This week I have learned:
- a different interpretation of thinking about the future that resonated with me massively. Johannes, this week’s WB40 guest, talked about how thinking about the future is a hugely useful way to understand what you should do in the present.
- That chat was then the final piece of the puzzle when thinking about a workshop session I ran on Wednesday. I’ll be documenting it separately.
- Nothing says “Happy Birthday” quite like a letter from the NHS inviting me to send them a sample of my poo for analysis.
- An idle thought this week – is the whole idea of structured data inherently flawed? Codd et al only came up with the idea as a way to deal with the massive limitations of computers in the 1960s. Relational databases still dominate corporate IT, but they’re based on the idea that any entity can be defined with only one meaning. That’s not the way people work, but we continue to try to force organisations into managing data in a way that is probably impossible.
- That idle thought came from the observation of how a lot of corporate GenAI use cases appear to be about a layer of technology being placed on top of shonky data.
- if I thought the cold was bad last week, the cold and migraine this week was worse.
Next week: Christmas parties
The week in photos:
mmitII 