I came across this story a few days ago. It is not new but it is inspiring. It is about a refuse collector from Bogota in Columbia who has been saving books that have been discarded and offering them to people in the less affluent areas of the city. It is a modern Robin Hood … Continue reading There’s nothing more beautiful than having a book
Perception of who I am
For some reason I had the impression that, when I was at Durham, everyone in my management team was bigger than me. There was an element of truth in that as I am not exactly amongst the biggest of people. I believe however that I am of average stature. Looking back there were two tall … Continue reading Perception of who I am
Remember when we had banks
Oh no, I have got a cheque. I’ll have to traipse down to the bank and put it into my account but there hasn’t been a branch of my bank in Morpeth for years. The nearest must be ten kilometers away. I’ll leave it until I go into town next. Even though the branch on … Continue reading Remember when we had banks
Highlighter guilt
Every time I use a highlighter pen I have a deep sense of guilt. It doesn’t matter the colour or the make, the pangs are always the same. It has nothing to do with the environment or some congenital issue I have with the pens. It goes back a long way yet the feelings are … Continue reading Highlighter guilt
So what – now what
I think this is going to be the end of my Thinking Digital 17 stories. I could probably scrape up a few more if I tried hard though. It was such a great conference this year, with so much to remember and talk about. I know it was only in May yet I cannot recall … Continue reading So what – now what
An expert
According to David Clutterbuck , co-founder of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council, ‘An expert is someone whose existing knowledge hinders their new learning.’ Hearing this takes me right back to my University days when learning about evolution. During that time I realised that specialisation is the last stage before extinction. In the animal kingdom, … Continue reading An expert
Growth through Mentoring
I’ve been doing a lot of networking lately. Since leaving Durham I have thrown myself headlong into seeing as many people as possible to try and gauge what opportunities may be out there. It is amazing how kind and generous people are. One of them is Helen from the North East LEP. There is enormous … Continue reading Growth through Mentoring
What can machines do better?
You would think it is an easy question. What can machines do better than people can? Most people could answer it though they had to draw breath first and repeat the question while they thought about it. I was at the excellent Northumbrian Water Group Innovation Festival at Gosforth Park Racecourse. I was only able … Continue reading What can machines do better?
Happy birthday Art
It’s Art’s birthday. I had forgotten all about it until Facebook reminded me. Art is not a real person, he is a figment of my imagination and his story goes back to July 2009. I was working at North Tyneside Council at the time and we had just moved into the nice new Quadrant building … Continue reading Happy birthday Art
Jugaad the gutter
That piece of gutter had been annoying me for years. Ever since we had the conservatory built at the back of the house I was not able to get to clean it and after a while it had got dirty with algae and moss. I had sat and stared at it for years from the … Continue reading Jugaad the gutter
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 