Peter Massam
My first few years were spent as a schoolmaster, which taught me much about pastoral care and finding multiple ways of explaining the same concepts to a mixed ability but very capable audience. You are never short of sincere, direct feedback in a class of twenty or more boys. I followed Plato’s lead and pinned it above my classroom door so that it was clearly visible to those giving instruction as well as those receiving it, when exiting the room:
“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”
My years covered French, Sports, Maths, IT and choral Music, including a two year stint living and working abroad in Kenya that proved invaluable in appreciating different cultures, languages and traditions. As a linguist first and foremost, it was natural to expand into communication networks when they were in their infancy, concluding with an IT project that involved the whole school. Challenges were diminishing and the decision made to take a leap into business. That was not easy.
It led however to managing burgeoning networks and using a mobile phone for the first time. The experience was so poor that I made it my mission to improve the service quality for all customers globally, which would become my soap-box topic of Customer Experience. It would be four years till that topic sat on every company’s board-level agenda, first in Europe, then Asia and lastly in the U.S. It required designing new operating models for start-ups, like Three, and building innovative, digital transformation models for standards bodies.
Leaving the workplace to fulfil a lifelong dream to write (inspired by my former English mentor in the 6th form, the late RVW – Ray Weight), I have published six books now, the last being a Learning Experience trilogy released in Feb 2023, spanning the categories of coming-of-age, psychology and philosophy. The trilogy is designed to help young adults navigate the journey into an adult life, providing ways to cope, overcome fears and head for healthy, enjoyable outcomes.
More on authored publications can be found here: