I have a love hate relationship with Ikea. There are some things that excite me very much, the new product ranges, the way they are displayed, the mock up rooms and how easy it is to put their product together. I am not a fan of the fully controlled way that they usher you around … Continue reading Follow the instructions
History is new
We live in a country that lives on its past. We talk of kings and queens, battles and castles. Our favourite weekend activity is to visit a stately home and everyone knows about 1066 and all that. Our days of empire are behind us. Thank goodness in my opinion. Our sense of history, pomp and … Continue reading History is new
Home archive
The difference between a library system and an archive system is all to do with the relationship of the items in the collection. I learned this at Alnwick Castle. In a library application, items are catalogued based upon subject. There has been a library classification system, the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) in place since 1876, … Continue reading Home archive
Information is power
I have often heard it said that information is power. It is one of those expressions, like time is money or greed is good, that hark back to a time of plenty, when business was in your face and when everyone was more Gordon Gekko. Not that I really bought into such things. Anyone who … Continue reading Information is power
A year away
It is true when they say that time speeds up as you get older. The days, months and even years are whizzing by now. Today it is a year since I left Durham County Council. It is twelve months since I left the safety of a paid job and opened a different chapter of my … Continue reading A year away
Additional Five Days
Justin and I have entered into the next phase of our Creative Fuse work. The tender we were successful in winning called for an engagement with sole traders and small businesses working in the creative sector. The first part was for twelve hours training for a minimum of twelve businesses, which was to be followed … Continue reading Additional Five Days
Conversation, co-creation and collaboration
This was my first time at Newcastle Startup Week, a five day event at various location across the city dealing in all thing to do with getting a business off the ground. Paul and Sarah have done a great job in building this event. David and I had thought it would be a good venue … Continue reading Conversation, co-creation and collaboration
Paid by the day
One thing I cannot get my head around when working as a consultant is charging by the day. This is at odds with my whole philosophy that work is not something that is measured by the minute. It is difficult, however, to enter into a contract without being able to describe effort in terms of … Continue reading Paid by the day
Five simple steps
Whenever I am asked if I can get involved in a helping an organization with a strategic approach to technology I always come back with the same answer. I will do it but only if I can start with an understanding of the business. To get this understanding, I talk to as many people as … Continue reading Five simple steps
Consumption gap
It can be funny how two different conversations can overlap. I had met with Esther at a local coffee shop over lunch. We had briefly met at a couple of events that we had both been to and I was keen to learn about her business which works in statistical analysis of data. AS always … Continue reading Consumption gap
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 