A Mentors Perspective - Imagine Cup NZ 2013 Innovation Category Winner

Winning the Imagine Cup NZ Innovation Category 2013- A Mentors Perspective

Last night I had one of those ultra-proud moments. I don't have children, but that moment when the name of the Imagine Cup Team I have mentored for the past 3 months got called as the winner, I actually heard myself squeal like a little girl!  I was so proud of the team and what they have achieved to win their category. I do have to admit I was equally excited to see Sam 'The TV One  Weatherman' and Microsoft NZ MD Paul Muckleston presenting them with their awards and the $6,000 cash they deserve.  Just a shame Shawnee was in hospital and could not be with the team to share in the success on the night.

This team have truly triumphed in the face of adversity.  During the process, the team leader, Brian's wife was very sick in hospital for a long period of the competition, meaning he was studying, looking after the kids and trying to work on the competition.
1 week before the final, the graphics designer broke her ankle at a Roller Derby and was Skyped in from hospital for the judging round.  Then on the Saturday, Marcel, one of the developers was driving up from Hamilton and his car literally blew up on the Bombay hills leaving an Oil slick behind them, which meant they missed their practice time.  To make matters worse, at about 7pm on Saturday night, one of the team accidentally broke one of the rarest cables around needed to project from their Surface RT to the projector for the judging round.  I truly congratulate Team Cold with My Storyteller.  They have done an amazing job and really pushed through cool, clam and collected with all of the things thrown at them during this contest.

This team has really had it thrown at them.  As a mentor I have thoroughly enjoyed supporting this team through these ups and downs and just being their for them....even at 10.30pm on a Saturday night in our boardroom going over and over the presentation!
 My leadership mentor tells me I do my best work in my creative rather than analytical mind.

I have found using my leadership abilities with this team challenging and rewarding.  Seeing these students from The University of Waikato win the Innovation category last night re-affirmed to me that it really is possible to be creative and innovative, no matter what is thrown at you.

So what did they create?  A very cool application that is designed to bring parents and children together through the art of StoryTelling.  The team built a Windows 8 Application which runs on a Surface touch device and allows the storyteller to be web cam recorded telling a story.  The graphics of the story show and the person reads along with the words presented to them.  This application also allows the parent to customise the story with the child's name, gender and relationship to the child and these attributes are also embedded into the story.

The application is a global application with a wide market.  They have also created graphics allowing the parent or caregiver to customise skin-tone, eye colour and hair-colour.

The thing that I have most admired about this team is something we should all take note of.  Hear are the winning traits as I see them:-

1/ They each knew their unique roles in the team and the responsibilities of each member
(ie.  2 developers, 1 project manager, 1 graphics designer- create the application, work on the management of task and create the graphical interface)

2/ They had a clear and strong leader
(yes Brian- you were a brilliant leader- and it showed!)

3/ They had a clear vision and goal of what it was they wanted to achieve AND they all believed in it.

4/ When the going got tough, the team got tougher
(When their car broke down on the Bombays, they just kept practicing their presentation to passing cars, the objective being to get toots from trucks!)  They did not worry about what people thought, it was more about optimising the time they had to prefect and achieve their goal.

5/ They were willing to seek out, listen to and take external advice from their mentor and others
This team actually knew the value of external input.  I admired them immensely for this.  They were not proud, they just wanted so badly to succeed.  Its so important to know you can only be the best you can be by listening to others and perfecting yourself.

6/ They were open to different perspectives on what they were doing
Keeping the door open and not shutting out new ideas is critical to business and team success- are we really listening to those other perspectives or is it more "I hear you, but I'm not listening?

7/ Constructive criticism was part of the process and not only did they ask for it directly, they embraced it when they got it
(They even asked me directly for this as a mentor and also watched themselves on video during their practice presentations, they wanted feedback and were not afraid to ask for it when they wanted it)

8/ They had passion and it showed in everything they did- whether they were being judged or not

9/ Even when they thought they might not make it, they still kept going, knowing their might still be a chance- no matter how small the odds were

10/ They used innovation and creativity to bind the team together as the under-lying and fundamental principal.

