A few years ago I found myself teaching some of the skills of project management to a group of people who worked at a shipping insurance company. There was a module about risk management, and I was somewhat daunted by presenting it to a group of people whose professional life revolved around the assessment of … Continue reading Risk, hacking, internet fridges and bad journalism
I've been blogging in one form or another for about eight years now, and in earnest for about six. Still a newbie in comparison to some, an old hand to others. I've undoubtedly gained work through my writing, both directly and indirectly. But that's not why I do it - it's a side outcome, not … Continue reading Emotional connections
A few weeks back I did a little experiment. Bored with the usual annual challenge of being bamboozled by the complexities of telecoms company charging models, and the feeling of exploitation that was aroused by the end of "12 month introductory" deals, I issued a challenge to five of the main broadband providers (BT, Virgin, Sky, PlusNet … Continue reading The social consumer – a curious coda
This week I have learned: - un-constructive name-calling is surprisingly hurtful. Criticize by all means... - being the edge case of an automated process is surprisingly stressful. But at least they had the sense to talk to me about it... - there is a pre-holiday tax to be paid - and probably a post-holiday tax … Continue reading Weeknote 254: en vacances
So here's the narrative: Windows XP was a storming success. So successful that people didn't need to upgrade from it. And certainly weren't going to upgrade to Windows Vista, which was widely accepted within and without Microsoft as a dog. With three legs. And mange. Windows 7 sorted out all of the problems with VIsta, … Continue reading Windows 10… first impressions
I woke up early this morning. I had things on my mind. And the kids are away so I was perturbed by the silence in the house. I checked my phone. I skirted through LinkedIn, Facebook. On Facebook there was a particularly irritating ad for Windows 10 proclaiming that it would allow me to "sign … Continue reading The end of the PC era
Back in the days before social networks, us Gen Xers used to do most of the stuff that we do today on Facebook and Twitter using email. Pictures of cats existed before the era of the social networks; email was social without the like buttons. Every so often I would send a joke of my … Continue reading Going viral
Part of my week last week found me with a group of project delivery people from across the organisation of one of my clients. The discussion revolved for much of the day around a thorny challenge: the group has been tasked with forming a broader community of practice around project management, but how do you … Continue reading Side projects
Things I have learned this week: - getting project people to think about things that aren't tasks is a fundamental challenges - getting big organisations to contract with small organisations is painful - letting go of comfort blankets is tricky - I might now have had my 15 minutes of Interwebs fame... Next week: 5 … Continue reading Weeknote 253: sunglasses
Sitting on the train this morning reading this week's Economist briefing on Silicon Valley made me think one thing above all else. If the techno-utopian vision of a virtual, Artificial Intelligence world is so close, why the heck is so much of the world of technology development focused in such a small and relatively remote … Continue reading The triumph of the PostIts
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