Where’s my Cheese?

There was big news this last week in case you missed it. No, it was not the budget, it was that nearly £300,000 of cheddar cheese was stolen by fraudsters.

It seemed this was the leading story on all the talk radio shows I had on whilst running errands, last weekend.

Still, it made a nice change from all the anxiety-laden discussion about the budget mind you, which was finally delivered mid-week after about 3 months of talking about it…. anyway back to cheese.

It turns out that a huge delivery of cheddar cheese was delivered by the company to whom they thought was a wholesaler, but in fact was a fraudster.

Obviously, this was a big deal and the dairy is now out of pocket and by the sounds of it struggling with cash flow too.

Even Jamie Oliver got involved… asking us all to watch out for any cheese and help track down the culprits…. it was all very Wallace and Gromit at this point.

Outside of any immediate concern I had about my ham and cheese toasty supply chain (it is secure btw), and consciously avoiding any cheese-related puns out of respect for those involved, it did prompt some more serious questions. Namely

  1. What due diligence was done setting up the account?
  2. What controls were in place as part of the credit control process? (limits, signoffs etc)
  3. Had they never met or been to the location before? (and was this a case of impersonation)
  4. Were they insured?

Now I don’t know the details of the case and so cannot really comment, although no doubt it is being investigated internally as to what happened.

However, what it did underline was in what seems to be our increasingly digitally-orientated fast-paced world, we still need to have some of the traditional basic controls to protect ourselves.

As we all rush to the bright light of digital, it is all very exciting, but let’s make sure we don’t trip on the way.

Every so often, we need to take a moment to step back, have a look and make sure the process still works.

This was undoubtedly a tough experience for the dairy, Neal’s yard, who have a great selection of cheese btw. I just hope that the publicity from the event, and Jamie’s plea has driven more customers to them to help cover the loss… Sometimes the world works in strange ways like this and I wish them well.

Good news update – there seems to be progress on the case

Box clever

The other story that caught my eye this week was a piece around boxes. In particular Apple boxes (the computers, not Granny Smiths!).

It turns out that Steve Jobs was obsessed with the unboxing experience and believed this created an emotional connection between the consumer and the product. He spent millions on it apparently.

Of course, anyone who owns an Apple product (I do), especially if you bought it new, will know just what a delicious event the unpacking experience is.

For me, it comes back to quality, real, thought-through quality.

You can tell when thought has been put into it and when it is more than just a commodity. More often than not we are happy to pay a premium for it.

An Apple a day…

These days so much of the recent discussion on AI or digital seems to be about speed or cost. Responding faster, adding more features or simply providing something cheaper.

However, as these two experiences illustrate, we also need to be careful this does not become a false economy, costing us more in the long run, being a race to the bottom or continually squeezing margins.

This is why we still value handmade goods so much, despite all the technology around us. We appreciate a quality product or premium service as much as we ever have done.


So this is my thought for the weekend. How can I create that upgrade, thinking in a premium-class manner?

After all, it is not necessarily all about doing more, but being smart, thinking, maybe even slowing down a little to take it in that can help… and maybe some of the old ways of doing things are not that bad afterall, not that bad at all.

Have a good weekend everyone.

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Embracing thinking… carefully

All of a sudden it seems to be events season (yes there is an event season). I have been on the road quite a bit recently, and away from the office.

Whenever this happens what always strikes me is just how inefficient all this travelling is.

At your desk, it seems easy to keep up with all the tasks, but step away, once you are stuck on a train or in a live presentation and the whole routine falls apart…

However let’s face facts, you just cannot get through the same volume of work…!

These days it certainly feels like there is a lot of pressure to be busy.  Getting lots of things done, ticked off on the to do sheet, feels good.  We like it and we like it when those around us at busy too. If there is an email we need to respond quickly, if something needs to be done we get to it straight away… speed sometimes seems more important than accuracy.

Many years ago Albert Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions”…

Our modern-day equivalent seems to be more “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 10 minutes responding with quick solutions, 10 minutes bouncing ideas off colleagues on the local WhatsApp group checking what I said was correct followed by 20 minutes sketching out initial implementations followed by a further 30 minutes ‘ironing out’ issues so it sort of works” (it does not add to 60min I know!)… I blame social media.

I feel all of this need for speed leaves little room for considered thinking and decision-making. With a premium on responding quickly, rather than responding accurately, this can be problematic.

Fortunately, at the end of some of my recent journeys, I have been lucky enough to listen to some great speakers.  Some of these have been from more academic pursuits and it struck me how thinking things through carefully can really help in building innovative great solutions.  It does however take some time and with all of the chatter of the day to day, in the office, this is something that is all too easy not to do… especially when that next deadline is due.

Yet, watching SpaceX ‘catch’ their rocket last week, it really brought it home.  Spending the time to think and plan can build some amazing things.  It was indeed an impressive sight…and for those not aware the machine is huge… for example this photo here.

https://x.com/MarcusHouse/status/1846683558070603951

These achievements are of course more than just one person, a great team, and it is not just a one-off. 

Just take a look at the evolution of their rocket engines for example… again, this is impressive, both in terms of specialisation and simplification (and no doubt cost and reliability).

https://twitter.com/EvaFoxU/status/1819650208734548303/photo/1

… and it turns out the thinking process they use is fascinating.  Yes this sent me down a rabbit hole… pointers from Elon Musk

  • Make requirements less dumb.  Requirements are often too generic. This is a reason for failure. Take time to plan, test and really understand any assumptions.
  • Delete the parts of the process.  Delete to the point your need to add stuff back in.  If you are not having to add stuff back in you have not deleted enough.
  • Simplify or optimise the design. Take a holistic view simplify what is needed, make sure you are optimising only processes that are needed.
  • Accelerate cycle time. But, make sure you are moving in the right direction first.
  • Automate. Again make sure it is actually needed.

