I had a very relaxing weekend. Boy, did I deserve it. I completed my BPP MBA written assessments in strategy, systems and operations, which gives us the skills to deconstruct corporate strategy and the efficacy of operations management. I sat the written paper in Holborn over about 3 hours, in which I was invited to write about how corporate social responsibility could be incorporated in strategy, and to what extent it benefited all stakeholders, and the case study which invited me to look at the competitive advantage of Spotify. The leadership examination was enjoyable too. I was asked to submit on a case study of change management in the NHS, implementing knowledge management. This was a joy for me as I had read the NHS Innovation and Improvement guidelines carefully, and I knew exactly the evidence base for their recommendations including some excellent papers from the Harvard Business Review.

So, on Saturday, I went to Cachao in Regent’s Park Road, here in Primrose Hill, to listen to tracks on my iPad, including ‘Suddenly I see’ by KT Tunstall, a song which has especial significance for me as ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ is a film that I strongly associate with, and ‘I was glad’ because I remember this booming out when I was sitting in Westminster Abbey as a Queen’s Scholar of Westminster School. As a disabled guy, I find the Cachao building itself very pleasant, and I have no difficulty in getting around. I was in fact featured this week in an article by Alex Aldridge of the Guardian on disability, discrimination and the law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There, Sue and John were working tirelessly, in an incredibly smart and efficient coffee shop. Sue prepared an amazing ‘special’ which was terriyaki salmon on a bed of fresh salad. The dressing was amazing, but I can’t place what oil Sue used in fact – was it sesame oil?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jenny also was there, albeit briefly – her toy shop directly next door is wonderful, especially if you have any toddlers whom you wish to spoil! I enjoyed reading a wonderful article on mental illness and leadership in the Financial Times by Christopher Caldwell (published Saturday), as well as an interesting article on the overproduction of barristers in the US (“overlawyered“) . I had a chance also to buy a copy of ‘Ecological Intelligence‘ which I glanced at, but I so much disagree with what Daniel Goleman has said, in parts, about emotional intelligence.

I will in fact be submitting a paper on the importance of cognitive and emotional interactions for management and leadership with my lecturer from BPP Business School (who also is a lecturer at Queen Mary and Westfield College Faculty of Business, of the University of London). This I feel is a glaring omission of Goleman’s construct, and my co-author has some excellent thoughts about how we may approach the paper. I will submit the paper to the Annual Review of Management around November, and I had the pleasure of running my theory past Prof Simon Baron-Cohen, my first ever proper supervisor during my decade at the University of Cambridge, last week during a busy time for me. Simon, at the University of Cambridge, advised me that possibly the only person who would disagree with my theory is Daniel Goleman, but hey, rock and roll! Simon has been acting professionally in advising my twitter friend and fellow Scot, Janis Sharp, mum of Gary McKinnon – Simon is an important world-expert in autism and the Asperger syndrome spectrum.

So, now, it’s business as usual. I am going to do the 500 pp proofs of my latest postgraduate textbook to be published on October 6th, and think in passing how brain-dead legal recruiters are. And I forgot – my 2 week holiday officially starts today, but I love my life anyway. I hope to listen to the Brandenburg Concertos again, a new purchase in my iPad2!