Thursday 25 April 2013

15 Videos!

I have just had a very video based day. It has been extraordinary really and a contrast between the old and the new too.

Many years ago I was approached by The Open University to see if I’d be willing to contribute to their MBA programme as they had a course which was on “Creativity, Innovation and Change”.  Indeed I think they still do.

That saw me going with a group of ITS alumni to the BBC studios in Marylebone High Street and recording a piece which has been used for many years now.  As it happens, somebody who took that MBA Open University programme was particularly taken with what we were doing regarding how to be more creative and how to generate innovative strategies. This person contacted me a little while ago to say that he would very much like to come and video me talking about creativity, innovation and also leadership.

Times have moved on and instead of me going to a studio he just came to the house. He is actually Italian and this will be going out through an Italian portal for leaders who are English speaking.  It was interesting how we did it remarkably easily, with no fancy studio equipment. It was just fascinating to do. Also to hear his take on how taking the Open University course had made a real impression on him. That was one piece; the old way and the new way all in one.

On the same day I also got a series of links - 15 altogether  - each being a short link to a video I had recorded at the request of some students. These videos feature different topics looking at innovation, entrepreneurship, branding, work-life balance, the role of collaboration, keys to successful living and how to survive in a recession.  And they are ready to roll. I have just been having a look at them. I could wish for better lighting and so forth.  Nevertheless it seems to me they are very much of the video age. None are more than two or three minutes. 

A video is a useful way of saying something to the point very briefly and hopefully to give people a steer on different ways of coming at being more resourceful and of course more resilient. Of course I had something to say on the role of Applied Neuroscience - you would be surprised I think if I hadn’t! - but also on the nature of entrepreneurialism and why it isn’t just to do with business.

Learning to have an entrepreneurial mind set would be an incredibly useful skill to develop as part of every child’s learning experience. In essence being an entrepreneur is about having a dream and being able to follow that through, being a self-starter, creating something, making changes based on whether or not you are succeeding and daring to dream.

One of the videos is called, Do You Need a Plan?  Yes, you may but you won’t just need a plan, you will need some passion  too. You will also need to go with your gut when the plan says one thing and your feelings say something quite different – I know which I’d trust.

These kinds of thoughts and being able to offer them in videos is very satisfying and very simple. My hope is that we’ll be able to put these out fairly soon. I’ll keep you posted.

So, the world of video...Good Lord!

Until the next time. 

Also listen to Ian's blog here:

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