Value-based reflections - srvision 2023.

I began writing this article at 4 am, in my Utrecht hotel room, my head valiantly attempting to process the last few days' events. So, into my phone notes, I went...

As always, I am awake bright and early, tired and yet invigorated by a fantastic few days in the beautiful city of Utrecht, the Netherlands, where I had the pleasure of speaking at srvision (pronounced 'sur-vision') 2023.

I've visited Utrecht once before to study VeriSM Professional with EXIN under the tuition of a man whom I hold in the the highest regard, Johann Botha . This education altered my perception on how I worked and interacted with others.

Amongst many things, Johann taught me the value of 'learn, unlearn and relearn' which released me to try new ideas and ways of working, ultimately leading me to srvision to close my own circle.

During srvision, the closing speaker Annemarie Wolfrat also discussed this concept in her conference closing speech. For me, sitting in the audience it was a wonderful moment to witness. I was nodding like mad so I'm surprised I managed to take this photo.

This was a conference themed on value, and it didn’t disappoint.

And for me personally, the conference delivered several firsts:

• First time recording a promotional video for my own materials; thank you to Deborah Burton for setting me the challenge and supporting me throughout. Not to mention for being an incredible speaker and all-around fabulous person.
• First Time playing snakes and ladders at work. Claire Agutter delivered a workshop that really brought #SIAM to life and I cannot wait to for the formation of a SIAM Community by Scopism 's Stephanie Ward .

• First time attending an ITSM conference face to face. If I’m honest I wasn’t a fan of F2F pre Covid, let alone during and post-pandemic. Srvision changed that. It was amazing to meet people face to face. Engaging through a screen is excellent - but that human touch surpasses this. You can see the passion for the subject in people’s eyes and their body language. ?
• First time I’ve really bought into the theme 100% and feet first. Of course, every conference has a theme and working in tech means it’s usually ‘AI, Resilience, Doing to the business, Shiny and new’ etc, and these are worthy themes.?Me, I love value in its many forms, and to hear those forms get brought to life, through real examples, experiences, and failures was incredible. Witnessing Jonathan Smart speak was a privilege, and without blowing my own trumpet we both discuss the evolution of the textile industry and 'bridges' within our presentations. In all serious Jonathan's presentation is worth the entry fee alone, and I'm now in the middle of Jonathan's excellent book titled:

• First time trying ‘bitterballen’, a Dutch beer snack; I’m afraid I cannot let this pass as I gain real value from a beer snack. I’m sure 99% of those reading this will think I’ve led a sheltered life, but it’s worth exposing this if someone else gets this pleasure.?

• First time presenting at a conference. Wow, what an experience. Nerves, tension, concern and fear of failure were my overriding emotions in the months leading up to the conference. However, the organiser’s, our master of ceremonies Deborah Burton and my fellow ITSM professionals and speakers turned these almost paralysing fears into excitement, enthusiasm and a feeling that a story, a story filled with failure and overcoming it as part of a community, was worth sharing. Thank you to so many of you who inspired me to share this and gave me the freedom to express myself.?

• First time meeting some inspirational figures who have helped me along the way with their writing, teaching and public speaking. Real ‘giants’ of our industry who, in reality, are just charming people who have themselves found value and want to share their stories too, people such as Claire Agutter Mark Smalley Rob England Dave van Herpen Paula M??tt?nen Barclay Rae to name just a few.
• Not to mention re-meeting Suzanne Galletly or my first time speaking with and learning from Stephanie Ward Dan Pet?ivalsky Dr. Cherry Vu Lari Peltoniemi Peter Wiggers, CGEIT Stefan Hofer Patrik Solc Ian MacDonald FBCS CITP (ITIL Author and Ambassador ) Elina Pirjanti and so many others.

Whilst at the conference I met so many excellent delegates. I’d usually attempt to blend into the background, to silently make my way but it’s more complicated when you are a speaker - but if I'm honest, the extrovert in me loved it. It’s a mad world where people want to speak to you, and hear your input and advice. Thank you to everyone that stopped me, your doing so gave me a great deal of joy. Being stopped and told your journey and its stories resonate and that they've learned from you is humbling and fulfilling.?

At one point, I was conversing with a fellow speaker for whom I have the greatest respect and admiration. We were discussing reflection and she suggested that I’m a reflective person, and we discussed what this meant. A casual conversation that led to my writing this piece.?

Small things make you stop and think, in my case - how I arrived at this moment is foremost in my mind.

Presenting at srvision, authoring a book with TSO Best Practice Publishing co creating communities, being stopped and asked for my advice, mentoring. None of these were part of a grand plan, but they are also not coincidences on reflection. These events happens due to hard work, failures, learning, unlearning and relearning and this work is not mine to claim - it’s the work and inspiration of this great community of ours and for that I’m thankful.?

As srvision closed and we summed up the value we had realised my contributions were along the lines of.?

• I had found value in the opportunity. And I want to thank the srvision KNVI Beroepsvereniging committee for that opportunity. ?
• I’d discovered that value was crucial to so many people and that our human values are critical to the success of our delivery of digital technology and services to our customers, as so perfectly portrayed by Rob England and Dr. Cherry Vu when discussing our ability to inspire people to make real change with a sense of humanity.
• And that I’d found some ally's. A group of amazingly talented and thoughtful human beings that are here to help one another, to support one another and to learn from one another.?

In short, it was a terrific view days that added a great deal of value to me, and I hope I was able to repay this through adding a little value in return.

As per my presentation, I'll close by saying that I'm even more confident we can build something together.

Only through forming and nourishing a community can we create value for one another, not just in one organisation - but in many.

Also as per my presentation I'll give the final word to Ian Aitchison co-host of the Enterprise Digital - The Podcast :

The Community, puts the 'Co' into Co-Creating Value

Thanks for reading!

David.