Lane4's 2008 Annual Conference
Lane4's Annual Conference, 26th November 2008 - Riding the Wave of Change
A delegate's view: Lane4 Annual Conference 2008 - Riding the Wave of Change
It felt almost surreal to enter the Barbican, flanked by gowned graduates and anoraked tourists, but it was only a lift journey to the welcoming hubbub of the Lane4 event reception. In prospect, a brief escape from the marketplace gloom, confident that conversation snippets about failure in results, organisation or leadership, would only refer to England's game at Twickenham the previous Saturday.
It felt almost surreal to enter the Barbican, flanked by gowned graduates and anoraked tourists, but it was only a lift journey to the welcoming hubbub of the Lane4 event reception. In prospect, a brief escape from the marketplace gloom, confident that conversation snippets about failure in results, organisation or leadership, would only refer to England's game at Twickenham the previous Saturday.
Our host, Adrian Moorhouse, welcomed us to this change-themed conference, noting that we were at the heart of change and had all been touched in some way by recent difficulties. The challenges and threats we face remain opportunities and he hoped that today would allow us to reflect on our own business issues, not exactly in peace, but rather hardwired into the comparable experiences of others.
Our first session could not have been more reflective of the current marketplace. Ian Anderson of Bradford & Bingley and Becky Ivers of Safeway/Morrisons, related their process of events and the business decisions they provoked. Ian's observations from the eye of the storm, juxtaposed neatly with the Becky's experiences, illustrating that market pressures come from all quarters. Tom Smith cited the research article, recently published in Lane4's inaugural Journal of Excellence - Perspectives on Change.
Delegates next dispersed to their workshop choices, either related to leadership, or a slightly edgier challenge to our understanding of the orientation of employee relationships. Lane4 dealt with Why it had relevance, Fredda Hurwitz of Cunning How we could think differently, and Wayne Clark of Best Companies demonstrated What the leading companies do, and its impact.
To commence the pre-lunch session, delegates were invited by Steve Battalia of Nestle and Greg Searle, to consider for a moment their personal situation three years previously, and also what it might be three years hence. For Steve this encompassed the whole scope of Lane4's involvement with Nestle, from bid to implementation. A fulsome case study exists for the detail, but we dredged deep into the process, confirming his major killer elements, particularly the close alignment with business results. The next three years were offering the challenge of a new CEO, and opportunities presented by the London Olympics.
Post lunch, we focused on what leadership means in a major Utility player. It was refreshing to hear Steve Holliday recount the journey the National Grid had taken to identify and implement essential change. Working with the Lane4 Performance for Growth Programme, the inbuilt pride of the workforce was used to introduce structures, which reward the How as well as the What., whilst remaining a beacon of economic strength in the current climate.
Ian Stickland and Dr. Jeremy Cross, visited briefly the Sainsbury "Tough Love" Case Study, before hosting an interactive workshop, demanding extensive participation. This reinforced the message that whilst the framework exists, indeed many of the themes had re-occurred throughout our day, there is no generic solution. Appropriate reaction is dependant on context.
And so to the final session, in which Adrian reflected on the determining experiences which marked his own journey of change, some of which require hindsight to quantify their true impact. Responding to questions, he readily admitted that the arrival of his children is having, and will continue to drive changes, but even here, prediction is difficult.
Martin Rogan | 2008-09-09