When Soft Bits Become Harder

Insights from a moving case …

We were recently asked to step in and support a project that had become quite “emotional”. A large multinational was moving & regrouping several ‘locations’ (do you notice that they didn’t use the term “teams”?) into a brand new building.  The HR team in charge of the project named it “Zeus” and referred to it as “a transformation project”.

At first glance, all seemed OK: the new building was… stunning!  The proposed canteen was… gorgeous!    The plan (you know the type of document full of little boxes, arrows, and what they call “dependencies”?) was… crystal clear!  People, 12 months before the actual move, already had their own space allocated … Quite a good start n’est ce pas?

So what was the problem?  Despite demonstrating the politically correct “positive attitude”, the key stakeholders - the staff - were clearly not supporting the project, or even worse, were preparing secret plans to leave the company before being ‘kindly invited’ to move to ‘a better place’.  

I immediately asked a naïve question: “Why did you call this project Zeus?” The reply was abrupt: “We needed a name. This one sounded smart.” It soon became clear that we were talking about a plan, not about people.  In other words, all hard, tangible, process aspects were pretty well under control, but there was strictly no meaning behind the plan, not a single piece of emotion. The only visible sign of attention to people was to be found in a glossy communication brochure featuring mottos like “Great place to work”, “Fully green building”, “Open areas for networking”, “Let the sun shine in”, … I was speechless.  How can smart people genuinely believe that these mottos can make sense, translate into emotion, make people dream, convey a real meaning? … The meaningless name (Zeus, is apparently NOT the god of removals!) was just the symptom of a meaningless plan.

But this was just the beginning of the surprise. My second question (a bit less naïve this time) was: “What did you do to engage your staff to make this move?”.  According to them, they did a lot of things. Brochures (showing the extraordinary bright and sunny new building), leaflets (to explain the support plan that would be given to people for their home removal),  a website (to keep people aware of the latest project news), … but amazingly (to them), people remained “unengaged”. 

It took one day of hard debate to nail down my point: Communicating to inform is not the same thing as communicating to engage.  A simple corrective plan would explain WHY we do what we do, thus injecting some meaning into the project, rather than focus on  the WHAT and HOW. This combined with an opportunity for everyone to “feel, visualize, hear, imagine, story tell” their new office allowed them to contribute to its design… This was just the beginning of a 2 day journey! 

Sounds like common sense?  Yes… But when was the last time you felt enthusiastic about a reorganisation, a transformation plan, an office redesign? Have you ever seen people genuinely engaged to design their own workspace?  When did you last see ‘project scoping documents’ starting with a plan of how to engage the most important stakeholders?

Two days later, we finished this emotional journey into communicating “the meaning of  - work - life” and designing an “emotional engagement”.  

Want to know more? Let’s talk!

Should aliens receive foreign aid?

Pentacle has recently been working with the Chief Executives of some of the largest foreign aid charities in Ireland. They face real risks that change hourly and which they need to deal with as they arise.

The Old World way of  dealing with these risks is to gather them all up, assign an arbitrary description based on likelihood and severity (High, Medium and Low) and then put them in a risk register. If you are really lucky the auditors will come around annually and check that you have done it right ;-)

Does it really make sense to write a list of what might happen and then put it on a shelf where nobody reads it? Is this approach even relevant when lives are at risk?

In the New World, where change happens at the speed of light, you need a different approach. Luckily, we don't need to learn how to do it because we have all been part of a government sponsored programme to teach us about risk... using Science Fiction movies.

Don't believe me? Think back to watching those movies …

You know the story, the ugly, green, drooling, slimy monster arrives on Earth; the natural reaction would of course be to run away, but no, the hapless hero immediately wants to investigate further. At the first sign of aggression from the alien, our hero tries to blast it with his laser gun. If that doesn't work (and it usually doesn't), then they usually try and capture it whereupon they stick it in a "secure facility" and put some unhinged scientist with wild hair and pebble-thick glasses in charge. When that all goes pear-shaped (and it usually does), then there is usually a"Plan B" which seems to involve a thermo-nuclear device.

Familiar?

Well risk management is just the same. First you have to Identify the risk, then you should FIX IT NOW!TM No messing around putting it into a risk register. If that isn't possible, you should contain it (while monitoring the whole time). And just in case, you should have a Plan B.

How do you manage your risks? Still putting them in a risk register? Are you surprised when the alien turns around and bites you?

