I found a good definition – “Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be.”. Quite inspiring…

I also found out via Wikipedia that Mentor was a person in Greek mythology – and I found another definition “someone who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with less experienced colleagues. It also brought back to me the word “protégé” – which seems to have slipped from common use. This is someone who is being mentored (a mentee in common speak these days).

I have been lucky enough to have had some brilliant mentors in my journey firstly as a photographer and then as an entrepreneur. Latterly, I have also taken on this role for other people – including an aristocrat, a professional sportsman and a property developer.

These days, increasingly there is access to professional mentors/psychologists/life coaches – and I think they serve a purpose. However, at its purest the relationship of a mentor/mentee is a partnership. There has to be a chemistry – a meeting of energies that motivate both sides to really work. It’s not a pure paternal relationship (although age difference might make it feel that way) – both sides have to gain.

I love the quote (although I cannot find the source) that “people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.” A mentoring relationship can be any of these. Certainly I have experienced all the versions.

For example, in the 90s, my business changed when the Getty family and Bill Gates moved in to the “cottage industry” of the photography world. I have two mentors who helped me through. You can read more about that experience here – but in essence I had a mentor, Chad Murrin of 3i, who introduced me to the world of corporate finance and venture capital (he remains a friend today). At the same time, I had a short term mentor in the form of Tom Kirby of Games Workshop – he helped me understand strategy (which drives all my thinking today). Both had an illuminating effect on my life for reasons, seasons and lifetimes.

Since the sale of my business, I have tried to use my experience to help others. I have found the relationships two-way. I believe I have managed to learn more, find different views and hone some of my skills – while sharing my experience. I am very clear on what I can offer to people. It’s a passion to get individuals to lift their heads from their daily grind and consciously decide where they are going. This is coupled with my desire to get people to look around and find solutions away from the narrow path they often tread. “Head up – mind open” is always my mentoring message.

Going back to the original definition I found – we all have a drive to “become the person we want to be.” I believe that you cannot do this by sitting on your own reading self-help books and making plans. John Lennon had it right “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” You need to get out and live life – and that means meeting people. You will know when the chemistry is right and you have met someone that you can be a mentor to – or ask to be mentored by. Avoid the professional life coaches, unless you have a very specific issue to deal with – get out and meet a mentor today! Two final quotes (you can tell that I love them).

“You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for two things, the books you read and the people you meet.” ~ Charlie “Tremendous” Jones

“…often it is strangers who help us make sense of where we are going and who we will become.” ~ Herminia Ibarra “Working Identity”

I love Wow projects – and am always happy to chat over a coffee in Bath. I’m currently working as co-founder of a startup business Climbing Fish (inspired, of course, by a quote “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” ~ Albert Einstein

If there is one over-riding impression of Uganda – it is the commitment of school children to their education. They literally walk miles to and from school – and during the Cricket Without Boundaries project we have witnessed their thirst for learning.

Before one of our afternoon sessions at Kilembe, I took the opportunity to walk up one of the mountains above the playing field. My first stop was about 100 feet above the field – which gave an excellent view. I sat for a while waiting for the next batch of children to arrive – and met a young lad called Baluku Bright (who had attended the impromptu Sunday training).

He had spotted me from down on the field – and had run up to find me. He wanted to show me his home, which he said was “just above where I was sitting”.

His idea of “just above” and mine differ slightly. I registered the climb on my iPhone’s altimeter – and we climbed a further 500 feet. He went up like a mountain goat – and I was rather out of breathe (he carried my bag for the last 200 feet!). Please watch the video of Baluku showing me the spectacular views from his family’s home.

You can see where his home is in relation to our cricket training on the picture below. It was an experience….

…. and just to prove the height – this is the view of the ground as I was halfway down the mountain!

We also had a small primary school group from Pride Academy Kisinga. They had travelled 35 kilometres from their school – and hired a vehicle to fit 10 people – 4 teachers and 6 pupils. The distance and transport difficulties meant that they each had to find accommodation in local homes of teachers and family, so that they could attend the second day of coaching.

