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I have facilitated thousands of people at workshops, and I now confidently know what is of great value to the participants! You may have read the blog I published a few weeks ago about how I use engaging visuals as my point of difference when leading my workshops. There are three visuals in particular, which feature in my upcoming book Making Life Happen, that I’ve found always resonate with people. Strategy – doing something for the business During the late 2000’s, I met many CIOs across Europe. Those with successful strategies had something in common. They established strong technology foundations, were striving to simplify how their organisation did business and always took the time to explore the potential of emerging technologies! Collaboration – doing something with others In every session I've facilitated over the past five years, I set some ground rules of having an open mind, active participation and respectful conversation about complicated topics. Some teams have made these their principles of how they now operate. Growing – doing something for yourself A mentor once explained to me our twenties are for education, our thirties for gaining experience, our forties for harvesting your experiences, and I've found my fifties are for doing what I love. Regardless of your age, these stages are always worth checking for! The above are three cartoons in my upcoming third book, Making Life Happen; read about it here.

Precision Questioning (PQ) is an intellectual toolkit developed at Stanford University for critical thinking and problem-solving. Bill Gates requested all employees be PQ trained at Microsoft, enabling thoughtful and succinct conversations! There are seven categories, each with drill-down areas: Go / No Go – Do we need to talk about this? The willingness of parties and the preferred approach, considering motivations, agendas, goals, ground rules, what is to follow, and how important it is. Clarification – What do you mean? Vagueness and ambiguity dissolve by exploring where, when, impact, probabilities, trends and a shared understanding of definitions. Assumptions – What are we assuming? A great place to start for a shared understanding of perspectives, what exists, how unique it is, can it be measured, the value – good or bad, variances in assumptions, and exploration of why – is this due to a person's background or experience, and what might this be similar to? Basic Critical Question – How do we know this is true? Various questions consider the source of the information, how credible it is, supporting quantitative data, qualitative logic and what further research is required. Causes – What is causing this? These drill into the explanations exploring triggers and conditions for triggers, root and contributing causes, single or multiple causes and what was happening at the time. Effects – What will be the effects? These questions focus on direct and indirect effects, alternative scenarios, probabilities, time-spans and predictions. Actions – What should be done? Questions consider who, when, root cause or containment, strategy versus tactics, and other areas such as milestones, mitigations, alternatives and support. Your approach will vary between colleagues trained in PQ, with whom you can be very direct, and those who are not, where you will need to build rapport. Practising these questions will enable you to create a shared understanding of situations more frequently and subsequent quality actions. It is a section within my upcoming book Making Life Happen!

Over a decade ago, I learnt about The SCARF Model developed by David Rock. Throughout my career, I’ve subconsciously applied it. The SCARF Model involves five domains of human social experience: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relations, and Fairness. Here’s how they’ve played out for me: Status - In my mid-thirties, as I was building my career, I sought internationally recognisable organisations and leadership roles within these businesses. Certainty - I studied two nights a week during my late twenties. It was important I had stable employment as my wife and invested in our future. Autonomy - During my late forties, with teenage children and established expertise, my time with my family was important to me, and I set up a small advisory business to achieve this! Relations - After several years at an international business in London, I had the opportunity to move to other roles in different companies. Still, I chose to stay at Microsoft due to my wonderful colleagues. Fairness - Unfortunately, throughout my career, I have seen the interpretation of employment law not undertaken with its intent. I can see why some people have felt aggrieved and left their employers. More on The SCARF Model, including the cartoon above, are in "Making Life Happen" - due to be published next month.

