This week I have learned:
- there’s been so much illness about for the last few weeks. I’ve felt various levels of crappy for the last fortnight, and many colleagues in many locations have had varying levels of illness over that period too. I can’t remember an end of year where I’ve been looking forward to a break quite as much in ages.
- there were a few events this week. I sadly couldn’t make the EE Christmas evening do as there were family commitments, but I did make the WB-40 Christmas dinner on Wednesday. Nice to see folk who for one reason or another have associated themselves with that merry band.
- digging into a bit of the history of organisations when contemplating working with them I see as crucial. It’s the Chesterton’s Fence thing – if you don’t understand the context, it’s hard to make sense of the reality of now. Increasingly I think organisations undervalue the importance of maintaining and retelling their own histories – company archivists still exist, but it feels like an undervalued profession.
- I’ve been trying to square the circle of giving certainty about what things will be done before the work to be able to defined the detail of what will be done has been done.
- I’ve started reading The Wizard of Menlo Park a biography from some years ago of Thomas Edison. It’s really interesting to see how there are parallels with his life, an inventor who traded as much on his celebrity as his inventions, and the tech leaders of today. The extent to which his breakout invention, the Phonograph, didn’t really achieve very much in of itself is fascinating.
- I got to see Tom Standage from The Economist speak on Wednesday morning about the year ahead. He is an exceptional thinker.
- I can’t, however, say I feel particularly optimistic about 2025.
Next week: step in to Christmas
The week in photos:
mmitII 