People, purpose, performance & planet.

At the end of June, I attended a talk led by an award-winning futurist, Anne-Lise Kjaer.

Anne-Lise spoke humbly, without any grandiose, to a room full of Cornish business owners and entrepreneurs, all keen to understand the environment of the future. I’d buckled myself in for a couple of hours of discourse about electric cars, Elon Musk and bitcoin. I was wrong.

Anne-Lise talked about the notion of using a ‘whole brain’ approach when it comes to business; not just focussing on the left-brain – profits, performance, metrics.

Instead, a holistic, four-quadrant style.

People, purpose, performance, and planet.

Approaching the future with curiosity and imagination, using these four quadrants as drivers for change. Multidimensional thinking.

Using compassionate leadership, defining your purpose both as a business and a human being. Problem solving, not just for revenue, but for the planet.

This way of thinking sparked something within me.

From a personal perspective, my time in the corporate world is drawing to a close. For the time being, anyway.

When I think about the times I’ve applied this multidimensional thinking, and when things have mysteriously gone ‘right’, it’s when I’m helping others.

When we prioritise people, often, the other three quadrants fall into place.

We’ve been lucky enough at TouchByte to develop a strong relationship with local schools and colleges, Penryn College and Falmouth University in particular. 

Over the past year, we’ve opened our doors to students across a wide range of disciplines. Aspiring coders, journalists, designers, future leaders – both technical and non-technical.

Sophia, a future powerhouse who will no doubt smash her GCSE’s and excel at whatever she chooses.

Robert, another Year 10, with a steady, patient manner and an impressive knowledge of Python and C++.

Opal, who without any prior knowledge, learned to code a website from scratch in four days, and populated it with her own written content.

Alice, a Graphic Design student at Falmouth University who brings curiosity and a hunger for knowledge – and some hilarious company slogans. More about her later. She’s sticking around.

Harrison, who after 7 dedicated years in the TouchByte team is now our lead developer.

Will, who stuck with us for a couple of years, helping with various R&D projects, and now has a Masters of Mathematics from Oxford University.

Alex, who came for a couple of weeks and developed a kiosk solution for us, and finally Charlie, who earned a 1st Class Honours degree in Computer Science, who we rescued from serving coffee in Starbucks - he now has a job in tech.

Supporting these students, creating a space for them to develop their confidence, test their ideas, fail, wear their first suit and tie in a proper office has been an honour. It’s taught me a great deal about my own purpose.

Students studying for their GCSE’s have surprised me, showing more creativity than industry veterans. Never underestimate the beginner’s mindset.

College students, prepping for their A Levels and taking a big leap into their own next steps have reminded me of my own journey; it’s okay to not have it all figured out. Just keep moving forwards.

Graduates and university students have brought new teachings and industry tips into TouchByte, reminding me to stay up to date with my own craft. Don’t fall behind.

Most of all, it’s shown to me that the most rewarding thing one can do, is to help others. People. Investing in others is also an investment in yourself.

In exchange, by investing in younger generations, we’re helping our own purpose, performance, and planet at TouchByte.

So, I’d like to thank those students, from GCSE level to University Graduates, who have shown up.

Shown up with nerves.
Shown up with creative ideas.
Shown up with an uncertainty of where they’re headed.

Shown up with curiosity.

It’s the most important thing we can do for ourselves, our people, our planet.

Unlike Anna-Lise, I don’t know what the future holds. But I do know that I can’t go wrong if I remember the four P’s.

People, planet, performance. Most importantly, purpose.