I was really pleased to be able to present to them for their efforts the cricket kit donated by the girls of Lincoln House at Oakham School. This was complemented by balls and t-shirts from Cricket Without Boundaries. The school were delighted – and are ready to take the game of cricket to all the other pupils and teachers.

Highlight of the day was our journey back from Kilembe to Kasese. We couldn’t let the children from the Pride Academy walk all the way back to Kisinga – so we packed them in to our bus! The thanked us by singing a beautiful song “I am a teacher/driver/cricketer because of education”. Listen to the lovely voices in the video below….

The last time I was in Africa was nearly 20 years ago. I travelled with the Manchester United team as a sports photographer. I photographed the players in Soweto and meeting with Nelson Mandela. Looking through the photos I took – it’s quite a coincidence that Ryan & Nelson are in the headlines this week.

I am looking forward to going back – and this time helping (as well as recording with my camera).

Cricket without Boundaries (CWB) started in 2005, when the three founders went from Egypt to South Africa coaching cricket as they travelled. CWB has become one of the world’s leading cricket development and AIDS awareness charity – and now works with the ThinkWise project (which includes the likes of the ICC, UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI). It is dedicated to helping education and development in local communities around the world through the spread and growth of cricket. The charity works to spread cricket through coaching children and teaching adults how to coach and link the sport to HIV/AIDS awareness incorporating these messages into coaching sessions.

We are a group of 10 – with 6 of the volunteers coming from Belvoir Castle Cricket Trust. They include our Trust Director, Darren Bicknell (ex-Nottinghamshire and Surrey), some parents whose children have benefitted from BCCT’s work in the Vale and a couple of our volunteer coaches. It’s very special that the work that we started in the rural Vale of Belvoir will be extended to the villages and schools of Uganda.

You can follow our progress over the next 3 weeks on the CWB Uganda 2012 blog. I will be writing a diary and uploading pictures daily (starting from our arrival on Monday).

If you want to help the work that CWB is doing, please contribute to the project’s Just Giving page.

My background is in print media and photography. I’ve written in the “project and tales” section of the site about some of my experiences at the cutting edge of digital photography in the early 90s. Less than 20 years on, I’ve just witnessed the inevitable crash of a big juggernaut as Kodak filed for bankruptcy.

Everyone could see it coming. No matter how brakes were applied, a new course steered or the attempts to accelerate away from danger – it crashed.

Much discussion has been had about the demise of newspapers. The focus has been on the outdated business models – and how only on-line paywalls can hope to sustain excellent journalism. The crashes have already started to occur in the US regional newspapers – and was well illustrated in the excellent docufilm – “Page One – Inside The New York Times”. In the UK, there has yet to be a major crash. Although many would connect the closure of the News of the World as much with economics as Murdoch’s empire trying to distance itself from phone hacking.

The bigger crash I can see is the inevitable demise of the whole print industry. It’s a supertanker powering towards a reef. If I’d have said this 5 years ago, you would have thought I was mad. But now, it seems to add up. Will the printing presses be running in 10 years time? I don’t think so – except as a “side show” like black and white photography darkrooms.

I used one of the first digital cameras in 1994 at the Lillehammer Olympics. I was part of a select few to use these prototype models at the games. At that Olympics, professional photographers alone shot 700,000 rolls of film. The images were carefully selected – and a number of them used in newspapers, magazines and books. In the 18 years since that first breakthrough, more pictures are used because of so many digital platforms being available. There will be 5-20 pictures shown on newspaper websites to back up the 1-2 pictures used in print. No mainstream photography is created using film – and printing is limited to when a picture needs framing at home. I’ve seen it happen in one great industry – and the printing presses invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century are next on the crash list.

I am typing this sitting on a train heading through Switzerland. Around me, I cannot see a newspaper – but plenty of people tapping and viewing content on iPhones and Androids. I’ve just been through the airport – and Kindles/iPads outnumbered book readers (and it’s early days for these reading devices). I still love reading a book in print. I’ll never stop loving it (much like the desire to process a film, put the negative in the enlarger and create a print through trays of chemicals). All that nostalgia will pass though, and I am sure the screen will win.

