Plane Daze

The trip from home to Oxford has become somewhat surreal. This is my fifth trip in a year - each one a 24-hour transit that feels more like a Narnian wardrobe passage: I step in on one side of the world and emerge, disoriented but somehow unchanged, at Heathrow at 6 a.m. 

This other world is strange but familiar, exciting but exhausting. It greets me with grey skies and brisk air. I’m travelling for my last scheduled face to face session of my Masters. I didn’t blog the other trips as I figured the education part is a bit dull for everyone, but will try and put up a few posts this time as there is extra travel before and after Oxford. I finally managed to extend my trip to fit in a few extra days in London, spending quality time with a very dear friend from high school. We drank coffee, walked, talked, ate, laughed and did a modicum of sightseeing in the process. The sightseeing was secondary to our time together, but of particular note was a trip to the Victoria and Albert Warehouse. It’s their storage facility for things not on display, packed on pallets but visible. Think downstairs at IKEA, but with art, collectables, furniture and fragments of other cultural memories. Amazing. Photos include David Bowie’s boot, and a whole Frank Lloyd Wright room. 

We also handed over 25 pounds for a one year pass to the Transport Museum in Covent Garden. You can pay for one day, or one year - same price, so….. Once inside, we quickly realised that it was unlikely we would ever use the other 364 days of access, but there were some interesting things and we chatted away and enjoyed ourselves. Some inspired soul included realistic accessories in the horse drawn bus display. See photo for details. 

Of course there is no rest for the wicked, so I was up at 3am on Monday to do prep work for a work meeting at 6. I haven’t managed to sleep well yet and was feeling a bit stressed and wobbly. The meeting ran overtime so it was a scramble to get from London to Oxford in time for 9.30 meeting at the Business School about my educational goals. There is drenching rain and it’s colder than expected, but Oxford is beautiful in any weather and I’m glad to be back. 

Mastering Oxford

Forty nine almost strangers filed into the lecture room for our first face to face session in the Executive Diploma of Organisational Leadership. I say almost strangers, as the programme team had provided early opportunities to connect - an online meetup, a WhatsApp group, and a few enterprising souls had connected over drinks or dinner in the lead up to the course. 

Walking to my first day of “school” was a pinch me - I’m actually at Oxford moment. I deliberately took a path that led me by Radcliffe Camera, and despite my minimal social media presence, took a quick selfie for posterity. Our lecture room at the Said Business School, was well equipped, comfortable and set up ready to go with name tags and some Oxford merch. We were served a smorgasbord of frameworks and concepts over the next four days, covering decision making, power and influence, organisational change and motivation. I’m surprised how quickly we became a cohesive group, but the design and structure was clearly engineered to encourage group bonding - shared meals, small group chats, work groups in breakout rooms, and opportunities to tell personal stories that related to the topic areas. As a leader, it was valuable to see how the style of our programme leader, Sue Dopson, motivated, engaged, and encouraged us to work as a team. Simple actions such as noting the birthday of a cohort member and getting us to sing happy birthday, showing data about our demographic similarities and differences, and gentle humour made us comfortable and connected. It’s hard to describe how fun it is to be presented with new ideas in the company of bright curious people, some well equipped with a wicked sense of humour. This humour made our team debates in the Oxford Union a hilarious experience, despite the freezing temperature. 

I’m here in the airport waiting to fly home, reflecting on the week. I wish that, prior to attending, I had written down what I expected, vs what I experienced (note the appropriate use of the Oxford comma). Memorable experiences include:

• the bewildering volume of administrative and procedural information, necessary but overwhelming and luckily all on Canvas to review later

• The formal dinner at our college, Pembroke

• the anticipation, slightly edged with anxiety of debating in the Oxford Union 

• The laughter and discussion over quality meals (catering was fabulous) 

• The opportunity to hear different cultural solutions to the same problems (eg legal action vs hug it out).

 

Those of us staying in Oxford on Saturday night ended up at the Turf Tavern for drinks and a meal. Witnessing the noise, the conversation and the camaraderie you would never believe that this was the same group that started out as strangers five days earlier. I was originally worried about fitting in at Oxford - that critical thinking might translate to critical individuals. The reality cannot be further from the truth. Our tutors, the support team, and the cohort were warm, inclusive and helpful. It was a fabulous start to our learning experience and I can’t wait May.