Staying Digital all the Way

An overheard 'phone call:


"OK, so let me get this right - you need me in Hong Kong on Wednesday for a three hour client meeting and then I need to be in New York on Friday to meet with the design team and then the following Monday I need to be in Shanghai to talk to the manufacturer to get the production process agreed? Wow. Is there any other way to get this done? That's a lot of travel for not a lot of face-to-face time. Are you sure? Right then. I'm on my way."

In the New World, where everything and everybody are interconnected, does it make sense to have this conversation?


How could this trip be 'chopped down' reduced or even made obsolete by using just two of Eddie Obeng's New Rules for the New World?

• ALL CONSTRAINTS INTO 'MEATSPACE' -- can we look at what needs to be done and figure out the problems that really requires a physical presence versus the rest that can be done at a distance?
• Go Virtual! -- Lets concentrate on the effect of what we do, not the form.

So lets replay the phone call with the New Rules in mind:


"OK, we have the video call set up by the Hong Kong client on Wednesday -- I'm assuming we'll be using the high-quality boardroom system? Fine. Listen, I think I will go to New York on Friday because I haven't met the design team yet, it will be our first time working together, I want to set-up a project team culture of working hard and having fun and the easiest way will be for us to spend a long day together with a lot of laughs and perhaps a couple of beers (which I can't do in cyberspace). Whilst I'm there, we'll also set up a collaborative workspace on QUBE  and reproduce their working environment on the three dimensional internet (3Di) so that afterwards although we will not meet again it will always feel as if we are in the same 'space'.  We will  establish regular team 'drumbeats'.  For the Shanghai manufacturer, how about we take the results of the client and design team meetings, do a shared screen session, say by glance, with Shanghai and place the conclusions in a shared folder, say by dropbox?  Then the plant can detail the production process and give us an idea of timelines and update the  folder so that we maintain a 'single version of the truth'.  And don't have to waste our lives emailing and chasing each other.  We can catch up with them in the next week or so via QUBE. I think we should set it up so that the Manufacturer owns the travel budget so that each time I have to go to see them their profits are reduced.  This should encourage better long distance collaboration and prevent any misunderstandings or serious issues arising. Does that sound like a plan? Great!" 


We need to establish good relations with people we don't know - that is basic stakeholder management. Some of us have the skills to do this virtually but for most of us we are still at the same stage that people were in using telephones half a century ago, and don't know how to connect emotionally without the face-to-face element. Make sure that you can work effectively at a distance.   Learn now. 

Plan to meet face-to-face when only when you want to boost the emotional temperature or an extremely interrelated and complex set of problems to explore. 

Staying digital - all the way! There is no better alternative.

Stakeholder Engagement - Place your bets... Now!

You are on the horns of a dilemma – you are at the start of a tricky project and are trying to work out what you need to do and how the hell you are going to achieve it. First impressions count and its important to make a strong start and inspire confidence in all connected with the project. This project could make or break you!

So what do you do? Consider the following choices… do you:

1. Go to ground with a small team of experts to work out what to do…surfacing when you have answers to the key questions that will inevitably arrive (appearing clueless is not a flattering look!)
2. Talk to people who have either something to gain or lose from the result of the project (but risk being attacked for not having the answers and having a half baked solution) 
3. Book a long vacation, some where far and remote with no phone coverage and hope by the time you return the project has been cancelled (and say to your colleagues you knew the project was doomed from the start)

Whilst considering where to place your bet... consider the following:  From our research and experience at Pentacle, we know that only 1 in 4 projects successfully deliver their anticipated benefits. These aren't great odds! This is a result of the New World, where the fast paced environment we now find ourselves in, (World after Midnight) where knowledge has a short shelf life and reliance on expert views, based on past events, are not a good indicator of what to do with our unique problems now our in the future. Option A is not looking too promising!

Option C sounds great…but how likely is this to happen?... and even if it did, you’d need to be extremely lucky with your timing... a bit like spinning the roulette wheel and placing everything on “22 Black”.

In the New World, “stakeholders rule ok”, and they are an essential part in deciding what it is we need to do and how we need to go about it. Engaging them at that start gets their buy-in and makes it easy for them to place a stake on you to succeed in the risky business of project delivery. All those that opted for Option B collect your winnings from the front of house! Early engagement (now!) goes some way to allowing project managers to avoid the lottery of successful project management delivery. 

Since we don't get a second childhood.....

What do you do when your Children's charity encounters the New World? 

The new world changes everything for everyone even if your mission in life is to ensure that children have the best childhood they can.  Children in Need, the BBC charity, just like the rest of the world is facing growing expectations from customers (donors want to know more) more challenge with a tough economic climate, multiple choices to reach their audience as media options multiply and many other challenges you would find familiar. 

