Sometimes it’s really hard to get your head around what is wrong. On the face of it everyone is working flat out yet everything is not functioning as well as it could. That’s where I have got to with one of my clients and I am left wondering what needs to happen to make change … Continue reading Thousand euro problems
Wash your hands
I learned a lot at last month’s North East Fraud Forum conference, it was a great event. One of the things that has stuck in my mind though was a simple but clever idea from the police presenter. His issue was that the word fraud somehow downgrades or sanitises what it actually is. Fraud is … Continue reading Wash your hands
Cyber 101 boot camp #2
I said that I would get a few blogs out of the fantastic Cybere 101 boot camp that we held last month. Here is the second. The format of the event was quite different to anything that I had been before, with a mixture of presentations and mentoring. It was a game of two halves, … Continue reading Cyber 101 boot camp #2
The 32 Hour week
‘Of all Labour’s stupidities, the four day week stands out’ at least according to David Smith in his economic outlook in The Times. OK, but how would he know? According to Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-born economist, public official and diplomat, ‘The only purpose of economic forecasts is to give astrology a better image.’ Nobody can be … Continue reading The 32 Hour week
Barclays AI Frenzy Fraud event
Artificial intelligence, if there is such a thing, is not something that I think I am involved in, yet last week I took part in my second event on the subject. The first was when I hosted a session put on by Durham University at Proto in Gateshead and the second was last week at … Continue reading Barclays AI Frenzy Fraud event
Worse than the product
I have no particular company in mind but my experience of over a quarter of a century working in senior positions within IT has taught me one thing - IT companies often seem worse than the products they sell. Let me explain. How many times have you been in a sales or pre-sales meeting when … Continue reading Worse than the product
A fair day’s pay at Brewdog
I think it is a sign of the times when I was walking down Dean Street in Newcastle to the Quayside I noticed an A board outside the Brewdog pub. On it was written ‘We are a real living wage employer’ in capital letters. I was so taken by the sign that I took a … Continue reading A fair day’s pay at Brewdog
Have a casual meeting
Waterston's in Durham is a company that I have long admired, really ever since I met its founders, Mike and Sally Waterston. The company is built upon their strong ethical values and shows that you can be successful while doing the decent and right things. I mention the company as I was down there for … Continue reading Have a casual meeting
Not Equal
Capitalism doesn’t have a conscience. It is a system in which money flows to where it can make the most return. If somebody can make it faster cheaper and easier the system will determine that they are the winners. Thankfully people do have consciences and it is they that can provide the bulwark against the … Continue reading Not Equal
Learn your lessons
If you have come to the end of a project it is always a good idea to have a review. Hold a meeting to see if there are any lessons that can be taken away and applied to other projects either now or in the future. The temptation however is to only do this when … Continue reading Learn your lessons
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 