This week I have learned: That people are probably confusing Serious with Solemn, and banning humour and fun from work makes serious things so much harder. I had a lovely evening listening to Neil Mullarkey talk about humour and improvisation at work and then saw this (prompted by Tom Geraghty's wonderful newsletter). In a conversation … Continue reading Weeknote 636: less solemn
There are a lot of duopolies in the world. Coke and Pepsi. Windows and Mac. Android and iOS. Labour and Conservative. When you have a duopoly it's really hard to get a new entrant in to break it. Remember Virgin Cola? Remember OS/2? Remember Windows Phone? Remember the Liberal Democrats? I was working at Microsoft … Continue reading Apple’s Duopoly Challenge
Today's coffee companion puts a human face on audit. We talked about: how we got to where we are the overlap between audit and accountancy the human nature of developing good audit practices the 3 layers model the challenges of risk management in organisations, and how positive risks taken get siloed from negative outcomes avoided … Continue reading 73rd of 100
On this day in 2022, I entered the Equal Experts offices in Farringdon, London, for the very first time as an employee. After nearly three years in my last role, I'd got to a point where I knew that I'd done enough to get RHP onto a different track, and it was time to do … Continue reading One year on…
Over my nearly 30 years of work, I've picked up a bunch of theories and models along my way. Some of them are useful, many of them I've forgotten. One that I keep coming back to is the 7-S Model. Developed by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in the 1980s whilst they both worked at … Continue reading 7-Ss for Technology teams
Today's coffee companion is a security expert. For reasons of security, there are no bullet points. But we did have a mighty fine conversation that encompassed Billion Dollar Mistakes, empathy in healthcare professionals, Wardley Mapping and using HR professionals as a technology sales channel. There are plenty more coffees to be drunk. Sign up at … Continue reading 72nd of 100
This week I have learned: there are certain points in projects, the "milestones", that might be better described as millstones. Points of playback, or reflection, decision points or just notional lines in the sand. They can put people under huge stress. Working out ways to reduce that stress, but still keep people motivated, is key … Continue reading Weeknote 635: milestone
Today's coffee companion helps make things people want, rather than making people want things. We talked about: The wonders of Barcelona The people challenges in consulting The ludicrous way in which people claim that businesses don't like uncertainty Psychological safety Sustainability, regeneration, fragility and antifragility Mutual connections There are more coffee companions needed. Book here: … Continue reading 71st of 100
Over the weekend I read a wonderful article by Stephen Wolfram that explores and explains the way in which much of the current wave of AI technologies operate. It's well worth the read. One particular point that has stuck with me is Wolfram's assertion that ChatGPT has blown apart a long-held assumption that the act … Continue reading The Halo Effect of ChatGPT
This week I have learned: after a few weeks which were very abnormal (conference season, 4 day weeks and so on) it was somewhat comforting to have a week which felt like it was more conventional. A couple of days at home, three in the office. Some coffees. Some progress made on client work. After … Continue reading Weeknote 634: normality
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