Blog
Be Prepared
It wasn't a holiday - but it was a break from IT. Last week saw a family camp I had co-organised take place Wales, where we had ~150 people on site for 6 days and water activities were a primary and popular aspect of it. The months of preparation and sleepless nights...
Business Continuity Observation
Normally at Platform 2, there was a last minute platform change for this London bound train. Cue lots of PA announcements and people waving arms, herding passengers to Platform 1. Amusing but also an interesting observation in business continuity. No matter what...
Pick Your Battles
I was standing in line at a gate in Belfast International Airport a few weeks ago, waiting to board the flight back to Manchester. The limited space available saw the need for people to squeeze in a bit and stand next to each other. "There's a queue y'know" said the...
The Sun is always above the clouds
There may be dark clouds on the horizon with rising costs and tighter margins and many businesses, particularly in the UK, are rethinking how they get things done. ☀️ But the sun is always above those clouds! Now more than ever, flexibility matters. That’s why many...
The Known Unknowns
"Known unknowns" are that grey area which causes the most trouble in digital transformation. This is Dromore Lough in Co. Clare on the South West coast of Ireland. My 9 year old niece was wanting to paddle in and get one of the water lilies. It looked shallow enough...
Be like a bee, not a fly.
The other day a big bumble bee flew into my office through the open window. It did some exploring, meandered around a little then left very clearly knowing how it got in and how to get out. Despite its size, and shape I was amazed how nimble (dare I use the word...
Don’t get left behind when the tide turns.
I love boats, beaches and harbours. In fact most things sea related! A lone boat, grounded and stuck, not because it’s broken, but because it wasn’t ready to move when the tide changed. It’s a reminder I often see in business too. Shifts in customer expectations,...
Every sunset brings a promise of a new dawn.
The view from my office window a few nights ago. In business and in life, sunsets are a powerful reminder that endings can be beautiful. Whether it's closing a project, wrapping up a tough week, or stepping away from something that no longer serves you, there's value...
What’s in the Box?
A fundamental part of product management is the roadmap. Conveying to stakeholders what's coming next What's going to be in the box. It's fine to have internal roadmaps different to customer facing ones. But what you really want to do is under promise and over...
Success in the Details
The success of any new venture, product, transformation programme is in the detail. The low level, sometimes microscopic pieces that are often ignored. The tacit detail that people just do, often without thinking out of repetition. Investing the time in the small...