Weeknote 628 – short measures

This week I have learned:

in one of my #100Coffees conversations a few weeks ago, we talked about my companion’s theory that the 70-odd days in the UK between New Year’s Day and Easter are the only time any work ever really gets done. The days are short, people are feeling the effects of over-indulgence and overspending from Christmas, the weather is crappy, and so it’s the only time when people really value doing some work over any other alternative options.

Whilst I think his theory was somewhat tongue in cheek, there’s definitely something in it, and it has felt like the world has slowed down a bit in the last two weeks as people take stock and a bit of a break around the long weekend.
a few days in Dartmoor was thoroughly lovely.
May I think is going to be very stop-start too what with normal bank holidays and hat ceremonies going on.
my youngest doesn’t like revising. To be honest, neither did I. And I can’t really remember what I did other than highlight passages in books with highlighter pens. But he’s only twelve and I didn’t have this kind of exam pressure this early in my secondary school life. State Schools have turned into Exam Passing Machines. This is not a good state of affairs.
the effects of the pandemic will last for years. I get a sense that for some there’s almost a level of PTSD going on. It’s hardly surprising – it was really hard, really scary and really weird.
we are working on some pitches for the BBC at the moment. Remarkably the Values that were drawn up under Greg Dyke’s Making It Happen programme over twenty years ago still seem to be the values that they work to today. Whether they are really lived still or not I guess is another question, but that is quite remarkable. The exercise to generate them consulted with around half of the employees of the time (about 11,000 out of 22,000). It’s still the most honest exercise in such corporate stuff that I’ve ever witnessed.
I’m starting to run out of coffee companions. During May there will be another splurge of activity to get them in the diary – but if you want to beat the rush, you can sign up here.
every time I get another order for the PlayCards it puts a smile on my face.