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Recently Rachel from Bird Textiles send out an email featuring her fabric on vintage chairs. For more information contact Bird Textiles Emporium 02 8399 0230. The chairs can be shipped nationwide. www.birdtextiles.com.au.

Cloth Fabric also have a great selection of unique Cloth Fabric covered chairs. See www.clothfabric.com.

My own version I have used luxurious Moroccan fabric to cover a recycled chair as a colourful reminder of my recent trip to North Africa. We also have French cloth on 2 of our  ‘found’ show room chairs.

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For further information on how to WIN this art work go to the link below

http://www.corbanblair.com.au/t-Mothers-Day-Promotion.aspx

It is always good to engage people in ideas or solutions- it is amazing the breathe of ideas you get from the different functions within the business.

We often use question cards in small group discussions to explore what people know and think.

It is always useful to be reminded that we are going through one of the biggest socio/eco/techo changes ever. To keep up, requires an open, curious and adaptable learning mind.

At our latest meeting we discussed the ideas put forward by Gerry McGovern in The Strangers Long Neck and the implications this had for our website . . .

What do we really offer- solutions/gifts/designer branded items, curiosity? It is essential we understand the shift in the buying needs of our customers- not only what but how.

Do we really understand:

* the factors that influence people to buy C&B on-line

* what they really want to know

* why have they come to us

* what they have to do to get what they want

* what tasks they have to perform on our site

We thought we did but what people want and what is possible, changes all the time.

We always share the state of sales, profitability, and customer engagement.

We ask for input into a range of strategies: marketing, sales, communication and delivery systems especially if it means our behaviour needs to adapt to accommodate change.

I consider these meetings absolutely essential to ensure we all talk and act with the same voice, spread our values, gather ideas and acknowledge achievements since the last meeting. Learning and change happens much faster than we think so to note this as we go is very important.

Someone usually makes something homemade for morning tea. All of this happens around our large red table (in a former life it was used as a cutting table for frocks!).

The 2010 Lowy Lecture:

Science and Australia’s place in the world18 November 2010 7:30 PM On Thursday 18 November, Dr Megan Clark, Chief Executive of CSIRO, delivered the 2010 Lowy Lecture on Australia in the World.  In her lecture, ‘Science and Australia’s place in the world’, Dr Clark argued that Australia’s science and innovation capability are fundamental to our future as a nation and our place in the world.

To listen to this enlightening lecture put this link into your URL http://lowyinstitute.richmedia-server.com/sound/2010_Lowy_Lecture.mp3 click to listen or subscribe to the Lowy Institute in iTunes

About The Lowy Institute

It is an independent international policy think tank. Its objective is to generate new ideas and dialogue on international developments and Australia’s role in the world. Its mandate is broad. It ranges across all the dimensions of international policy debate in Australia – economic, political and strategic – and it is not limited to a particular geographic region.

The Institute has two core tasks:

To produce distinctive research and fresh policy options for Australia’s international policy.
The Institute seeks to throw fresh light on issues of relevance to Australia through rigorous research, and then to generate workable policy ideas. The Institute also seeks to contribute to the wider international debate. We believe Australia can make a significant contribution to the global dialogue.

To promote wide discussion of Australia’s role in the world.
This is the Institute’s other vital task: to provide an accessible and high quality forum for discussion of Australian foreign policy and international relations, through debates, seminars, lectures, dialogues and conferences.

The Institute was established in April 2003 as the result of a gift by Mr Frank Lowy AC, one of Australia’s leading businessmen, to mark the 50th anniversary of his arrival in Australia.

The Institute is non-partisan and is home to a range of policy ideas. Its staff and Fellows speak with individual voices.

The Institute draws on the insights and experience of policy practitioners, academic experts and business people. It also seeks to bring new voices and external viewpoints into the Australian debate, for example through an active program of internships for young people and the involvement of members of the Australian diasporia.

For other lectures and talks http://www.lowyinstitute.org/

At Corban & Blair we encourage partnerships with customers and suppliers. It could be this interview with Amanda, or sharing expertise and resources, supporting new strategies with other businesses, providing gifts and give- a-ways as well as sponsorship. It could be as little as listening to others ideas or charting their risks. To us these collaborations are important and the essence of keeping fresh and relevant for all of us.

This book was recommended to me by my friend Jill Ruchel. http://www.praxisfundraising.com.au/

So, what is the Stranger’s Long Neck?
If you manage or design a website or intranet, knowing the needs of your customers (employees) is essential for success. But every customer is a stranger to you – you don’t know them and you can’t see them – so how can you understand what they need? The Stranger’s Long Neck will help you to realise that your customers are intelligent strangers and that when they come to your website they have a small set (long neck) of top tasks they want to complete quickly and easily. This book gives you the methods for identifying and professionally managing these tasks. It helps you to understand and empathize with your customers, and to deliver what they want.

Packed with practical information and essential advice on web site management, including case studies from Microsoft, Tetra Pak and the NHS, the Stranger’s Long Neck will help you to maximize your organization’s performance online.

Gerry McGovern has been involved in managing websites since 1994. He is the author of several influential books, including Killer Web Content (A & C Black, 2006). He is a sought-after speaker at international conferences on Web management and has worked with many leading organizations, such as Microsoft, Cisco, and Tetra Pak.

