Jonathan Flowers
Bedfordshire County
Council
My first degree was in Maths, and I was attracted to the idea of Operational Research because it seemed a way of taking the theoretical knowledge I'd acquired, doing something useful with it, and earning a worthwhile living. So I did an MSc in O.R. (at Lancaster) which was a superb introduction to the subject and to new ways of working - Maths isn't a team activity but good O.R. is. I joined the NatWest O.R. Group and spent ten extremely stimulating years there, as it joined with other units to become a full-fledged consulting operation within the bank, and eventually being appointed to lead it as an influential 120 person team. The kind of organisational overview I got as an internal consultant was superb, and the variety that came from project work was excellent. Having an O.R. background meant that all the work I did was grounded in a structured approach to problem solving, including sound numbers-based analysis where that was appropriate, but also broadening into more general issues of change management, team psychology, and moulding the culture of the organisation. My ten years was very far from being "one year's experience repeated ten times over" - I would hate that kind of job.
I was sponsored to do a part-time MBA at London Business School, which helped my professional development and broadened my knowledge of relevant theories in practice. I then got a chance to apply all those skills in a commercial role, as Commercial Development Director of the NatWest Credit Card business, leading a team of people who developed really innovative business propositions with other companies. Again, a numbers-based problem solving approach came in handy, along with the much more generic people skills I'd picked up on the way.
More recently I've been motivated to take my general management skills into a different sector: Local Government. Following a challenging but enormously developmental couple of years at the London Borough of Lambeth I was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive of Bedfordshire County Council. This is a £380m pa organisation, serving vital needs of 360,000 people; my role includes ensuring that we spend our money on what really matters, and helping to change the organisation to make the most of what new technologies can offer to improve the service to the people of the County. In such a complex organisation, with many stakeholders, it's more important than ever to be able to take a rational approach to weighing up demands, and although I don't "do" O.R. any more, I am extremely glad that I chose to start my career in that way. I was pleased to be recognised as a Fellow of the OR Society in 2003. O.R. is a real accelerator route into general management. From here I think my next step will ideally be to become a Chief Executive of a Local Authority, but there are many other options I can see for the next phase of my life - I turn 40 this year and it'll be interesting to see what happens next!
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