Most gates open
A story about an old gate in Lancashire, workplace assumptions, and how easily we accept rules, norms and ways of working without checking whether they're actually locked.
Fieldnotes
Short field notes - always an insight
Let them eat PowerPoint
A field note on the deck that becomes the point. And brioche.
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.
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.
No More Cowboys
I spent the better part of a year planning "No More Cowboys" before Checkatrade beat me to it. On why planning feels safe, only doing reveals the truth, and the very good plan beats the best one.
I wouldn't start from here
Lost in the Leeds suburbs, I asked a man the way to Horsforth. "I wouldn't start from here," he said. On why knowing where you actually stand is the hardest, bravest step toward where you want to go.
How Ideas Spread
Ideas don't create value on their own. Artefacts do. A podcast became a poem became a zine.
My analogue thinking system
I use a lot of paper. Not out of nostalgia. Not out of rebellion against digital tools. I use paper because it changes how I think.
The all-inclusive masterclass
While the midday sun baked the tourists, I took to the bar for a beer with the hotel manager, to find out how a large hotel full of British tourists actually runs. Hospitality is not software, or accounting, or architecture. But work is work.