This week I have learned: I really am in my element when facilitating workshops. It's about getting the best out of people, thinking on my feet, being creative, being a performer, not taking myself too seriously.As a generalist is sometimes hard to pinpoint the things that I'm good at, but this is one of them. … Continue reading Weeknote 717: workshopping
This week I have learned: Yes, there are some nasty people in the world. Many of them are in positions of great power and influence. But most of us are lovely. Thanks go to the three folk who helped me out in Manchester last night. I would like to think that the correct sequence of … Continue reading Weeknote 716: falling pavements
This week I have learned: The Thai language is essentially all in the present tense, so lots of explaining is required. An English book translated into Thai will have 130-150% more pages than the original. The existence of JB Priestley's book "Delight" which both is, and also has unlocked something for me about how to … Continue reading Weeknote 715: Words
This week I have learned: I'm finding NotebookLM increasingly useful as a tool for rapid research. With a colleague on Thursday we were able to create a new card deck from source material in minutes which gave us enough of a prototype to start testing the idea within an hour.This is where these tools have … Continue reading Weeknote 714: AIIIII
This week I have learned: Waiting for things to appear can lead to anxiety. More so in the era of instant messaging when the "x is typing" immediate gratification has raised our expectations, probably badly. Sending emails to clients and not getting an immediate response is torture, but also utterly lacking in empathy. Our dopamine … Continue reading Weeknote 713: downs and ups
This week I have learned: a good break from everything over Christmas was well-needed. Caught up with family and friends. Cooked, ate, drank and was merry. But after two weeks it was also good to get back to work. it's been a productive week. A proposal for a new piece of of work, and getting … Continue reading Weeknote 712: back to it
Just about 20 years ago I headed into the BBC Worldwide offices at Woodlands, the dirty brown office blocks on the wrong side of the A40 for the very last time. I went to my desk in C Block, put down my bag, headed to the loos, locked myself in a cubicle and burst into … Continue reading Weeknote 711 – Yearnote 2024
This week I have learned: there's been so much illness about for the last few weeks. I've felt various levels of crappy for the last fortnight, and many colleagues in many locations have had varying levels of illness over that period too. I can't remember an end of year where I've been looking forward to … Continue reading Weeknote 710: the last fizzle…
This year, as with most years, I've been busy on my Kindle. Here are some of my reading highlights from the past 12 months (books not necessarily from 2024, but purchased and read this year). Fake Heroes: Ten False Icons and How they Altered the Course of History Otto English This is a great book, … Continue reading 2024 Bookshelf
I ran a workshop this week for colleagues from across our consulting organisation. I wanted to find a way to allow people to explore an idea without being too constrained by their own views. I also wanted people to identify tangible actions that they could take away and do.The theme for this workshop was improving … Continue reading Multiple Perspective Futures – a workshop tool