So after six weeks of ‘fit’ notes and various health shenanigans that came close to closing the book on your author I returned to the world of work this past week. All-in-all I would say it was a success but not without challenges.

Monday was the bank holiday so it was always going to be a short week. I caught up with a close friend for the first time in a while and proceeded to slightly freak her out with tales of my hospitalisation etc. I also asked her to witness my new will so she had a lovely time I suspect 😄

It was a useful distraction for me though as I was a little panicked about returning to work. I’m not sure what I was expecting to be honest but I was less concerned when I returned to work after my sabbatical a few years ago (and that was nearer nine months.)

I think it was because I’d barely been in the role 10 weeks before being absent for six. It felt like I didn’t really have enough in the bank to make that kind of withdrawal. 

Anyway I was twitchy.

As it happened my Tuesday was almost entirely spent quietly triaging my inbox (which was 🤯) as a lot of people were on leave and I was excused from any standing meetings. 

Like Ferris Bueller said ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’ This is doubly so if you aren’t around to do the looking and life at GDS/OCDO/NDL is particularly fast-moving at the moment. 

So a lot has happened in my absence – trying to work out exactly what and where I fit in though wasn’t (and isn’t) straightforward but also not entirely mysterious and so I persisted.

Apart from a cameo at a friend’s 50th last weekend and aforementioned catch-up on Monday I haven’t been in the company of anybody apart from medical staff and my parents during this whole misadventure. Anyway it took some adjusting.

The main item of interest was a one-to-one with my manager to discuss what my new slimmed down (my brand now after all the weight loss!) role would look like.

I’m working 0.6FTE now – though I’m stretching it over four days. I’m going to try 10.00 – 16.00 with a little lunch break and have either Mondays or Fridays off.

I’m mainly taking a step back from the sharp-end of delivering the Kickstarters and the day to day of working with the five/six squads but will continue to matrix manage the Product people (and likely adding to the current crew) with responsibility for their professional (and personal) wellbeing and development. As ever I’ll also be deeply involved in recruitment and workforce planning.

Alongside this I am going to front the partnerships with other GDS/DSIT or xGov (digital) initiatives – things like CustomerFirst, Test/Learn/Grow, GDSLocal, i.AI and the like – and triage the pipeline of future opportunities for new projects.

There are other bits and bobs – some working in the open, some procurement/commercial stuff, some community activity. 

It all actually feels very similar to what I was doing at Business and Trade a few years ago – it is a lighter load but not exactly lightweight 😀

Thursday was Camp Digital. This is consistently my favourite event – and not just because they occasionally let me speak! I’d been targeting it mentally as my return to the world and so was really glad to make it. Especially with so many friends speaking.

Not going to lie though – I found much of it overwhelming. Especially in the lobby area between sessions. It was so much people-ing! I spent a lot of time trying to keep a low profile and then somewhat ghosted the drinks at the end of the event.

All that said it was a bloody amazing set of talks again.

Rachel got us off to an inspiring start talking about hope.

Himal had many of us feeling seen with his talk about burn-out and dysfunctional organisations that rely on people risking it.

Dan shared amazing insights from his work at Citizens Advice and hot takes from his non-professional perspective.

Laura reminded us that even in a world of constraints great work work needs space to be a little playful if you want creative responses to hard problems.

Tessa shared what incredible things can be achieved when people work on things they really believe in with leaders who understand how to create a culture and environment where people can thrive even in difficult circumstances. 

…and finally (a different) Dan provided a fun, and emotional, closer with examples of his adventures in creative technologies and digital art.

Just fantastic. Thanks Team Nexer. See you next year.

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Much of Friday was on the train back home. Reading a stack of 2000AD comics I picked up on a whim. Still bringing the thrill-power after all these years.

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For something very (very) different Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix is remarkably lovely ❤️ 

I knew nothing about it other than it had Sally Field, Bob from Thunderbolts and a talking octopus. It got the allergies going in my ongoing emotionally fragile state that is for sure.