General

Weeknote 780: sampling

This week I have learned: to do lists are sometimes the way that you can exert some sort of control when it feels like you don't have it. They don't need ot be a permanent fixture. the political shenanigans this week are just more evidence for me not of strong or weak leadership, but of … Continue reading Weeknote 780: sampling

Weeknotes

Weeknote 779: Starting

This week I have learned: the Zen-like art of a studio rewire. Stuff had accumulated over the years. Wires were everywhere. When better than a bank holiday weekend to rip it all out and start again? I'm not a tidy person, but I can take some joy in occasional acts of extreme tidying. unless it's … Continue reading Weeknote 779: Starting

General

The Actionable Insight Fallacy

You've probably heard of survivorship bias. It's the mistake of studying only winners: the companies that made it, the founders who broke through, while ignoring the far larger number who tried the same things and failed. It's a well-documented problem. But there's a second mistake that follows directly from it, and yet people don’t seem … Continue reading The Actionable Insight Fallacy

Weeknotes

Weeknote 778: onboarding

This week I have learned: I can't work out whether I've joined a new or an existing team. I'm not sure it matters much, but it's interesting nonetheless. navigating the vagaries of the way in which large organisations procure services continues to strike me as a form of witchcraft dressed up as a business process. … Continue reading Weeknote 778: onboarding

Weeknotes

Weeknote 777: decided

This week I have learned: if you pull your ears it helps to reduce pre-performance nerves. I learned this from a wonderful colleague, Letty, who has done much drama in her career. having the framing that I learned from Kae Tempest's interview last week about the trilogy of writer, reader and content helped hugely in … Continue reading Weeknote 777: decided

General

What do you actually do?

A friend of mine is a copywriter. We recently messaged about AI and what it means for her work, and I suggested that her job wasn’t really about writing words. She was, understandably, a little prickly about this. Her response, once the initial reaction passed, was this: “I suppose my initial reaction is to feel … Continue reading What do you actually do?

Weeknotes

Weeknote 776: a trinity

This week I have learned: the book is now not only on a boat, but we also have an ETA for mid-May. We can now start planning in earnest for the launch. This is a huge relief. You can keep an eye on where the OOCL Piraeus is on the oceans here: experiments.randomthebook.com/whereisrandom I'm fascinated … Continue reading Weeknote 776: a trinity

Weeknotes

Weeknote 775 – biography

This week I have learned: the power of using Claude to explore my grandfather's biography. I spent some time with my dad at the weekend, and he gave me a few more details about what grandad did over his long career in electronics. As a result I stumbled across a document outlining research papers published … Continue reading Weeknote 775 – biography

Weeknotes

Weeknote 774: 2×2

This week I have learned: the power that lies within Mark Earls' deceptively simple 2x2 matrix to triage problems. how nice it can be to have a last-minute invite to something (and diaries permit that to happen). There's not enough spontaneity in modern life. it appears that getting up at 5am on both days is … Continue reading Weeknote 774: 2×2

Weeknotes

Weeknote 773: a throw of the dice

This week I have learned: I'm getting better at understanding what gives me energy and what drains me. It's been a week where I'm probably energy neutral overall. The bigger the organisation, the harder things get. I'm convinced of this. Public or private sector, it's the scale that drives inefficiency. Unilateral activities in one place … Continue reading Weeknote 773: a throw of the dice