I got to the end of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It is a great book and has made me think long and hard about my values and my thoughts on the way the world works. To make its point the book, at times, is a little simplistic. All books have to be. It is … Continue reading Atlas Shrugged again
Seductive leadership
Strong leadership is seductive. The idea that someone can take charge and be decisive, especially in a crisis are the qualities that shine in what we see as strong leaders. Ruthlessness is a quality that gets people to the top. We see example of this at the moment in the superpowers that dominate the news. … Continue reading Seductive leadership
Product security approach
I am enjoying my work with Dynamo North East to try and set up a cyber resilience cluster across the region. This is a topic I have covered on several occasions and one, no doubt I will come back to. I sometimes wonder how I have arrived here as I would never class myself as … Continue reading Product security approach
An impostor no more
I never know whether I enjoy public speaking or not. It is something I end up doing, even in my new role, on quite a regular basis. Last Friday though was one of the few times that I got a buzz from getting up and presenting in front of a crowd. The occasion was a … Continue reading An impostor no more
More students
I have now been a guest lecturer at the three universities closest to me, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland. I might be bigging myself up a bit here but I was there, standing in front of the students doing my stuff and wondering what was going on in their heads. This was my second time at … Continue reading More students
It’s all in the numbers
What have we become? One of my daughters told me about an app that you can download that tells you how long you spend on your phone. I downloaded it and ended up checking up on how many times I unlocked it. On one day it was 106 times. My obsession with my phone has … Continue reading It’s all in the numbers
Sales is an emotional experience
Not that I need reminding but I become more and more convinced that selling is a question of emotion rather than fact. People don’t necessarily buy products because of what they are but because of how they make then feel or they project an image of the kind of person they would like to be. … Continue reading Sales is an emotional experience
Unconscious bias
We were making our way into the Metro Centre from the Debenhams end when we saw a very young boy getting into one of the fun buggies that can be hired from the customer service desk. The buggies are shaped like cars and can be pushed around while the child sits inside and pretends to … Continue reading Unconscious bias
Atlas Shrugged
Spoiler alert. I have been reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I still am, it is a long book yet it has left me in a dilemma. At times I think it is the most fantastic of books while at others I don’t agree with some of the sentiments it contains. Perhaps that is the … Continue reading Atlas Shrugged
Our greatest resource
Rachel, a friend of mine from my Durham days posted on Twitter ‘It may be a snow day for some, however for those who are freelance and self-employed, snow days can often mean no pay days.’ She is right. For many of us who are working in the gig economy disruption can have significant consequences. … Continue reading Our greatest resource
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 