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
Today's coffee companion is a writer and consultant. We talked about what we have been up to since we last met. We also talked about how management, leadership and organisations are changing, sometimes against their will. The conversation led to an interesting hypothesis, which starts with an assumption - that the skills that one requires … Continue reading 70th of 100
Today's coffee companion is not a generalist. We talked about: the perils of not thinking "London" and ending up late for an appointment how many strokes a dog will get travelling on the Tube electric bikes, how heavy they are, and how that will remain a barrier to adoption for many the wonders of Suffolk … Continue reading 69th of 100
"Dump and clump" exercises are a fairly common tool in the world of workshop facilitation. Get people to think individually about a topic, and write down the things they think about on individual PostIt notes. ("No, Jeremy. One idea per PostIt note, please. Don't worry, it's not your stationery budget.") You then get people to … Continue reading Snap!
Today's coffee companion is a veteran of the IT industry. We talked about: being cross-discipline in the world of tech the experience of being a female developer in the 1970s (and how it wasn't until the PC revolution when men really started to dominate the tech world) how birth control changed perceptions of a leadership … Continue reading 68th of 100
Today's coffee companion runs a small consultancy. We talked about The challenges of being a small business selling to big corporations The way in which time outside a big org appears to be running in slow motion when inside it's going like the clappers Socio-technical thinking the challenge of bringing in revenue, building new business … Continue reading 67th of 100
This week I have learned: 5 days of being with hundreds of colleagues, away for the most part from the day-to-day is a wonderful thing it's also knackering the penguins article has become something of a brainworm. The extent to which we simply don't understand one another is profound, misunderstood, and probably quite fundamental to … Continue reading Weeknote 633: conferenced and out
2/3rds of the way there, yesterday's coffee companion is a designer. We talked about: how design is so much more than graphics my current brainworm about the transfer barrier and how broad collective misunderstanding can be the joy of tactility and how that means playing cards! our collective recent experiences of moving into new organisations … Continue reading 66th of 100
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