Talk may be cheap, but it's also enormously valuable.

Conversation is often underrated and can even be seen as 'a waste of time' that prevents us from 'taking action'.

A few years ago I was travelling in Thailand and took an overnight trip from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, to visit the famous 'Bridge on the River Kwai'. I was keen to take the train over the bridge and went to the ticket office of the small railway station to purchase my fare.

​Most of us have been on a lot of video meetings lately and I'm sure, like me, you've had the experience of talking away about something only to discover that you're still on mute. You've tried to convey your message, but nobody heard you.

Diana, Princess of Wales, was renowned for her fashion choices. Top designers around the world clamoured to make dresses for her. These designers knew that their dress, worn by Diana, would achieve 'money can't buy' media coverage. They also knew that while Diana would look good in their design, more importantly, their design would look amazing on her.

A few years ago, I hosted a group of guests for a lunch with guest speaker Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc. This was an exciting event, reportedly selling out within twenty minutes. There was a buzz around Brisbane that morning and long queues for the latest iPhone.

I often hear technical specialists express their frustration that the board, in their view, does not understand the technical aspects of proposals presented to them. This can be seen as a lack of technical expertise on the part of the board and there is a concern that if technical advice is not heeded, it will increase specific and critical risks.

For centuries London's Watermen carried passengers both across and up and down the River Thames. The Watermen rowed a small boat, called a wherry. Purchasing a wherry and a licence to operate one was very expensive and they were often handed on from father to son. A wherry was a valuable asset.

2011 was a momentous year: Brisbane suffered a catastrophic flood, my husband and I got married and spent a wonderful honeymoon in France, I won a scholarship to Harvard Business School and I wrote my first book, Pivot Point: making the decisions that matter in business. It was a time before the word 'pivot' was in vogue.

Boards make collective decisions. This is different to executive decision making, and it's an important nuance to understand if you're presenting a proposal to the board.

​I was delighted this week to deliver the first of the Asset Management Council's AM Tuesday webinars.

We discussed asset management in the boardroom, including the nature of board decision making, the types of decisions boards need to make and how asset management practitioners can support board decision making.

This week the Asset Management Council is hosting its online AMSPEAK conference. Yesterday, I presented my paper on Reducing the Risks of Innovation in Asset Management.

Back in September 2018, I wrote an article about how we create value through connection, not in isolation. Little did I know that 18 months later isolation would take on a whole new and literal meaning. However, I believe this statement remains true. Connection now is more important than ever.

These thoughts are dedicated to the leaders, like you, who inspire and challenge me every day. I wrote these in 2012 after my experience at Harvard Business School, where one of the key lessons for me was that 'resilience means self-care'. I'd like to share them with you again today. Stay well.

Now, more than ever, we need to draw on our human ingenuity and work together to create solutions. Since the start of 2020, each day I've been sharing a new idea to help spark creativity and empower innovation.

I'd like to share with you this selection of more than 50 of the 365 ideas. Those included are suitable to do at home and don't involve a crowd. Fun, laughter and togetherness are essential, even if we are working apart.

Twenty years ago, I took my first trip to Germany and visited the Deutsche Boerse, the German Stock Exchange, in Frankfurt. These were the days before the Euro currency was introduced and they still traded in Deutsche Marks. Outside the Exchange, on the Boersenplatz, there are two bronze statues: a bull and a bear. They represent the rising and the falling market respectively.

There's a myth about the hero scientist - Newton being struck by an apple, Archimedes leaping from the bath exclaiming Eureka! While there may be grains of truth in these stories, great achievements are rarely made by individuals acting alone. In reality it takes a team and active collaboration to make significant breakthroughs.

Most drums are made with plies of wood that are inserted into a mold and joined together with glue. This creates layers in the drum shell, warping of the wood and seams of weakness in the drum's integrity and its sound quality.

A few years ago I was on a trip with my Mum in Switzerland. She is a Girl Guide leader and from a young age she taught me how to lay a fire and to ensure it would go all night with no more than two matches. We were staying at a Girl Guides Chalet and some Boy Scouts were visiting for a traditional campfire. The Scouts had tried unsuccessfully to get the fire started. So, naturally we stepped in.

A few years ago I worked with a company that had built a fancy new open-plan office to 'enhance collaboration'. When the teams moved to the new office, they no longer had walls between them but there were still barriers. It was amazing to see that those who didn't speak to each other before the move, still didn't speak to each other afterwards. The physical walls had been replaced by 'invisible' walls, a bit like Get Smart's cone of silence. 

When Ernest Shackleton set off for Antarctica in 1915 it as billed as a grand adventure. In the days before GPS or modern thermal clothing such an adventure carried genuine risks.

After becoming stranded on the ice floes, their ship 'Endurance' eventually sank, broken up by the pressure of the ice. It would have been easy to give up hope, but Shackleton understood that maintaining the rhythm of daily life was essential for the survival of his crew.