It all boils down to communication. Fred Brooks in his excellent collection of essays entitled ‘The Mythical Man-Month’ said that the purpose of organization is to reduce the amount of communication and coordination necessary. Note he didn’t say the role of an organization, just organization. What a sweeping statement borne from logic. We organise to … Continue reading Unfolding plans 44 – communication and coordination
Unfolding plans 41- trying to address a big issue within the ICT industry
Have you ever felt out of your depth? I have, many times. Indeed I quite pride myself in that my comfort zone is to be outside of my comfort zone. This morning I felt out of my depth though and not always in a comfortable way. I was chairing a group meeting what I hoped … Continue reading Unfolding plans 41- trying to address a big issue within the ICT industry
Unfolding plans 40 – digital is a personal journey
Reading may have been a long way to go for a conference, especially when I was up and down in a day. Still, it gave me a chance to travel on the new Virgin East Coast and then to catch a train from Paddington. I also got to visit the Madejski Stadium although I didn’t … Continue reading Unfolding plans 40 – digital is a personal journey
Unfolding plans 31 – the concept of separable verbs
Learning a language can be hard especially if you are fluent in your mother tongue. Foreigners speak in different ways. They construct their sentences in ways that seem alien to the English speaking world, with strange word order and an ill-defined use of the definite article. What’s the matter with them? I’ve been struggling with … Continue reading Unfolding plans 31 – the concept of separable verbs
Unfolding plans 26 – There are those that tell and those that ask
There are those that tell and those that ask, apparently. No human system is so binary yet most of us fall towards one end of the ask or tell continuum. We may prefer to ask but from time to time find the need to tell. We may feel that we ask when indeed we are … Continue reading Unfolding plans 26 – There are those that tell and those that ask
A year of work in progress – day 223
Day 223 – 24 December 2014 So here it is, the last working day of my year and so the last day of this blog. I managed to get there without missing a post and without running out of things to say. Sometimes the words tripped off the ends of my fingers and there were … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 223
A year of work in progress – day 213
Day 213 – 10 December 2014 Despite the weather bomb the 4:45 pulled away on time from Newcastle Central Station. Leaving home at such an ungodly hour reminded me of the years that I worked in Cambridge when I would regularly leave at such time in the morning. All that was on the road were … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 213
A year of work in progress – day 188
Day 188 – 3 November 2014 I took the tunnel. I’d promised to be in by eight thirty and with the schools going back I didn’t want to risk the drive through Team Valley. It was just as bad. I think everyone else had the same idea and so I was late getting in. Fortunately … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 188
A year of work in progress – day 182
Day 182 – 24 October 2014 Coming in earlier makes little or no difference to the traffic around the Metro centre. I had an eight thirty start at County Hall and so left home just after seven. My sat-nav said that there was a half hour delay but I stopped at the usual spots and … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 182
A year of work in progress – day 179
Day 179 – 21 October 2014 Today had touches of yesterday. There was another conversation about application mapping in the morning and more big data in the afternoon. There were differences though. There was no trip to Seaham for one. Instead it was the slow road though the Team Valley. The traffic seems to be … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 179
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 