management by the numbers - a small part of my journey

managemen tBy the numbers, experience, intuition, thinking

P e t e r C o c h r a n e

cochrane.org.uk

ca-global.org

The realities of managing in a complex

and fast changing world….

http://ca-global.org

Books & Pap e rsAppear to be mostly ideal ist ic

• Company sales, marketing, delivery, support, legal on side • Main board and other departments/units in agreement • Well behaved customer, people and marketplace • Company product offerings and policies aligned • Necessary technologies mature & available • Full completion possible in the time frame • Clearly defined/documented objectives • All potential solutions - tried & tested • Deliveablels defined/understood • Supporting groups on board • The right people in place • All resources available • A full budget agreed

In my entire career this has

never been 100% true

In the worst cases most or none of this has been in

place !

B o o k s & Pa p e r sExhibit incomplete understanding

B o o k s & Pa p e r sExhibit incomplete understanding

R&D Unit

Emmergency

Design Phase

Production Delivery

Too simplist

ic and probably c

oncocted

by someone w

ith little o

r no rea

l

management ex

perience

s i m p l i s t i c t h i n k i n gI f only everything could be put into boxes None of these

things exist in isolation…they are al l related and connected

People make mistakes, tel l

l ies , fals i fy data, conceal

errors and mistakes….

s i m p l i s t i c t h i n k i n gThere is an inf inity of wisdoms and diagrams

“If you are good to your people when the are times are good they will rally when the times are hard”

“Build a diverse and capable team of people smarter than you”

I have never seen an al l

embracing set of statements or diagrams

Mostly common sense and obvious…

who would recruit a team

of idiots ??

e a s y t o s ay h a r d t o d oA lot o f th i s i s wr i t ten in the o ld re l ig ious texts

Where in this spectrum of approach will you sit

and how effective will you be - sadist or saviour ?

n e v e r m i s s a n o p p o r t u n i t yTo l earn f rom the bad , med ioc re , good and the b r i l l i an t

• If you witness or experience something bad - don’t emulate it, try to correct it ! • If you witness or experience something good - emulate and propagate it ! • If you do something that works repeat it - encourage others to follow on ! • If you something bad or make an error - don’t repeat, and say sorry ! • Protect your team/company from threats - internal and external ! • Communicate clearly and early - up, down and sideways ! • To get your team to fail fast - close down and restart !

s o m e p e r s o n a l c h o i c e sWhen the game i s over you have to l i ve in your own sk in

• You may employ ’N’ people but you impact ’N’ families - spouse and children

• Afford all your people the same care consideration - training and education

• Be fair, reasonable, considered and supportive - look for the best in people

• Promote (in the widest sense) your team members - at every opportunity

• Your team is in your gift - look upon them as you would your children

• Involve your team in your thinking and decisions - highs and lows

• Defend your team against any form of aggression - and threat

• Be ethical, honest, truthful, open, candid - never hide anything

p e r s o n a l E x p e r i e n c e sUnl ike ly to be in any book - they are rea l l i fe cho ices

“You rarely have all the information you need and it is always

better to make a decision than to ‘suck your thumb’….a wrong

decision can be corrected, but no decision just magnifies the

impending damage”


“Sometimes you have to do the right thing and put your job on

the line - you have to make the right decision for your people,

the company, the shareholders and the country - as apposed to

electing to choose a path that enhances your career and gaining

greater rewards”


“You are not running a popularity contest you are trying to

achieve a company and team success - you are trying to get

ordinary people to do the extraordinary, and you are trying to

get the exceptional people to work miracles - you are the

manager, the leader, the coach and the driving force”


“I have never had a management role where I haven’t had to

assume the role as leader, champion and arbiter”

M a n a g e m e n t r e a l i t yYou are travel l ing at speed with incomplete vis ion• Spec changes • Mission creep • Team changes • Supplier failures • Fickle customer • Budget squeezes • Market pressures • Deadline changes • Competing needs • Transient support • Technology change • Order scale change • Management changes • Shareholder demands

• Strategic internal/customer changes • Political and government changes • Legal and environmental rulings • Competing product offerings • New price point negotiated • Internal conflict of interest • Unforeseen M&A activity • New features demanded • Budget/people squeezes • Operating arena change • Deliverables delayed • Hidden agendas • ++++

s i t u a t i o n a wa r e n e s sRemain f lex ib le , adaptab le and ready to change

C o m m u n i c a t i o n i s k e yMight seem obv ious / t r i v ia l but turns out to be d i f f i cu l t

• Never assume that people are telling you the full detail/facts/truth

• Never assume that people understand what you said and meant

• Targets are generally achieved/met by people bending the truth

• In general 3 - 5 KPIs extol the truth but >10 illicit falsehoods

• KPIs are very often achieved by people fiddling the numbers

• If 10 people are in a meeting then it is 10 different meetings

• Finance/sales/marketing, seldom have the correct numbers

• Personell are there to observe you and not help and assist

W o r t h w h i l e k n i f e f i g h tOn the biggest of projects you need f inance & personnel onside

• Finance and personnel are support functions they earn nothing

• In big companies finance and personnel try to run the show

• You may have to remind them that you pay their salaries

• The only reason they were born is to help you succeed

• You need finance/personnel on your team - not distant!

f o rm a l me t h o d o l o g i e sPRINCE - P ro j e c t s IN Con t ro l l ed Env i ronmen t s

M o s t o f t h i s i s t h e f o r m a l i s a t i o n o f g o o d p r a c t i c e a n d e x p e r i e n c e s t e m m i n g f ro m t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n u p t o m o r e r e c e n t i n d u s t r y d e v e l o p m e n t s … .

