Ordinary fool

Today—New Zealand time—was my last day as a salaried employee of Energy Intellect Ltd. I have worked with the same core of people for the whole of my professional life so far. That's 9-and-a-½ years. I will always be grateful to the founders and long-time directors, Dean and Regan, for their enlightened approach to employer/employee relationships. They gave me full support during working hours, encouraging me to learn, grow and realise my leadership potential. They also helped me pursue my outside interests, accommodating and supporting my conducting career. I hope, and I'd like to think that I was able to repay them. Now I am out in business for myself (more on this soon!) and all I've learned will be put to the test. So, my deepest appreciation goes out to Dean, Regan and the rest of the team at Energy Intellect for some truly excellent times! See ya round!

It could be said that an evangelist sells something that doesn’t necessarily sell itself to people who haven’t necessarily asked for it. My friend T sells knowledge management tools. He believes that knowledge management is the key to better business. My friend has a bit of the evangelist about him and I enjoy listening to his ideas very much. Identify even. As fellow evangelists we were debating how, and how much, customers really perceive and understand the benefits of knowledge management. Do our customers actually know what they are signing up to? Or, do we horse-wrangle our customers into our view of “how things should be”? I heard myself giving some advice. I said, “Don’t live your dreams through your customers”. But now I’m thinking about it some more. Could I be happy just leading customers to technologies that take water from trough to mouth, or do I want them drinking too? It would be much easier if horses spoke for themselves.