David Ramsden and his team are rapidly moving into the New World  developing new philosophy for both raising and distributing the funds and doing this across the UK through a dedicated and energetic team.  The focus was on more and faster so that children across the UK would have better childhoods not in the future but now. 

To accelerate the process Professor Eddie Obeng was invited to participate in a workshop at the Leadership College in Nottingham to share consolidate and plan the future.  Eddie Spent the time he had with the group sharing some of the tools and tricks of surviving and thriving in the New World - He shared with them the WorldAfterMidnight video (from WorldAfterMidnight.com) and together they used the EDD PET (Performance Enhancement Tool) to explore creatively what to change for real to make the difference.  Eddie also shared with them a number of PETS for gaining speed through alignment, understanding the underlying barriers to change and engagement.

 

Since we don't get a second childhood... every second counts!

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Another way to travel through ambiguity

There are many ways to make a journey, by plane, by road, by car...  that works for 'touchspace' or the real hardware world.  In 'cyberspace' you can journey by browsing the web, walking around QUBE, meeting friends to play on your xbox or Wii with the right software.  In your mind you can make learning journey's through your 'wetware' brain world.

But one of the most evocative and iconic ways to make a journey is on a Harley Davidson. 

Professor Eddie Obeng was working with one of the worlds most famous brands to explore the journey of learning to lead in an an ambiguous world.  Over a roller coasted day session he led the audience of top executives around the  pitfalls and possibilities of Leading in a world of Ambiguity.  They traavelled past 'What being wrong feels like', How to enjoy and thrive in Foggy change  but missed what would have been a groundbreaking session by Steve Whatmore who as a VirutalGuest was to discuss his role in transforming Rolls Royce Motor Cars and Aston Martin.  The course began last April with a webinar from Eddie.  Using traditional webinar software Eddie revved up a tale of challenge and intrigue explaining the sources of ambiguity as well as  engaging a number of polls.  In one he asked "Did you predict the Arab spring more than a month before it began?"  The Exec leadership group answered just the same way as you just have. 

He explained how a combination of the pace and scale of change and the fact that human interaction has become so dense that a revolution in one country can spark a revolution in another country in the same way as news about a particularly funny cat on youtube spreads.  The virtual and face to face sessions were in partnership with Duke Corporate Education is part of a significant journey of development for the leadership cadre programme directed by Denis Baltzley  himself a Harley owner.

One quote heard about Eddie was - "He's a real live wire!" and that from Harley Davidson is real confirmation of Eddie's Rebel/ Rockstar of Executive Education status!  The participants zoomed past Pentacle PETs (Performance Enhancement Tools) including AliensTM, IDQB TM, GapLeapTM and SquarePegTM proving that there really is another way to travel through ambiguity.

HEADLINE: Woody Allen goes looking for the Holy Grail?

Project Management is and enormous subject.  If you Google search for "Project Management": 359,000,000 results (0.14 seconds).  There are hundreds and thousands of courses, software, technologies, frameworks on how to do projects. However there are also hundreds and thousands of stories about failure of projects across organisations. Apparently: “one-third of all money spent on software is used to repair botched projects, with billions spent each year reworking software that doesn't fit requirements."

What memories do you have of projects at your workplace?  Great success all round? Be honest now.  Let's take and example.  Often, cost-saving projects – really do lead to savings - but also lead to stress, incomprehension and hostility. So how do we ensure we deliver results without delivering unwanted side effects?

At Pentacle we have begun to think that the challenge is in the projects themselves.  Because they are all different, advice from one person on how to achieve success is irrelevant on a different project.  In fact their advice might make your chances of success worse.  And also what you learn personally about projects may also trip you up.  And as a leader your success on one project might convince you that the  most important thing is the passion and encouragement you give your team.  But what if the next project which comes along demands listening and support rather than gung-ho energy?

Pentacle has tried to find a way to group these differences.  One group of projects we noticed is a group that has clear goals but there is plenty of ambiguity and choice in how to deliver.  We looked around for a suitable metaphor/ analogy and found one in history.  In Olde England there is a legend about a King Called Arthur who sent all his knight out searching for decades for a single object, the Holy Grail (the cup Christ is supposed to have drunk from).  There was no problem with the objective the challenge was with the best way to find it.  Where to look?  And how?  On their quest the knights rode to the four corners of the world, clear on what they were to achieve but having absolutely no idea about how they were going to do it.

