They say we tend to overestimate progress in the future, and underestimate it in the past. So looking back might tell us something about the future of work. Here are some things that stand out for me: we had a bar in the Town Hall for several years after I started at the council. And in … Continue reading What can the past of work teach us about the future? →

First ‘proper’ newsletter in two weeks as I was extremely ill last weekend (48 hours in bed with a bad stomach, including hallucinatory fever dreams about problematic consultancy projects that turned out to be just Category Theory - but I wasn’t really completely happy with that or confident - and now I will never know … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #51 →

When I was at PwC, the practice I was in won a £139m project — and it was the beginning of the end for us. https://www.celebrity-cutouts.co.uk/shop/celebrity-mask/uncategorised-celebrity-mask/bob-dylan-brown-hair-celebrity-mask/ I got up early to write this, as usual, and cradled my coffee as I pored over my writing prompts. What would be a suitable follow-up to Monday’s very successful post on … Continue reading What is success and what is failure on LinkedIn? In business? In life? →

Is a Jaffa Cake a biscuit or a cake? Is a flapjack? Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Is a worker an employee, a ‘hidden employee’, or a freelancer? These are decisions we must make — or think we must — in management all the time. And more often than not, they limit creativity, innovation, and our … Continue reading Do things fit into neat categories? →

systems change, convening, practice, leadership, sustainability, chat… SIX systems events coming up presented or facilitated by Benjamin Taylor It me! I haven’t presented or run that many public events recently, and suddenly they all come at once. Here are six in the next couple of months — with info and booking links: “Later in the bar”Mon 23 May … Continue reading systems change, convening, practice, leadership, sustainability, chat… SIX systems events coming up presented or facilitated by Benjamin Taylor →

Why do things carry on as they are in business? Why do we block innovation? And what can we do about it? I collect facetious trainer stories — the ones a cheerful slightly overweight trainer will tell with great relish as sources of insight… Take ten monkeys. Put them in a cage with a shiny metal slope. … Continue reading More monkeys and bananas in organisation →

What’s one question you would like this incredible lineup of thinkers and entrepreneurs to answer? Here’s a really exciting conference — one which is specifically about ‘finding solutions’ to pressing problems, using the power of innovation, entrepreneurship — and technology. Apportunity 2022 brings together the world’s most inspirational founders, global leaders, senior investors and rising stars to collaborate and share … Continue reading Apportunity 2022 — the solutions platform →

To work from facts and use theories, methods, and logic, we need to deal with the undefinability of the world. So if we want to get something done, we need to think about meta-rationality. Roughly following David Chapman’s scheme (see http://www.metarationality.com), we can think about the world as infinite nebulosity and limitless pattern. Diagram from … Continue reading What is meta-rationality? →

I’ve been wanting for some time to write and post something about the distinction Jonathan Horwitz — who I’ve been lucky enough to learn from — makes between his time in the anti-War movement, and his time in the Peace movement. A couple of weeks ago, he did it better than I ever could, because it’s his story. I … Continue reading Are you anti-war, or pro-peace? →