This week has very much felt like the end of term or something – though not in the watching videos in class sort of way and more in the scrambling to finish assignments and mentally preparing for a lot of change after a bit of a break.
I finished my project in Taunton – 3 months after I’d initially planned. It has been a somewhat unusual engagement with the main planned activity rather being superseded by events locally and so I ended up doing a lot more quiet coaching and strategic support than I had envisaged. At times it was frustrating and at times it was really, really interesting but the people were always great and it feels like I’m going to miss out on the fun stuff as they are really ready for lift off now – and it has the potential to be a truly amazing place to do digital, data and technology in a public service setting. Keep an eye on Taunton talent spotters!
This week was also my end of year review. I am still here so it obviously went well enough – in fact it was better than that. I always enjoy chatting to James and Sacha (the founders of the company) and it was a good opportunity to cover a LOT of ground – particularly about my future in the business and my wider ambitions. I’m not always even honest with myself about some of this stuff so it is helpful to occasionally be poked a bit for an honest appraisal.
As I’ve said before I think I find myself more and more interested in the business of our business rather than just seeing it as a vessel for me to continue with my ‘digital delivery’ activity in Government in another guise. I’m learning all the time and enjoying that challenge.
Part of that learning it was great to catch up with David Mann, MD of dxw, this week as well. David was a digital doer in Government for years and was part of GDS before it was GDS. He is has been at dxw for a while now and has settled in to a role of authority at a company that is going gangbusters in our space so it was great to chat and get some insights from him. I love that even on this side of the fence everyone remains so generous and supportive. #loyaltothenetwork
What else? I caught up with Sara in Bristol and went through a bunch of marketing plans for the weeks and months ahead. I have ideas as ever. Some of which are quite ambitious. Ben was also in Desklodge so we had a catchup about our new website. It really looks great but I really need to work on more words before I go away!
Did a bunch of stuff for DOS. Stage One of these things is an interesting and slightly odd challenge – almost like some kind of game where you get points for slotting the right piece into the right space. It is not entirely unpleasant (if you don’t do it all the time!)
Operation #jukesiesjaunt is pretty well set – all logistics are locked in. Stickers have been printed and posters are being done locally. I am working on a set of questions to report back on for our Board and I have arranged to write articles about elements of the trip for a couple of different online publications which is exciting.
One week to go!
Well Game of Thrones was exciting wasn’t it! Well once I rewatched it with my TV settings updated so I could see it 🙂
Reading Coders at the moment – it is an interesting if not revelatory read. Some interesting things to say on the history of computer science and Silicon Valley.
New print incoming –>
Digital by Default 