A man visiting a health resort is sitting in a steam box. Engraving, May 1869. Wellcome Collection In my most recent weeknote, I promised a blog post... Somewhere in all this between the tepid bath of short termist repeating the things we’ve always done, and the ceiling we can’t see for the cloud of vapourware in … Continue reading Between the tepid bath and the cloud of vapour: a plea for pragmatic ambition
Back on the in-person speaking trail after quite a long time away, I was invited to speak at Digital Government North about "the human side of digital transformation". I liked the way the organisers drew together the themes of working with users, frontline staff, and digital specialists. Cheekily, I reused the same slides and outline … Continue reading The humans of digital transformation – a talk for Digital Government North, and reprised for the GDS Speaker Series
Matt Jukes has posted a provocation on the tenth anniversary of his first role in a user-centred, agile digital government team. I realise that I too recently passed that milestone. There’s even a video in which you might glimpse a 10-years-younger me pointing at PostIt notes during the alpha of the service manager induction programme, … Continue reading Marks out of ten – how are we doing after a decade of public digital transformation?
If my reckoning is right, it's 25 years since I started my first job in digital, with PA New Media in Leeds. Please excuse the self-indulgent thread about the things I've seen in that quarter century. I've had ringside seats to watch two massive service sectors - first news media, then telecommunications - turned upside … Continue reading Quarter century
Drawing on my recent experiences with different delivery teams, on Tuesday morning I posted a thread on Mastodon and Twitter about two different responses to team interdependencies in software products. I like one much more than I like the other. On initiative A, the team learned that a "strategic" solution to their needs would not … Continue reading Code is cheap; ignorance is costly
The run-up to a new role gives me a privileged few weeks to start some habits the way I intend to continue. One that’s high on my list is to ask better questions. Asking questions has to be more than a matter of once-and-done induction to a new domain. I will never close my mind … Continue reading I’m curious: 3 questions I’m asking right now
Matt Edgar writes here 