Some good conversations yesterday, firstly with an academic researcher we've been working with recently, and then at lunch with former-BBC colleague Dan Merriott. Some links were made in those chats that haven't quite lined up for me before now. A number of years ago I was introduced to Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership model, the basic … Continue reading Hiding from control freaks
John Martyn - Solid Air One of many tracks that I was introduced to by the marvellous DJ Gilles Peterson. I've a stack of Peterson compilation albums, the first of which was from way back in 1985 - Street Sounds Jazz Juice. This John Martyn track is hauntingly beautiful. Number one on my birthday in … Continue reading 1973
We've been doing some initial trialling across the business with Google Docs and Google Sites, and here's a brief summary of thoughts and observations so far... Team working tools will only have an impact in teams that have a sense of team This might seem a bit bleedin' obvious, but it is fundamental. If you … Continue reading Thoughts so far on Google Docs & Sites
At the Google CIO event at which I spoke recently, Robin Williamson gave a talk about the companies nine principals of innovation. One of these central rules (the best known being the 20% innovation time) is "morph, don't kill" innovations. Williamson, who is one of Google's European senior engineering people, gave examples to illustrate this … Continue reading Stopping Projects
Britain in the sun... ah, but if only.
Steely Dan - Do it again For me, Steely Dan are a band whose songs evoke strong memories of childhood in the 1970s. Summer days spent driving to grandparents - the hot sun through the windscreen, windows open (no aircon in those days), and sticky, scorching vinyl seats, listening to the Radio One Roadshow broadcasting … Continue reading 1972
Isaac Hayes - Theme from Shaft For about 20 years I've had the idea of a Blacksploitation cop show with two characters - Rufus Stone and Barrington Mead. Rufus Stone is a place in the New Forest, and Barrington Mead the road on which my Great Aunt lives. Other than their names, sadly I've never … Continue reading 1971
Project achievements included: - cloud-hosted BES deployment began (c. 50 people now over) - contract negotiations on our network project for London - technical proof of concept paving the way for Windows 7 and a new notebook supplier - initial engagement on a major benefits dependency exercise Additionally: - second release of our change management procedures … Continue reading Weeknote 12 – in which gears shifted
On many occasions through my career I've heard people tell me that they have given up with planning, because external factors would always intervene which would break the original plan. This is a bit like saying that you won't plan out a route on a map before a car journey because there will probably be … Continue reading Navigating through projects
Minnie Riperton - Les Fleurs I don’t remember 1970. I was, at most, a month old. Looking at the history books, however, and it does appear to have been a bit of a grotty year. I kind of imagine that it felt like one long woozy hangover from the 1960s. The end of November in … Continue reading 1970
