Don't bark at passing cars. Mark Mullen said this is in his opening speech at Thinking Digital this year. It made me think of Snoopy though I’m not sure he was a barker. The dog next door barks at anything, it is a Chihuahua and so perhaps its image should have popped into my head … Continue reading Don’t bark at passing cars
People are not assets
The words got stuck on the tip of my tongue. They wanted to come out but I didn’t want to let them. I wanted to say resource when I meant people and somehow it just felt wrong. Later I realised that I’d got myself hung up on semantics and the real phrase that I don’t … Continue reading People are not assets
Talent management
We’re tucking into our elephant. Every so often we cut off another slice and chew away at those seemingly intractable problems that get in our way. Yummy! We’ve had a first look at some of our performance management systems and this morning a small group of us got together to think about talent management. Now … Continue reading Talent management
Great stuff
Our Great Staff, Great Stuff awards is one of those annual events that stand out in the calendar. It marks the change of season from Autumn to Winter and shows that the calendar year is coming to an end. It just seems to have come round so quickly this year. I can still remember sitting … Continue reading Great stuff
Getting to be number one
I haven’t written about Andy Murray for a while. There are many things I haven’t written about but I do have form on this one. I first mentioned him back in October 2014 and he has made an infrequent yet regular appearance ever since. Now I know he is a bit Marmite. Some people for … Continue reading Getting to be number one
North East Combined
I don’t know what it is about this time of year but everything seems to be so busy. Perhaps it is the relentless approach of Christmas, the time when the world will end and by when everything has to be completed. Perhaps it is because we are well clear of the summer break and all … Continue reading North East Combined
Mega board revisited
Yesterday we had our first performance meeting under the new management arrangements. Bringing the management and leadership teams together every fortnight hadn’t delivered what we, or at least I had hoped for. The meetings had lacked focus and purpose and so it was time to try something new. We need to keep trying until we … Continue reading Mega board revisited
Who should run the project
This is a question that has troubled me for some time. Who is it that should run a project, or rather which team or service should they come from? Good project management skills are hard to find, certainly within an organisation that has a lot of operational stuff going on. Change happens all the time … Continue reading Who should run the project
Recognise and celebrate
So I’ve made it to the end of this year’s Customer Service Week. Time flies when you are enjoying yourself. Those of you who have been following my blog will know that getting young people into the tech industry is one of the things that I am passionate about and that I have been … Continue reading Recognise and celebrate
Smart Stanley again
Smart Stanley seems to be going well. The idea is to have a number of small projects that use digital to enhance the experience of the town for everyone that lives there, works there or is a visitor. We made a major breakthrough with the launch of the web site a few weeks back. Daniel … Continue reading Smart Stanley again
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 