Another group we noticed seemed to fit the analogy/ metaphor of making movies.  Yes cameras and actors are going to be involved.  And maybe some CGI.  But what is the subject?  What is the script?

Once you start to see the pattern you begin to understand why your personal learning and leadership approach could easily trip you up.  King Arthur was probably perfect for his Quest, Woody Allen for a romantic comedy movie .

But what do you think would happen if you swapped them round and put King Arthur in charge of delivering the romantic comedy?

At Pentacle we think that understanding what type of project you are dealing with is the first step in delivering  successful projects.  That way you can decide in advance what the leadership style and behaviours you should use to best guarantee success.  That way you'll never see the headline "Woody Allen goes in search of the Holy Grail"

In the QUBE no one can hear you weep...

For decades we have been promised that technology would imminently conquer distance and time and enable us to work together at a distance as if we were side-by-side.

Video conferencing missed the mark and quickly became known for its cost, unreliability and the need to go to a ‘special room’ to peer into the faces of distant colleagues, email has evolved into he electronic version of those birthday candles which once blown out immediately relight themselves. Audio conferences and webinars are simply one person talking and 18 doing their emails in on mute – occasionally replying yes or no to a poll!

On the 12th of July two things happened. The first was the launch at Cape Canaveral signalling the final end of the space race and the second was that Professor Eddie Obeng led the first conference in the Pentacle QUBE entitled Innovation Without Boundaries.

QUBE is our attempt to create a natural working environment for collaboration at a distance. We designed it as a way to enable our business education applications so that we could seamlessly intertwine education with real work for our global clients. But we got more than we bargained for. Instead what we have created is perhaps the most natural collaborative environment available when people around the world need to work together. Because everything stays where it’s left, even across time zones, we can create the equivalent of ‘sticking a post-it on your monitor’. The secret is not just in the technology it is also in our understanding of creating environments where people wish to share and also in our skills in driving and influencing the behaviour change needed.

Key speakers were David Williams CEO Amari Plastics, David Kester of the Design Council, Sebatian Conran, Dr David Lonmas and Professor Eddie Obeng.

Perhaps the best comment we received on the day was one very animated participant who at the end said in a tight voice, “When I think of all the time in my life I have spent, wasted, miserably watching Powerpoints and been bored rigid listening to audio conference monologues and not progressing the work itself, I could weep.”

You can find out more about QUBE at http://QUBE.cc

Dancing to the B.E.A.T of Rapid Change

Ghana is thumping!  For a country known for it’s talking drums and foot tapping ‘hi-life’ music, the intertwined rhythms of change, innovation and execution have stepped-up their volume.  In the last few years GDP growth has shot up and is predicted to hit 15% soon.  Everyone wants to join in, from international and regional players to local start-ups, everyone is clamouring to do business in Ghana, and Accra is in the lead.

But the party spirit is dampened by anxieties about change projects that nobody believes in, complaints about lack of the right talent. ‘Resistance to change’ is often the refrain.

Kwame Akuffo and Michael Anaman  of Pentacle Africa were joined by delegates from Bharti Airtel; Buck Press; BVM Advisory; Databank; Ghana Commercial Bank, First Atlantic Bank; HFC Bank; JLD & MB Legal Consultancy; MMRS –Ogilvy; Ogilvy Africa Media; SSNIT and UT Bank and other companies well known in Ghana for two days.  The theme was Managing Today, Inventing Tomorrow - Welcome to the New World!

Over the two days the delegates were challenged, amazed and delighted by the range of Pentacle frameworks and concepts.  They were really energised by the Pentacle guests: Prince Kofi Amoabeng, CEO and founder of UT Bank and UT Holdings and Mr. Reginald France of Boulders Advisors and valued the fact that they had many chances to put their learning into action, guided by the tutors.

The most popular ‘tracks’ of the conference were on: “How to cope with the pace and speed of change”, How to avoid the “Dead Body Syndrome” of dissatisfied stakeholders and most to all the crucial importance of sticking to the Leadership B.E.A.T.  (which stands for our own Behaviours and the paradigms that underpin them; the Emotional engagement of followers; the prioritisation of the key Actions and the new world Thinking which de-risks all of it).

There will be another chance to dance to the BEAT with the Pentacle duo in September 2011.  If you want to find out some more visit us at http://www.Pentacle-Africa.com/

Note to: Harvard Business Review Editor - Please correct your spelling...

