Brendon J. Wilson | Page 158 | www.brendonwilson.com

April 13, 2003April 23, 2012 by Brendon J. Wilson

Internship Secured

It was a busy week, but I managed to secure myself a pretty sweet internship with the Premier’s Technology Council. The PTC is responsible for providing “advice to the Premier on all technology-related issues facing British Columbia and its citizens”. I’ll be working with the Emerging Technology Work Group, headed by William Koty, which is responsible for researching emerging technologies, analyzing how these technologies will impact BC, and making recommendations on how the BC government can stimulate economic development in those areas within BC’s technology industries.

The interview for the internship was probably one of the more enjoyable interviews I’d ever had. William Koty, along with Michael Desandoli, a consultant volunteer with the PTC, had a relaxed interviewing style that felt more like a conversation than an interview. That said, it appears that they were still working off a set script for the interview, judging from the similarity I gathered between my interview and that of the other interviewees. There were the usual “why do you want to work with us” type questions, and a few “what is X technology” questions, but nothing unusual.

The part that was unusual was one of Mike’s questions: “So, how are your listening skills?”.

I couldn’t finesse that question, so I opted for honesty: “To be honest my listening skills need work.” Honesty seemed to satisfy them, which was good.

The call-back interview with William had a similar tone and, again, some difficult moments of honesty. William was concerned that I might be too opinionated – fair enough, I said, something to work on. Being aware of my shortcomings seemed to be more important to William than being “perfect”. All in all, I felt like I got more useful insight in two interviews than in most of my MBA.

The biggest problem I have is when people aren’t willing to provide feedback on interpersonal skills. If there’s something I’m doing wrong, the only way to help me develop is to tell me. I’ve spent the last ten years working with extremely smart engineers – smart people that see things in black and white. Either you’ve got the right answer or you don’t. Period. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. The transition to dealing with non-technical people is probably the most difficult obstacle I’ll have to overcome in my business career.

But as long as people tell me what I’m doing wrong, or how they feel about how I interact with them, I’m sure I’ll be able to overcome these obstacles. So bring on the feedback!

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April 8, 2003April 23, 2012 by Brendon J. Wilson

Spin! Spin! SPIN!

We had an interesting session today with Paul Patterson from UBC Public Affairs today to teach us how to control the media. That’s right: in the MBA we learn how to be spin doctors! Not only was Paul Patterson an interesting and engaging speaker, he also provided a lot of useful information on how the media distorts news stories, much to the shock and horror of my classmates. I mean, they knew this stuff happened, but I don’t think they realized just how frequently and methodically the media manipulates our perception of reality.

Paul took us step-by-step through a story he did for the CBC, many years ago, on the dumping of medical waste in a local dump in Nova Scotia. At each point, he showed us how he had manipulated the message through not only visual and auditory cues, but also through how he interviewed people and edited those interviews together. In the end, he revealed that what had actually taken place was quite removed from what was portrayed in his story.

Though the story had focused on a man who “had been accused” of dumping waste, only to be contracted by the government to perform the same task again, the truth was that the man had actually called Paul to report the dumping in the first place! In fact, he had been contracted by the government the first time, but the government had hung him out to dry when what he was doing for them was uncovered. When they contacted him the second time, he called Paul in to blow the whistle. Sneaky or what?

The point of the whole lecture was to demonstrate the techniques used by reporters to ambush interviewees. Reporters’ underlying motivation is conflict. Paul demonstrated that not only should you, as a business person under attack, attempt to diffuse the conflict, but also capitalize on the opportunity to promote your key messages to the public. Sneaky? Yes. Smart use of an opportunity? Yes.

Though I may not find the topic of manipulating the public through the media palatable, Paul’s presentation did provoke a lot though on the topic within the class. His insight into the use of media should only serve to remind us of something we probably think we already know, especially in the current climate of “embedded” reporting in the war against Iraq: you can’t trust the media. Especially when you’re a business and the media knocks on your door.