teaching practices to the system. Later, she found fur ther such oppor tunities when government policy changed in education, and she then star ted to focus on innovation as a professional service.

Tess’ story invites self-directed enquiry about confidence through the lens of our personal beliefs, observations and experience.

Facilitating personal growth As the daughter of a poet, and passionate about language herself, Tess thinks in metaphor. People want to grow, as we see plants grow. They grow in the sun and while being watered. But how are organisations shining sun on their people and watering the kernels invisible beneath the surface?

Are we pruning the surrounding bushes that might be casting shadow on that struggling plant, and stunting its growth?

Tess cares about people. She speaks of visiting sick friends in hospital and her stories of friendship reveal that, once a friend, she is a friend for life.

- 40 -

Catalyst - Tess Julian, CEO, Catalyst Exchange Pty Ltd

She is fascinated by human behaviour. The entrepreneur, the female leader, the sociopath, the narcissist. The quiet leader. The brave.

The shifted, the kicked and the angry employees – and any transformation they might experience. Our relationships, engagement, expression and self-examination. What we choose to share about ourselves, and the potential to manipulate others by over-sharing.

On innovation Tess believes innovation is like science fiction. It is breaking boundaries.

Innovation is about behaviour and mindset. It is not only a result of individual action, as innovation happens in teams. In contrast to views expressed by others, Tess does not believe that continuous improvement is the same thing as innovation. Both are impor tant, but serve different purposes. One is for today; the other, tomorrow.

Innovation is solving problems or creating oppor tunities by applying unimagined solutions. Or it applies existing solutions to domains where they have not been brought to life before. In a blog posted on December 2015, Tess argued that some mindsets around service innovation needed a reboot too.

As Catalyst Exchange has grown out of Hargraves to become an independent company, Tess has found a new source of confidence to share.

- 41 -

Energy Mirjana Prica, Managing Director, Food Innovation Australia Ltd

There is a substance which, when ignited, propels Mirjana Prica forwards.

The substance is matter, pure elements and compounds. It is energy stored, contained within. A powder, gas or liquid that will react in a chamber to produce heat and thrust, transferring stored energy to the surface and delivering the impulse to move with force. It is the source of power that overcomes resistance and drag. An active substance, handled with care, until a carefully timed release provides necessary stabilisation.

Mirjana moves forwards as an innovator by solving problems to achieve outcomes. Her forward momentum is evident in the speed with which she thinks, speaks and walks. Instinctively a scientist with a curious mind, equally suited for mathematics, she approaches problems from first principles.

Why does Mirjana approach innovation the way she does? It appears she could be living by the laws of thermodynamics which apply to her early domain of physical chemistry.

What’s your propellant?

Her advice to innovators is to “find your propellant.� The substance that drives you. Finding your propellant takes self-awareness. Such selfawareness is developed as blind spots are revealed through hardship.

Mirjana found her own propellant by triumphing over adversity in early life.

- 43 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

She grew up in Sunshine, Melbourne (which she describes as Underbelly territory) and was raised by her non-English speaking father. He never had the chance to receive an education in his native Croatia before migrating to Australia. But he knew the value of education, and instilled in Mirjana the impor tance of education as the means to providing choices in life.

After teaching herself English, Mirjana paved the way from school to Melbourne University. She reflects on her determination and self-teaching as a major contributor to her understanding of the process of learning.

It has made her sharper in business. This sharpness provides just a hint of the speed at which Mirjana can perceive and comprehend people, and authoritatively communicate through the lens of understanding their perspective, learning style and needs.

Mirjana had no qualms about cleaning offices to pay her way through her PhD (which was about the surface chemistry of zirconium dioxide).

Resourcefulness. Her gusto for achievement drove her motivation to do whatever needed to be done. To this day, she still describes herself as being hands-on. New chairs had been delivered to her office annex the previous afternoon. She assembled them herself, despite having a team she could have delegated it to.

As a physical chemist, Mirjana has learnt about the science of energy. She knows that her propellant is the energy of life. It may not be obvious at first, but she admits that she does change pace and slow down the propulsion to recharge.

She has recently returned to painting, her first creative love as a 16-yearold, as a form of detox. Painting was the calling she would have pursued, had she not been told that you have to die to become famous.

Her painting of fruit has a photo-realistic precision (which she recognises is a sign of her perfectionist tendencies). Her husband gave her a blank canvas, and challenged her to paint fire in a contemporary style. Proving that she will rise to any challenge, she created not only one beautiful work of fire, but several equally stunning companion works of ear th and water.

It is the recurring theme of innovation and creativity. Mirjana loves to create. She believes we need to be creative; we need to think creatively to find solutions to solve problems. We create value when we do something

- 44 -

Energy - Mirjana Prica, Managing Director, Food Innovation Australia Ltd

for others that relieves them from having to do it themselves. We hinder creativity when we are told to be methodological.

Creativity comes instinctively to Mirjana. Believing you can’t innovate if you are not creative, she has instigated creativity workshops within organisations to build creative problem-solving capability. The workshops focused on encouraging the merge of two forms into one. It brought about a change in thinking about the relationship between innovation and problem-solving.

Mirjana deftly traverses the domains of visualising, thinking and doing.

Her team members (including one I met as we were speaking) value the breadth of her thinking, as she conceptualises at a high level. She can drill down quickly to the detail and suggest a plan of action to work with people.