If there is one thing I can finish with, it is taking a leaf out of this teams book.  I was such a small part as their mentor in what they did- simply being there when they needed me and giving advice and feedback when asked and using my toolkit of skills to help where they were weak and I was stronger.

Congratulations Team Cold- you will always be winners in my eyes and I will never forget the experience you have given me as your mentor- I feel privileged to work with you all and the team.....now lets try and get you to Russia as a category winner- first meeting after Easter!!!

Enjoy your time in the spot-light team- you deserve it!

http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/news/microsoft-imagine-cup

http://www.idealog.co.nz/blog/2013/03/imagine-cup-2013-winners

http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/nz-winners-announced-for-microsoft-imagine-cup-2013

NZ vs USA- are we leaders or followers?

After spending the last week in the USA, my mind is still boggling- electric cars, pimped out planes like nightclubs, free wireless everywhere and SUPER fast broadband.  I literally downloaded a 12MB MP4 movie in about 10-15 seconds.  I could not believe it.  Admittedly, I was at Microsoft HQ and the movie was demonstrating our Kinect for Windows ability using the technology as a language teacher.  Nothing seams to be a barrier in the USA, and if it is, they do all they can to take it away.
Even on the news, they were talking about doing road-works on the I-5 freeway and this would be disruptive to people sleeping so the council gave out free earplugs! 

So I feel I need to get a few things off my chest!  Firstly, I was amazed at how excellent the service was in the USA, from the minute we landed, almost until the minute we left.  From the bus driver in San Francisco who was joking with his passengers, to the retailers who when you say 'thank you' almost always say 'you're welcome'.  I only had 1 bad incident in the USA, and this was at LA airport, which to be honest is more like a form of organised chaos anyway.  The lady at the information counter sent us in completely the opposite direction of the international terminal and we ended up walking about 2km to get there.

So to my blog topic- NZ vs USA- are we leaders of followers?  Ten years ago I would have said we were leaders.  I know there are some amazing pockets of innovation.  I'll be bold and even say my own company, Business Mechanix leads this in many areas and we discovered this by measuring ourselves against our global competitors last week in Seattle USA.  We have what others want.  We are developing products and tools in gesture driven technology- Kinect for Windows, our product- called ASLO - Advanced Simulated Learning Objects.  We already have a US school interested in a pilot as they have never seen anything like this, even in the USA. 

So this is why I summarise we are not generally leaders in NZ in the innovation space on the global stage.  Firstly, it seams we are great at coming up with excellent ideas, but how offer do they really get integrated into everyday life?  Here are 25 examples of what I saw just living over in the USA for a week and how it changed everyday things I do...


