Over the years I have found myself using some slightly Machiavellian tactics to help land new ways of working and reset expectations for people not used to internet-era thinking. It remains a surprise (and something of a disappointment) how often I have to dig into this bag of tricks after so many years of doing … Continue reading Cultural cheat codes →

Honestly 2020 can do one. After months of feeling lousy post-COVID and a recent bout of norovirus which was the most physically ill I can ever remember feeling I was finally starting to feel pretty good. I’d had more than a week feeling pretty healthy (for me) and had time off lined up to finally … Continue reading Matt vs Automobile 2020 →

Since 2016 I seem to find myself finding some excuse to make an annual call for a renewed uptake of the schema.org JobPosting standard...so this year ‘World Standards Day’ gets the honor of giving me a hook to hang this post on. For five years JobPosting has been one of the UK Government’s mandated open … Continue reading World Standards Day 2020: JobPosting schema →

Today marks 30 weeks since I got back from Oslo and started my initial lockdown. Since then I have ventured out of my immediate neighbourhood a total of five times. Including going to the pub twice. Not a lot to show for 210 days. This isn’t a woe is me post though - here are … Continue reading Silver linings: 30 things I’ve enjoyed after 30 weeks locking down →

It has been a tough couple of weeks for public service digital teams. First there was the PHE/NHS 'test and trace' Excel crisis and now there is the 'National Careers Service' assessment tool becoming a Twitter piñata. In both cases armies of 'experts' have had their say with everything from constructive criticism to conspiracy theories … Continue reading Leave those piñatas alone →