She loves helping and working with people, but has little tolerance for the complacent, the whinges and those who are just not prepared to have a go and invest the time to make things happen. These are the potential speed humps to navigate around if they threaten to slow down her push towards an outcome.

For Australia to be more innovative, Mirjana would like to see companies listening more closely to customers – and displaying more “fire in the belly,” as she puts it.

While adept at describing herself, Mirjana prefers not to speak of herself.

She would much rather focus on actual achievements, outcomes for the public good, delivered for the benefit of, or in the service of others.

“

Be true to yourself, and have fun.

”

- 45 -

Relevance

Differentiation and Resonance J. André de Barros Teixeira, CSIRO

This is not the way that André wanted me to share the story of our conversation. While disappointing for us both, we had to change the narrative for greater relevance. The original, abstract story was just too uncomfor table for readers. Adopting Andre’s earlier advice, I returned to the essence and removed the nuance.

The first version moved from the Holocaust, to indifference, to innovation.

We covered agendas, suffering and different realities. It was deep. I have learned since that depth can turn people away. An overarching question remains, though: what is the link between suffering and innovation?

Fascination with the new Pause, or go on with the show? André used to take his teams to see fashion season launch shows, because fashion is, by its very nature, ephemeral. Fashion has to be new all the time (or ‘renewed’ in the case of ‘everything old is new again’). After our first conversation, André thought about the fascination with new more broadly. On his next visit to the supermarket, he even counted how many packets had the word ‘new’ on them. He believes new things captivate us because of the proximity between danger and pleasure. Sometimes we crave doing something a little risky. Innovation is quintessentially that.

- 47 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Judgment Doing something risky. Emphasis on the doing. André suggested trying to understand ‘doing’ in stages. See and feel before making judgments on what is relevant.

Relevance is a function of meaning, practicality and even tolerance. In trying to share my conversation with André, I failed the practicality and relevance test. I found the limits of tolerance. I was adding to, rather than subtracting, the feeling of disconnect. Simplicity was going to beat complexity.

“

Innovation must be relevant, different and it must resonate with people.

”

Need When presented with an oppor tunity, I would try to share what I learned from André, by translating it to the language of a listener. Be straight and to the point. Until then, there are lingering doubts of taking the “mediocrity express”. The food served there is more palatable, but there is less nourishment for the soul. So, while experiencing pain in innovation is inevitable, suffering is optional.

To André, relevance is not just about solving a problem or addressing a customer need. It is daring to utter the things you hear yourself saying.

Sometimes, it is wor th asking what an idea could achieve before you find someone who needs it.

We admire innovators because the system places pressure on what they try to do. When systems are supposed to perpetuate the status quo, innovators can find themselves feeling trapped or insecure. Encouragement from a tribe becomes more impor tant as innovators will naturally go through periods of doubt. Personal fragility needs to be accepted and courage must be found to go against the force of alignment effor ts. When everyone is aligned as perfectly as with an eclipse, however, no one except perhaps the innovator can see in the dark.

André has delivered compelling presentations on innovation. He challenges thinking and suggests some rules to follow, along with real-life examples.

- 48 -

Relevance Differentiation and Resonance - J. André de Barros Teixeira, CSIRO

Consistent with what we said in the introduction, though, this is not a ‘how-to’ book. There are some references to share later for anyone interested.

Even though the stor y was cut, the ending has not changed much.

The future will come to you in the present. Carpe diem. If not here, then elsewhere, let some new light source in and enjoy the difference that is most relevant to you.

- 49 -

Faith Angela Peverell, Culture & Organisational Capability Partner, Macquarie Telecom

Angela Peverell has trained leaders in mastering presentations. Executive par ticipants in her programs had to make a motivational presentation.

Generally, one with a moral. When Angela considers what makes a good story, she speaks of those told by Jewish forefathers. Faith gives Angela her foundations. Religious stories have stood the test of time.

To honour Angela’s preferences, the story of our conversation originally began with an adaptation I wrote of The Tree of Life, as retold by Howard Schwar tz. Four men ventured into a forest; three at the invitation of the guide. Only one, the guide, made it to paradise on the other side. When those left behind tried to understand the mystery of what they had missed, my fictional guide shared his lesson: “When we leave one place, we subconsciously know that not all will reach their desired destination. Some, who pass the first tree, are not present when we reflect. Others, who reflect, do not see the light. Even if you see the light, you might not reach paradise. I tried to lead you to paradise, but when I found the tree of life, you all lagged behind.”

The deeper into the forest we go, the fewer who follow.

–*– Angela used to work in sales and marketing and product development.

- 51 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

When we spoke, she had recently joined Macquarie Telecom to lift the focus, trust and empowerment of its people. She is also a board member of two Christian organisations and member of the Third (secular) Order, Society of Saint Francis (Francis of Assisi). The Order provides a rule of life to follow. It is a life of worship, prayer and a commitment to use worldly resources effectively. To look after herself and others, seeking to serve regardless of whether she will benefit in return.

“

I would like people who have encountered me to have a better experience of life. I would like them to see the light of Christ shining through me.

”

How does the light of Christ shine through a person? Sermons say (in much greater detail) it is through doing good work in the name of God. Caring about others. Being a disciple, or evangelist of faith, so that others may come to know God. If you considered and dismissed religious teaching on a point of reason some time ago, it would be possible to miss, or remain indifferent to, this message.

“I have been in stages in my life when all I could contemplate was my little world.”

