Wednesday 1 October 2014

Stirling Minds: Jock Scott (Entrepreneurial Focus)

This article was published in the 2014 edition of Stirling Minds, the Alumni magazine of the University of Stirling.

Jock Scott


BA Philosophy 1982
Mediator, Abune


"After 25 years in human resources, I wanted to use this experience to do something different.

I’m a bit of a change junkie and like the challenge of developing and maintaining relationships in the most difficult of circumstances.

I’m used to dealing with difficult organisational problems and understand the enormous pressures they put on both management and the individuals involved. And I have been involved in countless disputes.

So I trained as mediator.



Abune brings together two or more parties who are in a dispute and I facilitate a discussion between them to resolve their differences without further litigation. It’s a bit like family therapy for organisations.

Stirling and the Philosophy degree changed my life. It opened up the world for me in any number of ways. I grew up in a coal-mining community in Scotland, and coming to Stirling took me on a long journey of discovery.

The late seventies and early eighties were a time of great political activism and I loved it. I was involved with all sorts of political, cultural and musical activities.

Since then, the three things that helped me most in my life were my studies, a lot of luck and a determination to do different things.

From January 2010 until June 2013 I lived in the Middle East. I was HR director for PwC and based in Amman, Jordan, covering 12 countries with responsibility for 2,700 people before and during the Arab Spring.

I started my first business in 1997. I started my second business in 2014 upon return from the Middle East. Running my own business means I’m responsible for everything and don’t have the routine of a typical day or a team of colleagues around me. All of it is positive, if a little daunting on occasion.

My advice to new graduates would be: don’t get stuck with a fixed career plan, be prepared to try different things and don’t be afraid. Don’t worry too much about money and job titles; that will sort itself if it’s important to you."


(Stirling Minds pdf)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you very much for your comment!