Over the weekend, we sent the final proofread manuscript for Making Life Happen, including the nineteen cartoon pictures, to the publisher. It’s an exciting time as they turn the ugly duckling into a swan! I’m proud of my trilogy of books; they are all different, and here’s why you should consider reading one: To be published next month, Making Life Happen explores how to realise your professional and personal potential. Close to fifty anecdotes offer pragmatic steps for the reader to create the future they want. After hundreds of conversations about what has enabled a fulfilled life, I wrote this book for those who asked me to put all these thoughts in one place! Finding A Better Way was co-written with my editor, Michelle Stevenson. We explore systemic global, regional, professional and family trends backed by two hundred pieces of research. It also contains some personal stories. This book offers perspectives encouraging the reader fresh perspectives, enabling them to think about how they can positively influence things they care about! Digital Is Everyone’s Business was my inaugural book, encouraged by a long-term industry friend (thanks, TJ) after they read a white paper on the topic. There are fifteen internal CXO testimonials citing the usefulness of content. This book is for any executive (technical or business) who wants to practically transition their business from analogue to contemporary practices. I have poured my head and heart into each of these books, and I’m so looking forward to hearing from people of how Making Life Happen impacts them. Message me if you'd like to receive an early copy! View all my books here.

A long-time industry friend rang me the other week to say they were considering a new role. It wasn’t a traditional CIO role of managing the end-to-end IT delivery team, but a strategic business role focused on transformation and business value. These scenarios are occurring more frequently. I know of several organisations that have roles like this, and I like them. I once held one very similar. Here’s how I approached it: Foundational technologies are known and articulated in a service management document; there is a clear commitment to continue to evolve the services to avoid future legacy technology challenges. Simplicity. There will be a temptation to potentially not align to organisational processes; avoid this, as it will create data fragmentation. Champion consistent, automated and common processes; these will enable your role to focus on the things that bring the most significant business value. Expectations. Take the time to understand the board and your executive peer group's expectations of the intended outcomes of your role. Sometimes, you may need to define the specifics of the business initiatives to be driven, avoid the temptation of going alone and it’s essential to ensure there is genuine buy-in to their potential. Communication is a priority. Provide regular updates detailing the activity underway, progress and outcomes. Support this message with details of how foundational technologies are evolving and the benefits of simplicity. These "In-Business" CIO roles offer great potential to complement your technical skills with genuine business ones. You will be a diplomat, occasionally walking a tightrope. However, focusing on the areas of greatest business value without the day-to-day distraction of commodity IT is enviable. My workshop offering can help you mobilse!

Everyone has something that is their differentiator. What’s yours? How does it show up? What do people constantly return to you for? I’ve been doodling on whiteboards for decades to convey thoughts, summarise thinking and set direction. My former colleagues will chuckle; if I’m near a whiteboard, I can’t help myself. My upcoming third book, Making Life Happen, includes over a dozen doodles. I now have approximately thirty of these created by my writing. They are cartoon-like and intended to convey a message as simple as possible. Some of these cartoons were inspired several decades ago. A colleague at Microsoft strongly encouraged me to pop them in a short book I have made for some of my workshops. Several months back, an international US-based CIO caught up for a casual chat; he opened his satchel, smiled and pulled out my booklet of cartoons, saying he still uses these with his team. My drawings (check them out in my video accompanying this blog) look like a child has created them - which is part of the point. I’ve found when you’re talking about serious stuff, you need to lighten the tone, as it makes for a more memorable and engaging talk. What makes you memorable? What comes easy to you but is more difficult for others? You may know this already. If you do, I encourage you to cultivate it! If not, continue to explore what it could be. Once you find it, you can communicate complexity with simplicity.

Immediately after picking up a book, the thing most people go to read first is the blurb on the back. It’s one of the most powerful selling points of any book. My editor advises that a good blurb for the rear of your book should open with a pain point or desire, followed by a sentence or two that addresses it, three to five bullet points of benefits of reading the book and a final sentence about why readers need the book! I’ll share with you now the blurb for my upcoming book, "Making Life Happen"… You want to achieve more from life, but you’re not sure how. As a result, you stagnate, deviate and remain unfulfilled. Many people feel this way. They’re seeking more of what they value and less of what isn’t important to them. In his third book, Making Life Happen, David Banger offers professional and personal insights to help you clearly define and move closer to what you want across a range of spectrums. These include: Using key moments, or ‘dots’, in your life for good Creating a life of learning and harnessing the value of trusted confidants Transitioning to a life of intentions The importance of a life partner and maintaining that special bond Navigating your profession, building a career as an employee or leveraging your skills with a boutique services business Defining a meaningful outlook for the remainder of your life Making Life Happen is the book to read in your twenties, pick up again to re-focus in your thirties, and re-visit as you seek to re-balance your life in the years beyond. Expected in October, early previews are available for anyone interested in writing a testimonial. If you'd like to receive a copy, please contact me.

