I like this time of year, Christmas, Winter Festival or Festivus, take your preference, yet it is the best of times and it is the worst of times. It is the one time in the year where people, in the main, seem to put their grievances aside and there is a general outpouring of goodwill … Continue reading Seasons greetings
Blue bin
Our blue bin was full this week. That’s the one we put all of the recyclable stuff in and, I am ashamed to say it is normally only a third full whilst our grey bin, for other waste, is stuffed to the top when the refuse collection comes around. This means then that we throw … Continue reading Blue bin
An oasis
There is a small oasis in our local tip. Morpeth's waste recycling centre has been transformed into an Eden, a paradise on earth. Among the metal skips and lumbering vehicles, among the ephemera and detritus of our modern lives there lies a pair of small gardens. Someone, I assume it is one of the people … Continue reading An oasis
Unfolding plans 172 – World Paper Free Day
It’s World Paper Free Day today. I hope you’re enjoying it. I hope you didn’t send a card! I didn’t know there was such a thing until a couple of weeks ago but I put it in my diary and here it is. I’ve long been an advocate of getting away from paper at work. … Continue reading Unfolding plans 172 – World Paper Free Day
Unfolding plans 165 – the demand curve
You can do anything with ICT given enough time and money. Well, nearly anything. That’s great. It means that we can all do thousands of things now that we couldn’t do in the past. Things are certainly different from when I was a lad. When I was at school we had no computers at all. … Continue reading Unfolding plans 165 – the demand curve
Unfolding plans 157 – Profanity
Is profanity ever acceptable? The first sentence in ‘The Martin’ contained the F word. The opening sequence to ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ was filled with it. Celebratory chefs are noted for its liberal use. They pepper their phrases with it. I’ve been trying not to use it so much if at all, especially the … Continue reading Unfolding plans 157 – Profanity
Unfolding plans 151 – Employee engagement and culture
This week is flying by. It’s day four of National customer Service Week already. I’m still wearing my Institute of Customer Service badge (with pride) even though I’ve changed jackets since yesterday. Today’s theme is employee engagement and culture which is perfect as we’re having our second day of our Lean Start-Up training. The group … Continue reading Unfolding plans 151 – Employee engagement and culture
Unfolding plans 146 – Simplicity
Life is complicated. The more I think about it the more complicated it becomes. It seems as if complexity is an inherent part of the way the world works. It’s that second law of thermodynamics again. It states that (forgive me for I paraphrase) ‘In any closed system the amount of usable energy is always … Continue reading Unfolding plans 146 – Simplicity
Unfolding plans 145 – Video kills
Video was never my medium. It just doesn’t work for me. I fluff my lines and get all tongue tied. I’m more nervous on video than with any other format. I don’t know why, perhaps it is the permanence of it all. I think I get hung up on how I’m coming across rather than … Continue reading Unfolding plans 145 – Video kills
Unfolding plans 144 – Scrum
Somebody has sent me a copy of ‘Scrum, The art of doing twice the work in half the time’ by Jeff Sutherland. I don’t know who it was. I had my suspects but one by one they are being crossed off my list. It just turned up at work in a manila envelope (C5 in … Continue reading Unfolding plans 144 – Scrum
