Looking back on it, I was exhausted at this time last year. Partly that was because of all the stuff that I wrote about back then. But in hindsight it was also in large part because I had reached the end of the line in what I could meaningfully achieve in my last job. The … Continue reading Yearnote 2022
Yes, that's not coffee. It's jasmine tea. I said from the outset that other beverages were available. Today's beverage came after a lovely Chinese meal in Paddington. The conversation was another thriller: My companion is currently working transforming an electoral authority, running national government elections. The scaling challenges are mind-blowing- usually the authority have around … Continue reading 2nd of 100
I know that it's not yet technically 2023, but it's a relatively quiet week and so yesterday I popped into a local cafe to meet with an old connection to have the first of 100 (at least) coffees for the year ahead. It was a wide-ranging and thoroughly enjoyable conversation. We spoke about the changing … Continue reading 1st of 100
In 1739 the Grenoble inventor Jacques de Vaucanson unveiled his latest invention to the people of France. The Canard Digérateur, or Digesting Duck was a life-sized model of a waterbird that appeared to be able to take food in its beak from a human handler, and then miraculously poop it out of its other end. … Continue reading Fooled by the duck
This week I have learned: the joy of editing audio with Descript. The usual WB-40 editing process is pretty perfunctory - a minimum viable edit so that I can get the show out on the internet on the same day we record for fear that otherwise it will sit in my to-do list forever. However … Continue reading Weeknote 614: in review
The really big draw for me to join Equal Experts earlier this year was how it is managed. In my role, I don't have a manager. I don't have a performance review or annual targets. The business operates on the assumption that its employees are autonomous and able to get on with things without being … Continue reading 100 coffees*
This week I have learned: that the use of ellipses marks me out as GenX and may well be perceived as passive-aggressive. Thanks to Tom Whitwell for that nugget in here which has seriously made me rethink my approach to punctuation... that listening to the modern dramatisation of Microserfs has been an act of nostalgia … Continue reading Weeknote 613: jingle bells
This week I have learned: that it's still possible to get a cold and feel crap for a whole week. This is strangely life-affirming. my birthday this year made me feel quite miserable. I can't pretend that I'm young anymore. that if it does go tits up, the thing I will miss most about Twitter … Continue reading Weeknote 612: 52
A quick set of field notes from a retro we ran this week to talk about an adapted facilitation technique called Brainwalking. This approach is perfect for allowing all involved to have a say on issues without having to talk over one another. Brain walking Brain walking was introduced to me by my wonderful colleague … Continue reading Brain walking Retro
It's been a quiet few weeks, but things are now really hotting up on the PlayCards production front. After an interminable delay as a box sat at Stansted Airport waiting to be released from customs (obviously nothing to do with Brexit), I received samples from the printers in Italy that I'm intending to use to … Continue reading PlayCards – the journey to product ep. 3
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