1/ Border Control- USA to Canada- fast tag- just hold up your card, scan and drive- no need to talk to anyone just go....
2/ Planes that no longer worry about no smoking signs and have replaced with 'Turn off your electronic devices'
3/ At the shopping mall, there are spaces for electric cars where you can pay by credit card to charge them
4/ You can purchase a thousand dollar item with out a single bit of paper, this even includes signing for it.
5/ There are shops with no tills, just people roaming around with pimped out cell phones with credit card sleeves to pay for your transactions....and there are 12 of these people not just 1 or 2 behind the till
6/ You can purchase $299 BOSE headphones through a vending machine at the airport, or for that matter about 30 other types of technologies, just like you can a bag of chippies or a chocolate bar.
7/ Free wireless is commonplace.  If you don't have it, customers will go somewhere that does. They even have it in the supermarket.
8/ Internet is assumed and FAST- 12MB download in 10-15 seconds- nice.
9/ You can get "all you can eat" everything on your cell-phone plan for $50 per month, including texting, phone-calls and broadband.
10/ Taxes are not 15% in Washington or California.
11/ There are schools that barely use paper in the classroom called 'Schools of the Future' and the kids use inking on tablet devices instead of writing on paper.
12/ Kids are allowed to bring cell phones into class and they are integrated into teaching plans by the teachers.
13/ Service is not just assumed to be good, it is.  People make their livelihoods from it.
14/ There are very few immigrants in low-wage jobs and the people that are in these jobs, such as driving buses and retail, love what they do, and it shows.  The service industry is seen as a valid career path in the USA, not a second job.
15/ Cars have Satellite radio (Sirius) built in (not so good in car-park buildings so we discovered!)
16/ You can shop online on the planes and have it delivered to your door after the flight.
17/ E-Bay is free to surf on some airlines from your seat
18/ You can choose the currency you wish to transact in when shopping with your credit card at some shops - it actually asks you before you confirm the transaction and shows you the converted cost.
19/ Genetic Modification in fruit and vege is common place.  You should see the size of the Grapefruit in the USA- like a small football.  An I picked up a carrot that was almost as long as my arm from fingertips to elbow.  Odd!
20/ Bulk food- when you buy something in the Deli in bulk, it actually works out cheaper than purchasing it pre-packaged.  I think I literally paid $6 in NZ for 1/2 a small pottle of salad from New World before I left. In the US, it would be about $1-$2 for the same amount.
21/ You can get a flu shot at the supermarket...say no more!
22/ The shopping malls and other shops are open until 9.30pm.....every day- Monday-Sunday
23/ The Universities have TV channels where they run documentaries on their work and interesting topics so its shared with the world!
24/ Pedestrians are given respect at crossings and the whole light phasing is designed to help the pedestrian, not wait until all vehicles at every street have finished their phase before everyone else crosses!
25/ Technology is assumed to be part of life, it's not surprising to see children with cell phones or devices from very young ages and its encouraged rather than taken away.  The kids are encouraged to innovate through technology as much as adults.

Come on NZ, lets starting getting some more innovation into NZ in everyday life, including innovative services and pricing!  Let's encourage our clever companies and researchers and innovators.  Government and local government need to work more collaboratively with local businesses to put NZ back on the map in this global world.  We are a great test bed as a country for new innovations.  Lets see some more!!

You've gotta get along to move along

 

Today I heard the best line I'd heard in a long time.  "You've got to get along to move along".  The context was referring to moving thing ahead and working together in the face of adversity.  It also made me think of the many situations in business where there have been so many blockers and barriers and people effectively 'sabotaging' situations to simply save them going over budget or to save face in the front of management.

In every situation I can think of that I have lead, there has always had to be give and take.  Yes, sometimes things may go slightly over budget, yes, sometimes we don't all agree with decisions, but team work and moving forward for the greater good should always be top of mind if we are good team players and leaders.

 

Many times I've also seen roadblock situations put up due to a reluctance to approach management for sign-off, when in reality in most cases they are supportive of new and innovative ways of thinking to get different or better results.  People can be scared and need support in a united way from peers in this situation and getting along to move things along is vital in this case.

 

As a leader, one of the most important things I have learnt is ensuring you are allowing a clear way for innovation and new ideas and sometimes, you have to take risks and run with those you might think are slightly left field to show support of your team and encouraging them to keep coming up with innovative and new ideas.

 

When people get along, are all focused on a common goal, things will move along.  You will be able to work through tough times and make hard decisions and support each other during the hard bits and celebrate and share triumphs together in the big bits.

 

If you have a situation where the team is simply unable to get along, as a leader, it is you job to assist the team in clearing the blockages and dealing with the situation to ensure people are able to work together as a team to achieve common goals.

 

So lets start getting along and moving along!  Its incredible what results people can achieve when they work together on common goals.

 
 

Becoming an effortless leader

A wise person once told me that great leaders have great mentors or coaches.  I am currently on a journey with my Leadership coach to become an 'effortless leader'.  The though of what this might be sends tingles down my spine!  I can't imagine what this might mean.

My view of an effortless leader is dreaming of coming to work and things just 'happen' around me as I have lead my team so well, they know the goals they need to achieve, these align with the company and their own personal goals and beliefs.  We have trained them at the right time, given them the chance to both fail and succeed and created an environment where they are able to grow and prosper and feel safe to ask the unstructured questions.

