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Who I am
My
life pattern and growth reflects an upward spiral between
the two modes of predictability and uncertainty.
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parents escaped the chaos of pre-war Germany and Austria (and
Hitler's concentration camps) and fled to East Africa,
where I was born in 1944.
For my first 13 years I lived close
to nature and experienced the fear and uncertainty of being
at the center of the Mau Mau terrorist uprising between 7 and 11. |
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For
the next 10 years I was exposed to the stable institutional
structures of an English Boarding School (Rugby), Trinity
College, Cambridge (Philosophy), and N M Rothschilds, (Merchant
Bankers).
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The
next turn of the spiral took me back to Africa, where I enjoyed
a very intense 5 years providing venture capital for gem stone
miners.
Gem stone mining is probably the least predictable
mining activity. It is almost impossible to determine in
advance whether a seam will yield the most beautiful gems or
nothing. |
Together with my father and brother,
we managed to amass a small fortune in a short period. The
only certainties were that none of the opportunities would
last forever. Nationalization and guerrilla wars added to
the uncertainty.
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the oil shock in the early 70's, intensive
entrepreneurial activities were taking place in the
Arabian Gulf. Looking for new opportunities I never
could have imagined that for the next four years I
would be selling back to the Arabs natural pearls
that had been fished in the Gulf 50 - 100 years
earlier. Supplies began to dwindle and competitors
moved in, but I had made enough to invest in my next
venture. |
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By
1976 I decided that I needed to be in a more controllable
business and moved into telecoms. At this time, the telco
monopoly was beginning to break down and I perceived an opportunity
in telex. This involved using technology and international
rate differentials to offer large telex users value added
services at substantially reduced prices. The business took
off like a rocket. Unable to fund the expansion, I sold the
business to DHL, where I remained for 10 years learning the
principles of management and business control under the mentorship
of DHL's chairman, Bill Walden. As the CEO of their
most successful subsidiary and the market-leading player in
its field, I learnt how successful companies operate in markets
of near-certainty - the foundations of most Old Economy companies.
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By
the end of 1989, I had also learnt another important lesson.
Working in a stable Bricks and Mortar company has major benefits,
such as secure income, positive identity and stability. But
that this also has its price - the inability to really know
who you are. Who I was had become merged with what I did (CEO).
Time for another turn of the spiral. |
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Receiving the Queen's Award for Export from the Mayor
of London |
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At
46 I managed to cash out of my position with DHL by merging
the subsidiary with one of its competitors. This gave me the
opportunity to do my own thing, be my own man. I wanted to
spend more time with my family and more time on re-discovering
who I was. I chose to move from London to the north of Scotland,
once more putting myself financially at the edge of chaos.
At
this time, e-mail and the Internet were just beginning to
take off. With my background in telecoms, I was convinced
that I could get the work to come to me rather than bringing
myself to the work. I made intensive studies into the concept
of the empowered individual, managing his/her own micro business,
networking with like-minded individuals, and surfing the waves of the New Economy. The last 10 years has
included the study and application of this art.
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practical application has been supported by studies in integral
psychology; also chaos, complexity, game and systems theory and
the practice of Ki Aikido, a Japanese martial art. |
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Tohei Sensei demonstrating a throw |
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