• Net Zero and The Law of Horse Manure

    Net Zero and The Law of Horse Manure

    Catastrophic predictions that spell dark days for humanity are nothing new. The Times predicted in 1894 that in 50 years time, every street in London would be buried under nine feet of horse manure. It was the crisis of all crises. There was, to be fair, some evidence for this. As urban populations rapidly increased… Read more

  • The Gravitational Pull Of Business As Usual

    The Gravitational Pull Of Business As Usual

    The interior secrets of black holes are guarded by a one-way light-trapping boundary called the event horizon. This horizon is the point, according to NASA, that the gravitational influence of the black hole becomes so intense that not even light is fast enough to escape it. A very different horizon exists in many organisations, except… Read more

  • Can We Really Trust Communities To Use Common Sense?

    Can We Really Trust Communities To Use Common Sense?

    There have been a few positives amidst the devastation of the COVID pandemic. One is that it has reminded us of the power of social connection. People have begun supporting and caring for one another locally, with community led groups popping up to address immediate needs in ways organisations simply can’t. Read more

  • Indifference Towards Truth: Rebuilding Trust In a Post Lockdown World

    Indifference Towards Truth: Rebuilding Trust In a Post Lockdown World

    If ever there was a time for critical thinking to make a comeback it’s right about now. This post was written in week eight of the UK lockdown , 55 days in which we’ve generated more speculation, more opinion and more outright bullshit than at any other time in human history. (That statement , by… Read more

  • Death By Zoom: Have We Failed The Mass Home Working Experiment?

    Death By Zoom: Have We Failed The Mass Home Working Experiment?

    One of the few positives of the pandemic lockdown was the opportunity to reset the way in which we spend our working day. This was the chance to prove that remote work actually works. As someone whose job it is to run workplace experiments I’d say six or seven weeks is a very good point… Read more

  • How Can We Move From Demand Led Service In The ‘New Normal’?

    How Can We Move From Demand Led Service In The ‘New Normal’?

    In the early hours of Good Friday I found myself undergoing emergency surgery after a complication during an earlier test. Even in the midst of some pretty intense pain I was unwilling to go to hospital – a mixture of fear of contracting a certain virus and some overly optimistic thinking about my super human… Read more

  • Did A Virus Just Bring About The End Of The Office?

    Did A Virus Just Bring About The End Of The Office?

    Remote work has accelerated 10 years in 10 days. The only thing that could pull people back to the office is the ego of the bad middle manager scared of losing control – Chris Herd The revolution in remote working , when it came, was peaceful. Orderly even. There was no fightback from technophobe hold-outs… Read more

  • Black Swans Can Inspire A New Era of Innovation

    Black Swans Can Inspire A New Era of Innovation

    A black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterized by their extreme rarity, their severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight Back in November I was listening to a talk from Melissa Sterry,… Read more