Do Not Adjust Your Focus

In Episode 14 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from sustainability and communications consultancy Blurred, Stuart talks to award-winning author, Ray Nayler. Ray is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mountain in the Sea, which The Washington Post called "(a) poignant, mind-expanding debut." The Mountain in the Sea is a finalist for the Nebula Award and for the LA Times Book Awards' Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction.

The novel dramatizes what happens, in a post-climate-crisis, AI-centric world, when humankind discovers super intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture. It prompts us to question, what is intelligence – human, computer, animal – and what kind of intelligence do we need to thrive on a fragile planet?

In this podcast episode, Stuart and Ray explore the climate crisis, how humanity is responding and might respond better and how the emergence of ChatGPT heralds the coming of true AI. Ray also reveals his creative approach to writing and storytelling and shared a lesson that is relevant to everyone in comms: communication must involve the audience, who, as Ray puts it, are “curled into the narrative”. Storytelling is about “building a place where you ask questions.”

​​Born in Quebec and raised in California, Ray Nayler lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Kosovo. Ray works for the US Department of State, and previously worked in international educational development, as well as serving in the Peace Corps in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In Vietnam he was Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. 

Ray currently serves as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Beginning in August, 2023, he will take up a residency at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at The George Washington University. He holds an MA in Global Diplomacy from the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS, the University of London. 

In episode 13 of DNAYF, the podcast from ESGP advisory firm Blurred, founder Nik Govier talks to designer and creative consultant Greg Bunbury.
 
Greg is a British-born, award-winning Graphic Designer, Creative Consultant, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant and public speaker of Caribbean heritage.

He helps mission-led, purpose driven businesses and organisations, build brands, connect with their audience, and engage diverse communities.  Greg also curates and designs the Black Outdoor Art project, and hosts the Design For People podcast.
 

After a Covid hiatus, DNAYF is back! In Episode 12 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Blurred CEO Nik Govier talks to PR icon and spokeswoman on women's issues Lynne Franks OBE. 

Lynne founded a public relations consultancy in the early 1970s and is an advocate, communications strategist, writer and spokeswoman on women's issues, sustainability[2] and consumer lifestyles.

Throughout Lynne’s long and successful career, she has influenced awareness of many societal shifts and trends both in the UK and internationally.

She positioned the UK as a world fashion leader by initiating London Fashion Week and the British Fashion Awards.

Her wide breadth of influence in the business world includes developing McDonald’s UK women’s leadership network; working with Tesco on engaging their women’s customers through media partnerships; launching high fashion home shopping with NEXT and motivating the public towards responsible consumerism when advocating John Elkington’s trailblazing Green Consumer Week.

Lynne also initiated a wide diversity of awareness campaigns for social causes including the creation of Fashion Cares, taken over by Mac Cosmetics to become the world’s biggest fundraiser for HIV/Aids; working with Amnesty International on global awareness of human rights through music and collaborating with Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith on the production of Fashion Aid at the Albert Hall.

She was a major UK advocate on the global situation regarding sexual violence to women and girls, working with her friend Eve Ensler to bring attention to women being used as weapons of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

She chaired Viva, the UK’s first women’s radio station after selling her eponymous PR agency in the early 90’s and put on What Women Want, the major festival at the South Bank in ’95, stimulating dialogue on the situation of women in the UK and beyond.

Lynne then attended the UN’s 4th largest women’s conference, held in summer ’95 in Beijing, where she worked as a radio journalist sending home the voices and issues of women worldwide.

While living in California, she founded and ran the new marketing agency GlobalFusion, representing many consumer brands and retailers across the US from her offices in LA and San Francisco.

Her books and workshops, including The SEED Handbook, published worldwide in 2000,  pioneered a more feminine approach to business, combined with personal empowerment, inspiring thousands of women to join a movement of sustainable economic independence. Since establishing the SEED (Sustainable Enterprise and Empowerment Dynamics) women’s empowerment platform and body of learning materials, she has championed women’s leadership from post-war Bosnia, to rural South African villages and for women in prisons to women in the corporate boardroom.

Lynne continues her journey, consulting, writing and speaking on societal shifts, women’s empowerment and a more sustainable, peaceful world for all.

You can listen to this and previous episodes here, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

In Episode 10 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to BBC journalist Dhruti Shah. 

Dhruti is one of the tiny number of people to have been awarded both the prestigious Ochberg fellowship for journalists working to report on traumatic events, and the Rotary International Peace Fellowship for her work exploring peace and conflict resolution. 

Stuart and Dhruti discuss journalism as a profession today - from mental health and the difficult art of listening, to the quest for balance and the double-edged sword of social media.

Dhruti also  tells us about her brilliant, informative and entertaining new book, "Bear Markets and Beyond: A bestiary of business terms", which explores how and why the language of animals is so prevalent in modern day business discourse.

You can listen to this and previous episodes here, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE

Leadership under fire: a decorated officer’s take on leading from the front, decision-making under pressure and the importance of autonomy and resourcefulness 

Justin Featherstone is a former Major in The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment who was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in Iraq. 

Today, Justin is a leadership consultant who is a Fellow at the University of Exeter Business school as well as a part-time member of the faculty.  He is also is an annual lecturer at the University of Llubljana, Slovenia and an expedition leader who has led more than thirty overseas expeditions to the mountains, rivers and rainforests of the world. 

