Friday, July 24, 2015

Blair this week - correct in every possible way

I was fortunate to be back on my old stomping ground of Chartered Accountants Hall on Wednesday for a seat in the audience for a change to listen and to watch Tony Blair.

The whole thing is here.

Jason Prince of the neighbouring parish has written a superb and deeply personal summary - Change, or we consign ourselves to the wilderness. I can't better it, so won't.

From that same stage I've humbly provoked debate about theories of the future with audiences of accountants and businesses and encouraged a new way of looking at the world, while putting together the Tomorrow's Practice project. There is indeed, as Blair said, a huge market out there for ideas about the future. But you have to want to hear it. There was no doubt the true believers in the room did, but outside?

I was with business colleagues yesterday talking about change in one of our businesses we run - iterating, adapting, thinking about how technology and shifting regulation is shaping what we do in different areas. We have to constantly adapt. But we have core values, a strategy and goals in mind.
"Labour shouldn’t despair. We can win again. We can win again next time. But only if our comfort zone is the future and our values are our guide and not our distraction."
Footnote. Quentin Letts of the Mail made the following observation: "Yesterday’s audience included a lot of 40-something men in black suits and unbuttoned shirt collars, Blakeys in their heels so that their shoes clicked when they entered." Nice to be noticed.

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