Anthony Day, Blockchain Leader, IBM
Anthony is a Partner in IBM's UK and Ireland Blockchain team. He leads Blockchain transformations and the creation of new business networks for IBM clients across a range of industry sectors.
Anthony is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of helping clients achieve growth, define impactful digital strategies and launch new businesses powered by exponential technologies (Blockchain, AI, Robotics, Open Platforms, Cloud). He also hosts the Blockchain Won't Save the World podcast.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
LinkedIn: It's a platform that encourages constructive dialogue, has a great sense of community around certain topics, particularly Blockchain, and has always been a place where the people and organisations I want to engage with have had a presence.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I have been a strategist, and latterly digital strategist, for my whole career, and in the past six years have found a home working with Blockchain technology. For me, transforming companies and industries with the capabilities that Blockchains provide is one of the most intellectually stimulating things I could have chosen to do. With Blockchain, you have to rip up the traditional business rulebooks and start thinking differently.
Decentralised systems, Blockchains, or Web 3.0 (there are many 'titles') are about win-win-win economics, equitability, preserving privacy, enabling borderless trade and collaboration, and automating systems of business or government in code. While this makes such transformations lengthy, complex and uncomfortable to regulators, we have seen meaningful Blockchain platforms enter production in every industry and most major countries in the world. And there's so much more that we can do.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Working with Blockchain technology is very fast-paced. Every day you can read a new story about a start-up or protocol or company or government creating something new. This is a highly innovative sector that is well capitalised at this stage, so those with a vision and passion for the technology can make their mark.
Also, with Blockchain being a primarily open source and global domain, we're constantly lowering the barriers to participation and economic empowerment, which can benefit communities worldwide.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Make decisions about your career depending on which decade of life you're in:
In your 20s: Learn a lot. Put yourself in a place where you will learn from what you do, where you do it, and who you do it with.
In your 30s: Be a lot. Look for roles that give you responsibility and a chance to hone your management and people skills and the pressures of seniority in an organisation.
In your 40s: Earn a lot. At this stage, you're 'dyed in the wool'. You are who you will be, and if you haven't already achieved financial freedom, now's the time to enable it asap.
This model is clearly more focused on corporate life - with start-ups, it's a very different story. But when you're deciding whether to move role, job, country, etc. I always found this a helpful reference for what my primary career motivation should be. In short, don't sell out in your 20s...
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Working on meaningful challenges with inspired people. Problem-solving has always been in my blood, but it's a lonely place to try to solve the world's challenges alone.
Framing choices, researching new areas, architecting solutions, and gaining new perspectives from people from diverse backgrounds are very rewarding things to be able to call your' day job'.
In my career and personal life, I love to be inspired by the people and community around me, who share the same energy, curiosity and passion for the challenges we face.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
I am a husband and father, and I am very proud to be part of a loving family where we are open and honest with each other. Look at the world in an unconstrained and unbiased way and are constantly grateful for the things that bring us joy every day - be they big or small.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
I have been very lucky in my life to have met people and seen countries across the world, and I love the opportunity to learn from so many diverse cultures and communities. Unfortunately, it's been more challenging to get out and about in recent years, so I'm grateful for platforms like LinkedIn or virtual events (or maybe one-day Metaverse platforms) where you can seamlessly engage with the whole world.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
It's quite easy to say hard work and self-belief (these are important characteristics I'm grateful to my parents for instilling in me), but I would add a couple more here:
Critical thinking - the ability to frame issues and choices, whether personal or professional, for yourself or someone else. Breaking problems down into their constituent parts makes them feel less daunting and easier to communicate to others.
Embracing difficult conversations - we have emotive and confrontational conversations every day, at work and home. Being able to really listen to others and get to the root of their feelings or conclusions makes it much easier to show empathy or resolve issues.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I'm grateful for my own career journey to date and wouldn't want to go back and 'edit' the experiences I've had so far. But if I were to give one piece of perspective to others, particularly those starting out in their journeys or careers, I would say: Life is a Very Long Game. So, try not to be overly competitive or seek to achieve too much too soon.