My own personal journey with my Leadership coach is removing effortful barriers and taping into 'insights' and recognising as a leader, when we do our best thinking.  Mind power is an interesting thought in itself and the approach of trying to tap into a different area of the brain and recognising it through out the day has been an interesting challenge in itself.

I'm not sure how many leaders out there currently take the time to recognise that 'light-bulb' moment.  For me, its when I have a lot going on.  On holiday I turn into a cabbage and my brain goes to mush.  I have learnt however when I go to Microsoft HQ in Redmond, USA every-year, although I am still running my business via my iPad and phone, and sit through meeting after meeting and session after session, something special happens.  I am stimulated with new thoughts- I am in a different place and time, with different people and different perspectives from leaders in other countries.  Being a Leader in a global environment is significantly different to just leading your own team or company.

This year, we were recognised as a company for our Global Leadership in this area and became a finalist for Worldwide Public Sector- Education, picked out over 3,000 other companies in over 100 countries.  I think I have only just come to realise the enormity of this achievement.  Our team have achieved more than they even realise and as a leader, I have taken them there.

My journey to becoming effortless is a new challenge for me and I'm sure other leaders or managers would love to feel the same.  So 4 weeks in, how do I feel?

Bruce, my Leadership Coach has stated he feels I am speaking slower and pausing more and I am taking more time to reflect, this is a great achievement for me, over-coming 'foot and mouth' disease is something I have been aware of for many years and have always been wary of!  One of my goals is to also remove the level of 20% frustration that I hold each day- this will be an interesting one to remove as I also feel that perhaps its 'ok' to run with a small amount of this each day.

Ironically just before my last coaching session, I opened a fortune cookie given to me by the famous 'Wah Lee' on Hobson street I visited yesterday.  It simply said "A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials".  I am sure this is what my constant levels of frustration is all about!

Leadership reflecting and tapping into insights has already helped me 'take the pause' and reflect on a situation as its unfolding and using the questioning technique of 'asking questions' of me team, rather than reverting to my old style which would simply have been to 'tell them' how to fix a problem has been a mammoth shift in my style.  I discovered the 'questioning' technique from Jo Healey, Managing Director at Fujitsu.  I was the Keynote at a Woman in IT Conference in Christchurch a few weeks ago and Jo was on an IT Leaders  panel after my talk, she was asked about her own style of leadership and she stated her Mentor was getting her to walk through the 'questioning approach' with her team and she also mentioned how she was using this approach. 

I challenge other Leaders out there- were you are in a meeting or discussion with your teams, instead of 'telling them' the way something will be done, simply ask them things like "why do you think that might work?", "what could you have done differently?", "How might you approach this next time?", "What will you do to make sure you achieve the/ result or goal"?.

As leaders, I believe it is out moral responsibility to create succession plans for those beneath us, we have an obligation as leaders to share our knowledge and to teach others how to lead.  I welcome any thoughts, comments or feedback on this topic...

Expose yourself- it feels great!

Usually its Labour Weekend when I bare my white pins and throw my tights in the draw for a few months, but this year, its taken me an additional month to get there.  I saw a post last week from my Wellington cousin saying she had done it, so I figure being in Auckland I no longer had an excuse.
Rummaging through the back of the cupboard to find the fake tan did bring a smile to my face too, although not so much when in my haste to apply it, I had some rather interesting new designs on my thigh that I had not intended- someone needs to invent a fake-tan eraser pen.

So coming into work with bare legs made me feel slightly exposed, but also super good as I was able to wear a stunning dress I had not been able to all winter.  Exposing yourself does feel good!

A further dilemma was met this morning about exposing myself .This evening Wayne and I are to meet his step brothers new fiance.  This is a dilemma mainly in one area- not that we have never met her, but more that she owns a major woman's clothing label in NZ with stores all over NZ.  So what does one wear to work that will be suitable to go right out to dinner afterwards that can be scrutinised by a fashionisita?

Tearing madly through my wardrobe, I decided exposing my now blotchy legs from fake tan is no longer a good idea, this means trousers are a must.  I ran around trying to decide on what to wear with it and finally decided on my skinny black pants with a fitted jacket and Super High Heels purchased in Oz, this conclusion was reached after about 7 costume changes which has now left me running late for work...arrggh.

