Test Shortcode – Hagen-Does

PAL Mining—Initial Questionnaire—Tim Meadows-Smith

Welcome, Tim.

This form will guide you through reflection on your path. Each section covers a specific role or stage, beginning with your time at Goldsmiths, prompting you to explore your memories, values, relationships, challenges and lessons. The final section invites you to reflect thematically.

At this point we're not so much interested in the conventional business tropes but rather HOW your internal decision-making processes take place - are they based on emotion / logic / something different / hybrid?

When exploring mentors, challenges and so on uncover the HOW and WHY of your interactions, regress or progress and how they evolved over time.

Completing the Form

You can complete this either online or offline.

Online: Use the Google Doc linked here. Your work will be saved automatically.
Offline: Download the document.

Once you have finished, please update the relevant Trello card. If you worked offline, remember to upload the completed file to the shared folder.

As with all your work in PAL, the more detailed and extensive your reflections are, the stronger the foundation Martyn can build for your Paradigm.

ENJOY!

Pre-Career — Goldsmiths and Early Influences (1976–1977)

University choice and experience: • Why did you choose Zoology and Botany at Goldsmiths? • Was your intention to complete a full degree or were you exploring an interest at that stage? • Looking back, what drew you to natural sciences—passion, curiosity, family influence or something else?

Notable incidents or memories: • Recall one or two memorable incidents or memories from your year at Goldsmiths—in your studies, friendships, relationships or wider life. • How did these experiences shape how you thought about yourself, your work or the world?

Relationships: • Who were the most influential people you met during this period—peers, friends, teachers or others? • Did any of these relationships continue beyond Goldsmiths, and if so, why? • Were there particular challenges or lessons in your personal or relational life at this stage that influenced your choices or later approach to business?

Decision to move on: • What influenced your decision to leave Goldsmiths and step into your first sales role at Kellogg’s? • Was this decision pragmatic, opportunistic, driven by necessity or something else?

Ongoing interest: • Have Zoology or Botany—or more broadly, nature and the environment—remained part of your life since? • Do you see connections between those early interests and your later business philosophy, leadership style or worldview? • When you mentioned the tragedy of the Dorset fires, what resonated most with you personally?

Pre-career influences: • Beyond Goldsmiths, were there significant experiences before 1977—family, schooling, friendships or early work—that influenced your character, approach to leadership or worldview? • How do you see those formative influences carrying through your later journey?

Sales Representative — Kellogg Company — 1977–1980

Memorable incident or memory: • Recall a specific incident or memory from this chapter that has stayed with you. • What happened? Who was involved? • Why has this memory lasted? • How does it capture the essence of this period for you?

Entering this stage: • What drew you into this role at that time? • What was happening personally or relationally that influenced this move?

Values and meaning: • Which personal values or beliefs were most alive for you here? • How did the organisation’s culture align with or clash against them?

Successes and satisfaction: • What gave you the deepest sense of satisfaction in this period? • How did that resonate with your life outside work?

Challenges and growth: • What were the most testing challenges? • Were there institutional or team dynamics that stretched you? • How did you respond and what did you learn about yourself?

People and relationships: • Who were the key personalities you worked with? • Who from this period is still a close friend or trusted contact, and why? • Was there a mentor—who were they and how did they shape you? • Which relationships or institutional dynamics were particularly challenging and how did you adapt?

Progress and PAL connection: • Did this chapter improve or refine a skill, approach or way of seeing the world? • If so, what was it? • How can this apply to the project we are building now in PAL?

Looking back: • If you distilled one insight from this chapter for others, what would it be? • How does it connect with who you are now?

National Accounts Sales Manager — Premier Brands Ltd — 1980–1983