There is no doubt that Steve Jobs led the revolution on devices to consume content. However, when we look back in history – the real destroyer of Gutenberg’s legacy will be seen as Mark Zuckerberg. He brought hundreds of millions of people from around the world to their screens to engage with friends and consume content on Facebook. Make no mistake, many media companies engage on-line – but Zuckerberg’s Facebook has made screen consumption – at the desk or on the move – mainstream.

I had a brief email exchange with Jon Ferrara of Nimble the other day. He’s quite a visionary. I’d forwarded an article from Chris Brogan saying to get things done it helps to write out 3×5 index cards and put on your desk. Jon’s view was that this was “too old school”. I think he’s right – although I don’t know if I can ever give up scribbling my to-do list and musings in my Moleskin notebook (I have tried many, many to-do list software solutions). Jon’s company, Nimble, is redefining how individuals do business – and it’s on-screen.

Last week, I went to a board meeting at home in Bath. There were nearly 50 pages to print – so I took my iPad with PDFs loaded. It worked well, I “saved a tree” – and got nearer than I’ve ever been to the old ideal of the “paperless office”. I also read that at this year’s meeting of GE’s top executives, presentation materials will be available only via iPads.

I’m sure those of my age and older have heard these arguments before. It happened when television came on the scene. Newspapers were definitely going to die.

It’s different this time. This new wave will not just take out newspapers in their printed format – it will leave in its wake bookshops, magazine stands, printing presses, ink makers and paper suppliers. I am sure Gutenberg would be delighted. His solution was built for no other purpose than to spread “the word”. Gutenberg was the 20th Century’s greatest inventor – this millennium has started with Mark Zuckerberg in pole position. Like it or not (and there are some elements I certainly don’t like) Zuckerberg is spreading the word (and it’s not with ink on paper). There’s a new “Berg” on the block!

Bath Digital Festival is hosting a debate “Digital has killed the print industry and infantilised us in the process” at The Pump Rooms on Monday 19th March at 8pm. Tickets are £8. For more information click here…

I encourage you to read the full article. Please do forward to your friends.

I liked the quote from Charles Darwin at the end of Robert’s article:-

It is not the strongest of the species that survives; nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.

Our generation (and particularly our children’s generation) face an uncertain, unpredictable future. We’d all love to have a road map for this – but lack of visibility mixed with economic uncertainty means no pattern emerges. It will undoubtedly, as Darwin says, be our ability to adapt to change that will be our most important skill.

One of my favourite quotes is from Einstein:-

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

I like the quote most because it identifies how everyone needs to find their genius – and we should not judge others on our own abilities. However, the quote also has an ambiguity, which hints towards how we should always be prepared to adapt. Take a minute to watch this video of “Climbing Fish” from the BBC’s Life series.

Look at that! Surely we can embrace and adapt to Generation Flux if a fish can make the effort to climb!

Bath = old people, or Bath = a cool place to do business?

‘Bath can be England’s tech capital’

Bath’s ‘tourist toytown’ image hits growth

For my part, I am an entrepreneur who moved to Bath earlier in the year – and I thought my “fresh eyes” might be able to offer a slightly different view.

Greg and David are both right – the economy of Bath will gain greatly by the growth of creative and technology businesses.  However, I believe that the late Steve Jobs had it right – and that the biggest opportunity is at the intersection of liberal arts (creativity) and technology.  

It’s important that these Bath communities work in concert to develop world class businesses together – not in isolation.  This seems to already be in action with organisations like Bath Spark and Creative Bath working together – but it needs to generate new ventures.

I am not convinced that creation of technology or creative hubs by the council is the answer. Property is crucial – but it’s leadership that really matters.  I see young entrepreneurs like David Kelly at Storm building a business, finding property and leading the charge.  The very best model that I have seen is The Dispensary – which is run by Peter Whitehead of the creative agency, Radio. He has made a real personal commitment to one of Bath’s historical buildings – and shares if with many other creative businesses big and small.  This is the sort of model that should be supported with tax breaks, rates relief, etc. That should be the supporting role of local government – catalysing, not doing.

