I haven't written a post for some time now, but it somehow felt important to address the key debate of this time of year: "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?". I'm specifically addressing the ongoing disagreement in this post, and what it says about people and our ability to feel and rationalise something to be [...]
Credibility, Crowds and Conferences
Last week I got asked to do a keynote speech for an international Cloud Computing Conference. But let's come back to that in a bit... I haven't written much recently, but I was reflecting on credibility and expertise and how the status of 'someone to listen to' is conferred. We have mental shortcuts that tell [...]
AI, Bias, Riot Police and Recruitment
I recently read another article posing the choice as to whether AI being used in recruiting software is introducing or removing bias. This is a choice that I've seen written about, almost relentlessly, for the last few years and I'm going to be bold enough to go out on a limb and say that I [...]
Fairness, Silos & The Proximity Problem
Why proximity breeds unfairness
The Surprising Truth About Obvious Truths
I regularly talk and write about the need for a more evidence based approach to creating work that works better for more people. Less guff. There is too much faddishness and too many poorly thought out and poorly joined up initiatives. I'm therefore naturally grumpy when people attempt to sell solutions packaged with overclaims or [...]
Hipster HR
One of my favourite stories of last year was of someone complaining of their photo (from a stock gallery) being used in an article about hipsters. The claim was that their photo being used portrayed them in a negative light. The article was on group conformity and on how, whilst trying to show they don't [...]
A Year Without Work
Early in my career I took a job in a department that was supposed to be delivering a major new product for one of our business partners. It seemed like a great opportunity. What happened next was that the deal was delayed and the delayed again. But we were already in training and so the [...]
Compromise and Strength
We often see strength as somehow inextricably linked to inflexibility. We ask people what they stand for. We don't ask what they'd bend for or maybe where they would move or shift. What ground they would give. If I know the ground you won't move from then I know what you represent. I know I [...]
Why You Won’t Get Your Own Statue
Synopsis: why a more distributed sharing of information might make people's contributions less enduring, but more useful. There will never be a statue made of me*. There's a high chance that if you are reading this you want get one either. I'm not suggesting that you reading this is the cause of that, but rather [...]
On tonight’s performance…
One of the strangest things that I've seen throughout my career is the belief that people's task based capability is somehow fixed or tethered to the moment. I'm not talking about growth or fixed mindsets of the individual (that's for others to opine on...) - I'm talking about the mental ticklist assigned to others about [...]
101 Half Connected Things 