Buy The Stranger’s Long Neck
Read the first chapter for free
Read the reviews

“Gerry’s customer-centric approach to website development has helped us re-shape and dramatically improve Cisco’s Partner Central by focusing on and addressing the needs of our global partner community.”
Luanne Tierney, Vice President, Worldwide Partner Marketing, Cisco

The Power of 100- an event at the MCA sponsored by Westpac to celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. The Power of 100, a 128-page book, was jointly launched by writer/editor Ita Buttrose, Westpac Group CEO Gail Kelly and the federal Social Inclusion Minister Tanya Plibersek. It honoured 100 Australian women who have made a difference past and present. It was a great night- friends and new connections.

http://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/sustainability-and-community/international-womens-day-lp/

Ad:Tech Sydney- Digital Marketing Conference and Expo. We went to a few sessions that explored the digital marketing landscape. The take-away message for me was about being really relevant when communicating with customers – and that conversations matter. Of course there are a myriad of clever ways to do this across many platforms.

http://www.ad-tech.com/sydney/adtech_sydney.aspx

Qantas Mentoring Program- an event for mentors and mentees to support this program for women at Qantas. The 2 main speakers were Sally MacDonald CEO Oroton Group and Jayne Hrdlicka Qantas. They shared their inspirational stories of corporate success. Journeys fuelled by hard work, attention to detail, risk, drive, energy, intelligence and learning. They shared where their passions came and the challenges they faced while being thoughtful, generous and true to their personal values. They were wonderful- I just wish some of the young women I know had been in the audience – and my son for that matter.

Chief Executive Women & Westpac Leadership Forum- where a panel of business leaders discussed how businesses could best facilitate, an increase in the number of women at senior levels.

Once again a stunning group of people including:

Alison Watkins CEO and Managing Director of GrainCorp Ltd. Elizabeth Bryan Director Westpac Banking Corporation Richard Lee Chairman Australian Institute of Company Directors & Chairman Salmat Belinda Hutchinson AM Chairman of QBE Insurance Group and a director of AGL Energy, St Vincent’s Health Australia, the Salvation Army Eastern Territory Advisory Board and the Centre for Independent Studies. Belinda is also the President of Chief Executive Women.

With MC Naseema Sparks Non-Executive Director Naseema sits on a number of company and not-for-profit boards including Blackmores Ltd, PMP Ltd, Chartis Australia and Sydney Dance Company. Naseema’s executive career was as Managing Director of M&C Saatchi and she was one of a small number of global equity partners.

Issues we need to address as a community- men also have to understand why as well.

http://www.cew.org.au/

This week I gave a conversation type session for managers at the Cancer Council NSW.  The subject was CHANGE.

I am not an expert, but we have been in business for over 20 years and have continued to evolve.

To me, change is about adapting as soon as possible to circumstances, being relevant & fresh, having strategic goals to stretch to, constantly evolving, although sometimes a sharp turn is required while also being innovative about all the bits and pieces that you do- people, processes, implementation, systems, products, services, technology.

At Corban & Blair we believe the following are important to maintain a focused motivated workplace.

• All RELATIONSHIPS matter

• An organisations VISION needs to understood and respected (walk the talk)

• Passion breeds energy and ideas

• Respect for all people on all levels

• Learning every day is an active responsibility of all employees & owners

• Risk taking- innovation comes with risk

• Problem solving -not blaming

• Having knowledge beyond your workplace or expertise – for inspiration & new ideas

Change is inevitable

Denial makes things very painful

Learning everyday is essential

There is no set recipe for success

Smart people always find the BEST solution- not just a solution

Perspective & clarity beyond your discipline/business helps see the big picture

Apart from talking about our business experience and how we have changed over the years, I used 2 of our products to explore the topic.

Innovation Cards (initially designed for BRW magazine) I selected a number of questions that I knew would stimulate discussion. People were from different functions within the organization so it enabled them to share in small groups, ideas and also experience the ideas and attitudes of others.

Understanding how others think, and who they actually are in “real life’’ is also important. At the end of the session I used our very successful cards WYS Conversation Cards to stimulate conversation and connections between the individuals in the group. Knowing people better means communication is likely to come more easily. These cards were designed to use with families but I was delighted to see how well the worked in a professional setting.

I have mentioned these references before in this blog, but if you want to stimulate your imagination the following books and links I have found extremely useful.

The Three Laws of Performance bySteve Zaffron & Dave Logan

What would Google Do?  byJ eff Jarvis

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

Drive – by Daniel Pink

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.

Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Groundswell -Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, by Charlene Li.  Josh Bernoff

Websites

http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2011/02/demystifying-mentoring.html

http://www.lowyinstitute.org/

http://www.ted.com/

http://wheelercentre.com/

Work wise I was reminded about how important authentic story telling is in product design & marketing. We rarely buy with our minds, but rather with our hearts. I saw some stunning examples of emotive story telling by sellers of some very unique wares in far off ‘the beaten track’ places. It was a powerful reminder that ‘real’ works.

Documenting your travels is something that most people do. As I have never travelled in a group before I had no idea how diligent people are about writing up their travel journals everyday. Corban & Blair have many stunning journals for this purpose in our collection – and I plan that we will have many more.

Below is the precious travel journal of my 21 year old son’s latest travels -his month in Ghana volunteering in a hospital, time in Europe and then a journey through Morocco with his mum (and 12 other Australians + a female co-operative making Argan oil)