After speaking with Angela, I began to see how relevance – or what we perceive as relevant – changes with contemplation.

“That’s understanding who you are tr ying to talk to… Seeking to understand, before seeking to be understood.”

Angela is determined. Like the men in the forest who lagged behind (because they stopped to look at something for too long), she has tried never to stay anywhere beyond the point it is useful to do so. She’s eager to blaze the trail. Her faith has helped her to recognise indifference, accept uncer tainty and innovate.

“It’s how we respond [to adversity] that is the making of us as human beings… In those struggles, I’ve realised there is so much more besides me and what matters to me.”

- 52 -

Significance Bill Healey, CEO of industry association

Motif If Bill was sailing on the Significance Ocean and you fell overboard, he would throw you a life ring. Even if you could swim, he would warn you of the sharks that could bite the suit you forced on over your skin so you could swim as gracefully as a seal, or to insulate your blood from the cold.

You would try and swim in the Significance Ocean because Security was also the home you felt safe to leave behind to your ancestors who had struggled there. Security was still uncovered by the rising Significance Ocean. Security was still ruled by its all-powerful elite and functioned on the backs of those who left the small but densely populated island, Not-So-Privileged.

In the coffee shop in Busy City, he asked the workers where they came from and what they were paid by the hour.

How can I help you?

Bill only told the par t of his story that began with me. Then he flashed back and dar ted forward. He cared about where I had been, he honed his direction, explored a field and then zoned back to the try line.

His final words were: “My mum always said ‘you have to do something greater than you.’”

- 53 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Post-materialism and belonging Was I aware of the move to the post-material age? It was a question about displaying symbols of wealth or finding meaningful work. People who are looking for more than the outward trappings of wealth. Changes to the dimension of consumerism and the market for discretionary spending.

The post-material age was also another angle from which to look at tattoos, to talk of identity and self-expression, to fulfil the need for belonging. Bill said there was a time when “only hard men got tattoos”. Sailors and rock musicians. Men like Slash and Axl; the Axl who sang Sweet Child O’Mine.

Now and then when I see her face She takes me away to that special place And if I stared too long I’d probably break down and cry

Family and values That day Bill carried the suit he would wear in eight days as father of the bride, and he guessed correctly that I had a copy of the book his wife Deborah wrote more than 15 years ago. He suggested Deborah’s spor ts law hypotheticals could now be read as prophecies, such as the scenario of a fatal on-field accident. A story of tragedy and fragility.

–*– “The fundamental things I value are my children, wife and now my granddaughter and extended family. If anything was to happen to them, my life would not be worth living. I would rather go now, than have to absorb the pain.”

Bill also values a robust process of decision-making so he can argue a position, such as the merits of screening a television commercial for the fragrance Decadence at 8.30pm, in the middle of the ARIAs live telecast, when young girls would still be watching. They would have seen the model Adriana move seductively, but they didn’t hear the lines from the same Mar velettes song.

I had laid my trap for you But it seems that I got caught

- 54 -

Significance - Bill Healey, CEO of industry association

A poignant warning to contemplate as he went on to question whether fear for children was out of control, based on the evidence of the panic stirred after a hear t-wrenching documentary.

Passion for societal issues Education was Bill’s real passion, but today he seems equally passionate about inequity in the workplace. A mindset of equality and fairness fosters innovation.

He says we should be debating fair, appropriate and premium rates of pay across the 24/7 work week, as well as asking about core hours.

Some master-servant employment relationships raise all sor ts of issues for Bill. He has transitioned his thinking beyond the industrial perception of conflict. Natural systems need to have dominant and submissive players. He referred to the Marxist view informing the actions of people involved in the Franklin River blockade in Tasmania.

Bill admits some skill gaps, but he has life skills. He has come to appreciate the quote: “The primar y goal of any organisation once it is established is to sustain itself ” (source unknown). Leaders will do everything they can to maintain power in ensuring sustenance.

Off the record, his frustration is clear. Back on: “Always back self-interest and greed ”, especially when you see leaders seeking refuge from enemy fire. In the spotlight, they can hunker down in the foxhole, avoiding the surface risk for all to see.

Divergence and focus Bill contemplated independent income earners, ethical dilemmas, the moral development of the self-actualised, violence, pain, empathy and trust. Mother Teresa, The Titanic and Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Foundations, the House of Representatives and FitBits. Heads in the parapet for valuing money over freedom.

I thought the reference to freedom was an impor tant segue to the philosophy of the absurd or Absurdism. Bill calls it ‘the tyranny of unfulfilled expectations”.

- 55 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

“A whole lot of people out there [pause] are dictated to by this feeling of regret. It’s not that you didn’t achieve it. You had two options. Hang in there and persevere [we have wonderful examples of people who have gone on and endured significant hardship and finally achieved]. Or you accept that it wasn’t meant to be, and move on. The people that piss me off are those that say ‘I could have been a contender.’ I say ‘no, you couldn’t,’ because if you had been a contender, you could have stayed in there.”

“

Don’t hold your expectations as a burden over life.

”

- 56 -

Value Phil Preston, Founder, The Collaborative Advantage

How can individuals and organisations collaborate to mobilise assets and make a meaningful impact on social issues at scale?

Almost everything Phil Preston does is about the process of change.

He evaluates risk and oppor tunity, to strategise and problem-solve in collaboration. As a former investment manager, Phil star ted his own business in 2008 with a strong technical understanding of commerciality and prosperity.