A few weeks ago, I met with a former senior colleague, whom I deeply respect and have learned much from. We always have great conversations. This particular one was about TRUST and anchored on some tangibles relevant to any business at this very time. I’ll share with you some of my reflections: Is TRUST the new higher order for any organisation, beyond its vision, mission, and values? If a company is not TRUSTED, will these other items be believed and are they possibly frivolous? How are employees measured? ... and ... How are the longer consequences of decisions today challenged? This is beyond an LTI in many cases, as an LTI is a near-term horizon. What will the legacy be in twenty years from our decisions today? Two of my previous employers lived this long-term perspective; one spoke of a 1000-day plan for 100 years. It was compelling. Being "selfless" - caring more and controlling less (read that again). So often, everything within an organisation is a negotiation, a horse trade, eroding the integrity of a business' operations. Will being "selfless" be the new "vulnerability"? Consistency in every endeavour. What do you do when people are not watching?Steve Jobs' father was a car machinist; he taught Steve the importance of craftsmanship. When Steve was building a fence with his dad, he didn't approach the hidden parts of the fence with the same craftsmanship. His dad stopped him. Steve protested and said nobody would see it; his dad said we would know it. This experience shaped how Steve approached Apple. We know that quality was everywhere in their products. Open an early Apple PC and look at the circuit board. Respect is the new currency of TRUST. My colleague reminded me of how we saw exemplary behaviour by some colleagues towards the board and executives, but then poor behaviour with their fellow colleagues. Everyone has worked with somebody like this. If RESPECT is the currency of TRUST, does poor behaviour equate to a poor-quality person? Will this override any other performance metric? How is data used by an organisation and the people within it? The use of data indicates the morality of an organisation. How will an organisation's data fuel its AI as AI emerges in business practices? The use is likely to determine where they sit on a morality range? How important is the above now? It often takes a crisis to focus our actions on TRUST. Imagine if your organisation took some trust actions now... It could be a genuine point of difference.

As publishing of my latest book "Making Life Happen" approaches, I’m frequently asked (as I was at the same pre-publishing time of my other books): “How do you actually write a book?” Here are some of my tips, and insights into my writing process: Firstly, you need to consider something you’re interested in or passionate about and sketch some topics on a page. Try to set a word target. As a more experienced writer now, I find I can write a thousand words within a couple of hours. The content effort will be around seventy hours, once you know what you are writing, but I’ve found I have needed at least six months to elapse in order to produce something I’m proud of. The writing landscape has changed since my first book, with many AI tools now available. My latest book contains many small stories from my life - AI is unable to replicate these stories, and my editor reminds me regularly that they engage the reader. Upon finishing the first draft, the second half of my books is usually stronger than the first. I need to revisit the first half after my editor's initial pass to improve the text. After your first book, you’ll have a team in place - being an editor, publisher, proofreader and artist for visuals (should you have these). You may also consider a public relations person; they will help amplify your book in various forums. I’m yet to cover the costs of publishing a book with book sales. However, my speaking and workshop services, where concepts are applied from my books, have paid for the investment. For testimonials, you can invite people to read the final manuscript. These are then added to the manuscript before printing. I always self-publish, as it keeps the costs lower than a traditional publishing house, and I’ve been told you have more control. Finally, my writing is a hobby. It’s something I enjoy, and this gets me through the time of doubt. Based on experience, it occurs around the 20-thousand-word mark. It's somewhat hard to explain, but beyond all of the above, the sense of accomplishment is unique when you have a book you have written in your hands. If you'd like to receive a PDF version of the draft manuscript for my new book "Making Life Happen", please message me.

