Todd Sampson discussed how modern science has proven that the brain is plastic and can be improved at any age through various techniques like mental flexibility, forced adaption, memory techniques, meditation, and managing fear and emotions. Jacqui Clarke emphasized the importance of succession planning for long term business survival and reducing complexity to develop talent. Anastasia Clarke discussed how finance can support business strategy through investing capital, managing debt and equity, and ensuring policies are board approved.

1. SYDNEY – DAY THREE
WRAP UP
Wednesday 21st October, 2015

2. Todd Sampson
Chairman, Leo Burnett, Australia; Co-Creator, Earth Hour
Brain. Power.
Key Points to remember:
Todd Sampson is the writer, host and human
guinea pig of the award-winning Discovery
Science Series called REDESIGN MY BRAIN. The
premise of the series was simple: For more than
70 years, science has told us that our brains are
fixed. You are born with the brain you have, it
develops rapidly until age seven and then it
starts a steady decline from age 30 until you die.
There was nothing you could do about it. But
science has now proven that to be false. In fact,
modern science has now shown that our brain is
plastic and that we ALL have the ability to
improve it at any age and at any time. This
presentation will show you how to boost your
Brain Power.
Todd took us behind the scenes of this
extraordinary scientific journey, and provided us
with the practical tools, strategies and
techniques to improve the brain. We are all
capable of more than we realise … and modern
science is showing us how.
Description:
At any stage of your life, regardless of who you are, you have the
ability to positivity correct your brain - it's called brain plasticity
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary in the brain is
access
Access points include:
• Mental flexibility - the ability to change perspective
depending on the circumstances
• Forced adaption - put your brain in uncomfortable situations
and it will adapt
• Techniques to improve your memory - use visualisation
• Speed of thinking - brain blink
• Emotional regulation - this is teachable
• Fear - it's manageable and takes practise
• Meditation - both mindfulness and visualisation

3. Jacqui Clarke
Lead Partner, Deloitte Private Sydney
Succession planning within private companies
Description: Key Points to remember:
Organisational structures
that are still hierarchical
can be restrictive and
impede flexibility. With the
baby boomers set to retire
over the next 10 years, how
do you reduce complexity
and develop talent to
ensure succession planning
is alive and well within your
organisation?
• 40 per cent of businesses are expected to change
hands in the next 10 years
• Succession planning requires a clear and early
focus . It's critical for the long term survival of the
business
• Many companies don't have a plan because the
patriarch doesn't want to let go of the business
• Look at the structure of the business early on and
restructure if necessary
• A lack of transparency can cause big issues in
family businesses

4. AASB: Latest Developments in standard-setting
Senior Project Manager, Australian Accounting Standards Board
AASB: Latest Developments in standard-setting
Key Points to remember:
Prepare for the future of financial reporting with Clark Anstis.
Clark outlined current and future standard-setting developments from the
AASB and the IASB.
He also set out the AASB’s plan to engage and hear from stakeholders on
the development of Australian Accounting Standards.
Description:

5. Blair Delzoppo
Partner, C3 Business Solutions (an EY network company)
Insurance against (and causing!) industry disruption with
advanced analytics
Description: Key Points to remember:
Traditional organisations are being challenged
by new-wave operators using big data and
advanced analytics to better understand
customer behaviour and rapidly respond to
their changing wants and needs. They are
literally winning "the customer war".
This presentation discussed how traditional
organisations are insuring against industry
disruption by moving away from a
transactional model to a customer behaviour
model through the use of statistical predictive
analytics and machine learning.
It also outlined how to achieve a persistent
view of the customer with the ultimate goal of
understanding what is inherently the hardest
thing to predict – human (read customer)
behaviour.
• Disruption is coming from companies
outside of your industry. For example
retailers are disrupting banks and
insurance companies
• An emerging industry is the customer
• Companies are building models that
predict how a consumer will act based
on analytics
• Big data's three converging factors - lots
of new data, new tools and application,
and scalable infrastructure
• Company's need to develop a strategy to
know their customers first before their
competitors

6. Thea O’Connor
Health presenter, writer and health coach
Description: Key Points to remember:
Aim: That participants feel able and
motivated to protect their physical and
mental vitality so they can fulfil their
leadership aspirations.
The Business Case: What’s the ROI of
investing in healthy, sustainable work
habits?
• What attributes are critical for the
modern leader? What does
neuroscience say about how our
health, energy and mental habits affect
these attributes?
• How does our relationship with
technology affect our physiology?
• The biological basis of high
performance and better health,
exploring the 24, 12 and 1.5 hr
biological rhythms that govern energy
and attention.
• Three success factors for making lasting
behavioural change.
Personal sustainability for leaders – managing energy
and attention in the digital age
Critical resources for thriving at work in the
digital age:
• Energy - in the face of high demand
• Focus on priorities - amidst endless distraction
• Creativity - to solve complex problems
• Flexibility - to adjust to constant change
•
When you're tired it affects your ability to:
• Revise plans
• Think innovatively
• Focus amid distraction
• Have insight into own performance
• Deal with the unexpected

