6. A yarn with Paul "The Solver" Williams

Welcome to the sixth of a series of interviews called “A Yarn with (First name here)”, this one is with Paul Williams.

Note: The next AFQY is in Wellington June 15th, where can connect with good people.

The aim is to interview AFQY "characters",  asking them the same set of questions. The questions are based on the language and principles of AFQY, so it's great to get someone else's perspective!
1st: A yarn with Pauls "The Dragon"
2nd: A yarn with Brent "The Aussie"
3rd: A yarn with Te Omeka "The Generous"
4th: A yarn with Owen "The Big O", McCall
5th: A yarn with Darren "D-a-a-S" Beattie.

The questions are based on how I explain AFQY when introducing the concept at an AFQY event; if you have attended before, and heard me explain the concept, you'll recognise a few of the questions . So here we go, grab a coffee and I hope you enjoy:

I first met Paul at a few years back now in a presentation, when I was representing a large global vendor; there were 9 senior people from his org from a range of areas, (Paul represented ICT of course), and 3 from the vendor and 3 others werebeing video-conferenced-in from an Australian client to share a case study essentially.

For me as the relationship manager, the pressure was on to keep discussion flowing and get the VC and projector going with all of these senior people watching and waiting... 45min later, we worked out that the software we were using had moved the "Change presenter button" and hadn't updated their help images etc, so you can imagine, I was sweating bricks by this point, and everyone was getting a little frustrated as we all had had a go or made suggestions as you do.

Great way to meet and impress people...?

We got there in the end and through the engagement, we (Paul and myself) got to talking but was as I was packing up that we continued talking one on one. This enabled a personal connection personally over a gaming matter, essentially breaking that ice... just like an introduction at AFQY breaks the ice and helps attendees initiate their own personal relationship, "seeing you as a person, not your suit".

From then Paul and I have enjoyed a great relationship, I call it a friendship, I've even called on Paul to help fix a system that he built over 12 years ago and hadn't been with the company for 10ish,  and yep, he was also able to connect me to other people from that 15-12 year old team.

Paul extends himself to help when he can.

If you've been lucky enough to have a yarn with him, you'll understand he knows a few things about a few things, and that makes for good discussion, especially about technology and disruptive transformation - or as we used to call it, blue sky thinking ;-)

Paul extends himself to help, and if you've been lucky enough to have a yarn with him, you'll understand he knows a few things about a few things, and that makes for good discussion, especially about technology and disruptive transformation - or as we used to call it, blue sky thinking.

Please enjoy a yarn with Paul...

What's your name?
Paul Williams

Where are you from? (Country & City)
Auckland New Zealand

Which AFQY event have you attended?
The most recent event
Ryan: March 26th 2016 Auckland.

 Tell us about the kids, the cat and the dog?
No cats, dog etc, just my wife and I, some wine, a drum kit, and a PS4 :)
Ryan: For goodness sake, don't forget the PS4 ;-)

What do you do? (Not just your title, but a bit about what you do)
I'm an Architect, I really enjoy trying to understand the problems and working out options for addressing them

Whats your philosophy on doing business?
I don't really have one other that be honest and treat others fairly.
Ryan: K.I.S..... Nice.

What's your motivation for what you do? (The Why)

What's your favourite quote, cliche or similar?
Never wrestle with a pig, all you get is dirty and besides the pig likes it! - George Berhnard Shaw

Can I have a card? Or give me a look at your brand?

What sport or activity do you enjoy?(Watching, playing, supporting)
Running, Playing and Listening to Music, and Brewing and Drinking Craft Beer

Where is the most interesting place you've visited and why? (Work or play)
Probably India, it was quite different from South Auckland .... Amazing place but I'd never seen so many people in one space in my life before.
Ryan: Yes, I think they are hitting about 1.2, 1.3 billion, we call it an emerging market, I think it's a good size AFQY group ;-)

What’s the most important lesson you've learnt in business and in life?" (Can be the same one or one each)
Sometimes the right thing to do for a business isn't to implement the ideal solution

Tell me a personal story that works with AFQY?
AFQY helped me to reconnect with a few old friends I hadn't seen for ages.

"If you had your time again, what would you do differently?"
Play more music

What's your handle, or nickname? (Can everyone use it? And how di you get it?)
No nicknames that I am aware of though I'm sure people have special terms they use to describe me when I'm not around.
Ryan: When it's in the good or fun sense great, ie "Paul's a bloody great guy, helped me with a few things", but when its the other... no member  of AFQY is interested.

What type of person do you not stand for?
People who don't ask questions.

What would you like to share with AFQY and why?
Auckland is a small town, and the people you meet and make connections with are extremely important in helping you progress in the market place.

To close this out, Paul has a new role, as yet unannounced, but you'll see his profile change in due course! Thanks for your time Paul and I look forward to catching up again soon.

Cheers

Ryan Ashton
Founder & Chief Yarner
A Few Quiet Yarns