Throughout there is this focused emphasis on thinking through the problem (often from first principles) and then slowly, deliberately taking action, each step, once correct, building on the next. 

It doesn’t sound like rushing around.  It does sound an awful lot like deliberate, careful, compounding activity to build amazing things.

So now back in the office… with all busy activity back underway… it is something to reflect on.

How to build small, smart steps that build on each other… be less busy, more deliberate and get a bigger result.

It sounds like I may need another trip and time out of the office to think about it… 

… well it is event season!

Have a good week everyone.

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The Future? From the Back of the Bus?

It’s been a hectic few weeks; there seem to be events everywhere.

It really does feel like there is a ‘conference season’. As overwhelming as these can feel, by listening, closely, we can often use these to pick out many new ideas, so something to embrace… and for me it started last month.

Coffee, Cake, Repeat

To be honest, I am still feeling somewhat burnt. Generative AI, a topic, in reality, that had been around for a while, only seemed to get attention when ChatGPT burst onto the scene in 2020. Suddenly, because we could all see it, access it, and seemingly do fun stuff with it, did we all become excited.

Before this, it was academic, stuffy and more inaccessible… maybe something for the future, but still a long way off.

I wish we had been able to flag this better the first time around. With this in mind, I have vowed to make sure I double down and look even further ahead…

What are the latest ideas and academic discussions today that could result in the next wave of innovation tomorrow?

The ‘conference season’ is as good a place as any to start… So what is going to be the next big thing? Can we anticipate the future?

Quantum Technology: Exponential Potential?

First off on my slate of events, last week, Quantum Technology. Quantum is one of those ‘sexy’ sounding words that, like AI, is thrown around and added to sentences to make everything sound cutting edge.

Could this be the next ‘Cloud’, ‘Blockchain’, or indeed ‘AI’?

I went to the QuantumTech conference to get a better understanding and find out.

Quantum technology, in reality, is not just software; it is complex hardware, involving sophisticated mathematical algorithms to make it work. There was certainly lot of Big T tech going on, and much of this was hard, not easy – albeit with some hype around the edges… it has not reached the ChatGPT marketing moment yet for sure.

I walked away feeling very informed, and yet with the feeling that implementation for widespread use still appears to be several years away – likely five to ten years – particularly for areas like financial services.

Quantum technology is indeed promising but still relatively nascent, so was still in the watching brief category for me.

Behavioural Science: More Pervasive Than We Realise

The rest of the week involved discussions around behavioural science.

This is another field that has been around for some time, particularly in fast-moving consumer goods; however, in areas like debt collection, we are only just starting to realise the untapped potential by building systems to handle the data and manage the complexities of this in a complex customer journey.

… and, the session clearly got me thinking in new ways!

For example today I bought lunch and noticed I could either buy:

  • A ‘Grab Bag’ packet of crisps/chips – 45g for £1.10, or
  • A ‘£1.25’ packet of crisps/chips – 75g for £1.25

Same vendor, same shop.

Clearly, the second is more economical, but using my new ‘behavioural mindset’, I realised which one I bought really probably depended on my behavioural archetype. Ie am I in the:

  • ‘In a rush, at work, grabbing lunch’ mindset and go for the grab bag (and be less price-sensitive)? Or am I in the,
  • ‘Looking for value’ mindset, noticing the price and going for the latter?

Today, it turned out I was the latter, although I also found I am in the ‘finding it impossible to eat only half a bag’ category too – so maybe I need to rethink my choices next time !

All of this to say, behavioural science is not as uncommon as we may think. We see it every day already.

So can we use this to influence positive outcomes, such as guiding people towards better debt solutions in the collections space? It did feel like there is untapped near to medium-term potential here.

NPLs: Looking ahead

Lastly, this week, I have been at the Non-Performing Loans (NPL) Global Conference. NPLs are very much at the back end of the process of lending money. It is after all the process that takes place, when all else has failed, and lenders have largely given up and need to work out the loan.

Yet, despite being at the back of the process, this group also has a unique vantage point… one from which they are used to seeing everything in front of them, especially what is coming down the pipe. This includes a good view about the economy.

The picture painted unfortunately was not very rosy – a downturn in the US and Germany, likely impacting across Europe, increasing volumes and pressures on costs.

Technology and data however offered a bright spot. This is a potential solution and given the timelines something we still have the time to react and adjust for.

Rethinking Efficiency: Working Smarter, Not Harder

All of these discussions got me thinking about our workplace practices.

Can we use technology, data, and new ways of working, not just to be faster, but to also be smarter? Do we have a clear view of future tech?

When facing challenges, our instinct is often to ramp up activity – to push through more volume.

However, as the behavioural science discussion illustrated, we may be able to do things smarter. The quantum tech discussion showed there may also be new things around the corner that could change the game completely.

So as we potentially head into an economic downturn, my takeaway was that we may need to refocus, take a step back, explore new methods and new technology to enhance productivity and effectiveness… and all the while also keep our eyes firmly on the future horizon to anticipate what may arrive.

More ideas and events in November too… should be interesting.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

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