Enjoy or learn from whatever phase you're in today, and take the time to figure out what choices match up best with what you want out of life. People can have four, five or six 'careers' in their lifetime, so taking a year out to reflect, or waiting for the right opportunity to come to you, is likely to be time well spent if it means you will be happier in the long-run.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I admire the entrepreneurs and founders who took risks early in their careers and who had the clarity and drive to build something they loved. I have had a more corporate than entrepreneurial career (so far), which has its benefits and drawbacks. But when I look at friends and acquaintances who knew what they wanted and put everything on the line to pursue it - that's inspiring to me.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
My family is a huge part of my life outside work. Being a father and a husband are two very different roles that require learning, energy and time and are a constant source of joy and inspiration (and sometimes struggles).
For my personal hobbies, I love to travel (when possible), stay fit with a mix of boxing and pilates, geek out on Marvel and DC content, and enjoy the recent resurgence of my football team: Newcastle United.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
In the early months of the pandemic, I was pretty much in denial that it would have any impact on my work or personal life. That was a bit of a miscalculation! It is definitely possible to build Blockchains in your bedroom, and you'll find that much of the Web 3 community is already in a remote working, global mode. Corporates took a little more effort to change, but it came quite quickly.
Apart from spending more time with family, a major benefit came with the growth of my podcast: Blockchain Won't Save the World. To make up for fewer events and travel, I dedicated a season to learning about the impact of Blockchain in countries that get less visibility in the media. And have been able to share some incredible stories from countries like Japan, Israel, Malta, Brazil, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UAE, Germany and India, which I may never have heard if lockdowns hadn't come in.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I have had a number of people watch over my career over the past 20 years, many of whom I regularly go-to for career and life advice. Being able to unselfishly share experiences or provide a sounding board to people going through exciting or difficult phases in their lives is one of the best things you can do.
I strongly encourage people to see how they can bring this into their own work-life - at any level. You don't need to have a formal title to be a mentor, and you just have to care to want to help those around you.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
I regularly get asked 'How can I get a job in Blockchain', to which my first response is usually: "Why?"... 'Blockchain' is used as shorthand for so many different meanings. Maybe someone wants to learn new technical or coding skills; maybe they want to work in a fast-paced industry, for certain companies that operate differently from traditional corporates or want a corporate job that gives them exposure to digital transformation in an exciting new way.
Or maybe they just like the idea of being paid in crypto... understanding your own motivation for the role you're looking to do (in Blockchain or in any setting) will help you break down what it is about that role that excites you and from there you can look at whether you are qualified or experienced to do that today, or if you need to need to retrain or spend time learning or coding before you take the next step.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Mismatch of expectations and reality. We often set unrealistic goals for ourselves and others and are surprised, annoyed, and then angered by what happens next. If we put too much pressure on the outcomes of certain choices or projects, any resulting 'failure' can be overwhelming.
Even something as simple as expecting our kids to be in bed by 8 pm can create unimaginable stress and lead to toxic behaviours. Taking time to anticipate failures and work on your own mental model for how to deal with adversity will (hopefully) allow you to put less pressure on yourself up-front and be more resilient when things don't go the way you hope they will.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"Hope is not a strategy."
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
I believe 'success' is a constantly moving target that you can measure every day: Am I happy? Am I doing the things I enjoy? Am I surrounded by people I love or who I am learning from? Am I feeling positive about myself?
Setting success as a destination or a single milestone can bring on pressure and also feel less rewarding when you've 'reached' it and then don't have a plan for what comes next.
My advice would be to set goals that are related to you, how you feel, and what you would like to be doing, rather than the attainment of a role, a salary amount, or physical things. Then, if you're turning up as the best version of yourself and being true to the person you want to be, chances are the accolades, rewards, and advancements will follow.