So now I am left with a further dilemma- and I have to expose myself in a work sense.
I've be having leadership coaching recently which has been a fascinating journey so far.  Bruce from Ignite is putting me through my paces.  Its quite odd to have someone to account to for homework, certainly not something I'm used to or have had to do for a while!

I have to come clean on this one and expose my self further.  I was given a Reflection Journal in last weeks session, I am supposed to sit quietly at the end of each day and write in it to reflect on the day and how it went.  Its been an odd sensation, firstly, writing on paper is not something I do much of these days, so this was an odd experience.  The second was to find a quiet space to do the reflection.  This has been rather challenging as we have an open plan office as I am a firm believer in this style of open and approachable leadership.

This means two choices- in the car or in the loo.  The later did not really seam that appealing and given by the time I have reached into my handbag this morning for my keys to see my Red Reflection Journal poking out, it has reminded me I have not done it and I am now in my car, running late for work.

So realising this dilemma I did what any intelligent multi-tasking girl would do- drove off down the driveway and realised that I could not drive properly in Super High-Heels selected for this evenings dinner, darn.  My super skinny pants have also restricted me from taking off my shoes- I can only reach to take one off while sitting in the traffic.  I am now driving with one shoe- at least no one can see.  So here I am sitting in the traffic waiting at the lights, I search for the Reflection Journal amongst the piles of tissues in my bag (paranoid I won't have one from being ill last few weeks).  I find my pen and start Reflecting and noting down my thoughts about the prior day.  I managed to get almost to the end when the light changed.   Darn.

I had to drive one shoed all the way across the harbour bridge until the lights in Union Street where I could have another go at updating.  Managed to get the last bit finished and turned the page over- shoot- Fridays has not been done!

Now at work I am sitting in the car park 'Reflecting'.  I am writing down how I felt about how the day went and what thoughts I had during the day.  I think people think I am weird, but I don't care, I am going to get this done!  What I have neglected to tell you is that our neighbours are renovating their building and there are a pile of builders cutting concrete just meters away.  So much for my quiet space!

I race through Friday's reflection, and felling pretty good, I grab my little red book and then realise I have to put my shoe back on while in my super skinny pants for my evening out.  I unfold as graciously as I am able and put on my Super High Heel with all of the buckles on, holding the car for support.  Once I start walking away and push the remote to lock the car, I hear a wolf whistle from the building site next door.

I just smiled when the builder (who I have not met) next door actually came over about 30 mins later to speak to me after receiving an email yesterday from Wayne about building safety concerns we were having after I rolled my ankle on some building rubble sprayed from out their windows yesterday. 

The odd thing was he seamed to have no idea I was about to grill him about the safety issues his workers were causing to our staff and property from the glowing hot re-bar sprayed over our car-park.  I think he thinks I must have been a wolf in sheep's clothing!  He did apologise at least 8 times in the conversation. 

Yes, I wore the correct outfit today- I have Reflected on this and how I felt.  Exposing myself more than I would normally with my Leadership Reflection journal and my dress today has been a positive experience.  I am still to have the dinner this evening and my Leadership coach will be 'checking my homework' so lets see how the day ends and what Reflections I may have after the days wraps up!

My technology has the flu

I think I have man-flu.  Given I am one of only 2 females in our office and 1 has been away on leave, I have been to Dr Google and apparently my symptoms show I have the man-flu, so this is what it must be.  I have tried the process of lying on the couch and ensuring both the cat and husband know I am on my death bed, but that did not work and I am still dragging myself up to the stove to cook dinner and dish out cat food. 

My voice has finally found me again after going on holiday for the long weekend to somewhere I was not.  I have found my sign-language and recently acquired gesture skills to be most useful when testing our new ASLO technology, however on the down side have found testing the Te Reo Maori Voice Controlled language teacher to have rather interesting results.  It seams I still have issues with the word 'Whare' no matter which way I pronounce things, voice or no voice!  I do find however I am able to still show-off the Back-Assessment module, thankfully I can use gesture control instead of voice only which I normally use to say "next and back!"

