…..or am I a Today person?
I’ve always been drawn to understanding people, what makes us tick and why we do act and behave in the ways we do. Perhaps I’m just nosey!
This is what drew me to market research, the career I have been enjoying for all my working life. Market research is essentially the process of finding out what people think and what people do. It has never failed to amaze me how even when results turn out to be unexpected, there is always an explanation. People always behave with a kind of logic, even if it is unpredictable. So I guess the answer to my question is that what happens in our lives in a series of ‘todays’ goes on to inform our behaviour in the series of ‘tomorrows’ ahead. So we are all a bit of both (with plenty of ‘yesterday’ thrown in for good measure)
I first bumped into TomorrowToday when Graeme spoke at an ACE (Academy for Chief Executives) group that I was a member of. It was one of the most interesting sessions I had taken part in and gave me a whole new insight into consumer behaviour that I could use in my day-to-day work. If you have seen ‘Mind the Gap’ you will recognise some of the thoughts I had – ‘that explains why my dad thinks like that’ and ‘that explains why all those ‘young’ people that I work with behave like that….” and so on and so forth.
As a result of this first contact, I went on to work with Graeme and Dean on a research project around Generational Values. I loved their passion for their work and always thought what a great company to be part of. A year or so later, in true X-er style, I jumped ship from the job I had been in for 10 years to do all those things that working mothers like to do – work, but more flexibly and with a lot less pressure, spend more time with the kids (now they were safely both at school…), cook the odd meal and indulge a few interests.
In one of those serendipitous moments that happen so often in life, Dean took me to lunch the day I resigned to talk to me about setting up a Research function within Tomorrow Today. So I somewhat recklessly jumped from one ship to another and here I am…..
….fortunately, I can happily report that although my life is no less busy than it was when I was commuting to London full time, I am now doing things I love to do, and that makes it fun, not fraught.
Top of my list is the time I spend with the TomorrowToday team. I have found myself become even more fascinated by ‘us’ ; what influences shape our values and how this leads to differences in behaviour. My once-waning interest in business has been truly rekindled and I am amazed to find myself enthusiastically agreeing to public speaking engagements I once would have run a mile from. I am even finding myself considering how I can ‘spread the word’ to the teachers and kids at our amazing local school – and believe me, that is well outside my comfort zone…!
Amazing what can happen when life and work suddenly become one interesting, challenging, fun mix.
Awesome post Cath, we are thrilled and excited that you have joined us in our quest to show business leaders better ways to work in the new world of wrok