The fourth and final Business Intelligence Workshop for 2011 was a debate on whether or not future success would be derived more from the University of Life or Academic Training.

The workshop took place at the Stamford Plaza on Wednesday 9 November 2011, with over 80 senior businesspeople in attendance.

On the affirmative team was Sir Peter Maire (Navman founder) and Trevor Johnston (newly retired CEO of Riverlands Ltd and Director of Taranaki Bio Extracts Ltd).

On the negative team was Derek McCormack (Vice-Chancellor of AUT University and Trustee of the AUT Foundation) and Sean Simpson (Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of LanzaTech).

When introducing the debate, Mark Lowndes, Managing Partner of law firm Lowndes Associates, referred to Peter Thiel, billionaire and founder of PayPal, who this year awarded 24 scholarships to people aged 18-20 years old to develop their ideas instead of attending university.

Affirmative - University of Life

Sir Peter Maire opened the debate for the affirmative team by saying that academia was like being on a train that’s going to some pre-determined end point, and the longer you stay on the train, the more pre-determined the destination becomes. He then described the university of life as “a highway with many side roads”, and that along the way you get tempted by the many side roads as they come along. Sir Peter recalled how he started out in business 45 years ago with a broad knowledge, however, he said that is when he started his “PhD in commercialisation”, looking to satisfy a particular need or particular customers. Sir Peter said that academics have very specific knowledge in one particular area, but that in order for them to produce a successful product you need to mix them in with people who have experience in other areas.

Negative - Academic Training

Mr Derek McCormack opened the debate for the negative team by saying that university was not the solution for everyone, as some people prefer other types of learning or would rather learn a trade. He did say, however, that those who graduate from university in New Zealand earn on average 50-130% more than those who do not go to university. Mr McCormack referred to Department of Labour reports which indicate that there is an increasing demand by employers for graduates. He said that anyone can be successful in business by having drive, commitment and a bit of luck, but that at some point along the way they are going to rely on people who have degrees.

Mr McCormack cleverly took a vote on who had attended University and who wished for their children to attend. There was a clear preference for University education for our children.

Affirmative - University of Life

Trevor Johnston is a wonderful example of success from the University of Life. He joined the local freezing works at a young age having no school qualifications, and later became the CEO.

Mr Johnston gave the example of a senior management team at a meat works being replaced by 11 graduates after a strike. He said that within two years, profits and morale had fallen dramatically and that standards had slipped. He said that he was brought in to get things back on track because he had 30 years experience in the industry. He said that although the graduates were probably very smart, they had very little leadership experience. He said that when he took over, he needed to change the culture, and to change the culture he needed to have people with experience and leadership skills in certain positions, something which isn’t necessarily learnt from books.

Mr Johnston said that to be successful in business you need to “get the human side of it right”. Relationships with employees, suppliers and customers are all very important, but that building and maintaining relationships was the least taught skill.

Negative - Academic Training

Dr Sean Simpson said that when he went to university he developed a very deep understanding of how tomatoes ripen, which may not seem very useful, but at the same time, he said he also learnt how to get to the bottom of problems and how to find out what else you need to know.

Dr Simpson said that in order for companies to be successful, they need to rely on input from a variety of people with a very deep understanding of different areas. He said that the debate was not an either/or question, and that attending university is taking the chance of attending two universities, the university of life and university itself.

Dr Simpson also said that when he is looking to employ someone, he looks for a university education as sign that the person has the ability to learn. He said that no single university degree gives you all the skills necessary to succeed in a job, and that to succeed in business you need to apply your ability to learn, not necessarily what you learnt at university.

After the debate concluded, another vote showed that the audience were split 50/50 with regards to whether or not they agreed more with the University of Life or Academic Training. A good result for the Affirmative team indeed.

The first in the 2012 Business Intelligence Workshops will be on 13 June 2012. Please keep an eye on the website www.business-intelligence.co.nz for further details.

Interviews with the speakers:

 Trevor Johnston & Sir Peter Maire - Affirmative Team

 Dr Sean Simpson & Derek McCormack - Negative Team      


About Lowndes Associates

Lowndes Associates is a leading corporate and commercial law firm with offices in Auckland’s and Wellington’s CBD.

The firm comprises carefully selected teams of industry-leading specialists. Together they reinforce the firm’s reputation as a law firm with a strong sense of commerce. Lowndes Associates prides itself on its ability to integrate specialist input from different areas of the law into seamless advice focused on what matters - the commercial outcome.

Many of the firm’s lawyers have additional degrees in business and management, and have qualifications and major international firm experience, including in Asia, Europe, the United States, the UK, Australia and the Middle East.

In the 2007 to 2011 editions of major international legal directories, Lowndes Associates has received listings as a leading commercial law firm in the following categories:

• Corporate/M&A
• Dispute Resolution
• Intellectual Property
• Restructuring and Insolvency
• Technology Media & Telecommunications

In the 2011 New Zealand Law Awards, out of ten awards for which Lowndes Associates was eligible the firm was winner in 2, runner up in 2 and finalists (top 6) in 3 awards. The firm has in each previous year been in award winning top 3 positions and finalist top 6 positions in the New Zealand Law Awards in a number of categories.

Lowndes Associates is the exclusive representative of Multilaw in New Zealand. Multilaw is the 4th largest international network of commercial law firms, with 6,500 lawyers in 71 firms in 150 commercial centres in 60 countries. Mark Lowndes is the Chairman of the worldwide Multilaw network.

Lowndes Associates is New Zealand’s first carboNZero registered law firm.

The firm sponsors the Auckland branch of the Institute of Directors (IoD). As part of Lowndes Associates’ sponsorship the firm participates in various corporate governance initiatives including participating in a mentoring role in the IoD’s New and Aspiring Director lunches.

The firm hosts the annual four-event Business Intelligence Series of breakfast workshops for senior executives and businesspeople.

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