The theme of crossing over and intersecting could equally be applied to Greg’s piece last week entitled “Bath = old people, or Bath = a cool place to do business?”.  I’m very grateful for the older generation who come to Bath as visitors and spend their hard earned cash with our tourist trade.  It helps to make the city such a beautiful place to live and work – and supports so many services that we would not have without them.  I am sure that is the “old people” that Jeremy Paxman had in mind when Greg spoke to him.

What Greg misses is that there are many older Bath residents who through their experience could help many of our growing businesses. 

The city has a fantastic history – and seems to have pioneered this arts and technology intersection with organisations like the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (which a contact recently referred to as having a “seemingly octogenarian audience”).  I’ve lived through a generation which has successfully dispensed with racism and sexism – but sadly agism is a trait we have not yet cast off.  I’m in my late 40s – and consider it a great age that gives the right balance between youthful enthusiasm and historical experience.  My point is that bringing young and old together will benefit development of business. Young entrepreneurs want to gain experience – and older folk want to still be in touch with new ideas.  The interchange of enthusiasm and experience is essential to grow meaningful businesses.

Let’s not try to polarise that we have to chose between Old or Cool – much like Creativity and Technology, the “sweet spot” is when they meet!

However, I feel the system has become a little flawed – because it doesn’t seem to work when we start to combine our on-line and off-line worlds. Let me explain.

I was at an excellent conference the other week at Battersea Power Station – The Power of One. The speakers were great – and one triggered an issue I have been trying to get my head around for a while.

Jason Calacanis talked about the challenges of future work. One of the key themes was social isolation. He said that the iPad works against social isolation. He made the point that you can easily share what is on the screen of the iPad with others close to you. A smartphone screen is too small – and a computer is too clumsy. The way we use the iPad means we can consume in more intimate places – like when we are going to bed or waking up. Most importantly it’s the first computer tool that you can use to socially engage with off-line.

He is right – and I have seen it happening in my family environment – and it prompts me to demand a joint account. Here is the example.

I love an iPad app called Fancy. It probably pips Flipboard to the post as being my No. 1 app. If you’ve not had a play – then you should have a look on the web, but it’s a whole new experience on the tablet. The App simply displays pages of 4 images of attractive products, designs, places, gizmos, accessories, gifts, etc. The idea is you “Fancy” a picture – and it is stored against your profile.

That works fine – but in the real world (as my wife will tell you) it is shared by going “oh, look at this” as I turn around and show the iPad screen to anyone passing by/sitting near.

The other element – and here is my key point – is that my daughter, Millie (who is 12) loves it too. She will sometimes sit with me – and we will “fancy together” … and sometimes she will pick it up and “fancy” her own stuff. So, if you look at MY profile on Fancy – you can often see a mixture of the latest super car/gadget…. and something pretty, fluffy, in pink!

The iPad gives us the first device that can be shared off-line easily (and there will be more to come). How do we make it that we can have a joint account and to reflect what we do together?

I wrote a while ago about my belief that the individual is the new group. That new services based on the principle of Soloware would replace corporate Groupware. I still believe that our technology and personal network will be based around individuals in the future – with the corporate group effectively bringing those individual units together. What I think is missing is something in between.

I’m just researching a possible venture using mobile devices in the heritage sector with a friend. The same challenge exists there. How do you make a couple or family group share an experience in the real world – but not define them as a group or individual in the on-line world. There are elements that we want to keep individual – but there is a lot that we want to automatically share (using the same device).

Anyway, there’s the challenge. Facebook, Google, Twitter – and especially Fancy … ‘I’d like to open a joint account, please”.

I do miss being a photographer. The combined elements of competition, creativity and camaraderie probably make it the best job in the world. However, if you want a work/life balance – forget it. Photography has to be an obsession that overtakes your life – otherwise, I don’t believe you can be excellent at it.

Last weekend, I dusted off my camera for its annual outing to photograph my son playing rugby. Let me explain. When I gave up taking pictures 17 years ago – it was like giving up smoking or alcohol. I had to get rid of the cameras – and not be tempted to pick them up. I’ve only owned a professional style camera again for the last 5 years. It’s difficult to explain to non-photographers, but those who have worked as professionals will know the feeling of blinkered focus that comes over a photographer when your duty is to take pictures.

