Blogpost 2000: Some questions

To celebrate my 2000th blogpost, I asked Twitter what I should write about. This series of posts are inspired by those requests.Peter O'Rourke asked me these questions: The one blog your proudest of, and why? There are two, one sensible, one silly. Plus a short series of four posts that are really one long post … Continue reading Blogpost 2000: Some questions

Blogpost 2000

This is my 2000th blogpost. Rather than simply write a normal post, or indeed write a post about it being my 2000th blogpost, I decided to ask the question on Twitter of what it should be about. I didn't really know what to expect, but as a result of the query I've now got the … Continue reading Blogpost 2000

Weeknote 524 – schooling

This marks the last day of our kids being at home and balancing off school, work and all the other bits, all at the same time. Hopefully for a long while. For all that I might joke about the kids going back to school being a relief to me, it's much more about it being … Continue reading Weeknote 524 – schooling

#SAE March – A short poem about life

Through the month of February, the wonderful Steve Chapman has been running a daily artistic event #WTFeb. On February 18th the challenge was this: Today’s challenge is to create a minimalist three line poem to express your own instructions for living a life inspired by the wonderful Mary Oliver poem “Instructions for Living a Life” … Continue reading #SAE March – A short poem about life

Educating myself

For the last 18 months or so I've been on a conscious, if somewhat haphazard, path to read more about issues of inequality and privilege. I'm white, male, straight, middle-aged, middle class and relatively wealthy. That's about as privileged as one can be in Britain in 2021. I was also brought up in the 1970s … Continue reading Educating myself

Weeknote 523 – 5 days

This week I have learned: the appeal of Japanese fox-based metaphors (cheers Mr Wilshire!)the power of listening to the stories customers want to tell.that The Bullingdon Club really are the crème de la crème.that Data is moving up the agenda.that you really need to know why.that standing is the new sitting. Or something. Next week: … Continue reading Weeknote 523 – 5 days

Lists, maps and strategy

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a distinction between two types ofthinking - map thinking and list thinking. In a chance' conversation this week with a former colleague Mark, we started to explore how these two mindsets might apply to the thorny world of strategy. To start off, there are many interpretations of … Continue reading Lists, maps and strategy

The hierarchy of meetings

In the years BC (before COVID) there was a strict hierarchy. Meetings in the same room as one another were supreme. People who weren't in person could dial in. The people dialling in felt like interlopers. They were peripheral to the discussion. Often people in the room forgot the people on the line existed at … Continue reading The hierarchy of meetings

Weeknote 521: teletext retro

This week I have learned... the power of the House Trainerthe term "toxic positivity"that it's about creating environments where evolution happensthat bad things can happen when things that should be outcomes become inputsthat it's chuffing coldthat Gather has some legs (but not on a mobile)that I value being asked to be part of groups almost … Continue reading Weeknote 521: teletext retro