While working in financial services, Phil honed his understanding of human behaviour and motivation. He has seen how things can go wrong and what can be achieved by driving change from within an organisation.

Over time, he has learnt more about where to direct his strengths.

His mission is to facilitate capacity building and help people who seek to create value while doing good.

Phil aims to create value by unlocking value. There is so much to be unlocked by bringing diverse people and organisations together provided that, as a practitioner, “you are good enough to market a process.� To share examples and establish practice, Phil has developed case studies, canvas tools and a profile as a professional speaker and MC. Stories about his work are weaved seamlessly into conversation to illustrate the beliefs he holds. The segues were neat, as Phil shared

- 57 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

how par ticipants in his programs had connected on a personal level, experienced realisations and ar ticulated problems previously unspoken.

For a man who enjoys making conscious decisions about his own path, you can feel his joy at raising the level of consciousness in the decisionmaking of others. A huge component of the value equation is helping people understand where they are at. Phil has seen the comfor t people experience when they discover they are not alone in their thoughts.

“

That’s not just a weird thought I had.

Other people are thinking it too.

”

All in transition Many par ticipants in these conversations spoke of the feelings that motivated their transitions, divides that needed healing, the impor tance of caring for others and their yearning to do something, or be something more. These personal transitions were frequently recalled as being conscious and deliberate. Design was cited as an enabler of significant change.

No one mentioned transitions in triathlons, but I wondered about the parallels. What could be interpreted from Steve Trew’s triathlon guide?

The inexperienced need to practice and train for transitions. Unless the competitor possesses superhuman athleticism, it is likely that fatigue will be carried from one discipline to the next.

Different muscles are needed for each leg and as the blood moves between muscles, there is likely to be a feeling of emptiness. Sometimes a hard hat is needed; at other times, a thick skin. The eyes need different lenses to shade the brightest light, compared to when they want to see the race line through water.

While practice is helpful, the real skill is maintaining technique under pressure. Competitors can be prone to distraction under exertion and when surrounded by adversaries. When it is crowded near the end of a ride, consider dismounting earlier to get to the next leg faster.

- 58 -

Value - Phil Preston, Founder, The Collaborative Advantage

Combined with Mike Zawaski’s guide to snow travel, there might be the just enough for those seeking an adventurous move, while heeding the inevitable risks of exploring new ground.

Accidents are common in zones where the terrain changes. Beware of steep sections as well as ice, rocks, windward mountain faces and hills where there is no gradual “run out” section to reduce speed.

Look ahead and pay attention to the senses to detect and adjust to the changing terrain before the danger zones. Slipping at altitude could mean a long fall.

Essential equipment needs to be easily accessible. Pulling out an ice axe in a safe place may elicit strange looks, but the well-timed change will see the prepared regain the lead in steeper sections.

The transition that defines Phil’s narrative today occurred at the point of realising he wanted to help organisations change from within. When he spoke about shared value, Phil described his approach as coaching change conversations from a position between organisations.

Shared value Following the idea espoused by Michael Por ter and Mark Kramer in 2006, and formalised in 2011, Phil is working with Australian companies, non-profits and government to marry assets or strengths with strategic and social needs. It is a transition from corporate social responsibility to generating economic and societal value. It is a process that connects, builds communities and expands the scope of purpose.

Phil connects organisations that are interested in collaboration and shared value, but lack the time, tools or resources to work through the oppor tunities by themselves. There may be an inkling of unlocked commercial value in one place and nearby, a genuine community need for greater resources.

Where self-interest or toxicity in the system may have prevented constructive discussion previously, Phil facilitates conversations that bring oppor tunity, balance and perspective.

Historically, when we’ve seen the profit objective show disregard for the social context, things can go “horribly wrong,” he notes.

- 59 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Before he knew about shared value, Phil learnt the impor tance of being able to speak the language of other professionals to build understanding and influence change. In his role as facilitator, needing to understand lots of little things, his translator skills are par ticularly valuable.

Phil tells the story of a friend who left her corporate role to find greater meaning in life but struggled to make the transition. Similar depar tures might be preventable for the mutual benefit of companies and their employees. The challenge is helping companies to find meaningful oppor tunities for their people which also serve the commercial agenda.

While corporations do not have a legal responsibility to create meaningful work for people, doing so offers the potential for employer differentiation and competitive advantage in this post-material age.

- 60 -

Unconsciousness Julie Toma, Marketing and Communications, Sonic Clinical Services

A general manager of marketing and communications, Julie Toma challenged everything I was thinking about the impor tance of ar ticulated thinking when she described her interest in neuromarketing. This is a stor y of how one conversation can change our thinking.

I had star ted this conversational stor y project because I was captured by the idea of asking people what they thought and why they believed they had come to think and decide as they did. I was longing to make sense of the world.

Fear set in after my conversation with Julie, because she said neuromarketing was becoming an increasingly valuable technique for understanding decision-making. More valuable than rationally considered verbal explanations?

Had neuroscience rendered conversations about thinking useless? Pieces of the thought puzzle already placed needed to be rearranged. Some were still missing, but Julie had hinted where they were hiding. One critical piece was par tially revealed, but settling it would be impossible. The whole picture may never be seen. An abstract picture will form instead.

