General

Weeknote 617 – facilitating

This week I have learned: the delights of catching up with someone you haven't seen in a very long time. the importance of good planning when it comes to running workshops. Facilitation is one of my happy spaces, and it's particularly rewarding when a small amount of planned structure unlocks the conversations. how surprised you … Continue reading Weeknote 617 – facilitating

100 Coffees

15th of 100

My first coffee companion today is the founder and CEO of a business that provides freelance professionals who can deliver projects. We talked about the challenges of establishing a new business and balancing being clear about what you do with the necessary expedience of being able to turn your hand to anything. We talked about … Continue reading 15th of 100

100 Coffees

14th of 100

This morning's coffee companion is a television news journalist. We last saw one another at Loughborough University some 3 decades ago. We talked about how it's totally impossible that 3 decades have passed since we last met. We also talked about how much technology has changed journalism in our working lifetimes, both in terms of … Continue reading 14th of 100

100 Coffees

13th of 100

This afternoon's coffee companion is a colleague at EE. We talked about writing, and how I use it to make sense of the world. We talked about my circuitous path which I occasionally refer to as my career. We talked about addiction and the road to recovery. We talked about the challenges of parenting teenage … Continue reading 13th of 100

100 Coffees, General

12th of 100

Today’s coffee partner is a Civil Servant who works in one of the bigger Whitehall departments. We talked about the challenges of being counter-cultural in organisations that thrive on continuity and the status quo. We talked about leadership development programmes and how they reinforce conformity and short-term thinking even if that’s not what the organisation … Continue reading 12th of 100

General

Automating stupid

When electricity first emerged as a source of reliable power for industry, initially factories that had used mechanical sources of power retrofitted so that the complicated contraptions made of belts cams and axles that would allow motion to be distributed were powered by an electric motor. It took many years for the ways of working … Continue reading Automating stupid

Weeknotes

Weeknote 616 – gathering

This week I have learned: the enjoyment of being in the company of others. An annual gathering of friends for a post-Christmas Christmas dinner, people who have been knocking about together for three decades, feeling as young as we did back then even if we have now moved from "falling over" to "having a fall". … Continue reading Weeknote 616 – gathering