Today’s coffee partner is a Civil Servant who works in one of the bigger Whitehall departments. We talked about the challenges of being counter-cultural in organisations that thrive on continuity and the status quo. We talked about leadership development programmes and how they reinforce conformity and short-term thinking even if that’s not what the organisation … Continue reading 12th of 100
When electricity first emerged as a source of reliable power for industry, initially factories that had used mechanical sources of power retrofitted so that the complicated contraptions made of belts cams and axles that would allow motion to be distributed were powered by an electric motor. It took many years for the ways of working … Continue reading Automating stupid
This week I have learned: the enjoyment of being in the company of others. An annual gathering of friends for a post-Christmas Christmas dinner, people who have been knocking about together for three decades, feeling as young as we did back then even if we have now moved from "falling over" to "having a fall". … Continue reading Weeknote 616 – gathering
This morning's coffee companion is a consultant who has specialised in the world of recruitment but is looking for what comes next and is currently writing two books. We talked about how your name shapes your life, and how disturbing it can be when you have a name you think to be unique when you … Continue reading 11th of 100
Today's coffee companion is an entrepreneur who has founded a social venture to support female founders. We talked about an upcoming trip that she has to take some of their founders to the US, and how weather can impact at this time of year to the even the best-laid plans. We talked about the impact … Continue reading 10th of 100
Over the weekend I joined a group of friends for our annual just after Christmas Christmas dinner. Alongside the traditions of exorbitant amounts of cheese and probably too much wine, people bring along games to play. I took my Meta Quest 2 VR headset. None of my five friends had experienced "room-scale" VR before - … Continue reading Adventures in the metaverse
This week I have learned: that every so often I will get a hold of some piece of technology and it will totally live up to my expectations. The Emeo Saxophone is one of those pieces of technology. Hardware and software combined, and a perfect example of how devices like the Arduino can allow small … Continue reading Weeknote 615 – in person
Today's coffee companion (although we both had tea) is the UK head of business development in the public sector for one of the big US technology companies. We have both been in our roles for a similar length of time, so there was a bit of "How's the new job?" experience sharing, but mostly we … Continue reading 9th of 100
Today's first coffee companion is a former Head of IT who has impeccable taste in podcasts. We talked about the strange world of utility companies and how the legacy of Hull keeping its telecoms independent of the national network has resulted in some of the fastest internet connections in Europe. We talked about how gas … Continue reading 7th of 100
Today's second companion is a former CIO who now does various bits of consulting We talked about the scourge that is Performance Management, and I once again unloaded some of the scars that were left on me in my time at Microsoft at the peak of their forced curve obsession. We talked about biodiversity as … Continue reading 8th of 100
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