However comfy it is sitting behind your desk - with your screen in front of you - thinking that all the answers are there - STOP.

I was on the road last week - and learnt so much that my head was buzzing - my brain a little fried and I was so excited by the ideas I found that I could hardly swallow my food!

Now that would not have happened sitting behind my desk - never has - never will.

Just imagine - I was invited to the Gherkin Building in London - to listen to Lord Foster who designed it and John Major (ex prime minister) talk about globalisation. I arrived around 6.30pm - to be whisked to the 39th floor - an awe inspiring glass dome on top of the gherkin. I was there to meet people - but I wanted to stare. Stare at London - see the helicopters beneath my feet, watch the clouds envelope the building, pass by and the sun warm me. As I sat and listened to the wise words of the men I had come to see i delighted in the view around me. I loved the audacity of the people who had a vision to build a buidling that was so obvious, so rude!, so exciting. The other guests were mostly men - lots of smart suits. I spoke to quite a few - picking up knowledge and thinking as I went.

The next day i mystery shopped my own company  - turning up early and unannounced to absorb the atmosphere - experience what our customers experience etc. Obviously once i got there it was a bit difficult to be a mystery. They knew who I was staright away! But heh? What I wanted to see was how the company looks everyday - even when they think the boss isn't coming! It was good. I dropped into Hackney office. Warm friendly atmosphere and knowledgable enthusiatic staff. Holloway office was great too - the staff bursting with ideas and some clients with enourmous characters and fascinating life stories. At the end of the day I was excited by what I had seen - had made loads of notes - and hopefully had given strength to the people I met to get on and do the things they wanted to do.

And then - the next day I attended the Institute Of Directors annual Conference at the Albert Hall. ( I am on the board of the IOD). Wow - superb. Some of the world's greatest thinkers and operators spend the day sharing their knowledge - very high level and practical stuff. I took twenty pages of notes! We heard from the bosses of Saatchi and Saatchi, T Mobile, BA, the National Trust. We heard from Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Bob Geldof - and it goes on. I had lunch with Dame Ellen MacArthur ( round the world yacht champ).

By putting together all this thinking i was able to see where I need to lead the organisations that I am responsible for.

The big themes for me are that there are immense opportunities for organisations and people who can move to embrace the  'new world.' A new world that will be dominated by Digitalisation, Mobilisation and Personalisation. A new world in which the consumer truly truly is the boss - and consumers want personal service - suited to them - their choice. In which companies will have to make themselves irresistable to consumers. In which recognising your companies chance to go beyond 'green' - by embracing and finding opportunity in caring about and positively adding to the environment, the economy , the social and community well being of the world - will give you a wonderful and sustainable edge. 

So bouyed up with this thinking - I arrived the next day at an A4e meeting of 100 or more managers. I shared my thinking - and It rang true. I could see that for many people it gave strength to the way they already feel and behave. So cool.

All of this - and their ideas gave rise to a great new way to present ourselves - a check list for our actions and plans.

Every time we make a plan to improve people's lives have we considered how we are going to make it a truly irresistable and personal service, how every time one of our support services make plans they work out how it is going to enhance the irresistable and personal service we offer to our clients and customers and how we remember to use the fantastic opportunities of the digital world and the mobile world to attract and interact with our customers.

Over the next year - the way we do what we do will change - you will see our websites develop to become personal to the customer - our websites will not just seek people's attention they will delight in offering interaction. They will be there for the benefit of the people - it will be theirs. Their way - their choice.

All of this because i got out and about - as I said at the beginning - no way could I have got these thoughts from sitting at my comfy desk.

Ho hum - bless the internet and emails and all that - actually being there - seeing and smelling, feeling and listening still is the tops - by a million miles.  

all the best

emma (sitting at my comfy desk - but not for long!)