7. Trudy MacDonald
Founder and Managing Director, Talent Code
Extended Session: Recruiting the perfect fit – how to
ensure your next hire doesn’t disappoint
Description: Key Points to remember:
Recruiting the right candidate
for your organisation is a high-
stakes game that you can ill-
afford to get wrong.
The process involves more than
just checking on credentials,
the candidate experience and
the personality fit in ever
decreasing rounds of
interviews.
Yet all too often this is the
method of choice for many
tasked with hiring for their next
team member.
• The cost of a hiring mistake is between 150 to 300
per cent of the base salary of the worker
• If you have one disengaged person in your team, it
takes five engaged people to neutralise the situation
• The people who are most insecure about their work
are the high performers
• To get a great team you need to define greatness
(what and how people deliver work), you need to be
able to measure greatness and reward people for
being great
• Common hiring mistakes - not asking the right
questions, not listening to your gut, making
decisions too quickly and hiring from a poor talent
pool

8. Anastasia Clarke FCPA
Chief Financial Officer, GPT
What is capital management (debt, equity and
risk management) in your business?
As businesses compete for customers,
disparate groups have to find a way to
work together in a more collaborative
manner, which isn’t always easy or
natural.
The big picture question must be asked:
How can technology be an enabler
across the organisation? Collaboration
stands as a differentiating factor for the
competitiveness of the future enterprise
Description: Key Points to remember:
• Capital management is both the investing of
capital and the traditional debt and equity
• Capital management skills are essential for
people who want to get high management
roles such as becoming a CFO
• All companies should have board approved
capital management strategies
Rules:
1. Never issue equity below NTA
2. Never gear the business more than your policy
level 3. Keep up to date with interest rate levels,
global and local markets 4. Never borrow from
one source with one expiry date

9. Damien Foley
Relationship Manager – Indigenous Strategies – QLD and NT, CPA Australia
How many indigenous accountants do you know?
Description: Key Points to remember:
Become aware of issues and factors faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people in education, employment and financial literacy.
Build a better understanding of the role Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people play within the business and accounting sector.
Learn how you and your organisation can positively contribute to social
change and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Become aware of the influence policy has on Indigenous employment and
business outcomes.
Description:

10. Megan Dalla-Camina
Business, creative and leadership strategist
Becoming a strengths-based leader
In this talk, we discovered:
The real forces driving next-level
leadership and what people want and
need from their leaders today
Why taking a strengths-based
approach to leadership is the key that
unlocks productivity, engagement and
wellbeing
How mindset and energy impact
leaders' actions, people’s behaviour,
and bottom-line business outcomes
At the end of this session attendees
walked away with tools and
techniques to change how they show
up, how they lead, and the impact
they can have – no matter what their
role.
Description: Key Points to remember:
When managers emphasise performance
strengths, performance is 36% higher
People who use their strengths feel more
confident and are more engaged
Where can you start?
- Take the free strengths survey at
www.viame.org
- Have your team members take the VIA
survey
- Start having strengths-based
conversations
- Begin to spot the strengths in others
- Start to challenge your fixed mindset by
thinking and speaking in a growth
mindset voice

11. Description: Key Points to remember:
Peter Doyle (Owner and Head Chef, Est.), Liz Egan
(Celebrity Chef; Judge, “My Kitchen Rules”) and Adam Liaw
(cook, TV presenter and writer, winner “Masterchef”)
Business Lunch: Business of Food
Have lunch with three of Australia’s most
prominent chefs. Peter Doyle is a legend
of Australian cooking, working in the food
industry since 1972, and is widely
regarded as a founding father of
contemporary Australian cuisine.
Liz Egan is the culinary genius behind 2
Chefs Hat restaurant Onions and modern
Italian restaurant Becco, both in
Melbourne. She is also a guest judge on
Seven's "My Kitchen Rules".
Join Adam Liaw, winner of "MasterChef"
and TV presenter on SBS, led a lively
discussion on their passion for food,
where they find their inspiration and
insights into their success.
Liz Egan:
• Once you work in a restaurant it is highly
addictive
• Food costs are important and a lot of
restaurants get it wrong and are forced to close
• It's important to see what your competitors
are doing, no matter what the industry
• Australia has a wonderful melting pot and
variety of food available
• You need to be brave and do your homework if
you want to succeed
•
Peter Doyle:
• The restaurant model works well if the
business is full all the time - but a lot of
restaurants in Australia aren't
• Good communication and focus are extremely
important in any restaurant
• I believe word of mouth is still the best way to
fill seats

12. Dr Eva Tsahuridu
Policy Adviser Professional Standards and Governance, CPA Australia
Creating an ethical culture: Why and how
Description: Key Points to remember:
Paul Urquhart
General Manager Finance, Australia Post
How finance can support business strategy in a changing world
In a rapidly changing environment
where customers are demanding
online solutions, far fewer people
are sending letters, and with an
increasingly competitive parcels
market, alternative approaches are
vital for Australia Post’s future
success.
Paul Urquhart, General Manager
Finance, Postal Services, discussed
how a dynamic finance function can
support the business outcomes, and
drive strategy.
Australia Post are focusing on three areas in the
finance teams to support the business:
1. Capability and mindsets - know your team's
preferred style, experiment, protect and
innovate
2. Communication - internal communication
(iPortal), "unintended evolution",
availability of data and security, integrated
thinking - understand your value drivers
3. Metrics and scorecards - longer term focus,
innovation plans, enterprise vs. business
unit focus

