Is comparison with another organisation ever worthwhile? I am not so sure. Every now and then the question of benchmarking raises its ugly head. Ugly to me that is. Tom and I have ended up having a conversation over its merits. Benchmarking in itself is not bad. It is what is done in the name … Continue reading Random benchmarking
Another bad habit
Of the twenty bad habits that senior managers have, according to Marshal Goldsmith, twenty things that they do that hold them back, I have fessed up to three of them. I have re-evaluated that up to four. They are listed in his excellent book ‘What got you here won't get you there.’ I have already … Continue reading Another bad habit
A visit to the Archive
During all of the seven years that I've wandered the corridors of County Hall I have never visited the County Records Office. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it is because it is somewhere the public go rather than being just an office, or maybe I just have not found an excuse. As if I … Continue reading A visit to the Archive
A rollercoaster
Life is filled with ups and downs. Like grandma said in ‘Parenthood’ it's like a rollercoaster ride. There are highs and lows. Sometimes you feel like your underwater, inundated with too much work, and then you rise to the surface to gasp for air only to find the sun is shining. Once more everything is alright … Continue reading A rollercoaster
A glowing ego
I am enjoying mentoring, or is it coaching? No matter how many times I have been told what the difference is it never seems to stick. Either way, I am doing it as part of the Executive Women in ICT course we have helped put on. It is going well. I enjoy being a mentor. … Continue reading A glowing ego
Cumulating
The cloud will be the saviour of all mankind if you believe the hype. It will feed the hungry, liberate the poor and satiate our warring bloodlust. The world will be a better place thanks to the cloud. But how can a simple hosting arrangement, the rewriting of software or a transfer of revenue make … Continue reading Cumulating
Stick to the rules
What do you do if someone breaks the rules? Discipline them? Perhaps, but you can't go down this route unless you expect to carry it through which means ultimately, the threat of dismissal. People who break the rules should expect the threat of the sack. That may be fine if it is something big, such … Continue reading Stick to the rules
Block chain
I would like to talk about blockchain, if I really knew want one of those was. In my mind it is a way of linking related data from multiple data sources in a continuous link. Wikipedia says it is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of ordered records called blocks. We are like … Continue reading Block chain
Just stop it
I have a to-do list. I put all of those action points from the notes I take every day into a task within Outlook. I transfer those which relate to bigger prices of work into separate tasks and so what is left are the miscellaneous bits and bobs. They are the detritus of my quotidian … Continue reading Just stop it
Apprentices again
I applaud the government's position on apprentices. This is not a political statement. I'm not permitted to make them in my current role. Anything that gets more young people into employment is fine by me. Even better if they are in a technical arena. The government stance is in providing skilled people for real jobs … Continue reading Apprentices again
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 