Neuro-marketing According to neuro-marketing researcher Dr Pradeep, the human brain

- 61 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

seeks to categorise, organise and make sense of the chaotic world we live in. As a marketing leader and awards judge, Julie may agree with the validity of the problem posed: ‘How can I make sense of the world?’

The solution of conversation only seemed to address a small par t of the problem. It may need a redesign. That’s OK, because Julie believes the practice of business innovation is founded in testing ideas, adapting and learning.

Hypothesis: We cannot make sense of the world if we rely only on the conscious thoughts that people feel comfortable sharing.

Paraphrasing the physicist Leonard Mlodinow, every man and woman stands behind a fully closed persona cur tain when we meet them for the first time. Our interactions after this first meeting are shaped by subliminal processes, by our collective unconscious.

No matter who is listening or talking? No matter what context?

Regardless of what is revealed, it seems we cannot help categorising people to expedite our reactions. For survival. If we have come to know a few apples in any given category or group that we have formed a world view of, the new acquaintance will most likely be thrown into the same basket. The good news is that we can use our conscious minds to study and to “pierce cognitive illusions,” according to Mlodinow. Unconsciously, we appreciate the complexity of individuals in our own groups, while we perceive homogeneity in individuals belonging to groups that we are not a par t of.

Was the conversational solution gaining validity again? Reflecting on amateur experience (beware my distor tion and bias), I have come to believe that unconscious thoughts can be awakened by conversations where par ticipants trust one another and are prepared to be vulnerable.

There are whole industries of neuro exper ts who understand this far better. They have exper tise I do not possess. My intention is to set out the pieces of a personal puzzle to put them back together for greater understanding. Dr Pradeep said people like doing puzzles, as long as they are not too difficult.

The switch was flipped to ‘on’ again. In one paragraph, I had gone from being

- 62 -

Unconsciousness - Julie Toma, Marketing and Communications, Sonic Clinical Services

a conscious truth-seeker to an unconscious advocate for conversations.

My unconscious brain was fighting back, making use of what limited data it had to construct a theory that I alone would find realistic and complete.

What would others think? Some lines of conscious thought were star ting to plug the holes in my evidence. I thought I could again put forward the value of non-scientific conversations between individuals about thinking.

Conversations where we share stories, and reconstruct memories on demand, as required, can make us feel better.

“When asked to recount how it reacted to something, in the course of responding, the brain actually alters the original data it recorded,” writes Dr Pradeep.

Conscious perspective The optimist returned. I will find a way, without retraining as a neuroscientist, to share the adventure of exploring the perceivable reality of our conscious and unconscious thoughts. It is convincing enough for now that Mlodinow said that brains can communicate coherent (although imperfect) pictures of our life experience.

Reframed problem: How do we connect with people in sufficient depth to soothe our shared need to make sense of the world, as it turns on our unconscious thoughts and actions?

Brands and consumers The global information and measurement company Neilsen purchased 100 per cent of Dr Pradeep’s company, NeuroFocus, in 2011, integrating it into its product innovation practice (after first becoming a minority investor in 2008). The company now offers a wide range of consumer neuroscience marketing applications, including measurement of non-conscious responses, and brand building through evaluation of emotional engagement.

Julie said that harnessing diverse perspectives in business is essential for long-term success. Dr David Lewis, a neuropsychologist and Chairman of Mindlab International, was more over t than Dr Pradeep in noting the potential for consumer decision-making to be manipulated in unconscious ways. Consumers are not immune to persuasion, as much as we may consciously like to think we are.

- 63 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Dr Lewis prompted the questions: –– What is the potential impact of decision science on free will?

–– What questions arise from marketing campaigns that are pitched at consumers’ unconscious thoughts (i.e. fears) of inadequacy and unfulfilled potential?

Empathy Empathy is a common theme of impor tance in customer-centric innovation.

But if humans cannot accurately describe how they feel about most things, nor what they remember, how do we effectively practice empathy? What mindsets need to be in place for us to empathise with others in their time of greatest need?

By highlighting the influence of our unconscious, Julie raised awareness of the complexity of caring for people (par ticularly those who are focused on improving healthcare outcomes, whether as doctors, patients, carers or advocates for system-wide change).

Despite the risk of hearing a logical, incomplete response, Julie believes that listening deeply to customer needs is a vital par t of the journey to improving people’s lives. We are all on the journey of making ourselves or someone else feel better.

I believe caring means meeting another human being in the present.

If our reconstructed narratives about the past and our fears for the future are the primary sources of our blindness and anxiety (as well as our most impor tant protection mechanisms), perhaps we can consciously empathise.

Closing hypothesis: Being ‘in the moment’ is where we cease to be what we think of you or me, and together connect as the one that only our unconscious knows us to be.

- 64 -

Sharing Conversations with Deborah-Ann Allan, ALTO consult

“I discovered all these little plants that had been abandoned for years, struggling under the weight of the vines.”

Deb prefers conversations to reading. She is open to growing new relationships and sharing information on what’s worked, and what’s not worked so well throughout her career. She is grateful to the members of Hargraves Institute who have shared their stories at the annual conference from a position of goodwill and mutual learning.

I enjoyed speaking with Deb about her creative outlets, architecture (her past role), aquaculture (her studies) and her hobby of extreme gardening.

We chatted about meaning, commerciality, gamification, service design, membership organisations, knowledge sharing, innovation in teams and strategic design-led innovation with customers at the hear t. In hindsight, we should have spent more time talking about Deb’s thoughts on doing something, “not because it is easy, but because it is the right thing to do.”

