10L: Nick Ribeiro

About Nick:

Nick is an accredited L&D, Business Analysis and Project Management professional with deep and practical experiences of delivering business improvement across a broad range of roles gained within major business/culture change projects operating in the UK, Europe and North America across multi-national, multi-sector industries.

No really.

So, what do you do dear? Describe your work to an elderly relative.

Really tough considering my mum’s first language is Spanish, but here goes…..

Mama, I work with small, medium and large businesses to find out if and how they train the people that work for them. It’s great because, at the beginning, I can ask some difficult questions and pretend to be all stupid for a little while. But, sometimes, it’s not about training at all and I pick apart the causes, not the symptoms. It can get me into trouble, which is why I sometimes lie to you and say there’s no job for life anymore. Lo siento.

What was your favourite learning experience (could be work, personal, school…anything is valid)? What were you trying to do? Why did it work so well for you?

Parenting. You try hard not to make the same mistakes your parents made, and even harder to pass on some new ones. My kids regulate what matters in life…..and brighten it too – but that’s because they always forget to switch the bathroom light off.

Enough already…What one thing do you wish people in your industry or profession would stop doing? (What gets your goat?)

All this talk of ‘data-driven’ without the talk of a foundational (organisation) data strategy. That’s ok though – let’s just clean the data. Sigh. PS, I really am not an expert.

Same again please…What has changed for the better in your professional world as a result of COVID working practices? Should it be retained for the future (whenever that might be and whatever it might look like)?

Well it’s all about ‘the Digital’ now, isn’t it? You can help define and shape that….and it doesn’t even have to be about Learning and Development.

From the good old days…What do you miss most about working life from the pre-COVID world? Do you think it will return?

The stationery cupboard. I miss the sheer variety.

Theft is the sincerest form of flattery…Which part of which other industry or profession do you think we should learn from and adopt (or just steal)?

Business Analysis.

I’ve never thought ‘Performance Consulting’ really stretches far enough. Besides, it’s possibly a term most businesses have never heard of. If you have a Business Analyst in your business, speak to them. If you haven’t, start with techniques such as CATWOE for stakeholder perspectives.

You know who would be great for this…Which famous person (live or historical) do you want to join your team and why?

Steve Gadd. The opening to Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” is genius, not drums.

If only I had…What did you learn from your most recent mistake?

Not recently, but somebody once said to me ‘Stop trying to be liked.’ It doesn’t mean I’m horrible now, or that I don’t care what you think of me. It just matters less.

There can be only one…Which one tool or piece of kit would you keep if you could only use one from now on?

Drumsticks.

The picture of success…Which image or picture is a good representation of how you would like to develop your practice over the next five years?