Let them eat PowerPoint
A field note on the deck that becomes the point. And brioche.
The Skills You Learn on a Market Stall
What trade skills, commercial awareness and practical judgement can teach us about turning ideas into value.
The talk that ate the afternoon
Here's how to structure a talk with a two-pound stack of index cards - plus the full step-by-step method, free to read in a complimentary edition of The Department of Interesting Things.
What We're Really Managing
Most organisations think they're managing projects, products or people. But what if the thing being managed is the idea — and everything else is infrastructure?
The analogue recommendation engine
A hot Sunday, a stand full of tat, and my 12-year-old turning into a formidable negotiator.
We weren't lost. We just hadn't found this river yet.
A field note on exploration, uncertainty, and finding unexpected things.
An old photograph and the stories we tell
I don't know where my father took this photograph or who the figures are. But it taught me something important about storytelling, memory and the way we make meaning.
A big collective experience of trust
A reflection on Britain's postboxes, Anthony Trollope, and the remarkable act of trusting an invisible system for almost 175 years. And what we might learn about work.
Every Presentation Is an Exchange
Every presentation is an exchange. The audience gives us their finite resources, and the speaker gives value, perspective, meaning and something worth paying attention to.
The man who took out half of Sheffield
A brilliant, vastly interesting man, a telegraph pole, and half of Sheffield's phones. On the strange gift of fast feedback — and how much better work gets the moment the signal comes back quickly.
Every Organisation Has Someone's Initials On It
A wall in Winchester bearing initials dating back to 1772 offers a reminder that every organisation is built on decisions made by people who came before us.
Magnifying the Murk
The telescope didn't improve the view at all. It just magnified the murk.