Or we could have fur ther explored Deb’s question: “Where is it that we actually are?”

By asking the most questions, I shaped the conversation. Deb may have chosen other topics to focus on if given the oppor tunity. As I changed directions, she generously contemplated hypotheses.

- 65 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

I could write more about what I heard and thought about after our conversation. If you are like Deb, you may prefer to share and collaborate instead of reading. It’s why this is shor t and I haven’t revealed more about what Deb does and how she can contribute to a conversation on innovation.

I am cer tain Deb shares interests and aspirations with Hargraves members.

To share a few examples, thinking of pilot par ticipants, she is optimistic and determined to make a dent in the universe. How?

“

Is it the hammer head or (swinging) the handle that makes the dent?

”

What would you like to ask Deb? She would be happy to share her stories and her thoughts.

What stories could you share in return? Hargraves would be happy to facilitate the introduction.

If we prune words, as Deb has pruned vines in extreme gardening, we can make way for natural beauty to thrive.

- 66 -

Relationships Dan Liszka, CEO, NSW Leaders

He wondered why we asked him, uncer tain whether he was the right person. Yet it only took one look at Dan Liszka’s profile to see that he had identified his exper tise in unlocking value. He had done that commercially and voluntarily. He said “yes” to Allan Ryan because he values relationships.

We unlock value when we value relationships.

This may read like a random stream of thoughts. When I wrote this, I was exploring how to ar ticulate ‘adding value’. I was uncer tain of others’ thinking about relationships, generosity and commerciality. Dan has an interesting stor y. It is simply not shared here. I have chosen instead to include some maxims and questions inspired by his experience and achievements.

Relationships are complex and ambiguous, but we may be cer tain about some things. Talking in person connects. Oppor tunities arise because of relationships and we can save time thinking if we can call someone we know for help.

We can give away what we know (including some intellectual proper ty) if we have established relationships. People will pay us to do work they could do themselves because they have no time to do the work themselves.

Paying someone for their skills strengthens relationships. It could be a shor t-term investment for the long-term returns of reciprocity. You might be able to cut a better deal if you have invested over a long time.

- 67 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

Some will respect you more when you admit you do not have all the answers – and that will build relationships, too. Pausing to consider a question carefully, offering some star ting thoughts, allows two people to enjoy thinking together. We walk away from that feeling like our mind has been engaged and respected. We will reflect on that as a positive experience and the relationship can continue. We weren’t sold to and new value was unlocked.

If the first step to building a relationship is building rappor t, you could ask Dan to tell you a tale from his time in Ecuador, working in the shrimp farming industry or with snapper, four kilometres off the coast of NSW. Questions for entrepreneurs These questions were inspired by Dan’s stor y of entrepreneurship. He has answered each one during his career.

–– What would you do if asked to help on a project you did not know much about?

–– What side project could you work on at the same time?

–– How does the market (for this struggling business) really work?

–– What size does a venture need to get to before it is viable?

–– Is a lack of entrepreneurialism around you holding you back?

–– What would someone else do at this juncture?

–– Should you persist to get to the next level when you are bored, or change direction completely?

–– Can you do what you are exceptional at (but less interested in) twice a year, and do what you love for the rest of the time?

–– How do you assess if you have the right mix of ideas, team members, timing, location and market offer?

–– How could you support or appreciate someone who has the guts to tr y and do something new?

–– What can you do to avoid making a bad hire?

- 68 -

Relationships - Dan Liszka, CEO, NSW Leaders

–– Could you introduce two individuals in your network with a specific purpose?

–– Who can you share your knowledge with to help someone understand where they’re at (so they can move forwards)?

–– What are you doing to sustain your team?

- 69 -

Next?

Scott Bourke, public service innovation

Scott Bourke had less interest in stor ytelling and more interest in problem-solving.

A former corporate lawyer and investment banker, he has completed a doctorate in business administration, with a focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and strategy. He also has a pure Masters in Applied Finance. When Scott referred to empiricism, I believe he was referring to the scientific theor y of practical experience, following logical or unconventional reasoning.

If you prefer contemplating the corporate or human condition through narrative, the synopsis of Scott’s story would be something like this: Dr Bourke has been called to adventure. While talking in a dull and noisy kitchen in a government office, he might seem an unlikely hero.

He may initially refuse the quest of carr ying the ring as far as the darkness of Mordor, as in The Lord of the Rings. But he will help us to leave the safety of the farm, on the edge of the river insanity. He will encourage us to look across that river and see the wizard’s tower in the distance. The wizard has the wisdom to share as he points you towards the trail. You must embark on this journey with the courage to develop your own, par ticularly if you choose to walk the path where others fear to tread.

- 71 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

A mission to solve Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to frame a problem for Scott. Mission impossible or mission to relish? Scott offered many hints which inspired the game, its rules and how to play. He also outlined some problems during our conversation which I tried to capture and reframe.

If you read the problems, there is an oppor tunity to iterate my fast framing and improve the design and ar ticulation for customers.

Rules of the game The problem you define has to be complex, not a simple one of improving a repeatable process.

Ideally, it will be a problem per taining to an adaptive system with dysfunctional or inefficient subsystems or other elements.

It cannot have been solved previously in your industry domain or the present time. You could frame problems previously solved through the techniques of combination and application.

