Life in Lockdown - Week Five

This week has seen the completion of the Australian Institute of Company Director (AICD) course exams and jobkeeper dominating the airwaves. We completed our first (and possibly last) ever Tik tok, virus cases topped 3.5 million cases and family time watching old and new programs have occurred.

The AICD is the gold standard of governance for all aspiring and existing company directors. I did the course as part of our board professional development and to "walk the walk" in our business activities. I found much of the course familiar, as many (you would hope all) would with the key areas of strategy, risk management, financial literacy and governance being the staple of boardroom activity. Having said that, the detail and the presentation during the five day course held a month or two ago pre lockdown was first class. The presenters were so completely in command of their subject matter and the "class" of board members and executives were so engaged the days literally flew by. The assignment was a real world scenario and actually quite fun to complete. The exams demanded preparation and attention as all exams do. Deepening understanding of frameworks, processes and lines of thinking helped to pass some of the groundhog day aspects of working from home. If any readers are finding too much day for their activity, some professional development is not a bad way to go.

JobKeeper has kept everyone in professional services busy. The inherent uncertainty of announcements and then drip feeding out activity of nominating employees, getting signed forms back, reporting to the ATO through software platforms with rules tweaked has been challenging. I think it will take some time for the dust to settle and the present activity will be remembered as teething. It has been challenging, the circumstances in many cases are very confronting for the clients, for the bankers, for the software companies and the advisors to keep up and lead in uncertainty. We'll feel much better when cash hits bank accounts and the first round is completed.

Slightly more social, the various challenges and activities in trying to stay connected in isolation and sharing some family time that is not homeschooling or homefighting as it often becomes is important. Tik Tok is not exactly my idea of fun. For many years Sarah and I have had a standing agreement where she gets to choose three songs to dance to and I only have to dance to three songs. Win/win! She loves to dance, I mitigate the time. The rules were tested when it came to choreographing a short clip that was never going to be posted anywhere and would just be a family activity. That was short lived. It took the proverbial five seconds for it to be posted and about ten seconds for my first so called friend to comment on the discrepancy in talent between Sarah and Oliver who have the dancing genes from Charlie and myself who don't. That is perhaps unkind to Charlie, he was refusing to do it at all up until the camera came out so probably made a pretty good fist of making it up live. The less said about my moves the better!

Finally, we have done something old and something new with our viewing habits. Something old is "Seinfeld". The boys have finally got into it. Classic lines like, "The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli" and "Gold Jerry" that they have heard for years and never understood now make sense. Charlie has even taken to wearing "baby blue" as casual wear!

The something new is "The last dance". As a father of aspiring young athletes I could have lived without the cigars and gambling but it is a documentary after all. I like that Michael Jordan actually reflects that being a role model was impossible and that if he had his time again he would never has chosen that bit. On the outside we only ever see the tip of the iceberg. The mania surrounding elite sportspeople is crazy. The 99% perspiration is never fully understood when one only looks at what happens under the bright lights. The rivalries and the pettiness in some respects is far beyond what the casual observer may expect.

Those who know me well know I have a tendency to being over analytical. I absolutely love motivation as a topic and the search for what makes you tick. I have known athletes with a strong fear of failure. Dennis Lillee I think is on record as saying he was motivated by the fear of taking none for a hundred throughout his whole career. I also understand only too well the competitive beast scenario as I lived that most of my life with the need to win or at least leave no stone unturned in trying to win everything everyday. Our family used to race to the car for the honour of sitting in the front seat for example and my friends and I would rumble over who could keep a football off the ground for the longest without using your hands as an everyday activity. I never understood these could be considered weird things to do. Rip Curl had the tag line of "the search" and cricketers the world over understand the concept of seeking perfection in batting that can never be attained.

Michael Jordan's insatiable need to have an enemy to confront, a point to prove and a doubter to silence despite being the best athlete and most recognized talent that the world possibly had ever seen is truly remarkable and resonates. Phil Jackson's ability to manage the ego's in that collective group with individuality and emotional intelligence was decades ahead of its time and the use of mindfulness and yoga in driving performance along with symbolism and aura is so far beyond textbook teachings of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It is a masterclass in psychology and what goes into winning. The vacation for Dennis Rodman is hilarious and also resonates. Different strokes for different folks. We often commented in teams I played in that you could carry one "different" character if they could do something the rest of the group could not in the pursuit of victory. Rodman had his unique skill they couldn't replicate so they had to take him and make allowances to get it done.

Speaking of getting it done, hasn't life as we know it changed. Some good, some not quite so good. I think everyone has a much greater grasp of risk and the preciousness of health. Stay safe and we'll get through this together.