Giving books away

If there is one subject that I like to talk about it is the culture of organisations and the mess they get into. This was the subject that gave rise to my thinking about Guerrilla Working and is what I am still most passionate about and so when Carsten from Cintra HR and Payroll asked … Continue reading Giving books away

A visit to Port of Blyth

Just before the end of the year I visited a couple of places that I had passed many times but had never been to. The first was the Nissan Factory, an iconic place for the region. Is it in Washington or Sunderland? It could well be in both as it is a sprawling mass of … Continue reading A visit to Port of Blyth

Memory foam

What is all the fuss with memory foam? How hard is it to remember that you are an oblong? These days you can’t watch television for very long before seeing an advert for a memory foam mattress. I don’t get them to be honest. I have slept on a few and found them not to … Continue reading Memory foam

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

A planned approach

I have a planned approach to filling my time now that I have left my last job.  I want to do a mix of things, as yet unspecified and therein lies the challenge.  I don’t want to box myself into something too early as there may be more interesting, more exciting and even more lucrative … Continue reading A planned approach

There is nothing more important than culture

I have had a good run on my blog recently.  I don’t know why.  I just try to do my thing. May this year is already as good as last year in terms of numbers of reads but I mustn’t let these things get to me.  I write for the pleasure and not necessarily to … Continue reading There is nothing more important than culture

Far from Home Counties

I can’t remember the last time I ever was in Gerrards Cross.  To be honest I am not sure I have ever been there but I used to live in Oxford which is not more than a stone’s throw away and so I would be surprised if I hadn’t.  Anyway, it didn’t ring a bell … Continue reading Far from Home Counties

Complexity in the real world

The Bee book by Craig Smith and Paul Rigby has got me thinking.  It is an allegorical tale of a hive of bees that is faced with a catastrophic change in their environment.  The hive needs to take decisive action if it is to survive.  It as a clear metaphor for the way that organisations … Continue reading Complexity in the real world