It seems that time travel is possible and that Pentacle has managed it.  This month ion an article entitled Who moved my cube? Creating workspace that actually foster collaboration.  HBR is exploring touchspace.  We think that they got it absolutely right but in the wrong stardate.  For the 21st century should probably be exploring cyberspace with the Pentacle QUBE - or maybe it was just a spelling mistook!

    
Old World

 New World         

In the QUBE no one can hear you weep

For decades we have been promised that technology would imminently conquer distance and time and enable us to work together at a distance as if we were side-by-side.

Video conferencing missed the mark and quickly became known for its cost, unreliability and the need to go to a ‘special room’ to peer into the faces of distant colleagues, email has evolved into he electronic version of those birthday candles which once blown out immediately relight themselves. Audio conferences and webinars are simply one person talking and 18 doing their emails in on mute – occasionally replying yes or no to a poll!

On the 12th of July two things happened. The first was the launch at Cape Canaveral signalling the final end of the space race and the second was that Professor Eddie Obeng led the  first conference in the Pentacle QUBE entitled   Innovation Without Boundaries.

QUBE is our attempt to create a natural working environment for collaboration at a distance. We designed it as a way to enable our business education applications so that we could seamlessly intertwine education with real work for our global clients. But we got more than we bargained for. Instead what we have created is perhaps the most natural collaborative environment available when people around the world need to work together. Because everything stays where it’s left, even across time zones, we can create the equivalent of ‘sticking a post-it on your monitor’. The secret is not just in the technology it is also in our understanding of creating environments where people wish to share and also in our skills in driving and influencing the behaviour change needed.

Perhaps the best comment we received on the day was one very animated participant who at the end said in a tight voice, “When I think of all the time in my life I have spent, wasted, miserably watching Powerpoints and been bored rigid listening to audio conference monologues and not progressing the work itself, I could weep.”

You can find out more about QUBE at http://QUBE.cc

When Information Is No Longer Enough...

Have you noticed colleagues literally disappearing around you? No, not by magic, but because they leave the company (well, that is what they pretend, but in reality, it is more likely they are leaving their boss – possibly even YOU?).

In the most extreme cases, people have been known to “absent themselves” by committing suicide.

This particular tragedy happened recently to a manager I know.  Can you imagine yourself in such a situation? Would you still sleep at night?  Although it sounds extreme, in the complex, fast changing, ambiguous world in which we live, this sort of situation is less and less a “low-occurrence possibility” and more and more a well identified risk.

How would you tackle this risk?

Well … by recognizing that there is a big difference between communicating to engage and communicating to inform. 


“We do not communicate enough! I don’t know what is going on!” is the usual refrain from frustrated managers.


Sounds familiar? But think about it. If your team really wanted to get ‘information’, they would all trawl through the annual report and browse your corporate intranet in order to access the tons of data there. Do they do that?  No.


People say “I want more information” but in reality, they mean “I want to be engaged, to feel part of a system”.


The challenge is that dealing with information is not that difficult, but engaging people emotionally is somewhat new for most leaders.


In some of the companies we are working with at Pentacle,  “proximity communication” and “corporate connections” have become key phrases. They have two important dimensions:

- transforming all leaders (ie: anyone who has people reporting to him/her) into better communicators. This is often based on quick, on-the-spot, training on engagement techniques …

- supplying regular “engaging” information to them, as the “fuel” for monthly connection meetings they are asked to lead themselves, with two objectives in mind: developing the sense of being part of a whole, and creating an open dialogue.

I know, this sounds absurd to ask team leaders in factories for example to stop a production process for 30 minutes for a ‘connection meeting’, to recognise that all need to be good communicators, to realise that open dialogue is a must.  But, do you know what? Companies we are working with are experiencing tangible results … and we, at Pentacle, are ready to explain how…

It’s time to talk!

Moving into the New World

Walk around Bratislava in Slovakia and you notice something remarkable; there is almost perfect wifi coverage across the centre of the city.

"Give me a two cans and I can turn
this string into into a virtual network"

It is the kind of thing that authorities in the older parts of Europe merely dream about and the impact is astounding. There is a fluency of communication and speed to doing business that makes the normal round of meetings and agendas seem very Old World.

Robert Hewins of Pentacle Benelux, and Toby Scott of Pentacle Ireland have just finished two days with some of the brightest project managers in Slovakia teaching them the principles of the NewWorldTM. This is a country that carries a legacy of Soviet occupation in the form of outdated practice and conservative attitudes, but, in terms of their ability to do business in cyberspace, they have truly gone virtual.

