Why you can’t work at work

Jason Fried of 37 Signals (the guys who make cool software like Basecamp and Highrise, and the great books Rework and Getting Real) talks on this video on why interruptions are the enemy of getting stuff done.

Bookmarks for April 5th through April 10th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Social Media Security – "We have found a huge lack of accurate information around security issues and awareness of social media. This website aims to help educate users of social…

The iPad: computer or device?

There has been a flurry of reviews and opinions about Apple’s new gadget, the iPad, this weekend as the devices has been launched in the States. They should be in the UK by the end of April, and I still…

Bookmarks for March 30th through April 5th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. The Collapse of Complex Business Models « Clay Shirky – Awesome stuff from Shirky.   Reflecting on my MSc research by Michele Ide-Smith – "By researching the attitudes and perceptions of authorities…

Bookmarks for March 18th through March 20th

[Something is going wrong with this again. For some reason this hadn’t been posted before now.] I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Embracing Government 2.0: Leading transformative change in the public sector (PDF) – PDF warning!…

Bookmarks for March 16th through March 18th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. comment.ofqual.gov.uk – Lovely commentable document style consultations from Ofqual MINDSPACE: Influencing behaviour through public policy – Institute for Government – "Influencing behaviour through public policy explores how behaviour change theory…

Bookmarks for March 13th through March 15th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. HR in the 21st Century – Collection of very interesting posts and thoughts on HR in the age of Enterprise 2.0 Opinion Space – "The U.S. Department of State is…

Why chief executives should blog

I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire County Council, recently. Since taking up his post, Mark has written a prolific internal blog about his work at the Council to inform and engage…

LocalGovCamp London

Thursday’s LocalGovCamp in London was superbly organised by Anke Holst and her team. I was involved in one session, which was to by about internet culture and whether that’s the interesting thing local government ought to be taking on board,…

How to be an everyday innovator

Alongside watching James Graham Gardner’s book on innovation develop online, I was reminded recently about the concept of ‘everyday innovation’ – making innovation something that we all do in our day jobs, rather than something mystical and abstract which is…

Likeminds

I had an enjoyable time at the Likeminds conference in Exeter yesterday (Friday 26th Feb). Before I start going on about the content of the event, I really ought to praise the organisers for the amazingly smooth way the event…

Clouds and culture

Lloyd Davis is a lovely man, and a very clever one at that. He founded the Tuttle Club, a weekly networkingy sort of meetup for people who like the internet and other people, which is at the same time very…

JFDI vs Being Boring

Light blogging recently, I’ve been gadding about talking at a load of events – which is fun and rewarding in its own way, but doesn’t really help with getting any work done, nor with writing here. Last Wednesday I was…

On leadership

Light blogging recently, mainly because I’ve been busy talking to people and haven’t had much spare time to write here. Apologies. One of those talky things was at the Cllr 10 event, organised by the Local Government Innovation Unit, expertly…

Moronic reporting of non issues

Take a look at this story, excitingly titled on the BBC News site “Council Twitter users face rebuke“. Councillors in Cornwall could face being reported to the authority’s standards committee for using social networking sites. The trouble is, no they’re…

Meeting with Microsoft

I had a very interesting hour today, chatting with James Brown and Dave Coplin at Microsoft. James works with the public sector all over the world, while Dave concentrates his effort on the UK. Dave also came along to last…

Misplaced self belief

Great quote, from Chris Collison: How often in an organisational situation do we get carried away with misplaced self-belief, a little (but not enough) knowledge, a little too much ego and an eager desire to just roll up our sleeves…

Full time at the Pool

2010 sees the start of a new adventure for me, as I leave the world of freelancing behind and start full time with Learning Pool – who I have been working for on a part time basis for the last…

Social processes

The following presentation was linked to by Dennis Howlett, who said: The…slideshow from Mark Masterson makes the point that when dealing with exceptions, the best tools available to us are the knowledge that resides in people’s heads. Ergo – the…

Being up to date

James Gardner has a good post on staying up to date. His point is that if you don’t bother to follow the latest developments – which might mean doing so in your own, not work, time – then you’re going…