The first week of intensive study online, and a second week of study culminating in an intense presentation which makes up 10% of our unit total, is finally finished. Last night, after the presentation, I was exhausted and spent the evening doing some simple cooking followed by a light Netflix series. I did wonder why I am putting so much effort into this course of study, when it’s not required for my job, although it was a casual musing rather than deep introspection. I’m totally committed to the course, so the musing was more about working out why ? Why study at all at this stage of my life and career ? Why this specific course ?
One image from the lectures, about how companies move or perish, really struck home and it’s the capability life cycle which, in this context, applies to an organisation’s capabilities and/or people skills and/or technologies. I can see the application to me, personally, and how easy it would be to gently slide down to retirement. That would be easy, pleasant, and pretty well-paid.
No. That just doesn’t feel right to me. That would be a pleasant path, but doesn’t fill me with any anticipation or glee. This course surrounds me with bright young people, full of infectious enthusiasm and a skillset they are so willing to share. So far I have completed every unit totally online, and it’s been a very valuable ongoing lesson in virtual relationships and just how productive that type of work and use of technology can be. Learning, and working with younger people ( I enjoy working with the graduates at work ) keeps me vital, and relevant.
At the simplest level, that interaction also keeps my brain active.
Why this course ? I have worked in various aspects of the fossil fuel industry all my life, well prior to there being a widespread understanding of the damage being caused incrementally to our climate. Damage which is now reaching, or past, a tipping point which will lead us to a future we can’t really imagine at this point.
This specific unit is run by the Business school at UQ, and is about the business models and how to generate innovations, develop them onto a real product, then commercialise them so the idea of a few weeks or months or years ago is able to be scaled up and installed or used around the world. In the context of this course, think of
- Direct air capture which removes CO2 from the air
- synthetic fuels which use CO2 to power aircraft and vessel;
- projects which plant trees to capture CO2 and ( hopefully) rebuild the ecological diversity which has been so damaged by forest removal
So an academic, rigorous course looking at the energy transition, and how to both accelerate and manage that transition, keeps me relevant to today and issues which will dramatically impact those young people with whom I love working.
The beautiful image on the title block is part of the UQ slide pack they use every time they do a Welcome to Country, I always know I can only be online at UQ when that image comes up.
My Longest Journey 