Making the decision to go against what everyone else was saying was a key moment in the career of Susan van der Merwe, the chief executive of Lottery Corp.
My dad was a very strong influence on me. I always remember him saying: “You have two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.”And I thought: “That’s actually a really good piece of advice. [He gave it to me way back] , when I was probably like in my late 20s.dominate the discussion
[Another thing he used] to impress upon us was, and it’s one of those sayings I have often thought about over the years: “There is no such word as can’t.”I think back to the time when there were five lottery operators [in Australia] and I was at the Queensland lottery. We made the decision at the Queensland lottery, and we weren’t the biggest, that we would actually keep the Wednesday game.It was something that I, personally, was driving and felt very strongly about because I thought that it was the right thing for the customer.We had to then come up with an innovation that would make it commercially viable under a state-only arrangement, because of lower participation.
We didn’t go with the flow. We took our own path. We researched it. We did our homework, but there was still this moment of thinking: “Oh my goodness. I’m actually recommending to go against everything everyone else is saying.”It made me realise that you’ve got to step up and make some of those brave calls. And you’ve got to trust your instinct.
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