Because Pentacle’s worth it ...

L’Oreal recently ‘adopted’ Christophe Gillet in their “Global leadership for growth” programme, designed and delivered by Cedep, in order to help project managing & facilitating one of their most sophisticated and  successful learning event. 

When HSBC France thinks about innovation ...

Paris. The world’s local bank is definitely a leader in NewWorldTM thinking. In an industry that is supposed to be extremely regulated, most banks give up trying to really innovate. Leaders like HSBC, on the contrary, consider this situation as a real opportunity to differentiate. Senior leaders from France gathered in Paris for a one day workshop led by Christophe Gillet. Keywords: Thinking differently, opening minds, grabbing opportunities, changing perspective, designing for change, and indeed innovating for value. When leaders get serious about innovation and change, it seems that they naturally find their way to Pentacle. Long life to innovation at HSBC France!

Janssen Cilag, top pharmaceutical leader, go for change with Pentacle & Gillet ...

Dusseldorf. When it comes to real change, people must come first. No way to change processes, organisations, methods, if people are not engaged and willing to support. At Janssen, this is well understood ... and put in practice, with Pentacle. The leading team was invited to a one day workshop that was organised around the idea of ‘stop rushing / start thinking differently’, in other words: creating a privileged moment of new thinking, new perspective building. Go slow in order to go fast was a key motto. Needless to rush more and more. There’s always a limit. Rather think differently about problems, use of time, delegation, and work/life balance. The “rat race” is over, the NewWorldTM has come ... with Pentacle

TOTALy Senior, with Pentacle

Paris. What do a worldbank VP, a worldclass pianist, a world famous philosopher/ethnologist and the expert coach of a french minister have in common? The largest French petrol company chooses Pentacle to design and deliver their senior execs development programme, twice a year, both in French and English languages. A unique team of international speakers and tutors joined Christophe to deliver a ‘serious but non-orthodoxical’ programme designed to surprise and develop even the most experienced senior leaders ... Energy and new thinking in action! A Pentacle programme.

When HSBC Asia think “Strategic Agility”, Pentacle is not too far away ...

HongKong. The world’s local bank is definitely a leader in NewWorldTM thinking. In an industry that is supposed to be extremely regulated, most banks give up trying to really innovate. Leaders like HSBC, on the contrary, consider this situation as a real opportunity to differentiate. 40 senior leaders from Asia-Pacific gathered in HongKong for a 3 day workshop led by Christophe Gillet and Graham Wilson, articulated around the concept of ‘strategic agility’. Keywords: Thinking differently, opening minds, grabbing opportunities, changing perspective, designing for change, and indeed innovating for value. When leaders get serious about innovation and change, it seems that they naturally find their way to Pentacle. Long life to innovation at HSBC!

New models, new relationships and a new era....

The Guardian Public Sector Summit comes at exactly the time that the phony war on cuts has ended and now something must be done.  Entitled New models, new relationships and a new era and sponsored by PWC, BT, CSC & HaCRIC it was likely to be a rough and tumble of argument, emotion, heated discussion and exploration expertly chaired by David Brindle of the Guardian. 

The Conference was kicked off with a keynote by the UK's Deputy Prime M The Right Honourable Nick Clegg MP  who asked the delegates "not to criticise the boss but to become the boss."  There were a wide range of views from 'The Virtual Council' by Suffolk County Council to the use of technology to deliver better health services..  The Social Enterprise movement also spearheaded the third sector debate. 

The other keynote Over two days the speakers used case examples to argue and explore the possible futures for the Public Sector. 

Pentacle's Eddie Obeng  delivered the closing keynote.  He began by declaring that "I live in the future so that you don't have to...yet with a backdrop of Pentacle's face to face learning approaches and and a video of the Pentacle QUBE - the 3D immersive learning environment.  more...

He introduced the audience to The New World model and used this to get past the 'old world ' either or thinking to help the participants consider wider options.  He then helped delegates to understand how new challenges needed new models and new models needed new words.   Eddie explained how having been grounded as a pilot because his weight was too much for his height he had decided on a programme of cuts himself and had decided to sacrifice his left arm before re framing the challenge as 'delivering differently a better outcome'.  He got the delegates to agree to banish the word 'cuts' from their vocabulary.  He told them how R.A.B.B.I.T.sTM  could enable innovation illustrating his stories with Case studies from the Design Council's work where as a rule in the Public Services by design programme every pound spent returns 26!

Eddie's keynote was described by the Guardian as '...stirring and inspiring...'