I’d previously commented on the role of planned luck in making business networking work, following my recent visit to Greece. Yet another few pieces of planned spontaneity came together the other day.
I’d been asked to make a film for the Open University Business School as an advocate of their MBA programme. To make the most of their time and film crew, I devised a “3 for 1 offer”, by bringing along some great fellow MBA colleagues: Phil Hawthorn and Kim Tasso, a strategy/business development consultant and writer on management/marketing in the professions. Here’s the film The Open University made, shot outside Dingwalls, the famous London Rock venue:
p.s. Video made by Louise Hill-Hottinger of Chalk Square Media– superb work with no fuss.
This led to an invite to the inaugural professorial lecture by Evan Davis, Presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today, The Bottom Line and BBC One’s Dragons Den. I had been keen to give Evan copies of ‘Sex, Leadership and Rock’n’Roll’ and ‘Punk Rock People Management’ and had wondered how to do that in an evening where there were more than 200 people present and there would be no time for detailed conversation.
The answer arrived quite by chance. I got off the train at Milton Keynes to find Mr Davis on the platform, looking for the stairs. “Are you going to the Open University Evan?” I asked. His 1st impression was that he was being approached by a busker (I had a Sex Pistols T-Shirt and a guitar about my person, so it was not an unreasonable assumption! 🙂 Once he realised I was an MBA tutor and not a stalker, he invited me to share a taxi to the University, giving me a unique opportunity to help him prepare for the audience he faced that evening and also to share the books. He kindly agreed to have a read in between everything else he does and I was delighted to have met him on a 1:1 basis rather than in the hustle and bustle of a busy event. To hear Evan Davis’ inaugural lecture click on the links – LECTURE and Q&A. Here’s a picture of us at the lecture later on.
Rock’n’Roll Economics – at the Professorial Lecture
Check out Punk Rock People Management. The book recently overtook Dave Ulrich, Gary Hamel and the usual HR Gurus, having hit No 1 on Amazon in management and HR books.
Speaking of Dragons Den – I leave you with this mashup by the BBC on Steve Jobs:
Peter Cook - Speaker, Author 