This week I have learned: sometimes there are problems that you just end up staring at. Staring, and staring, and staring. And then something clicks and you realise that it wasn't nearly as complicated as you first thought. That today, apparently, Lauren Laverne made reference on her show to my flow chart. That makes me … Continue reading Weeknote 377: Cuckoo Blogging
The world of Information Technology orbits around the concept of repeatable process. We program computers to process data. Programming is the act of decomposing the world into a series of repeatable, logical steps. And the software that is produced from this act invariably then expects the world in which it operates to be one where … Continue reading Processless
This week I have learned: that the coat I bought ten years ago to travel to the northern-most tip of mainland Europe is still toasty warm The 7-S model is so very useful a way to check you've got most bases covered. Getting on for forty years old, but doesn't make it any less useful. … Continue reading Weeknote 376: let it snow
I was in a presentation earlier this week where a senior person from a rather idiosyncratic but large public organisation talked about their experiences of migrating to Microsoft Office 365. There were interesting and honest reflections, and many people asked if it was possible to get a copy of the slides that had been shown. … Continue reading Not from my tenant.
Silicon Valley seems obsessed with making things frictionless. At the core the removal of barriers to people using their products is a sensible business development strategy. Why on earth would you want to stop people being customers? In the "pay with your data" world of modern web services, it's even more important to allow people … Continue reading Less Frictionless
This week I have learned: how to binge on Podcasts (Richard Herring's RHLSTP) And on Netflix (The Crown & Black Mirror) CIOs need to stretch their ideas That maybe we should book meeting rooms like we do hotel rooms- specify your needs but get allocated at time of use. Or maybe we should just discourage … Continue reading Weeknote 375: binge
When did you last spend some serious thinking time devoted to electric motors? Since getting up I have brushed my teeth, shaved, turned on the dishwasher, seen cars pass me on the walk to the station and boarded a train into London. All have depended on electric motors and yet for the most part we … Continue reading #noIT
Last week I wrote up one of the games I've been playing with groups, here's the next one... Game - Competing objectives Objective: organisations are often trying to get teams working together more effectively. Yet at the same time those same organisations will set individual and team objectives in such a way that makes effective … Continue reading Play Games (2)
This week I have learned: Yes, I'm shallow. Getting a daft one liner on The Poke gives me immense satisfaction. #famousfor15tweets Looking at complex things makes me want to break them down and codify them. It feels like it helps, but I'm never quite sure. I don't understand America and gun laws. I never will. … Continue reading Weeknote 374: Hanging around
"Let's do a podcast" I said to Chris back in around September 2016. Slightly surprisingly he said "Yes". The adventure began. This is a post I've been meaning to write for a while, but only now spurred into it by a chance tweet. It describes technically how we put WB-40 together every week. The editorial … Continue reading Podcasting primer
