In the dark days of Covid, I set up a toy experiment on the place we used to call Twitter. I was fascinated by my coffee machine. In particular, the patterns that would emerge on the top of my morning Latte after preparation. Unlike in posh coffee shops where a trained barista will create intricate … Continue reading Seeing patterns
Yesterday's coffee companion will soon return home after 11 months in the UK. We talked about: taking opportunities to explore the ludicrous process of selling a house in England the most interesting things I've learned from this experiment (to date) spending time away from home at distance the power of apophenia keynote talks as a … Continue reading 149th of 100
This week I have learned: that standing on a 23rd-storey glass floor sharpens one's presentation skills the importance of really thinking clearly about what you are selling, and how that's actually really quite hard shifting left in the decision-making process is also pretty important the PACE model for building trust that pressing the button to … Continue reading Weeknote 670: height
Wednesday's coffee companion is a photographer. We talked about: dramatically switching careers wiggly careers "spray and pray" the value of creative services helping people to think about how they price the value they offer how camera technology has evolved and continues to evolve knowing how things work from being around when they were first created … Continue reading 148th of 100
Tuesday's coffee companion is a master builder. We talked about: the challenges of building businesses the idea of focus when you are a small operation finding the right people to work with thinking about a plan B leaning into complexity doing things that aren't in your sweet spot recalling events through metaphors of bricks and … Continue reading 147th of 100
This morning's coffee companion strategically innovates. We talked about: the magic of cards and coming up with the games after you have built the deck aligning teams of innovators Hansen's model for systemic barriers to collaboration the value of "free" services positioning services measurement, qualitative and quantitative data and the bias to the latter Gillian … Continue reading 146th of 100
This week I have learned: that the Royal Geological Society in London has one of the most "No, we are closed, go away" front doors in London. They are, though, open and the library inside the building is a joy to behold. the importance of spending time in inspirational locations. The RGS followed by the … Continue reading Weeknote 669: TBD
My coffee companion today is a colleague. We talked about: the power of meeting in novel places (he invited me to see a dinosaur exhibition in the library of the Royal Geological Society) building entire models from mere fragments of evidence how some discoveries can have a seismic impact on common understanding changing environments my … Continue reading 145th of 100
This week I have learned: the sad news that my "football dad" Roger passed away after many years of ill health. In the 1970s, growing up in Watford, something magical was happening in the town which, to be blunt, lacked any sense of identity plonked as it was on the outskirts of great London. That … Continue reading Weeknote 668: Rog
Today's coffee companion is a Kentish woman. We talked about: being ill growing up without a sense of an "ancestral" home living on a boat moving out of London the delights of procurement working with other agencies yesterday's podcast conversation how last year was a hard year leaving Twitter, and what's replaced it 100Coffees is … Continue reading 144th of 100