If the problem does not relate to a system already in chaos, you might choose to frame the problem around solving chaos that you foresee could eventuate because of current activity.

You need to be pragmatic in your problem framing. Solving the problem that you frame has to stretch minds for growth, but also be plausible enough to motivate individuals and teams to act in collaboration.

The problem will involve people and principles and require the analysis of historical lessons, as well as qualitative and quantitative data. Solving the problem will result in transformational change, helping people and society at the macro level.

Think about the language you use and whether the problem’s framing could be misinterpreted.

If there is a need for a mandate to solve the problem (outside this game of course), include in your framing how you would orchestrate that mandate. For example, consider whether those in power need to feel it was their idea to solve this problem, to obtain their suppor t and influence.

You need to learn as you frame the problem.

- 72 -

Next? - Scott Bourke, public service innovation

Before finishing the game, you also need to re-evaluate the goals you had when you star ted, looping your learning. Reshape your problem-framing goals, so you will be ready for the next problem that you map out.

Socialise your learning from the framing activity. How did your problem reasoning compare? Loop your learning again.

Remember, reality is socially constructed. Consider, then put aside, any potential bias, embarrassment, defensiveness or perceptions of incompetence as you play the game.

Have fun. You are excited by the mission not only of framing a problem, but solving it too.

Some problems framed earlier What if we redesigned Australia’s corporate talent system, applying empirical evidence, to reconceptualise commonly accepted assumptions of the value of experience, assessment of an individual’s potential and decisions around remuneration?

What would we learn if we did an attribution analysis of luck, chance, randomness and skill?

What if we reconceptualised the Anglo-American system of corporate governance and institutional leadership, taking into account free market ideology and the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sar tre? In par ticular, Sar tre’s philosophical ar ticulation of the connection between the fear of freedom, and the acceptance of personal responsibility of freedom. How do we navigate the existential problems which may be causing sub-optimal executive and board decision-making?

Debate or explain the insanity of corporate remuneration and governance structures. Then demystify the ideology of free market negotiations and decision-making, to uncover unknown concerns around the analysis of corporate results. How can we broaden the parameters of mainstream economic thinking?

Learning from the game Co-design an experiential, action learning program, with recognised cer tification for those who would solve the problem you frame. Your aim

- 73 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

is to extend thinking of adaptive systems, improve decision-making in subsystems, embed the learning, develop a repeatable model and shape a commercially viable learning business in the process.

Learning by design It is not easy to think at this level of depth. Perhaps it is not pragmatic.

What I learned from these conversations is that most innovators are driven to solve problems. I couldn’t solve these problems, but I believe we can apply the principles of game design to corporate social problems.

What can we learn together as we frame and reframe problems?

- 74 -

Afterword When I reflected on these stories, I realised just how little I knew.

Interpretative frameworks were shattered. As the stories took shape, the project seemed to be more about the tension between ego and self.

I fell into the trap of telling it how it is. Then, I tried sharing how I saw it on reflection. There were so many gaps, even after doing fur ther research, that my writing often came out as random disconnected thoughts. It was tough to finish each story as I found the act of narrating life extracts for review and publication to be a risky and sensitive path. When contemplating edits to refine the structure, I realised the stories were actually about the interactivity of conversation.

I believe value was realised in the process of reflection, synthesis, expression and narration. It was humbling to receive positive feedback where I was able to retell a story in a way some of these wonderful people had not thought to do themselves.

I entered this project with genuine curiosity. Many of the conversations were broad and philosophical. No two were the same. If you asked each speaker to describe the experience, they may all say something different. The timing of each conversation, writings that crossed my path before them, my own memory recall and the level of rappor t established were just a few of the influencing factors which changed the dynamics for each story.

As I considered rival interpretations, ambiguity was becoming clearer in my mind. How easy it is to misunderstand, misinterpret and to miss significance. I found resonance and understanding to be connective one

- 75 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

moment and elusive the next as our experiences diverged. How quickly, even if unintentionally, it was possible to slip into delicate territory.

The final stage in this experiment will be to share the complete anthology beyond the par ticipants featured. I hope some of the thoughts shared might spark energising conversations on a whole range of fascinating issues.

To readers I do not know: We invite you to consider the questions that we have pursued: –– How and why do our interpretations differ?

–– What is the value of understanding an individual’s perspective in depth?

–– Where are knowledge and interpretive limits presenting resonance risk and sharing opportunities?

Resonance and connectivity We can find resonance in our one-to-one conversations. Committing our thinking to paper for a broader audience changes the game.

I am not confident that I can write a story that is relevant to you without listening to you first.

I believe interpretation, resonance and relevance is personal.

This is the most honest ending of my story of conversations.

Everything I could say, when I truly listen to you, could be different to what I ask and share with everyone else.

A short story of interconnection This anthology would not have been written without a series of conversations I had with Matt Jackson of affectors. I reconnected with Oliver Freeman (whom I had initially met through Hargraves Institute) after Matt shared his vision of bridging the divide between ar t and commerce. Oliver’s suggestion that I read An Intimate Histor y of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin was the catalyst for this anthology (thanks to the visioning skills of Allan Ryan).