I’m often asked about how to build a career by fellow parents, less experienced colleagues and alumni. The topic is discussed in my upcoming book “Making Life Happen”. There are three key stages, and here’s what I’ve seen successful people do as they have moved through each of those stages. Early Career Graduate positions allow you to explore what you are competent at and enjoy When the opportunity presents itself, become involved in helping resolve complex problems. You'll learn how to think and communicate when things might be tense Speak about situations, consequences and ideas to improve things… avoid talking about people Explore industries and endeavour to find one that fascinates you. Mid-Career International experience will help grow your perspective and emotional intelligence Try different companies within your industry, potentially even a startup, learn about diverse cultures and find what feels like home Learn how to scale teams, fearlessly employ people smarter and better than you. Executive Understand the expectations of your board, consider how you meet and possibly exceed these Qualify the capability and specialist capacity within your team Time will be your greatest resource; allocate it wisely! Over the coming weeks, I’ll continue to share some stories and insights from my new book; read more about it here. Read more about this in Making Life Happen.

Over the past year, I’ve been writing on vacations. It’s a hobby I enjoy immensely. And some exciting news - I now have a completed draft manuscript for my third book. This book is the one I would have loved to have read in my twenties, picked up again in my thirties, and read to remind myself about what was important in my forties. The book shares some stories linked to beliefs for a good life. Many are from my lived experience, and some are from conversations with others. There are some common threads as I reflect on the “things that matter”. I explore the following areas; - Professions, developing goals and committing to them - Your life partner, probably your most important decision - Intentions, setting some and remaining consistent with them - Working as an employee and the stages of a career - Working for yourself by leveraging your expertise - The second half of my life - what does my future hold? The topics are in no particular order; some are logically linked and flow, other times the ideas will be rounded off, and a new concept introduced in the following section. The stories detailed are ones that resonated and offered people insight when I shared them. What’s included is somewhat subjective, but the subjectivity has had some validation. The book is for those I have met and those I will meet. It’s also for my children and the generations that follow. May this book offer an insight into me and how we live at this time. Life is to be celebrated, lived on your terms, and cherished; I hope this can help the reader achieve more of what they want from life. If you would like to receive a PDF version, that is yet to receive its final edit and be proofread, please message me.

Several years ago, I stopped making new year’s resolutions and began a life of intentions. It wasn’t a conscious decision, it was something that just sort of happened. It’s one of many stories and reflections included in my upcoming book - of which the final draft was sent to my editor earlier this week. Apparently, 80% of us fail with our new year resolutions. Below are some of the reasons why, along with a suggested antidote. 1. An overly ambitious mindset – Break things out into their possibilities and consider - what you can do differently at this moment - what could be something that may change with some sustained effort over several months - how will both of these contribute to you moving into your dream - build the momentum from the earlier outcomes towards that dream! 2. A lack of specificity – Determine the bigger picture, your dream, and consider what it will take. Be prepared to refine your approach to achieving the dream as you experience life. How you thought you might achieve it may change, but if the dream is specific and important it won’t change. 3. A lack of relevance to your lifestyle – Fitting in rather than living the way you want. Make a clear choice on how you want to live, rather than being tempted to follow the norm. 4. Fear and resistance – Avoid your mind creating a narrative that is false, share those thoughts with a trusted confidant so they can be put into perspective. 5. Lack of change in consciousness ­– Some research indicates you tell the brain something has happened, and it won’t know if it is real or not. Visualisation for athletes is important - try on what you want from life. 6. Lack of planning - Planning is important, and being flexible as the plan progresses is likely to ensure a greater probability of success. 7. You don’t believe in yourself – Success is not overnight, it will require dedication and learning to perfect your craft, grow your confidence through experiences. 8. You don’t track your progress ­– Once in a while step back and reflect on your progress, then quietly celebrate with somebody special to you. In the next couple of months, I’ll share some more stories in the blog that are included within the book.