Nicholas Bate

100 Words

Lock-down is not just confinement to your box for 23h of each 24h of an earth day, but potential lock-down of your mind and your body.  Don’t let it happen. Lock-down is a training programme for creativity. How can I come out of this fitter than I went in? How can I come out of this more mentally agile than I went in? How can I re-invent my business for a brave new world? Make use of the allowed walk/bike-ride/work-out. Seek reflection in your paper-notebook. Talk, converse and discuss. Ration screen, pizza and news feeds. Be bold.

Life Reminder 29

Spirits are lifted with a walk, a good book, some reflective writing, a screen-free conversation, cooking with love and a nap.

Brave New World 3

How agile is your firm wiling to be?

Way Back

I spent 5 years being a visiting lecturer at one of the UK’s Business schools. I taught on the full-time MBA programme. Just one lecture a week for one term. It was enjoyable and of course gave an opportunity for some deeper discussions than perhaps my ‘regular’ work allowed. I also had the opportunity to meet many, many fine students. 

Here’s Manu.

Brave New World 2

Your customers are learning new habits. Start thinking beyond lockdown; what will these new habits mean for your business? New products? Or a business re-invented? In the war-room there need to be two teams. Team A is working on business and cash-flow now. Team B is working on what the business will look like from 1 September 2020. You are inventive, creative and focused. You can sort this.

Bonus: Instant MBA.

Brave New World 1

The spreadsheets sure were releasing a lot of steam that bright April morning.

Basics 7: Career Maintenance in a Brave New World

1. Get a timetable.
2. Arrange your office.
3. Daily: do the essentials.
4. Kids at home? Talk, come to agreements and stick to them.
5. Remember 1: every single challenge is fixable with attention and momentum
6. Remember 2: this virus is accelerating automation in every possible way. Be brilliant so you can beat the future robot who wants your job.
7. Remember 3: the media are writing a ‘boost the clicks’ story. It need not be your story.

Bonus: you, only better.

Life Reminder 28

Read for solutions, fresh ideas and comfort.

Basics 7: Redundancy

Stage 1: you will be angry and it is unfair. Move through this stage as quickly as possible. Vent the anger and frustration. Smash a ball against a wall. Choose the right play-lists. Run.  Write pen on paper until you can write no more. 
Stage 2: you now have something precious: time on your hands. Of course it’s scary as cash-flow may be zero to negligible. But use that time. Stay well: MEDS (meditation-exercise-diet-sleep. More here). 
Stage 3: get a job. Yes you need money but more importantly, you need purpose. It’s our greatest motivator: everybody needs to feel they have a place on the planet. Get a job and don’t be fussy. You can be fussy later.

Stage 4: as some sectors collapse and/or shrink, others expand. Seek the latter. Be polite and persistent and get that interview. At the interview be polite and enthusiastic. Get the job.

Stgae 5: do the job. Sure you are now only filling shelves whereas once you used to be Intergalatic Sales Director, but do the job you have and do it brilliantly.

Stage 6: relish rhythm and purpose. And some cash. And once again you are managing your destiny. You are not your job title, you are your contribution.

Stage 7: let your anger go and the universe will guide you. Opportunities will arise. There are still beaches to walk, forests to explore and classics to read. 

Life Reminder 27

Write more then you will screen less.

As you write more you will be more and not feel the need to screen so much.

As you screen less, your ideas will flow and your novel will develop.

As your novel develops, your current box will expand.