Its always hard at the beginning of a year to imagine how it may go. I've been an inveterate annual planner for many years and I often look back on my goals to acknowledge that some 50% are usually either not attained or I chose to do something different during the year instead...so much for plans.
So, I'm grateful to my good friend Paul Ryan who introduced me to the 12 week year. No more annual plans just 12 week execution cycles and a focus on dividing time and productivity appropriately, to those things that really matter in one's business and family life.
Time is an expensive commodity for all of us and one we generally invest poorly, certainly when asked how we use it, most of us report, we under invested in those things most important to us and spent too much of it in activities we regard as lower value.
It's an interesting perspective. If we are lucky, we have some degree of discretion in how we spend our time, so why then are people frazzled in seeking to manage the multiplicity of conflicts that exist in their lives, many of which are activities they themselves created.
Of course we are human. We make decisions for many complex reasons and the context of one person's decisions often make little sense to anybody else. That's OK, but understanding just that, that we are human, means we are not robots, trapped in an endless loop of processes dictated by some mythical programmer when it comes to work and work- life balance. So for that reason, I'm determined to ensure I take a blowtorch to some of my lazier habits in 2020.
2019 has been a good year for some companies I admire - HealthBeacon expanded its team and countries of operation - it is now one of the leading global examples of medtech in the home. The portfolio of hardware and software it has developed is leading the way in understanding and supporting home-injecting patients who live with long term conditions.
Uniphar continue to recreate itself into a pharmaceutical services powerhouse. With the acquisition of SISK Healthcare and the expansion of STAR MEDICAL, Uniphar's footprint and scope of operations now spans geographies into UK, Ireland and Benelux countries.
Enterprise Ireland, one of our most important state agencies, has been transforming itself too. It is easy to criticise the pace of delivery from government organisations, their bureaucracy, their need in spending public money to validate their decisions with extensive analysis and consideration - all very valid. But, as someone on the board, its clear to me that the communication of offerings to industry, the range of supports to Irish multinationals and SME's and the encouragement and support for entrepreneurs, has never been more comprehensive or more targetted. There is much more to be done, but clear progress on all fronts is evident.
In Ireland we love politics and we love discussing international affairs. It's comforting to criticise the behaviour of global leaders to one another, but in truth, in international affairs, the strategic power games of state are played out over decades.
So in a year that began with President Trump threatening North Korea and North Korea threatening the United States, the two global super-powers end 2019 in a trade war and a stand-off on how to square two different and competing world views.
As the 12 week year dictates, we must leave global strategy to the main actors and focus on what we can accomplish within our universe.