Sister Act

After a very hot sticky night, I gave up the attempt to sleep and went to sit in the library to figure out what I was going to do for the day. 

The weeks prior to flying out were ridiculously busy and I uncharacteristically have absolutely nothing booked or organised or even considered. I was feeling a little unsure about an unplanned week on my own- almost lonely. I didn’t get very far with the planning, and decided that coffee and breakfast might help me progress. I headed down to the dining room, which was filled with morning light, white tablecloths and the scent of toast. A delightful encounter with another diner set the tone for the day. My breakfast companion was a seventy five year old lady, overnighting in London before leaving for Oxford, where she is completing her Masters in British/Indian history.  She’s working for a historical society so thinks the knowledge will not be wasted. She spent time in Australia when her husband was working in the consulate. It was a fun conversation with an interesting, intelligent woman who was happy to share observations and opinions. I felt better about my week, remembering that companionship comes from unexpected places. 

Returning to my room, I found a message from Lily, my new acquaintance from the night before, inviting me to lunch at the Oxford and Cambridge club. I walked there via a meandering tour of Mayfair, possibly not the best idea as it’s still scorchingly hot and I was wearing a fancy outfit to comply with club rules. I did a quick run through Fortnum & Masons. Here’s a picture of the doll house made entirely of biscuits. 

The club building was palatial with three libraries (with room plaques like “the South Library”), four different drawing rooms, squash courts, a snooker room, a bar and an enormous dining room. Large portraits of various Dukes and Earls looked down on us, probably disapproving that women can now enter the hallowed halls. Lily is in her 30’s, Jewish, American and well travelled with a healthy curiosity and quite strong opinions on most matters. We had no awkward conversation gaps! The lunch was fantastic. She’s happy to share food so we both were able to try a few different options. We then moved to one of the drawing rooms where we were joined by Lily’s friend, an IP lawyer focused on sustainability. Both girls have recently finished study and shockingly to me, neither can find a job. Two bright, articulate, interesting young women. They were both feeling a little grim and hopeless about the situation. This was my moment to give back, and I’m hoping that after a cocktail and a pep talk both of them have a few new strategies. 

By the time I arrived back in Mayfair, it was almost time for my evening activity, a wine club night at my accommodation. What fun. Ten women, a wine from the Loire Valley with matched food, and collegial conversation. We sat on the terrace, cooler due to the shade of the plane tree and chatted through topics that ranged from Oscar Wilde to Greek cooking. 

I’ve been reflecting on the connections today. The genuine interest and acceptance and ease of conversation that can occur with little effort. I’m grateful today for the easy generosity that women give to each other. 

On a less positive note, I had a go at using AI to think up a title. This is the first time I’ve tried it for this purpose. Never again. I gave it my post and asked for title suggestions. I am horrified by the misogyny that lurks in the algorithm. Here are the suggestions: 

“Tea truth and tenderness”, “Soft hearts, sharp wits”, ”We go together like gossip and wine” and “Life’s warmer when you’ve got women” . Revolting.  

Book-end

Today is my last day in Oxford for this part of the trip. I woke up early to find an active family chat going on about the soccer. Cam and Claire are actually in San Francisco at the game and posted some good live photos. I loved sharing the experience with everyone even though we were in three different time zones. As I checked out, I was gifted with a free Oxford fridge magnet from the hotel guy who sorted the early check in. Despite the basic rooms, the service at the hotel has been brilliant - very friendly and helpful. 

The programme directors chose to end the week with a technical, data heavy session covering financial management and board responsibility. It was dense but excellent. About a quarter of the room is sick - coughing, sneezing and blowing their noses. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), they are all seated on one side of the room. Those of us on the other side are staying well clear. I’ve clocked who is sitting over there and am avoiding them, even in the breaks. 

