This is a curious story. At the beginning of August I responded to a request from the National Theatre of Wales, for ‘bald men’ to take part in a performance. Five weeks later I was on the streets of Cardiff. A member of the Abolish Children Party dressed as, ‘a witch trying to look like […]
Will playing Prison Architect make you a better sustainable decision maker?
Could playing a computer game which involves the design, building and running of an American Jail (Prison Architect) help public service ‘decision makers’ make better real life decisions? In particular would it help people to learn how to think differently? Would it help them behave in a way that aligns decision making with sustainable development […]
Education, Education and So Much More. What I’ve learnt from 2 Days of #behfest16
Here’s a rapid post to share a few of the things I’ve learnt from Days 1& 2 of #behfest16,the Behaviour Change Festival currently happening at Bangor University (details here). Details for each day, and some of the resources can be found on Good Practice Wales here: Day One Programme: Education and School Wide Positive Behaviour Day […]
The Secret Bed Transportation Squad and The Abominable NO Man/Woman
A long time ago I was part of an undercover squad that would move beds around at weekends and in the evenings. These weren’t ordinary beds. These were the sort of beds you see in hospitals (the really expensive ones), with mechanical parts that allow you to lie down, sit up or position yourself in […]
Can You Really Trust Social Media in a Crisis? The Rise of Troll Farms.
Way back in 2008 I read ‘Wikinomics’ by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams, and it pretty much changed my life. At the core of Wikinomics was the idea that the large-scale collaboration of people online, was going to change everything we do. The ‘phrase d’jour’, was Web2.0; used a lot at the time to describe […]
Friends Don’t Let Friends Have Rubbish Meetings. Peer Pressure to ‘Do The Right Thing’
Friends don’t let Friends …. Knit Drunk. Sorry to start a post with such a disturbing image. It all started with a schooner of sweet sherry, now just look at those loose stitches, and the wool colours. All so preventable and very wrong. Sometimes it is necessary to share startling graphic images to highlight the consequences […]
Co-Working and Serendipity. It’s just like having Tapas with Strangers
This is a post about co-working, however let me start with something I learnt over the weekend, an essential for your etiquette handbook. When asked; “are you visiting Aberystwyth for anything special?”, DO NOT REPLY WITH, “We’re here to bury my Mother in Law’s Ashes”. It’s a bit of a conversation killer, stuns hotel receptionists […]
Desire Paths and Helicopter Dog Walking. Where is the User Centred Design?
Public Sector Dog Walking Service? Hands up who’s seen the picture of the dog being walked using a helicopter? Apart from being a brilliantly surreal situation, it often gets used as a metaphor to illustrate badly designed services – usually in the public sector. Take a simple service delivery objective – exercising the dog: …..to […]
Is annoying your service users a good way to build community action?
Deliberately setting out to upset and annoy people isn’t an approach I’d routinely recommend, but please stick with me. Here are three things to think about, and how they might be combined to help to build better communities that can deliver the services they require: Doing something wrong, and then putting it right, builds stronger […]
The Listening Service. Busting Jargon, Including People and Improving the Tweets
The Party Blower An effective Jargon Buster As used by Barod CIC I go to lots of conferences and seminars. The result of this, (apart from the addiction to buffet food) is that I now speak a different language – ‘Jargy Jargy’ or Jargon, “the specialist language for a specific activity or group of people” (I’ve […]
What's the PONT 