Rough Diamond is a book about learning - a rough guide - a manifesto for those who want to fly high above the ordinary. It's my own story but it applies to everyone I've ever met. It covers many different dimensions, some subtle and some not so much - but they are all important in one way or another.
My experiences have been no different to millions of others - it's what you do about them - these immovable objects - that makes it work.
The story really erupts about 4 years ago. I will tell you how divorce from my long term partner and the bizarre termination of my career in advertising were in fact the making of me.
It charts how having the priorities of my kids front and centre they could still get woven into my working life in the right way.
Although wanting to scream like a child amazing support from family and friends gave me the strength to get through. They showed me how to avoid all the pain that the normal divorce process seems to insist on.
I explain the ultimate divorce from the big agency. They cut me down at my knees. At the time it sent shock waves through me and the whole industry. Now I see it for what it was. The best thing that could ever have happened.
You will read some of the less usual tools I've used throughout it all. In dealing with extreme times I would ask myself, "What would Alicia do?" That was the TV character 'Alicia' in The Good Wife she saved my soul on more than one occasion. She kept my lid on. She kept me sane.
There are some parts of the book that are really low points and I learned how family bonds and human relationships really are all that matters. I will get into how love for my family saw me through everything and how the frailty of life is not something you can ever be prepared for - however strong you may think you are. But there's lessons there too.
Disruption is all around us now. We define it by the huge shifts in our lives and in our experiences of the world. They may also be made up by countless small ones too - but when they tip there's seismic shifts.
My experience in one industry is applicable to every industry. It is a perfect example of an industry in disruption right now. My experience focussed on the rise of technological change and digitisation across every sector and the disruption it has caused to all aspects of life - and in every society on Earth.
I hope that by reading this book you will smile and take a deep breath, but above all that, you will see yourself in it and some of my experiences will rub off on you.
Ultimately, this book is about how to live a truthful life without regrets. It's about how to turn the inevitable disruptions into advantages - and in doing so - polish your own diamond.
