The power of networks Networks have long been extolled as powerful tools for business. Robert Hannigan, former Director of GCHQ and Chairman of BlueVoyant, Europe, talks to Inflexion about establishing and maintaining them.

Networks can be phenomenal tools Once you identify the right people, Loyalty to networks is important if they consist of the right mix of motivation is key. and comes from having the right people. To mitigate the self-selection People need a common purpose, an leadership. bias inherent in networks, an open enthusiasm around an ambition that is higher This is absolutely crucial if you are at the mind towards recruitment is key. than themselves and has a reward beyond forefront of innovation, since you’ll make a Cybercrime networks for example the purely financial. It needs a meaning number of mistakes – as is normal when beyond their everyday experience, so finding a have a core membership group and venturing into new areas. But in order to take purpose which the network coheres around is risks, which are inherent in entrepreneurship, are good at pulling in appropriate absolutely key. you have to have the confidence the people talent in an agile way. They do this Tapping into that motivation to get a goal to will come with you, rather than tear you apart on an ad hoc and short-term basis, aim for is very important. This is particularly when you fall down. operating very fluidly and flexibly. true when the network is disparate and may You need loyalty to take risks, and you need This is very important in the modern, not meet often, so they need this cohesive risks to get innovation. data-driven economy. purpose to bind them.

Robert Hannigan Robert Hannigan was Director of GCHQ, advice on counter terrorism and intelligence the UK government’s largest intelligence matters. As Head of Intelligence, Security and cyber agency, from 2014-17. Hannigan and Resilience in the UK Government’s has a long history of involvement in cyber , he was responsible for security and technology, having drawn the funding and oversight of the three UK up the UK’s first Cyber Security Strategy intelligence agencies. For nearly ten years and outlined the government’s ambition of Hannigan lived in Belfast and worked on the making the UK ‘the safest place to live and Northern Ireland Peace Process as Tony do business online’. He set up the UK’s Blair’s principal civil service adviser. National Cyber Security Centre as part He is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering of GCHQ and launched the active cyber and Technology and a member of the defence programme for the UK in 2016. Ministry of Defence Innovation Advisory Hannigan served as Security Adviser to panel with Ron Dennis and Tim Peake. the UK Prime Minister from 2007-10, giving Technology is an enabler of Recalling the success of Bletchley’s head networks, but beware of Alastair Denniston is a useful lesson in leadership. He understood the need to enable Grey uniformity leads to self-selection. people to do brilliant things, rather than stagnation and group-think. Social networks are worse at self-selecting micro-managing. Acknowledging the talented The eccentricity which than are humans: algorithms dictate this. staff he surrounded himself with, he got the Though it is suboptimal for creating a network, best from them by being a great enabler of flourished in there is no question that technology can help young, diverse talent. That remains a key in the 1940s was down to maintain an established network’s links and management tool today. communication easily and cheaply. the diversity there. Denniston had a great network – before Diversity is needed to optimise WWII he saw that a completely different type a network. of person was needed for codebreaking in the new context. He went round scouting The real purpose of diversity is to encourage universities for mathematicians because different ways of thinking. People with various he knew that was what would be needed. life experiences think differently, and when you His teams went on to create the world’s first get them working together you get the ‘magic’ programmable computer. He was truly at the of creativity and innovation. forefront of the digital revolution. The self-selecting nature of many networks Diversity in teams, a common goal and can work against diversity. Sharing a common enabling talent is crucial for getting the most ultimate goal is insufficient since if those out of a network. Without these, you will people are too similar, they will lack the limit your combined potential. It was true at sufficient tension for debate and the ideas that Bletchley Park in the 1940s and it remains can generate. true today. Grey uniformity leads to stagnation and group-think. The eccentricity which flourished in Bletchley Park in the 1940s was down to the diversity there.

Being passionate The importance of engagement for networks and management. about something helps We talk about engaging and motivating a lot hard to get that balance right, but keeping a engage people beyond in management. It’s important to take time to common goal front of mind and being prepared sit down and think ‘what motivates me to go to to take risks helps. financial gain. work? What excites me?’ This is particularly Being passionate about something helps crucial as you get into later stages of your engage people beyond financial gain. You career, when it becomes easy to lose sight of will be paid less to work in government, so your passions. GCHQ’s recruitment emphasises its mission; A shared purpose is helpful in motivating for it is genuinely interesting and worthwhile work. the longer term. This tends to be quite difficult People do it because there is a motivation in a management role, as you’re focussed beyond salary. Understanding this motivation on delivering short- to medium-term targets. in the entrepreneurial world – it’s about At GCHQ this meant fighting terrorism today solving a problem for people – sometimes a while also trying to ensure that in ten years’ problem you don’t even know you have – is time we were at the top of our technology very exciting. game and can meet tomorrow’s threats. It is