When I got rid of the cameras, it was 3 years before the birth of my son. It might seem strange that when he was born I made a conscious effort not to pick up a camera. One of my proudest moments as a father (and as an ex-photographer) is watching him taking his first steps without any temptation to run and get a camera. That moment is still in my mind’s eye – and emotionally that’s the very best you can get.

However, I do feel I have a skill taking pictures still (although rather rusty). I have in me a “duty to record” – and quite frankly I really enjoy the challenge of trying to take good pictures. Last Saturday’s rugby meant that I came away from the afternoon having enjoyed taking the pictures, but feeling that I had seen none of the game. I’d not shared in that day like the other parents. All photographers will tell you how they don’t feel they “see” an event when they “record”. I’ve photographed World Cup Finals (football and rugby) and Olympics (summer and winter) – but couldn’t honestly tell you that I’d “seen” them.

I was pleased with the results. There were some OK pictures of Joe – and some good ones of his team mates. I shared them with parents, kids and teachers – and got some very kind feedback. It was nice to dust off this out-of-practice skill to please people – but I feel it’s difficult to make the choice between photographs and/or memories.

My mind has been whirring around this topic – and a BCC Radio series of 15 minutes interviews called “Picture Power: Portraits of Five Leading Press Photographers” jogged some thoughts. If you have the time, do have a listen. The producer Miles Warde (who I understand lives just down the road in Bristol) – gives a great overview of the work of individual photographers. Miles follows them to The Royal Wedding, Tottenham Riots, Tour de France, 9/11 Memorials in NYC and Rwanda.

The short audio clips brought back memories for me. Not all of them happy. Geoff Waugh talked of his coverage of the Tour de France from the back of a motorbike. Miles asked him about the danger – and Geoff recalled the death in the Milk Race of his friend, David Worthy. David was one of my staff photographers – and a friend. It was a tragedy when he was killed in pursuit of bearing witness for others.

Lewis Whyld recalled his coverage of the Tottenham Riots. How a call from the Press Association picture desk saying there was a car on fire in Tottenham had culminated in his pictures being used all over the world. That brought back memories of the Toxteth Riots 30 years ago.

Jane Mingay was followed through her coverage of the 9/11 Memorial Service at Ground Zero. She was emotional and sensitive to the plight of others. She did her job through tears – and her pictures helped create memories for others. Mike Goldsmith talked about his harrowing experiences in Rwanda during the genocide. He also recalled dangerous times in other trouble spots such as Serbia. I remembered many of the difficult occasions that I had to “record” as a press photographer – none worse than the Hillsborough Disaster.

All these interviews had a strong theme about bearing witness. How their role was to record so others could see. All seemed to go into “the zone” to record (and often a very dangerous zone at that). They were all international award winners – but their photographs were taken to be preserved in the memories of others, not for their ego.

My simple thoughts are if you are there – remember (don’t snap, concentrate and get the most important things in your minds eye). For those who cannot be there – be very grateful for those professional photographers who record the memories (good and bad) for us.

Actually, later on in the day I attended the Power of One Conference at Battersea Power Station. Part of this Angry Bird’s question was answered.

For those of you have not been – Battersea Power Station is currently a shell. It’s a listed building (protected as an historic monument) – but there are just the chimneys, walls … and no roof. The conference is held in a large marquee at the centre of the building. We were told that this would be the last conference held on the site before it was redeveloped. By a twist of fate, the only other time I had been there was the very first conference held by Sun Microsystem in the mid-90s.

The significance of the day was not lost – 11/11/11. At 11 o’clock, along with the rest of the UK we observed 2 minutes to honour those who had lost their lives in defence of our country. Seemed strange being stood in a conference hall underneath those great towers. Low point was shared by a delegate who reported on Twitter “Cannot believe that I was just asked if the two minute silence observed at #p1event was to remember Steve Jobs.”

Back to Angry Birds.. One of the speakers, Jason Calacanis, shared that Rovio (Angry Bird’s creator) had 51 unsuccessful games before they hit on Angry Birds. So how do they think of these things? By lots of trial and many errors.