I've found an odd thing happen to me this week, my technology has the sympathy flu with me.  I went to a presentation 2 weeks ago and the presenter said 'when was the last time you had a blue screen'.  I had 2 that week on two different machines!  So in the last week, I've had 4 different laptops, yup four!  My technology has definitely got the flu like me.

So on machine 1, I managed to fry the hard-drive- this was the cause of the first set of blue screens.  So that got taken away.  The second machine was actually a rebuilt lightweight 1kg laptop I'd been given back.  Somehow, I've managed to destroy the graphics driver and now I have blue screens about twice a day on this.  So this prompted fast action.  I went out and purchased machine number three.  I don't normally purchase the technology in our office as its not my area, but with no machine and presentations in two days time, I needed to do something fast.  I was so proud of me, I think it may actually be the first laptop I have ever purchased from memory, as they have always been purchased for me.

So I did the usual thing, checked the processor requirement- I needed 2.66ghz to run ASLO and a dedicated graphics card- check (it was a dual processor 2.5ghz with turbo boost to 3.1 each- (I didn't actually know what turbo boost meant and decided anything I've ever driven with a turbo was worthwhile so why not?).  Memory- 8GB- check.  HDD- 750GB- check.  And the price....under $1000.  Oh my gosh, did I get the best deal.  I was so excited that I actually ordered two, one for someone else in the office.

The next day the machines turned up.  One of the technical services team walked up with the new laptop and said, "here's your new laptop, I've set it up for you, where would you like it?"  I turned around to see it perched on the edge of my desk.  My heart sank.

The laptop actually took up 1/3 of my desk.  It is possibly the largest laptop I have ever seen.  It reminded me of the laptops I saw in the late 80's or early 90's.  Huge.  My good deal suddenly took on a new meaning.  I looked longingly across at my dead 1kg laptop and looked back at 'the beast'.  Firstly, it was NEVER going to fit in my hand bag, or for that matter my laptop bag.  Not only did it have the flu, it had taken growth hormones!  I lifted it and it was more like 3kg.  I am a personal trainer and I think I could use it for training my clients for weighted squats- it would be a perfect size and weight.

Needless to say, the laptop was used the following day for a demo in Palmerston North.  I almost had to purchase an extra seat just for my laptop to sit on, but thankfully AirNZ fast bag meant I did not have to work out how the heck to fit a massive bag into a ridiculously small overhead airplane locker or somehow wedge the thing under the even smaller seat cavity.  I assure you, neither would have happened.

So this has now prompted laptop number 4.  After surviving 2 days with laptop number 3, my man-flu and I were begrudgingly dragged along to a computer shop in the weekend.  Don't get me wrong about this next piece as I do love technology, but I cannot think of any worse way of spending my weekend, especially with man-flu.

So as I entered geekdom, I was prayed upon before I'd even walked 2 steps into the shop.  This reminded me why I shop online!  I was surrounded by what seamed like a bunch of people who spend most of their life indoors and not in the garden or out cycling.  Most of them were in the gaming aisle so I guess this explains things.  Down the back of the shop in the laptop division were a bunch of parents and their kids.  Mainly kids taking pictures of themselves using the web cams and morphing their images- fills in time I guess.

So I'm starting to get head spins at this point, my man-flu is worsening and I now have to make a decision.  I ask the nice man in the shop to 'log me in'.  I said to him, all I want to use is email, office and browser mainly and Kinect for Windows to demo our new ASLO software to customers.  He said "Sorry Madam, we don;t have office on these machines, and we don't have them connected to the Internet so you'll be unable to use browsing".  So with my basic requirements not met, he then proceeded to ask me if I would like to purchase one.    

At this stage, my head is thumping and for some reason I heard my voice and had an out of body experience.  I was quite odd as I recall myself saying "Yes please" and then  turning to my husband saying- can you please pay the man.  And I then left the shop.