… i t i s a f o r m a l p r o c e s s t h a t h e l p s m i n i m i s e e r ro r s a n d k e e p t h i n g s o n t r a c k - i t d o e s n o t g u a r a n t e e s u c c e s s !

T H E C O M P L E X R E A L I T YF o r m a l i s a t i o n m e t h o d s c a n n o t o ve rc o m e s c a l e

S o m e p r o j e c t s a r e n o w s o l a r g e a n d c o m p l e x t h e y c a n n o t b e o r g a n i s e d a n d o rc h e s t r a t e d b y h u m a n m i n d s … .

… i t i s t h e m a c h i n e s t h a t d o a l l t h i s , a n d i n t h e e x t r e m e , a m a c h i n e m a y b e t h e u l t i m a t e m a n a g e r

T O O L S A n d P R O C E S SPERT - Process Evaluation & Review Technique

GANTT (Henry 1910) - Schedul ing & Progress SEE Karol Adamiecki in 1896T O O L S A n d P R O C E S S

There is a near endless ‘galaxy of tools’ avai lableT O O L S A n d P R O C E S S

A p p r o p r i a t e n e s sD o n ’ t u s e a s l e d g e h a m m e r t o c ra c k a wa l n u t

Yo u m i g h t u s e P R I N C E o r s o m e o t h e r f o r m a l m e t h o d t o b u i l d a n

a i r c r a f t b u t n o t t o b u y a p e n c i l ! !

R E A L Ma n a g em e n t E x p e r i e n c eReco l l e c t i on s and rea l i t y spann ing 1980 t o Today

TAT 8 1980 p ro j e c t s t a r t 1986 cab l e i n t o s e r v i c e - Re t i red 2002

Connect ing UK - F rance - USA by the f i r s t t r ansa t l an t i c cab leArt i f i c i a l Ocean Quarry & Traw l s A f l ee t o f 6 sh ip s Anchors & Cha in s L a y i n g E q u i p m e n t Mon i tor ing Sys tems Recovery Equ ipment Sh ipboard Equ ipment Acce le ra ted L i f e Tes t Submar ine Cab le Tes t Measurement Sys tems

Labora tor ie s C lean Rooms C h i p D e s i g n C i rcu i t Des i gn Sys tem Des i gn Ch ip Fabr i ca t ion Opt i ca l F ib re Tes t Power Feed Des i gn Surge /Fa i l u re Tes t ing So f t Fa i l u re Mon i tor ing Undersea Repa i r S t ra tegy

Cos t ~ £350M Peop le ~ 3000 Countr i e s = 4 Compan ie s = 7 Sea depth < 4 .5 km Cab le Span ~ 67000 km Capac i t y = 2 x 280Mb i t / s Repeater span 41 - 65 km Opt i ca l = 1 .3𝜇m 0 .25dB /km

Day 1 s i t u at i o nC o n n e c t U K - F r a n c e - U S A

TAT 8 1980 no t e chno l ogy a va i l ab l e , on l y a s t a t emen t o f i n t en t and a budge t ! ! !

Day 1 s i t u at i o nC o n n e c t U K - F r a n c e - U S A

TAT 8 1980 a l l we had was an ana l ogue l e gacy o f d i s c re t e t e chno l og i e s +++

T H E B i g g e s t c h a l l e n g e sD e l e g a t i o n - p r o b l e m s o l v i n g - o r c h e s t r a t i o n

TAT 8 P e r f e c t i o n - t h e e n e m y o f p r o g r e s sPeop le - the b iggest asset /n ightmare

Wh at i t b e c am eA w h o l l y c o n n e c t e d p l a n e t

I n ternet Sc i ence Network F inanc i a l Network Te lephone Network Eng ineer ing Network Pr imary Wea l th Manager Log i s t i c s Contro l Network +++++ Nervous Sys tem o f The P l anet

Wh at i t b e c am eA n e w g l o b a l m e g a - i n d u s t r y


1998 P ro j e c t s t a r t 1999 S ta r t ed t rad i ng - So l d 2002

The f i r s t on - l i ne t rave l agent i n the EU - £0 - £1Bn in 4 year s

Or i g i na ted f rom my ABTA l e c tu re i n Marbe l l a Sep tember 2008

F i r s t p l ann ing meet ing October 2008 Fund ing o f £55M ra i sed i n November 2008 F i r s t p rototype sy s tem bu i l t December 2008 Open for bus ines s and t rad ing i n J anuary 2009 Immed ia te g rowth @ 35$ / month cont inu ing to 2002 Ach ieved £1Bn turnover (not va lua t ion ) by end o f year 2003


1995 P ro j e c t s t a r t 1996 S ta r t ed t rad i ng - C l o s ed 2003

An ‘ i dea - to market i ncubator ’ i n S i l i con Va l l ey

People came to us with good ideas and gtechnology but without the experience of how to create a product and get it to market. We provided a 'soup to nuts' support infrastructure spanning idea cultivation through to a full IPO.

ConceptLabs was a one stop shop for tech and business creatives. We took the pain away by providing money, advice, skills, and management capability to help you build your company

Started by me and Rao Machiraju and 12 people out of Apple ATG who were ‘put out to grass’ by Steve Jobs

Simple Business Model: ConceptsLabs worked for a share of the companies created – we invested our own money along side the VCs that supported us in this new and, at the time, highly innovative venture.

B o n V o y a g e !I need to understandcochrane.org.uk

There has never been a more exciting time to be entering the world of work…and during

your lifetime everything will accelerate to become more powerful

I need to join the dotsAdd valueca-global.biz

management by the numbers - a small part of my journey

Leadership & Management