The last day of a course always feels sad. Packing, saying goodbye, wrapping up the week. We finished off today with a feedback session and a certificate presentation. Waaay too slow and boring when we knew there was a tasty lunch upstairs and trains to catch. Unfortunately the trains were very easy to catch, as they were cancelled and/or late. Standing on the platform in a crowd in the sun made me rethink a few life choices. Apparently the roads are congested too, so maybe a Uber wouldn’t have been much better. I arrived in London to find it even hotter than Oxford. The cabbie’s car thermometer showed 37 degrees. I’m staying for a few days at the University Women’s Club in Mayfair. It’s a heritage building (1876) and lovely, however to my horror, I’ve discovered there is no air conditioning. I know this is typical in England, and I specifically booked a hotel in Oxford with aircon, but somehow this detail escaped me for my London stay. I’m absolutely melting. 

This part of London is packed with familiar references from decades of reading. All the regency novel streets are here - Grosvenor square, South Audley Street, and the club building was actually used as a setting in a book by Dorothy Sayers, one of my favourite authors. In my wanders, I found a little pocket park, an oasis of green, beautifully cool compared to the streets, with people relaxing on the grass and reading on benches. I considered sitting a while but the temperatures drove me back to the club, where I discovered that, coincidentally, there was an Oxford Alumni event in the club library that evening. What are the odds that I leave Oxford and land in London at an Oxford event. Disappointingly it was a pretentious and boring crowd, and the wine was awful but it was nice to do something social and I met an interesting girl who invited me to dinner later in the week. Hoping for cooler weather tomorrow! 

 

rare AIr

A good day today, with the tension from yesterday dissipated. Maybe everyone just needed a good sleep. Many of the group are following the World Cup (the Ghana crew were SO ecstatic when they drew with England) and there have been late nights in the pub for some to watch the games. The programme director starts each day with a question about the highlights from the day before, hoping for feedback on content. Invariably, the first response is about highlights from the soccer matches played overnight. The programme content for today centred around AI possibilities and threats. There are a few heavy hitters in the room for this topic and they stepped up to share their knowledge. The takeaway? That  unplugging your system is still the key crisis response. We have people running security for global banks in this room, and while I’m oversimplifying it, if a world wide system gets hacked, our best response is still to pull the plug.  

For our last evening together, there was a formal dinner at Christchurch College. Christchurch is one of the larger, fancier colleges. It’s a breathtaking venue, founded in the 1500s when Henry VIII was breaking up with Rome. There are a couple of original portraits of him hanging on the walls. It’s steeped in history but also very much alive with a Great Hall of long wooden tables, high ceilings, portraits staring down… and scruffy students stealing our prosecco as they walk by on the way to dinner. The prosecco was pretty ordinary, so in my opinion they were welcome to it. The food in contrast was actually really good and beautifully presented. Fun facts, gleaned from the pre dinner speech: Lewis Carroll taught here, first telling Alice’s in Wonderland stories to Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean. It’s also produced an unusually high number of British Prime Ministers.

There was an orgy of photo taking, with various “groups” , ranging from “Asia Pacific” to “tall people” to “old white men”. A few competitive souls made every effort to be included in as many groups as possible, with ever more ridiculous justifications of why they fit in the category. 

This is just a short update today as I have to pack. I’ve included more photos, and you can see the Henry VIII portraits in a couple of them and the “Asia Pacific” three. 

The Art of Fugue

In a change of format today we broke into small groups and discussed a case study, looking at a specific corporate failure to consider the reasons for the failure. We are mid-course. At a basic level, one could say that the sustained pace, along with the unrelenting heat has frayed a few tempers, however the underlying reason for the tension is a little deeper. We have quite differing cultural norms for group behaviour, and at the risk of generalising or stereotyping, I’m going to try and explain this further. Our Nigerian cohort members hold the floor for quite a long time when they communicate. There is a context setting part, then an opinion, then justification for the opinion. It’s very interesting, but it takes a long time, and they engage on almost every topic, so dominate the room. Our Eastern European cohort members communicate more shortly and sharply, interrupting, a lot, to clarify or focus the discussion on the main point. You can see where this is going….there was a fairly heated fight in my small group today… This small group tiff is representative of a broader tension in the wider group, and I’m finding it harder to learn in that environment. 

