I've been thinking a lot about loneliness. It is the scourge of modern living. The paradox is that in a time of dense population and high net migration there is a growing number of people who suffer from social isolation. It is a complex problem which cannot be solved with simplistic answers. Very few can, yet … Continue reading Technically lonely
A new Forth Bridge
The Forth Rail Bridge proudly stands across the Firth of Forth some nine miles west of the city of Edinburgh. Its russet red metal work has a complete length of about two and a half kilometres. It is a world renowned railway icon and a testament to Victorian engineering. It truly is a product from … Continue reading A new Forth Bridge
Creating a joint vision
I've talked about this before in my blog. We have been running some joint management sessions with the ICT Leadership team and that of one of the services. Not that we haven't met before, both teams know each other on a one to one basis but we haven't always met as a collective. Using this … Continue reading Creating a joint vision
A perennial problem
Our voyage of discovery continues. It would seem that all of the messages are just not getting through. It's not just us though. This is not an ICT services problem. The delivery services have the same problem as well. People do not know why we have bought a specific system. They do not understand the … Continue reading A perennial problem
Dynamo energy
The room was full of energy at last night's Dynamo North East event. They are held monthly but with all of the other things I have to attend I haven't been able to make it for a while. This time it was held at Northumbria University. I was running a little late as I had … Continue reading Dynamo energy
Fake truth
The media is filled with fake news. Everyone is claiming that this story or that is made up and not true at all. Who can tell? What is real and what is not? The temptation to elaborate a story to stand out against the competition has always been around but has never been greater. It … Continue reading Fake truth
Durhack
Sometimes it works out that people can’t make the meetings that have been arranged and so you end up with some spare time to catch up. Not that you can ever catch up as there is always more to do but it helps. This is how it was this morning with my first two meetings. … Continue reading Durhack
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
Right in front of me
I think it was Warren Berger who said that ‘When people fail to see what's right in front of them, it's often because they stopped looking too soon.’ How true and I think I have been caught out by his words. In case you are interested Warren Berger is an American journalist and author of … Continue reading Right in front of me
The function or the service?
I like to visualise. I like things stuck on walls that show what it is we are trying to do. White boards, interactive or not, with pictures, do more for me than a whole bunch of reports. It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. I admire those people who can get … Continue reading The function or the service?
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 