In an earlier blog I said that subject of ethics in business had been occupying my mind, especially the failure of Carillion and the noise around the use of single use plastics. I wrote about Carillion in the earlier piece and so I am coming back to plastics. Pollution caused by waste plastics has been … Continue reading Convenience sells, convenience costs
What is your superpower?
What is your superpower? Mine, I think, is in being organised. I have the happy knack, or the annoying habit depending upon your perspective, of being able to dismantle a heap of things to do and reassembling them into a logical set of tasks. Whenever I have something to do (and I mean almost whenever) … Continue reading What is your superpower?
Scaleup North East
The United Kingdom is ranked as the third nation in the world at starting businesses yet is ranked as thirteenth when it comes to scaleups. I learned this at The North East Growth Hub’s Scaleup North East Launch at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, in Newcastle’s Stephenson Quarter, behind the Central Station and just next to … Continue reading Scaleup North East
Sunk work
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to study behavioural economics and with this in mind I have bought myself a couple of books. Well, you have to start somewhere. The first one is ‘Misbehaving’ by Richard H Thaler and I am enjoying it very much. In the book, he talks about how people have … Continue reading Sunk work
Things will find their own level
Stephen was telling me about a conversation he was having with a friend who had been in marketing for longer than he cared to mention. The subject of new media came up and his friend hit the roof. ‘Don’t talk to me about new media’, he said ‘there is no such thing - there is … Continue reading Things will find their own level
Low Power Wide Area Network
Over the last couple of years I have been involved in a project to create a 5G test bed across the region. The idea being to put the North East at the forefront of this exciting technology, autonomous vehicles and all that. Since leaving my last role however I have stepped away from that and … Continue reading Low Power Wide Area Network
We need to be more dolphin
Justin and I work well together. We’ve known each other for a few years now. We are developing a training course which we will be delivering in a few days as part of the Rural Cultural Business Innovation Programme. Things are going well. We have a good number of organizations signed up but the clock … Continue reading We need to be more dolphin
The organizations we deserve
Businesses must operate within the law and within ethical principles. Ironically that is what the law states yet in the sordid grapple for money, status and power sometime things go awry. Motor manufacturers meddle with their emission figures to make their cars look better, online taxi firms undermine the working conditions of their employees to … Continue reading The organizations we deserve
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
My last blog of the year 2017
I always try to finish off the year with something special to say. All of my blogs try to say something yet the end of the year and the start of the new one is a strange time, a period of reflection and a opportunity for renewal. The world does not know any difference. … Continue reading My last blog of the year 2017
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 