006As those of you who follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin will know, this last weekend I was asked to give a TEDx talk at Durham University. It was a great experience in a beautiful old chamber and I have to say a big thank you to all the team for organising it.

The video of the speech with a transcript is now being processed, and should be uploaded to the TED website and Youtube channel in the next few weeks.

It was also a bit strange going back to Durham after all these years away. This was my 10 year graduation anniversary and it was a strange feeling walking around town seeing both how much had changed and how similar everything still felt. I was however pleasantly surprised that some things never change; just before my speech began a huge rainstorm started flooding the streets. It wouldn’t be Durham without that after all.

Fortunately, the wireless microphone strapped to my head didn’t pick up on the rain too much. I felt like Justin Timberlake in his ★NSYNC days.

I also had a chance to be inspired by a host of other great TED speakers, including insights on Female Reproductive Hormones, Mirrors, Fairtrade and even Harry Potter.

I’ll put together a more detailed post once the video is available.

If you’d like me to come and speak to your teams or companies on the capabilities needed for Innovation or Creativity, then contact me and let me know what you’d find valuable.