Today's coffee companion runs a small consultancy. We talked about The challenges of being a small business selling to big corporations The way in which time outside a big org appears to be running in slow motion when inside it's going like the clappers Socio-technical thinking the challenge of bringing in revenue, building new business … Continue reading 67th of 100
Category: General
2/3rds of the way there, yesterday's coffee companion is a designer. We talked about: how design is so much more than graphics my current brainworm about the transfer barrier and how broad collective misunderstanding can be the joy of tactility and how that means playing cards! our collective recent experiences of moving into new organisations … Continue reading 66th of 100
Listening to a talk about generative "AI" last night, it dawned on me that there is a lot of conversation at the moment that appears to be conflating two very distinct issues, namely, the potential near emergence of "Artificial General Intelligence" and an apocalyptic scenario where we see humans losing control to machines. The former … Continue reading Out of control
"It's just semantics" of a phrase that ironically has more than one meaning. There's the face value version, and then there's the way in which it is used to dismiss what is regarded as trivial and unimportant, often by those who get bored by detail. The thing is, it is "just" semantics that too often … Continue reading Pick up a penguin
The furore around the workplace style of the former Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary is both fascinating and scary. Politically it seems terrifying to me that the party of the establishment, in power for 13 years, might use this episode as an excuse to try to politicise Civil Service roles because of a vaguely-defined … Continue reading Making the hard decisions
Some background hints and tips for anyone working with me. Feedback and observations on the content are most welcomed because I don't know what I don't know! Conditions I like to work in For individual working (writing, jockeying spreadsheets, preparing presentations) I’m happiest in my home office. I find this sort of work hard in … Continue reading My User Manual
There is a danger when one creates a new product that, as the saying goes, if you only own a hammer then every problem looks like a nail. But as I look at the tsunami of hype about generative artificial intelligence that is currently engulfing the world of information technology, and soaking the general media, … Continue reading The time for play is now
I was chatting to a friend at the weekend who works in a field about as far away from the hi-tech world of crypto as one could imagine. Her business, a traditional business with a heritage stretching back 100s of years, went "all in" to NFTs last year, believing it was the future of their … Continue reading Components
Yesterday's first coffee companion runs a business involved in managing waste more effectively. We talked about: the importance of finding space to meet with people without agenda the process of "divorcing" from a business partner shifting from being a software business to a professional services business the pressure of tech investment (and how the business … Continue reading 54th and 55th of 100
How very Douglas Adams. Today's coffee companion is a leadership consultant. We talked about: our respective career histories the PlayCards the way in which playing cards allow people to interact with ideas differently the importance of playfulness in work leadership, and why Servant Leadership is such a strange term to use the importance of leaders … Continue reading 42nd of 100
mmitII 