to accommodate: ‘What they expect to get from an organisation and how they expect it to behave is very different to what we are used to,’ said Ford. ‘We have to deliver clear value to them


and their businesses. Also, their interest is global. They expect to communicate across boundaries – national and professional. They don’t operate in the same silos we are used to, and the power structures are not reflecting that expectation.’ So, perhaps the current generation at the


Roundtable participants, left to right: Ron Jarnagin of ASHRAE, Jeff Littleton (ASHRAE), Stephen Matthews of CIBSE and David Warriner of IMechE


top of professional bodies should just get out of the way, said Andy Pearson, president of the Institute of Refrigeration (IoR). ‘The best thing we can do is nothing,’ he


said. ‘We need to get out of their way. That doesn’t mean abandon ship, but step aside and assist. If we are taking up all the


seats at the top table and in committees, we are not leaving space for new, fresh ideas and the exuberance of youth.’ Getting the older generation to give up


its ‘power’ would not be easy, though, the speakers agreed.


Handing over power Former ASHRAE president, Richard Rooley, knows things have to change, but said: ‘It is uncomfortable for us to hand over the leadership roles we spent so long working for. We resent it and feel uncomfortable, but we have to be prepared to take a risk. ‘The young people always say we are


making mistakes, so we should give them a chance to put things right.’ However, it is the older generation that


24


CIBSE Journal November 2011


www.cibsejournal.com


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