Hive Health

SirAlan has a lot to be blamed for – The Apprentice showed us the ugly side of driven people. Slimy, earless, end-justifies-the-means-bastards covered in the blood of a dozen mid-task cut throats. A show confirming the old folk cliché that business talent isn’t what they used to be. I have always wanted to take each episode (especially that one with the fish stall – arhhhh!) and a group of decent people to review what should have been done – make a short film on what might have been a better approach for the fin haired and over gelled. We could call it ‘Mentor’ and it could be a really useful tool for people learning strategy…but Channel 4 pitches aside.

With learning strategy in our minds the last 2 months have seen us kick off Hive Poly, a collection of lectures, articles and workshops aimed at demystifying the world of strategy, decision making and big business for our nearest and dearest bees. I landed this plum job, having previous as unofficial Head of Graduate Recruitment and Training (HOGRAT) at the old place.

If you were to measure my love of strategy in kilos – I could clearly demonstrate unfaithful infatuation. My office at home is filled with dozens of business books given up halfway through pure boredom. Most having been binned as soon as their predictable lust for lecture-tour-nouvelle-terminology sets in.

I still end up swapping most of the chapters for the fundamentals learned running various dodgy ventures in my youth, or whilst watching my folks and their businesses or from a bizarre hunger for military strategy. This love of all military thinking was discovered when I mistakenly woke up in a lecture on Clausewitz. I also discovered Amy Dinsdale that day – happy days. Clausewitz remained, Amy headed off with some EastEnder from Stoke City Football Club. A lesson in engagement and resources there and then.

Anyway – returning to the point. Planning and teaching strategy is something we have always wanted to do here. In our industry its usual done on the job – or done way too late – shame on us. And as I never found anything that could be cut and pasted; at some point we just had to do it. Getting it right is an illusive goal, where to start? What to cover? Get senior strategists in to talk or MBA style graphs and analyses or buy a market stall and stock it for a week with eager strategy beavers? Learn the old school way with crap products in Berwick Street market.

We took a predictable middle road and kicked off reviewing small local industries (Soho – typically providing court case collateral), their approach to a market, positioning, customer group etc and discussing each case by case amongst a group of us. It has been really interesting for me, watching the tools/terms I use all the time being defined and discovered. I have been forced to give thought to my own clarity. To be party to this new group of critical thinkers and their discussions has been really humbling. I would never get a job here.

Today we have just kicked off on the next bit. Upping the academia, by beginning a series of borrowed Harvard MBA case studies. The Harvard approach is pretty cool, a group sit around in a semi circle and get facilitated agreeing or disagreeing with each other. Educational Gold dust. This week featured a forthright company, a new business opportunity and a pretty big management decision. I was lucky enough to get hold of a film of this case study debate amongst the 2006 MBA graduate class – and the conclusions of the HBS elite and our lots are surprisingly aligned. Except “without the bullshit” to quote one of our most terminological intolerant. Apparently the MBAs termed “bait and switch” strategy is just plain lying, and stupidly short term.

For me, I am getting loads from this, the clear parallels from SEXSEXSEX Ltd. and Harvard, our best and their best is proving really insightful and I hope not a bad way of getting a faster understanding of business decision making.