Some days can be very trying. Today was one of them, born of frustration. I have tried to bite my tongue but not always successfully. You see my problem is that I have been involved in a number of workshops about digital – whatever that means. The thing is that technology can do anything as … Continue reading Underused tech
Another year of @NEICT
That’s another year over for the North East ICT Managers group. Calendar year that is rather than financial year. Of course that starts in April. This year has been fun. We’ve seen some comings and a number of new faces to replace some goings. The group is supposed to be the ICT heads from the … Continue reading Another year of @NEICT
The wrong job
One of the most thought provoking and challenging presentations that I have witnessed took place at last week’s Socitm Local CIO Council. It was given by Vishanth Weerakkody and Paul Waller from Brunel University. It had the very appealing title of ‘Overcoming the Systemic Failure of Transformation’. I was salivating at the thought. The presentation … Continue reading The wrong job
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
Talent management
We’re tucking into our elephant. Every so often we cut off another slice and chew away at those seemingly intractable problems that get in our way. Yummy! We’ve had a first look at some of our performance management systems and this morning a small group of us got together to think about talent management. Now … Continue reading Talent management
Getting to be number one
I haven’t written about Andy Murray for a while. There are many things I haven’t written about but I do have form on this one. I first mentioned him back in October 2014 and he has made an infrequent yet regular appearance ever since. Now I know he is a bit Marmite. Some people for … Continue reading Getting to be number one
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
Taking time to get out there
We always try to start our meetings off with some good stories. It gets everything off on the right tone. Brian told us how he had been out doing some mock interviews with some school students and how much he had enjoyed it. Some of the young people were very good while some were less … Continue reading Taking time to get out there
Smart Stanley again
Smart Stanley seems to be going well. The idea is to have a number of small projects that use digital to enhance the experience of the town for everyone that lives there, works there or is a visitor. We made a major breakthrough with the launch of the web site a few weeks back. Daniel … Continue reading Smart Stanley again
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 