Unfolding plans 200 – Hoary chestnuts roasting

Once again that perennial problem of system specification has raised its head.  It is a hoary chestnut yet one I thinking we are making good inroads into cracking. Traditionally when we have decided we have a need for something, a new process, a new system or a new tool we would get a group together … Continue reading Unfolding plans 200 – Hoary chestnuts roasting

Unfolding plans 199 – A jewel in the north

This week I was once again at the Stanley Area Action Partnership. I go there every other month as I am in a tag team with Caroline, another one of the Heads of Service here.  It must be six years since I have been going and while at first it seemed a chore I have … Continue reading Unfolding plans 199 – A jewel in the north

Unfolding plans 198 – Connectivity

If there is one thing that will set the North East apart from its competitor regions it will be connectivity.  Of course I mean network connectivity rather than motorways, rail and air.  These others are very important yet may take a little longer to get where we would like to be.  We don’t have a … Continue reading Unfolding plans 198 – Connectivity

Unfolding plans 197 – Visible spectrum of change

There is nothing more magical than a rainbow.  (There is nothing faster than a Post Office van but that is another story.)  There is something about seeing the ephemeral band of colours splashed across the sky that brings out the spiritual in me.  If there was one thing that would make me believe in a … Continue reading Unfolding plans 197 – Visible spectrum of change

Unfolding plans 196 – App hype

There is such hype about apps.  Everyone uses them.  Everyone has to have them.  You’re just not out there if your firm doesn’t have an app.  A lot of people agree.  There are at least three million of the things to download onto your smartphone or tablet.  Beware however as only around five per cent … Continue reading Unfolding plans 196 – App hype

Unfolding plans 195 – let them get on with their jobs.

I finished ‘Maverick’ by Ricardo Semler a week or so back.  Mike had lent me the book some time ago and it had been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.  There was something about the cover that made me leave it.  Perhaps it was waiting for the right time. Any book though that … Continue reading Unfolding plans 195 – let them get on with their jobs.

Unfolding plans 194 – Hurtling everywhere

I’m hurtling everywhere at twenty nine miles an hour.  It doesn’t matter where I go or how fast I seem to go, I end up averaging out at the top speed of a domestic cat.  It’s the traffic that slows me down.  It has become the bane of my life.  It has become an unhealthy … Continue reading Unfolding plans 194 – Hurtling everywhere

Unfolding plans 193 – Buying or selling

We were waiting outside the director’s meeting room in the upper floor of North Tyneside’s office in Cobalt.  It was some time ago yet I can recall it vividly.  A colleague of mine and I were waiting to be called into a meeting with the directors and neither of us had warmed to the prospect.  … Continue reading Unfolding plans 193 – Buying or selling

Unfolding plans 192 – Google has got it wrong @sharemindfully @lldzne #GuerrillaWorking

Google has got it wrong apparently.  According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the open office trend is destroying the work place and what is needed are more walls rather than less.  It was a good piece yet short on supporting evidence and seems to have been based entirely upon the experiences of the … Continue reading Unfolding plans 192 – Google has got it wrong @sharemindfully @lldzne #GuerrillaWorking

Unfolding plans 191 – Great staff

Another day, another award ceremony.  This time it was our very own Great Staff Great stuff awards.  It is an opportunity for us to celebrate all of the great work that goes on in the Council.  It is very easy to knock what we do and just as easy to highlight the mistakes, the failures … Continue reading Unfolding plans 191 – Great staff