Start of the new term
- We relish the start of the new term. For students starting at a new school, college, university or apprenticeship, this can be both exciting and unnerving .
- I have said before that for me, every day is a school day, as there is always something to learn or get excited about. But the start of each day can also be unnerving (you'd think I'd be used to it by now!) as you never know what is going to happen. What opportunity is going to present itself, what crisis is going to arise or what great things your team have achieved.
- Fortunately, the crises tend to be quickly resolved, it's all the opportunities that give me my greatest headache. How can we possibly do all that we want to?
- Last week saw the close of our call for ideas to potential partners to work with us on developing a Diverse Workforce for the Future.
- My colleague and I have been so excited by the applications we've seen - the breadth and depth of projects, and sheer enthusiasm and inventiveness of those who have talked to us about their ideas.
- Unfortunately, we can only afford to back one of them (over 60 expressed interest, talked to us and/or submitted final applications) but we will find a way to showcase as many of them as we can in the hope that our network are excited by any, as much as we are, and can help find ways to make happen. We'll be publishing the list of shortlisted projects on the Engine Shed website today - do get in touch if you are interested in supporting any of them. Our pitching event on 10th October is an opportunity to see them 1st hand - you can book here if you want to join us.
- Sometimes, you get caught out, in this roller-coaster of excitement. We spoke to some teachers a week or so ago, who had developed this really great project with their students and had come to us as part of our call for ideas. We met with them, we explored some ideas about how to sustain the project work - such as ways for the project to generate cash, so it could become self-sufficient. Obviously we knew that there was a limit to how much time these teachers would be able to put in - but what we didn't realise until afterwards, was that we'd come across as wanting to turn it into a business, which was not our intention or a shared aspiration. Of course, it was a reminder to us that values are different in different domains and you always have to be careful in the language you use. That's a skill that those of us who work across 'boundaries' need to continually strengthen. It's all about translation. It's ending well: we're going to work with those teachers to find the right outcome, with shared values.
- The next quarter looks incredibly busy already - our Scale Up Ecosystem development work is getting to a stage where we can see where some of the gaps are and will have some great things to announce in the next few weeks - with a series of events this quarter and through next year. Our Scale Up Enabler, Briony, and I have been overwhelmed with the generosity of thought, time and resources we’ve had, to support these activities. We're looking at the 'property gap', accelerating the angel investment ecosystem and leadership development. We'll publish an update on that work this quarter.
- See what I mean? So much going on and each day is something completely different.
I'm thrilled to say I'm one of shortlisted applications and looking forward to the event on the 10th when I get to pitch! Looking forward to hearing from the others and the opportunity to create connection 😊