During the peak of Covid-19 earlier this year, Stuart spoke to Justin about leadership in a crisis. They discuss the invisible enemies of ‘cabin fever’, isolation from family,  and depression, as well as what creativity means in the military: genuine problem-solving, as opposed to just ideas.

Justin also gives his opinion on the lazy comparisons between Covid-19 and "The Blitz".

HOW DO WE PRESERVE BRITAIN AS A TOLERANT PLACE?

In Episode 9 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to business woman and campaigner Gina Miller, who twice initiated legal challenges against the government standing up for Parliamentary democracy… And won.

Her first victory came in September 2017, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of giving MPs a say over triggering Article 50 - the legal mechanism taking the UK out of the EU.

Her second victory came in September 2019, when the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful.

Consequently known as one of the most prominent names and faces of Remain and somewhat of a figurehead of the pro-EU camp, Gina and Stuart discussed some of today’s major battles: Europe, ESG, ethics and education, highlighting why we must preserve Britain as a tolerant place, now more than ever.

You can listen to this and previous episodes here, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

In Episode 8 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, recorded under lockdown, Stuart talks to Dr Jen Denyer, ex England international squash player, now turned executive leadership coach on the MBA at Cranfield and Oxford business schools.

They discuss the Covid-19 crisis, business leadership and resilience in challenging situations, and what lessons from sports are the right ones for executives to learn right now.

WHAT DOES BREXIT MEAN FOR BRITISH BUSINESS?

In Episode 7 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus , the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to Nick Baird, currently Group Corporate Affairs Director at Centrica and previously CEO of UK Trade & Investment.

Nick's career began, however, in politics. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1983, and became UK Representation to the EU in Brussels in 1989. In 2002 he was appointed Head of the European Union Department, before being seconded the following year to direct immigration policy within the Home Office. Subsequently, he was Ambassador to Turkey.

He and Stuart discuss what Brexit means for UK business: what challenges lie ahead, where may firms find opportunities, and how should a small exporter seek competitive advantage, compared to a UK multinational? 

They talk about Nick's time working with the EU and whether the seeds for the Leave vote were in fact sowed years earlier than many think.

They discuss Turkey as a potential economic powerhouse and Istanbul as a uniquely-positioned tech hub.

You can listen to this and previous episodes here, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  

In Episode 6 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, Stuart talks to Chris Godfrey, named by Time last year as one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet.   

Chris is the man behind the most liked Instagram post of all time.  His ‘record-breaking egg’ was talked about around the world when during a Superbowl ad it ‘cracked’ under the pressure of all the attention, shining a spotlight on mental health.

He has now founded a new creative agency called Happy Yolk, and he and Stuart discuss creativity as a force for good in business and the world.

THE STORY BEHIND PLAN A AND WHAT COMPANIES CAN LEARN FROM IT

In Episode 5 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to Mike Barry, previously Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer, where he developed, led and implemented Plan A, the company's famous eco and ethical programme.
 
Mike believes a new business cycle is emerging one that has the potential to create a more balanced society and supporting economy.

He and Stuart discuss this, as well as the lessons that other organisations can learn from the Plan A story.

You can listen to this and previous episodes here, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  

00:09 Introduction

01:12 How did “Plan A” come about and what excited you about it?

02:38 You had a solid starting point and a visionary leader. But what challenges did you encounter when designing and implementing Plan A?

04:14 You can’t begin to implement something of this scale without a solid business case. You need to make clear projections based on concrete data – where did you begin?

05:38 You devoted 4000 working days to Plan A – do you feel you successfully embedded a culture that will endure beyond both leadership and personnel change?

07:15 How much do businesses acknowledge that reality? The fact it’s so much more prominent on the agenda.

09:20 How doable do you think it is when you hear the zero-carbon target timeframes proposed by Governments?

11:38 There is a theme emerging – everyone who really knows their stuff in the space is a tech optimist. Tech is part of the solution – what have you learnt from this in terms of Plan A?

13:45 There is a big tension between fear and hope – people were immediately afraid of scientifically produced food, for example. So how do you win back over public opinion?

15:55 We have a new government – how confident do you feel about the UK’s ability and appetite to lead in this space given the broader political context?

17:28 Do you think the government is equipped to be nimble enough to capitalize on the opportunities available?

20:24 What could get in the way of that happening?

21:20 Who is best placed to bring those different audiences along the journey? Will it be companies, policy makers, or both?

22:53 Will there be a degree of protectionism around industries and ways of working, especially in a post Brexit period?

24:37 Which companies are getting it right?

26:42 Veganism has been astonishing with its shift over the last 12 months – it’s now mainstream, and people are proud to try it.

27:43 Which industries are lagging behind?

29:20 Circular Economy – how do we achieve that? What’s in the way of us reaching that holy grail?

30:28 COP25 – on a scale of 1-10 how do you feel coming out of the back of that? Positive or otherwise?

31:40 Should politicians be afraid of Greta and the next generation… Or inspired?

33:22 We’re still using 20th century politics to solve 21st century crisis – do we need more collaboration?

34:43 I have a desire to see the next 10 years used well and make Britain synonymous of leadership in this space. A big part of that will come down to national Government and how much decision making is devolved to cities. Do you agree?

36:59 It’s a new decade – what’s your new year’s resolution going to be in to 2020?