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I enjoyed the panel at the launch of this year’s Harvey Nash CIO Survey.  It was held at KPMG’s offices overlooking the Baltic Flour Mills on the banks of the Tyne (the queen of all the rivers).  There were five of us sitting out front and about seventy people in the audience.  They were mostly … Continue reading CIO Survey

A colleague of mine was getting herself ready to leave.  I met in her office to talk about the kit that she would no longer need.  It was a grand office that befitted her position. Even though she had been here for a shorter period than I had she had managed to fill it with … Continue reading The museum of our working lives (my 1000th blog)

Hans said that ‘the trouble with digital is that everyone talks about it as if it is an industry yet it is not.’ We were at the North East Combined Authority Digital Leads meeting and were grappling with trying to turn our thoughts and concepts into something more tangible.  ‘It is not an industry’ he … Continue reading The digital ‘industry’

Mike and I got talking about those little phrases that are caught in the vernacular, things we hear every day that make us wince or stick in our craw, things that people believe are true yet are holding us back.  Business as usual.  There is something wrong with the culture. We added a new one.  … Continue reading Caught in the vernacular

Sometimes you mean to do something yet your actions give you away.  Your thoughts and words say one think but you inadvertently give a different message with the things you do. The expression 'do as I say and not what I do' was created for such occasions. If they didn't happen then it wouldn't be … Continue reading Flying saucers

  Well, to be honest, I quite enjoyed my first Local Chief Information Officer Council meeting.  Let’s call it LCIOC for short.  Part of me was determined not to while another pat was secretly looking forward to it.   As I have ended up chairing the local branch of Socitm (nee Society of ICT Managers) I … Continue reading My first Local Chief Information Officer Council

I’ve ended up with a new team.  I think I’ve already told you that.  It covers a lot of transactional stuff around payments, collections and human resources and so there are a lot of people involved.  Too many to shake a stick at. I held my first one to one with Michelle.  Those with the … Continue reading Too many to shake a stick at. 

Bob and I have been thinking about self-organising work environments again.  Let’s face it, who hasn’t?  Ever since I saw Sugata Mitra’s work at the first Dynamo conference I’ve been wondering how to get individuals and teams to come together and deliver what is required with the minimal amount of management intervention.  Sugata is interested … Continue reading Self-organising work environment

Did I say how good the FutureGov event was in York last week?  I think I did but just in case, it was very good.  So good we want to run one closer to home.  The speakers were good, the venue was good (anything to do with railways is fine by me), the topics were … Continue reading Art versus Science