Tension aside, some of the topics today were really interesting. We had a behavioural economist talking about risk, starting with a discussion about why lottery tickets are so popular and then delving deeper and deeper into what makes people take risks. We had a fantastic lady who was the deputy governor of the bank of Ghana and a senior leader in the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Her talk was about emerging markets and she had an amazing ability to marry the perspective of the regulator with the perspective of the organisation. I know that sounds dull, but it was really really good. Also, she was an absolute master in managing the room and ensuring that quieter cohort members had input, and the more dominant ones were muted.

They had organised a weird “international festival” for lunch today. The unfortunate catering staff were in little booths outside in the courtyard in 35 degree heat, with sad, dodgy signs saying “Mexican” or “Lebanese” . We lined up in the sun to collect our international lunch/s of choice and then stood awkwardly balancing plate and cutlery and drink. It was purportedly a World Cup inspired idea, but the food options were not necessarily countries in the comp (looking at you Italy). It was one of those ideas that was probably better in concept than in reality and I couldn’t help looking longingly at the beautiful, air conditioned, comfortable space we could have sat down in just fifty metres away through a locked door. 

Our evening activity was a walking tour of Oxford. Unfortunately, we ended up with the most boring tour guide on the planet. I had told a few of my group that the walking tour would be great, and felt very badly that I had talked it up. Dinner at the Crown afterwards was fun though. We had a diverse group from Poland, Hong Kong, Croatia, and Czech Republic and we ended up talking about social policy. This dinner included my favourite conversation of the course with our Hong Kong friend coaxed into talking us through the cultural differences between Hong Kong and Mainland China and his take on global politics. There are no Americans in the cohort, but obviously the US leadership behaviour impacts everyone, so the conversation often strays to that impact. He told us that “the US leader is consuming his own fortune and the fortune of his descendants”. I don’t want political comments on my social media (take the hint blog commenters!),  but it was such an interesting idea and way of describing the behaviour. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. 

What stayed with my most today was the difficulty inherent in listening to a variety of separate voices. Individually they are coherent, but each voice feels a little out of step with the others. It was real work to understand  the larger picture made by the friction and the differences. I would like it to be easier and simpler but… learning happens in discomfort so I’m trying to learn. The title is a nod to my thinking that simple harmony doesn’t require you to listen so carefully or for such a sustained period to derive meaning.  I’m trying to listen to many things at once to understand patterns and fully appreciate the beauty of the complexity. 

No Wind in the Willows

This was a looong day. The temperature has been in the mid thirties for a few days and the aircon in many places doesn’t quite cope. We started off our morning with a presentation on strategy, by some McKinsey guys, who instantly irritated me by assuming success is measured solely by profit. Open to the lesson, I generously spent the second half of the session making other businesses successful by doing some online shopping. To make matters worse, in a session about strategy, they presented no strategy, just a lot of graphs and data. To add insult to injury, they went fifteen minutes into our half-hour break. Then, the rest of our break was used up by taking the obligatory group photo. We wandered out in the courtyard which was by mid morning a still, oven-like area, deserted by all but our gently sweating cohort. You can see most of us look dressed for climate optimism rather than a heatwave. The lecture room is very very is cold, so the jacket-on-jacket-off dance is constant. 

Following our non existent break, we had a session on bank regulation and supervision, which sounds dull but was interesting, due to the lecturer. This was followed by a session on financial crime, which sounds interesting but was dull, due to the lecturer. Both sessions went overtime and stole our lunch and afternoon tea break time. It’s not that we are missing out on food - there’s a lot of it and it’s good (and beautifully presented, check out the juice bar) I resent this, because the cohort is fascinating. The chats in the breaks are fantastic and worth every bit of effort to get here to Oxford. 

Our evening activity was canapés, Pimm’s and punting at the Cherwell Boat house. It was still incredibly hot, without a breath of wind, and the humidity near the river was nasty. No mosquitoes though! There was some reluctance by the group to punt, but I worked the room and our eventual group of six splashed and laughed and managed to have a ball. It was a shared experiment in incompetence, but we were clearly having enough visible fun that another six joined us, although they were smarter. Correctly assessing that the pole work is harder than it looks, they conscripted a boathouse employee to handle the pole while they relaxed in the punt. 

