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 … Continue reading How Can We Move From Demand Led Service In The ‘New Normal’?
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. Our digital social networks are powered by algorithms designed to feed us information confirming what … Continue reading The Problem With Seeing People As Vulnerable
Communities Need A Different Model – And That Might Not Include Us
Last week I was in Sulawesi, Indonesia, a place none of my family had ever heard of – until a devastating quake and tsunami hit Palu, at which point my phone sprang to life with loads of messages checking that I was still alive. Actually, we were 300 miles away at that point, and in … Continue reading Communities Need A Different Model – And That Might Not Include Us
Reshaping Organisations Around What’s Strong – Not What’s Wrong
“ECONOMICS ARE THE METHOD: THE OBJECT IS TO CHANGE THE SOUL” This (pretty chilling) quote comes from Margaret Thatcher in 1981 – and ushered in an era that promoted the belief that social progress is achieved through the accumulation of wealth or status. Earn more, consume more, and you’ll be happy. The legacy of this is … Continue reading Reshaping Organisations Around What’s Strong – Not What’s Wrong
How Organisations May Stifle Community Creativity
One of the many challenges for the public sector is that it must start believing in people and communities again. We know that many organisations are out of sync with technology , but there’s an argument that they are increasingly distant from an economy where sharing and collaboration trump paternalism and top down protocols. One of the … Continue reading How Organisations May Stifle Community Creativity
How Connected Citizens Are Mobilising Social Movements
This post is long overdue and has been sitting in my “must edit” file for a couple of months. The prompt to finish it has come from events in the past few days where online campaigns and watershed moments in the media (traditional and social) have again found our politicians wanting. In June I was on … Continue reading How Connected Citizens Are Mobilising Social Movements
Can I Borrow A Cup Of Wi-Fi?
I’m on holiday. I’m flicking through Twitter and sipping a beer in a village bar. Outside, some Thai kids are playing a game on the smartphone they’ve borrowed from their Mum. Locals pop in every so often to sit down , catch up on gossip and read their emails. What’s wrong with this picture? Here … Continue reading Can I Borrow A Cup Of Wi-Fi?
