51 for 50

51 for 50 – 1996

In my hip-hop obsessed teens, alongside the Run DMCs and Mantronixs, I had a special thing for the cut-up merchants like Double Dee and Steinski and I guess to an extent people like The Art of Noise. Beats and pieces sampled and scratched together to produce audio collages. Roll forward into my music-obsessed twenties, and … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 1996

Management, Social, Technology

Let them play

In the course of my research for Who Shares Wins, I was told the possibly apocryphal story of how email was introduced into a law firm back in the early 1990s. The senior partners had been sceptical about this new-fangled communications medium, and had resisted its introduction. However a more tech-friendly group of employees started … Continue reading Let them play

Management, Politics

Management by decree

As a part of my current mini side project #NotAWebinar I was watching a clip from the psychologist and former NBA star John Amaechi. In it he talked about how behaviours that would be otherwise unacceptable in modern life are tolerated if not positively encouraged in the world of sport. He talked of a hypothetical … Continue reading Management by decree

Weeknotes

Weeknote 484: hitting walls

This week I have learned: it's lost its novelty, this Lockdown thing hasn't it? Not sure I want it to end, though.the value in having someone external looking at what you are doing and asking questions and providing input.twice.finding new ways to propagate information and changing habits is key.find ways to find cracks between the … Continue reading Weeknote 484: hitting walls

51 for 50

51 for 50 – 1994

Ah, the battle of Britpop. Blur vs Oasis. Let me nail my colours to my mast. I’m Blur. Parklife is a cracking album, The androgyny of Girls and Boys, the laddishness of the title track. And it’s not the Gallagher Brothers. https://open.spotify.com/album/0DBkFC6739trhCoVreZyds You can see the #51for50 project to date here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/51-for-50/

General, Weeknotes

Weeknote 483: settling in

This week I have learned: The fun to be had by encouraging people to be evil (as a learning activity)That Miro seems to be pretty goodThat someone's you need an outsider's validationTim Geraghty does good presentationsI really don't like flag-wavingThis is probably still the beginning of the beginning. Next week: coaching The week in photos:

51 for 50

51 for 50 – 1993

I’ve dabbled with electronic music since my teens. Orbital felt like the sort of music that I would have created if I had had more time and a bit more talent. It’s very British music. It’s very electronic music. And their second album (the Brown one) is a wonderful work. https://open.spotify.com/album/1JYyYFJSYrXMHLe7Dz1B3W You can see the … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 1993

Weeknotes

Weeknote 482 – May. Maybe not.

This week I have learned: the sheer delight of proper remote workingthe sheer delight of purchase order processinghow there might be opportunity to use sentiment analysis to drive real data into customer journey mapshow people light up when they are asked to look at problems in human terms.I know a frightening number of sitcomsYou can't … Continue reading Weeknote 482 – May. Maybe not.