Are you one of those people who can draw on a white board, draw meaningful things that everyone can understand and make things crystal clear, a white boarder? I’m not, I’m rubbish at it. There are several people I know who can pick up a dry marker, think for a few seconds and the sketch … Continue reading White boarding
Hotel room
I’m stuck in a hotel room, three and a half metres by two and a half, no more than a cell designed for single occupancy. Somehow an en-suite bathroom has been squeezed into the space along with a single bed, a small desk and a single cupboard not deep enough to hang your jacket in. … Continue reading Hotel room
You can’t get ahead
You see it all of the time, people busting a gut to try and get ahead of the work that they have, trying to beat the system. No doubt you are one of them. You will have bought a lap top or a tablet or a smart phone to give you that extra bit of … Continue reading You can’t get ahead
Writing a strategy
It’s that time again, it comes around every so often when I need to write a strategy for the service, the highest level of document that will describe what it is we are trying to achieve over the coming years. It should be quite easy to write but then you have to take into account … Continue reading Writing a strategy
Why I love Deltics part 2
It was the kind of summer’s day when you are glad to be in England. The grass swayed in the warm breeze and the blue sky was gently dappled with clouds making their way lazily towards the east. We hadn’t planed this day, it just seemed like a good idea at the time to get … Continue reading Why I love Deltics part 2
Outsourced
I’ve been outsourced. I’ve contracted out all of my eating arrangements to Marks and Spencer. Everything, the whole nine yards, lock stock and two smoked haddocks. I did consider other providers, I carried out some soft market testing but Marks and Spencer were closest to meeting my defined requirements, my specification. There was no detailed … Continue reading Outsourced
Blue green egg
A little blue green egg lies cracked open, lying on the rough tarmac of the car park. It is in two halves with its contents gone. A blackbird’s blue green egg, mottled brown that has fallen from a nest in a bush nearby or brought there as a trophy by a small mammal who’s luck … Continue reading Blue green egg
Armour on
This morning as I slipped my jacket on and adjusted my tie in the mirror, my wife said to me ‘Ah, you’ve got your armour on’ and I guess she was right. By putting on my suit I had changed from my home life to my work life and the clothes that I had chosen … Continue reading Armour on
Jargon busters
All industries have their own jargon and liberally splatter their communications with acronyms and initials. My own industry, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a reputation for being amongst the worst but having spoken to some of my colleagues in finance I’m not convinced that this is fair. Acronyms do trip off the tongue very … Continue reading Jargon busters
Olive tree
An olive tree and a free terracotta pot for less than fifteen pounds had to be good deal and when I saw it advertised on the television my eyebrows were raised and my interest piqued. I even had to check it on line just to make sure. The picture on the web page showed a … Continue reading Olive tree
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 