Latest Posts


  • Putting The Needs Of The User Before The System

    Are some countries more innovative than others? Certainly many have tried to measure it, with the UK being outperformed by the likes of South Korea, Israel and Finland. As the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla has said, the role of… Continue reading

    Putting The Needs Of The User Before The System
  • Moving From The Reactive To The Pre-Emptive

    As Matthew Manos has written, many of us in the social sector are employed in the expectation that the things that go wrong will always go wrong.  Indeed, our work often profits from past societal failure rather than the contemplation… Continue reading

    Moving From The Reactive To The Pre-Emptive
  • Ending Our Obsession With Leadership

    Organisations need to completely rethink what it means to lead. It’s not about one person or even those residing at the top anymore. In today’s world, everyone has to adopt a leadership mindset. We have to think of ourselves as… Continue reading

    Ending Our Obsession With Leadership
  • Collaboration, Creativity and Crap Offices: The Top Five Posts of 2019

    The word blog is a conflation of two words: Web and log.  This blog is essentially a diary of what I’m thinking; albeit a diary that is meant to be read by others, and that hopefully inspires some creativity. I… Continue reading

    Collaboration, Creativity and Crap Offices: The Top Five Posts of 2019
  • The Problem With Seeing People As Vulnerable

    Never mistake your Twitter feed for your country — Nick Cohen (@NickCohen4) December 12, 2019 Now, more than ever, it’s easier to exist within a bubble. We spend a lot more time communicating through screens than talking face to face.… Continue reading

    The Problem With Seeing People As Vulnerable
  • Why You Shouldn’t Ask Customers What They Want

    The customer is always right.  If you involve customers –  you’ll make better decisions.  The only problem with statements like these is that they don’t seem to account for all those occasions when the customer wasn’t right. They don’t explain… Continue reading

    Why You Shouldn’t Ask Customers What They Want
  • Redesigning Organisations For Positive Deviance

    What if the traditional way that we think change happens is all wrong? What if our focus on the spread and scale of innovative business solutions isn’t the answer – but is part of the fundamental problem? In 1990, an… Continue reading

    Redesigning Organisations For Positive Deviance
  • The Complex Task of Simplicity

    If you want to make things truly simple to use by your customers, you will nearly always have to make your organization take on more complexity – Gerry McGovern Yesterday, I delivered a talk at a conference that was aimed at… Continue reading

    The Complex Task of Simplicity
  • How To Keep Focussed (And Remain Sane) In A World Of Complex Problems

    In our heart, we know the solution does not lie in reforming silo by silo but in organizing our silos the way people organize their lives, so that the neighbourhood becomes our primary unit of analysis and change – Cormac… Continue reading

    How To Keep Focussed (And Remain Sane) In A World Of Complex Problems
  • An A-Z of Office Jargon

    Apparently – ‘Touch Base” is the most-hated office phrase for a second year in a row. Certainly – it’s a mainstay of contact requests I get from Linkedin. And if I fail to touch base I usually get someone ‘circling… Continue reading

    An A-Z of Office Jargon