IATEFL BESIG 2010 Annual Conference talk by Jeremy Comfort

1. Besig Annual Conference
Bielefeld November 2010
The case for Mindfulness

2. Behaviour
Personality
Culture
Situation
Skills - Language – Communication – Leadership – Subject Knowledge
TIP
TMS
DPI

3. Mindfulness
• Focus on context and process as well as
outcome
• Observe and reflect on their own and
others behaviour

4. Developing mindfulness
1. Cases to practise observing and reflecting
- video cases
- written cases
2. Transfer to own cases and experiences

5. Bracken International is an international agrochemical company founded 35 years ago in Australia. Its head office was
relocated to Switzerland, as its European business began to dominate. It now has offices throughout the world with significant
operations in Australasia, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, and North and Central America.
The Project
As part of its business strategy, it has launched an innovation project which is designed to build on local initiatives
and make sure they are transferred to other markets.
The project team is composed of six people, led by Manfred Stollmeyer:
Manfred Stollmeyer, currently head of Bracken’s R&D facility in Mainz, Germany
Helen Hunt, head of operations in the US
Beth Dawson, head of operations in Australia
Martine Gonzales, product manager, Central America
Phil Chu, product manager, Southeast Asia
Geoff Peters, controller, European operations
The project team has identified two products:
the PX 21 in Mexico and the PX52 in Malaysia,
both of which are significant innovations and
have potential for introduction in other markets.
Bracken International - background

6. Manfred Stollmeyer, currently head of
Bracken’s main R & D facility in Mainz,
Germany. He is very experienced
technically but less so in project
management. His main functional role
is demanding. He is Martine’s mentor
on this project.
Helen Hunt, head of sales operations
in the US. She works in a very
competitive environment. Her special
role is to launch PX 52 in the U.S.,
following its successful launch
in Malaysia.
Beth Dawson, head of operations
in Australia. She is also responsible
in the zone for Phil’s appointment to
this project. She is Geoff’s coach.
Martine Gonzales, product manager,
Central America, based in Mexico. She
has already launched the PX 21 which
will later be launched in France.
Phil Chu, product manager, Southeast Asia,
based in Malaysia. He is responsible for
launching the PX52 in Malaysia. However he
has a very demanding local manager, Majid
Khan, who is pushing him hard to achieve
sales locally. His coach on this project is Geoff.
Geoff Peters, controller, European
operations. Geoff is responsible for
putting together the sales results of the
PX21 and 52 and benchmarking these
results against industry data.
He will also project manage the launch
of PX 52 in France next year.

7. Martine, Manfred and Phil
(first impressions)

8. Meeting with Talal, Ben
Rashid
Talal
Ben
Lebanese
UK
Dubai Film Distribution
Challenge of India
Big Picture / detail / numbers – Top-down / partnership – Multinational / Local Knowledge
TIP
TMS
DPI
Case 1

9. Work in Labs
Mei Ling
Helga
Chinese
German
R & D Centre
Beijing
Instruction / encouragement – Supervision / autonomy – Government lab / commercial lab
TIP
TMS
DPI
Case 2