We walked back to Oxford (about a 40 minute walk) through green lanes and past beautiful buildings, chatting and enjoying the views, stopping for a pizza dinner on the way. It was 9.30 by the time we ate so it was a quick dinner, before the older and wiser of us went back to the hotel to sleep and a hardy few went to a pub to watch the England/Ghana soccer match.

Hullo Gov(ernance)

 Well , day one was fabulous. 

It started off with an impromptu breakfast group discussing careers in art v engineering. My favourite comment was from one of our Nigerian cohort, who told us his personal view that interest in anything qualifies you to try it. A deep discussion ensued (technical expertise? The impact of rejection on your wellbeing? ). Quite an intense personal discussion for a group of strangers at 6.30 am without decent coffee. 

A minder/wrangler met us at the hotel to walk us to the campus in a straggling crocodile, much like a school excursion. The group is diverse, engaged and interesting. Class topics today covered world mega-trends, digital currency, climate finance and capital allocation. We questioned, we challenged, we ate (food was excellent) and we connected. The break conversations ranged from values to global warming and everything in between. 

In an affirming moment, despite my lack of technical knowledge, I won the global bank trivia competition with a complete correct score at the fastest answer rate for every question. The prize was a book I may never read but the glory was real. In a 100% brag, nothing humble about it, I’ve included the email from the lecturer: “congratulations on being top of the league throughout the quiz (I have never seen that before) !” You can see my rainbow unicorn avatar in the photo.

We finished off the day with a “bbq” dinner. It was a sad, UK interpretation of a BBQ. Firstly, it was indoors. More importantly, there was not a single bbq’d item of food. The curry and salad were good though and the wine options were varied and free flowing. 

I’m exhausted, slightly overstimulated and not sleeping well, but this is really fun. I also managed to score a loaned Nespresso machine for my hotel room. My basic room doesn’t have one but the reception crew are very accommodating. At 4am coffee option is less of a luxury and more survival equipment. 

Bus Class

 A few months ago I applied for and won a scholarship to a Governance course at Oxford so here I am back in the UK. The course does great things for my board director CV and Oxford is a safe bet to deliver a high quality course, but…. Governance. I’m not quite really sure how many posts there will be this week! 

Although it’s a familiar trip by now, the transit is still brutal. A train to Sydney, a plane to Singapore, then London, then an hour by road to Oxford. My flights were in the good seats, but thirty five hours door-to-door takes the glamour out of drinking champagne while flying over Venice. Still, there were some nice moments- a hot stone day spa treat in the First lounge, delicious prawn wontons in Singapore, with silky casings and crunchy chilli oil dressing, and a handwritten welcome note from the customer service manager on both flights. 

In a moment of frugality, clearly reflecting the hazy decision making that comes with exhaustion and minimal sleep, I elected to catch the bus from Heathrow to Oxford. This is not a mistake I will repeat. The bus station was not salubrious and it was a 45 minute wait for the bus.  Quite a contrast to go from my lux plane nest to a tatty bus smelling faintly of chips, vinegar and unwashed socks.  To add insult to injury, the cost saving wasn’t even material. Damn. I did get 2000 steps in walking from the terminal to the bus station, so there’s that. 

QF1 gets in at 6.30 in the morning, so I had tried by a series of emails and phone calls to secure a room at my Oxford hotel either the night before or via early check in, so I could shower and rest once I arrived. After five “Not possibles” I gave up, sweet talked the last person into leaving a note at reception about it and entrusted it to the universe.

The universe smiled on me, and the delightful man at reception called housekeeping and asked for a rush job. I was a bit teary with gratitude and then somehow was telling him about my wedding anniversary (today/yesterday depending on where in the world you are ) and Jason and he came around the counter and gave me a big hug.  

 Within half an hour I was in my room for a shower and a little nap. I’ve had a good wander around the town and am out for dinner tonight with my course cohort. More about that tomorrow.