Error, failure and especially perseverance became a bit of a theme of the conference. This was brought home by the after lunch speaker – Yosi Taguri from Israel. He’s probably the best conference speaker I have seen – rivalling any of the great Jewish comedians (with a raft of bad language thrown in!).

Josi’s headline to the presentation was how he had spent his life F###ing things up. However, through perseverance he had managed to find success. I’m hoping the presentation will be available on-line soon – but there is a good write up on The New Web (TNW).

His story was peppered with failures and near-miss successes. These culminated in him creating a very simple game app called Pah! It’s such a simple video game. Space ship moves and shoot things. The twist is that you move the space ship up an down by saying AHHHH! and fire the rockets by shouting PAH!. You can see a couple of videos below – one of it being reviewed:

… and the other of a Chinese mum playing the game.

There are many more YouTube videos of the game in action. Here’s another one showing a violinist playing the game through the noise of her instrument.

Do support Josi and buy Pah!, it’s only 69p. It’s a great social game – breaks down barriers.

In the evening, I headed of for a “date” with a 16 year old! Well not quite. My friend’s daughter, Polly, who is 16 had to take a “business person” to a Black Tie guest night at her school. Her brief had said the person should be over 25. I think she had misread and thought the person had to be double 25! I was honoured – but it felt slightly strange picking up Polly and taking her out for the night.

The idea of the evening was to get the sixth formers used to the world of work. At the end of the night, we had an inspirational talk from a pathologist. Another quirk at the end of a long day!

Anwyay, it was great. Dr Suzy Lishman was not just any old pathologist – she can be found on Twitter @ilovepathology. She was an inspiring role model for the youngsters in the room. Again, she told a tale of perseverance – this time in pursuit of saving lives and understanding the cause of disease. One part struck home with me – and provided a link for the day’s experiences.

She talked about her long medical training – and then the selection of pathology as her speciality. She’d chosen to give pathology a chance after her boyfriend of the time said it was interesting. She then undertook intensive training for a 12 month period on the subject. She explained that the first 6 months were awful – and she wanted to give up and chose another discipline. She described the course being dominated by looking through a microscope at slides of human tissue being moved around (which made her feel queasy) and with the only colours being red and blue (the dies used to differentiate cells). She didn’t “get it” – and felt dizzy with spots in front of her eyes.

However, it suddenly came together for her after 6 months – and she got what pathology was all about. She understood “the game” and realised she was like a detective investigating. She was looking for clues – the needle in the haystack. As her skills developed, she unlocked levels, doors opened and she could make a real difference to people’s lives by finding the causes of an illness and suggesting medical solutions.

So, what have all these got in common? I think the message of perseverance is clear. It’s pushing through those times of failure, feeling that you’ll never get your head around a topic or you’ll never reach the next level.

I’ve written before about the power of gamification – the ideas put forward by people like Jane McGonigal, Daniel Pink and Clay Shirkey that there is a “cognitive surplus” being used in games that could be used for a greater good. What Dr. Lishman spoke about with such enthusiasm was how pathology became her addiction, her passion, her love.

Interestingly, Dr. Lishman described her 6 month experience training as a pathologist in the way my wife tells me about getting frustrated getting through a difficult level in Angry Birds. Lots of multi coloured dots moving around – and not being able to make sense of them. Dr Lishman talked about how she role plays as a “detective” – and that’s what makes pathology exciting for her. That sounds like game play too.

In our education for future work, we can (and should) learn a lot from how game makers enthuse through levels, role play, achievement and invoking passion. It brings out the persevering side of us – and that’s a skill we need in order to power through those failures (Yosi’s F### ups) and achieve success.

[My thanks go to Chris "Bookmeister" Book for organising such an excellent conference; Chris Day and Mark Power for their images with pencil and camera of the conference; Yosi Taguri for such a brilliant presentation; Dr Suzy Lishman for enthusing me about Pathology (want to come along to one of her Virtual Autopsies) - and, of course, my "date" - Polly, you were great company

P.S. Just for clarification - there is absolutely no way my better half would be impressed by a novelty bra! I'll be getting her something much nicer for Christmas]