This is a bit of a sidebar from the strategy / not strategy post here but is also part of a longer contemplation around participation, organisations and democracy – with a bit of digital stuff as well. I’ve always believed that there is real power in aligning digital/design, participation and democracy practices. Each are fundamentally …
I have a long abiding belief that while culture eats strategy they both get devoured by purpose. This came back to the fore for me as we are doing some work as a leadership team to look at priorities and areas of focus and the question of strategy came up. People have very different perceptions …
I wanted to spotlight this wonderful piece from @georgejulian about curative candour. George always writes with huge passion, rawness and insight but this piece about the effect that real honest and painful candour had when her mum was diagnosed with cancer is – and I don’t say this lightly – humbling. I have such admiration …
A few years ago I met a really successful entrepreneur who told me that 80% of his time was spent looking for the right people – once he had them then all that was needed was to point them in the right direction. I have never been quite sure of the 80% but I do …
This is a post about multidisciplinary working – something which we rely on but don’t often think about. Multidisciplinary (or cross disciplinary if you are using the language of research or practice) or matrix (of you are using the language of organisational design) are essentially a bunch of experts trying to get something done together. …
I’ve been thinking about meetings a lot this week…..while in a lot of meetings. It’s been odd joining an organisation during what we can officially refer to as Strange Times. The thing I have found most difficult is in finding the rhythm of the place. Every team and organisation has what I call a ‘hum’ …
I have a theory that people and systems tend to get ‘stuck’ at the point at which they have their digital moment and realise that the world could actually be different and that looking at how you change ways of working as well as the underlying technology could be part of that difference. The problem …
I left Cancer Research UK last week and while this is not exactly a goodbye to digital transformation it does signal a shift for me – instead of supporting other people to make change happen I will be leading change in the services that I am responsible for – working with the talented Adur and …
Forget about values – its about ethics these days Ethical thinking must be a significant shaper of technology in the 2020s. I am not in the habit of making predictions so let’s call this a hope based on a growing sense that people are starting to really look at the consequences – intended and otherwise …
I am a bit wary of talking about culture. It’s intangible, elusive and in reality best addressed via behaviours rather than head on. As my team know, I have a huge fear of a conversation about culture or values ending up as a pile of laminated signs that get strewn about the place. It’s an …