After the turmoil of 2004, 2005 quiet frankly got weirder. I started the new job working in management training and as a result found myself commuting great distances to stand up in front of groups of complete strangers to talk about things that I may or may not have had any particular knowledge. Was this … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 2005
This week I have learned: the language that people use in CVs is almost always utter tosh. All one generally learns is how unwilling people are to leave the herd.I feel that I am on the precipice of some really important work.getting people to stop doing things is an underrated part of transformation.I cannot stress … Continue reading Weeknote 494: Changing Tack
People are getting overloaded with meetings. There's no two ways about it. A combination of the lack of informal conversations in office environments plus the ease of organising meetings with online diaries multiplied by there no longer being the limiting factor of "no meeting room available" means that for many of us there is no … Continue reading Back to back
2004 was a really weird year. After eight years at the BBC, I came to realise that I needed a change. I needed to get out before I was institutionalised (even harder that I had a familial relationship with Aunty Beeb because it was where my parents had both worked and met in the 1960s). … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 2004
This week I have learned: if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...the football stuff is getting nerve wracking.without a massive shindig every year in Barcelona, some companies' business models start to look a bit threadbare.I'm still hiring - 5 days to go...buildings are living, socio-technical systems.a new angle on thinking about … Continue reading Weeknote 493: End of term
Ms Jackson was the song that got me into OutKast, but by the time they got to Speakboxxx/The Love Below they hit the big time with the single Hey Ya!, radio friendly pop with the wonderful "Shake it like a Polaroid picture" which immediately makes it seem like decades ago, and deeply, deeply dark lyrics … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 2003
This week I have learned: that a combination of rain and back to back meetings means I've barely left the house this week.there is a fine line between therapeutic and annoying.parent/child relationships exist all over the place. Often switching mid sentence.it's one thing to know what you need to do, but quite another to convince … Continue reading Weeknote 492 – housebound
Blazing Arrow by Blackalicious is a stupendous album. No track better illustrates it than Chemical Callisthenics. And then you've got guest slots from Gil Scott-Heron, Chali 2na and Cut Chemist too. https://open.spotify.com/album/0DyXkWHnFMIJSuHfLgNfcc?si=_5myObGfRRaYiipQsQgPow You can see the #51for50 project to date here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/51-for-50/
It's been tricky getting time to read without a commute, but this was something I was contending with when, back in October, I was able to start a job for the first time in my 26 year career that involved but a walk from my house. The irony that that office has been closed to … Continue reading Summer Reading 2020
This week I have learned: whilst there is obviously no causal relationship between me buying a device to open up the skylight in my office, and it raining consistently ever since, it does feel like there is.Teddington Lock last Friday night was like Sodom and Gomorrah. Goodness only knows what the pubs reopening is going … Continue reading Weeknote 491: raining
mmitII 