13. Todd Davies
Chairman, Resilient Futures
Audit 2030: A retrospective look from the future- moved time
Description: Key Points to remember:
It would allow:
• Discussion of big issues facing business –
mapping the role of the auditor in the big
issues facing business (e.g. Climate
change; cybersecurity) over the last 30
years and the lessons as to how to
respond to future changes to business
models
• Current challenges – how an auditor
should deal with the globalisation of
business and accounting; what is the role
of technology now and in the future
• Key current lessons – focusing on what
audit can learn from the digital disruption
of other industries
• How audit adds value – what is value
today and what is does it look like in 2030
• Untapped elements of audit – what are
the important skills now and what will
they be in the future
Disruption is:
• fast
• not only digital
• a strategic capability
• the #1 issue for boards and capability for
organisations
So you should:
• have a constant vigilance on value
• build/buy the right capability
• enlist a trusted provocateur
• have an amazing value proposition
Accountants have the right discipline and skill
set to succeed but need to invest

14. Dr Eva Tsahuridu
Policy Adviser Professional Standards and Governance, CPA Australia
Creating an ethical culture: Why and how
This session investigates the
influence of culture on individual
ethical behaviour in the work
context and provides examples of
how culture leads to
organisational misbehaviour.
It also explains the key elements
of culture and provides valuable
insights on how to create and
sustain an ethical culture in any
organisation.
Key Points to remember:
Dr Eva Tsahuridu
Policy Adviser Professional Standards and Governance, CPA Australia
Creating an ethical culture: Why and how
To promote an ethical culture:
• Our code of ethics/conduct needs to reflect and be consistent
with our culture. Otherwise it will not work
• Our formal policies and objectives must be aligned with the
culture
• What we say inside and outside the organisation must be
consistent with what we do, expect, measure and reward
• We need to visibly reward ethical behavior
• We need to have ethical leaders who are visible ethical role
models
About the session:

15. Melissa Armstrong CPA (Aust.)
Leader, Organisation and Senior Leadership Development, Flight Centre
Leading with the social brain in mind
Key Points to remember:
Neuroscience affords new
insights to help leaders
enhance engagement and
drive performance.
In this session you will explore
three areas to enable you to
“lead with the SOCIAL Brain”
Description:
What are the human motivators to get people to perform at their best?
There are three key areas: Know, protect and regulate
Know:
- When you feel excluded your brain reacts in the same way as if you were
feeling physical pain
- People are drawn towards experiences in the workplace where they feel a
positive emotion
Protect:
- Create an environment where there are more positive rewards than
negative and which allow employees to get into a state of flow
- This will enhance their experiences, other employees' experiences and
customer experiences
- To analyse this, use the SCARF model: Status, certainty, autonomy,
relatedness and fairness
Regulate:
- Manage your emotions - give a controlled and measured response to
situations
- Enable others around you to self-regulate.
- 3 step approach to self-regulate: Sense, name and act

16. Ethan Glessich
Managing Director, enarah
The art and science of prioritisation
Description: Key Points to remember:
If everything is a priority
then, by definition, nothing
is!
Now more than ever our
effectiveness hinges on our
ability to effectively
prioritise. Learn about the
challenges your brain faces
when prioritising and
discover how to overcome
them to drive up your
productivity.
Prioritisation and science session
• Prioritisation is one the biggest challenges people
face everyday
• The problem is not that we don't have enough time
- it's that we have too much time
• Prioritisation is a decision that is important to you
• Your brain contains five 'buckets' - when new
information comes in, an existing piece is taken out
Tools to help you prioritise:
1. Work with a buddy to help you prioritise
2. Zoom out (focus on what you can achieve)
3. Separate the signal from the noise
4. Pareto: 20% of input equals 80% of output
5. New default - Say NO but add a reason
6. Stress less
7. Smart start - focus on that critical task first

17. Nolan Bushnell (USA)
Founder Atari and Chuck E. Cheese; author of Finding the Next Steve Jobs
Stay on the cutting edge with intrapreneurship and innovation
management
Nolan is famously known as Steve
Job’s first and only boss, hiring Jobs to
work for him at Atari.
Learn from one of the fathers of
Silicon Valley how to encourage and
build a culture of intrapreneurship in
companies, thereby helping
established entities to stay on the
cutting edge.
Description: Key Points to remember:
• The self-driving car will become more
important than world peace - because more
people are getting killed in car crashes than
in wars
• How can you take advantage of the golden
age and become an entrepreneur? Give
things away for free because the internet
expects things for free
• You want to hire people who think outside
the box and have a passion for what they do
• Do different things: habits and repetition
can lead to depression
• Throw the dice and be willing to fail
because you will learn a lot and be able to
experiment
• Say yes to crazy ideas more often - you
never know who the next Steve Jobs is!