What a fascinating book ‘The Divided Self’ by RD Laing is. It is perhaps not the kind of book I would normally pick up but it was lying around and it is quite thin. I would urge anyone who has any interest in the workings of humanity to give it a go. Why? Because the … Continue reading The Divided Self
Even a Guerrilla Worker
Poor Su. I didn’t mean to burden her with my troubles but sometimes even a Guerrilla Worker needs a shoulder to cry on. The thing is that I have felt a bit flat over the last few days. I don’t know whether I have just run out of steam or a late night in the … Continue reading Even a Guerrilla Worker
Stressful work
Stress at work is a big problem, so I am led to believe. It is a difficult thing to manage however as the causes are manyfold and may not be related to the working environment. It is certainly a contributing factor. I know this, as I have recently completed my ‘Recognising and managing stress in … Continue reading Stressful work
Effect on performance
A trip down to Manchester seemed like a pleasant day out. I was asked to go down and speak at the North West regional meeting of Socitm. The invitation had come about when Paul and I had met at the Local CIO Council and he was one of the people who had seen my book. … Continue reading Effect on performance
Building skills
I must admit that I find children and young people the worst audience to present to. They scare me stiff and as Graham and I walked into the main hall at Farringdon Community Academy I began to wonder what we had let ourselves in for. There were at least one hindered and fifty of them, … Continue reading Building skills
Driving data to the average
Data is such a hot topic now. There are many good examples emerging of where it has been used to improve businesses as well as plenty of examples of when things have gone wrong. I was at a Digital Strategy and Business Intelligence Breakfast Meeting in Newcastle last week and one of the speakers, from … Continue reading Driving data to the average
North East Data Group part 1
Last night I had the pleasure of presenting to the North East Data group at Campus North on what Durham is up to with Open Data. There were twenty or so people in the room and it was interesting how many of them I already knew. It was a story of two halves, with my … Continue reading North East Data Group part 1
Fresh perspectives
I read that Taiichi Ohno would draw a circle on the floor and make his new disciples stand in it and observe how things really worked. He would make them stay there until they had a strong understanding of the business. I think it was in the book ‘The Machine that Changed the World’ in … Continue reading Fresh perspectives
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
Skills mapping
The two things that we have got involved in as part of the North East Combined Authority Digital Leads Group are connectivity and digital skills. The former has developed into a full blown pitch for a substantial amount of money to create a massive 5G test bed across the region. Keep your fingers crossed. The … Continue reading Skills mapping
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 