The odd thing was, I came home and sitting on the coffee table was a brand new Apple Mac Book Pro.  It was the oddest experience and I still think it may not have occurred as on my desk is my lightweight 1kg laptop with the blue-screen tendency.  Lets see what happens when I get rid of my man-flu with machine number 4!

The 60's have the money and the 20s the ideas?

Over the past week I've been exhibiting at a conference in Christchurch.  Our stand was positioned under a glass like conservatory area.  Isn't it odd how your inner wimp comes out and takes over and before you know it, you've made 20 trips to the little girls room.  Glass in an earthquake zone does make me nervous, more so when I was shown the place where the building had dropped heights compared to the one it used to be adjoined to.  If no one had shown me, I would have thought it was just a ramp!

What a sad sight the city is, we drove right around Christchurch over the week we stayed, thankfully we had a 4x4 as we needed it.  The roads are still very damaged and although there are signs of rebuilding, there are still suburbs which are now like ghost towns, a very empty and sad feeling for those having to drive by all day.  It also upset me to see the vast amounts of tagging and graffiti around these condemned houses.  These graffiti artists should be locked up, the city has already gone through enough without visual garbage being added to the city for no reason! Who-ever they are- shame on them. At least the container artists have found a better outlet for their creative skill and have added beautiful images to what is normally a huge eyesore. Kia kaha Christchurch.


So last week I heard an interesting comment which I don't totally agree with.  It was someone who had spent a great deal of time in the public sector and said, "The problem is, the 60- something-year-olds have all the money but the 20-something-year-olds have all of the ideas".

My first thought was how very brave to say this comment out loud to a nearly 40 year old ideas person who runs a technology company, who also has the money to make the decisions!

My second thought was, there was actually some truth in what they said.
Yes, in many traditional cases, management or the approvers, the people who sign the checks are sometimes older and yes, the new, younger, recently graduated talent coming through have a different way of looking at the world.  But isn't this just about risk taking?  The older you get, the less you want to take risks as you are older and wiser and know the consequences.  The younger you are, the more willing you are to take a risk as you have no clue what is around the corner.
I am still inspired by people like my father-in-law.  He came around to watch the rugby last weekend and we asked- how was your week? He replied 'good, had great Peking duck in China last week'.  So there he is, gold card in hand, yet still young enough to drop everything and fly to China with 1 days notice for a business meeting!  He knows about risk, gain, globalisation and ideas.  Who said you can't have both the ideas and hold the purse strings??

Myself, I like to think I sit in the middle of that sea-saw.  Old enough to know better, young enough to still take risks, and purse strings.....oh, I forgot to mention I have a great bank manager!

I did have an odd set of circumstances last week which relates to our bank which made me smile.  We launched our new 'ASLO' brand last week which is primarily a blue logo.  Our Business Mechanix colours have a lot of green.  I smiled to myself as we started the conference wearing our green shirts and for the ASLO launch put on our blue shirts.  The last day back to green.  The same but different?

It did remind me of the call from the National Bank, our manager saying- 'we're still the same- just changing from Green to Blue'.  I thought it was awesome that he gave us a personal phone call to take us through what was happening and to re-assure us the changes were not going to be an impact.  I did take the chance to ask for a discount in rates as a customer loyalty bonus, but I don't think that one got through for approval in this case!

So coming back to the original comment about the 20s having the ideas and the 60s with the cash, to be fair, I must add some context around the comment. The conversation was about public sector funding and how innovative ideas and products often got stomped on by those in power who had been in the same organisation nearly all of there life and had not been exposed to new ways of thinking. This then forced those in the organisation to do other, cheaper, easier things as it was just too hard to do what they originally proposed.

I came to the conclusion that what I learnt from the originator of the comment is that he ended up solving his own problem.  Isn't this what we all do? When times are tough, we innovate more.  No time to build a new website?  Just create a blog using a free blogging tool?  Need a CRM system but can't afford the hardware- go to CRM in the cloud.  Sometimes those who won't take risks encourage a deeper level on innovation and creativity.  So think about the next proposal you have declined....is there a way to innovate more with what you have or smarter ways of doing things?  Using technology to solve your problems?  I'm sure there is!