- 76 -

Afterword - Juliet Chandler

Oliver also published Matt’s book, Age of Affect, which I read in manuscript form because of our conversations about poetry. Sharing feedback on Matt’s manuscript led to an invitation to attend an affectors event, which inspired me to write a ‘racing hear t’ story on LinkedIn. Graham Kenny, who I met after a series of LinkedIn conversations, responded to that post and challenged my writing ambitions. Matt and Graham collectively made me realise that I wanted to write from the hear t. Company director and author John M Green challenged my creative writing ambitions and reminded me of the impor tance of reading.

John also made it clear I needed to keep one foot in the corporate world, even as I was increasingly being seduced by the world of literary fiction.

Steven Cole encouraged me by believing in the vision of conversations, and offered constructive criticism after reading a draft of one stor y.

To the participants Thank you to all who gave me a chance, because their conversations with Allan alleviated doubts as to what this was about. The Hargraves Institute team has been courageous as I pushed corporate stor ytelling beyond the edge they were accustomed to.

In sharing this anthology, I hope to return a small token of appreciation to everyone I have conversed with and who has helped me to see and think about the world differently.

Thank you also to my editor Stephanie Oley for seeking clarity when I was unclear and for pushing me to be more consistent. I am grateful for the masterful job you did improving my expression.

Juliet Chandler MAY 2016

- 77 -

Bibliography Baldwin, N. Edison: Inventing the Century; A biography, Hyperion, c1995 Berlin, I. The Hedgehog and the Fox; An Essay on Tolstoy’s View of History, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Kindle edition, 2011 Brown, B. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead, Penguin Books, 2012 Bucolo, S. Are we there yet?, BIS Publishers, 2015 Clark, T. and Osterwalder, A. Business Model You, Wiley, 2012 Collins, J. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, HarperBusiness, 2001 Denning, S. The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, Jossey-Bass, 2005 Er tel, C. and Soloman L. K. Moments of Impact: How to design strategic conversations that accelerate change, Simon & Schuster, 2014 Gevisser, M. Lost and Found in Johannesburg: A Memoir, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015 Hogshead, S. How the World Sees You: Discover your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination, HarperBusiness, 2014 Israel, P. Edison: A life of invention, John Wiley & Sons, 1998 Jackson, M. The Age of Affect, Richmond, 2016 Kahneman, D. Thinking, Fast and Slow, Penguin Books, 2013 Killian, A. Amplify and Accelerate Learning, amplifybusiness.com, 2015 Keeley, L. Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs, Doblin Consulting, 2013 MacIntyre, A. Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative, and the Philosophy of Science, The Monist 60, 4 (October 1977), Oxford University Press

- 79 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

McGonigal, J. Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How We Can Change the World, Jonathan Cape, Random House, 2011 Pfeffer, J. Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time.

HarperBusiness, 2015 Plate, T. Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew: Citizen Singapore: how to build a nation.

Marshall Cavendish Editions, c2010 Pradeep, A.K. The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind, Wiley, 2010 Schwar tz, H. Gabriel’s Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales, Oxford University Press, 1993 Tetlock, P. E. and Gardner, D. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction. Crown, 2015 Thaver, L. ‘Institutional Culture and Transformation’ in Keim, M. (ed), Social Transformation, Leadership and Healing: Conference Proceedings, Institute for Theological & Interdisciplinary Research, 2008 The Vigilent Citzen, ‘Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance - The Occult Meaning’, 2009 http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/lady-gagas-bad-romance-the-occult-meaning/ Thomas, D. and Seely Brown, J. A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change, Create Space Independent Publishing, 2011 Thomas, P.J . Bite Size Advice: A definitive guide to political, economic, social and technological issues, Goko Management and Publishing, 2015 Toohey, P. Boredom: a lively history, Yale University Press, c2011 Trew, S. Triathlon: Crowood Sports Guides – Skills, Techniques, Tactics, The Crowood Press, 2010 Zawaski, M. Snow Travel: Skills for climbing, hiking and moving over snow, Mountaineers Books, 2012

Audio Visual Facing the Truth, Moyers & Company http://billmoyers.com/content/facing-truth-par t-one/ Maya Angelou on Facing Evil, Cour tesy of Bill Moyers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amokikraCLY Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Artist Interview: Anish Kapoor, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo6ev9PxV1I Rober ts, R. (and guests) EconTalk, Library of Economics and Liber ty http://www.econtalk.org/ The Criterion Collection, Christopher Nolan on “Following” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUpA7Qma_9E The School of Life, Philosophy – René Descartes, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAjWUrwvxs4

- 80 -

HARGRAVES INSTITUTE ANTHOLOGY - Sharing Conversations

In the busy corporate world, there is little time to slow down, reflect and exchange thinking. Yet most people enjoy telling their stories and expressing ideas when someone is willing to listen.

As every conversation is different, the possibilities are infinite and exciting. The Hargraves Institute Anthology: Sharing Conversations tells stories of connection, reflection, personal experience, innovation and change.

How do we share in conversations?

How do conversations influence our thinking?

“ This collection of stimulating conversations with innovation leaders will challenge your thinking. While the science of innovation can be found in textbooks, this work is about the art of innovation. Broad in sweep and rich in examples, it forces you join the dots from the themes that tangle and weave from conversation to conversation.

The intellectual reader will delight in the philosophical narrative that wraps the broad spectrum of views together. The valuable insights are simple yet instructive as they draw on years of experience in the field.This is a thoughtful and unique addition to the literature on innovation.”

PAUL J. THOMAS Chief Executive Officer, Gateway Credit Union Ltd

www.julietchandler.com

julietlchandler - 82 -

@juleschand