Desire Paths, and then some… You’ve probably heard of Desire Paths, the darling/nemesis of Urban Planners. The informal, beaten earth, muddy paths that pedestrians (people) create because they work for them. They are where the locals (people on the ground) have chosen to walk. Typically in different places to where the Architects, Engineers and Planners […]
Florence and Semmelweis knew it over 150 years ago. “Wash yer hands you Filthy Animal” #COVID-19
Public Handwashing Facilities. I have an idea… How about we make handwashing a very public activity. Put the wash-basins, water, soap and drying facilities in a very public space, so that everyone can see what’s going on? There’s the obvious impact of peer pressure that might come into play here, but I can also see […]
The negative side of autonomous vehicles – no more AA Roadside Recovery Service
There’s a lot been said about the benefits of the autonomous vehicles we’ve been promised in the next few years; on-demand use, energy efficiency, less congestion, improved safety, high reliability etc etc. But I’m not so sure… The ‘reliability thing’ (never breaking down and leaving you stranded on the roadside) has two negatives in my […]
Over 50’s Social Entrepreneurs Bootcamp. Use voluntary early retirement payoffs for something different. #ChurchillFellowship Post10
This might be my daftest idea yet. If it’s as obvious as I think, why isn’t it already happening in Wales? Here’s the idea. An intensive University Degree Course, aimed at the over 50’s. On the course the participants will; create real businesses, with a strong social purpose (cooperatives if possible), and get a degree out […]
The James Reason Swiss Cheese Failure Model in 300 Seconds
James Reason Swiss Cheese Model. Source: BMJ, 2000 Mar 18:320(7237): 768-770 A while ago I was part of the Cardiff pilot of Practical Strategies for Learning from Failure (#LFFdigital). My job was to explain the James Reason Swiss Cheese Failure Model in 300 seconds (5 minutes). This is what I did. The Swiss Cheese Model of […]
GUREAK. A Basque Social Labour Inclusion Flagship, ‘Here with Ours’. Churchill Fellowship Post 5
I’ve visited 100’s of factories over the years, as part of previous jobs, and in my leisure time (ask my wife). Sometimes I’ve been accused of getting a bit over enthusiastic. I love seeing things being made. However, I’ve never been so greatly affected at an emotional level as I was when I visited GUREAK […]
Cooperative Entrepreneurs Boot Camp. Mondragon Team Academy. Churchill Fellowship Post 4
Yesterday I had a “I wish I was 18 again” experience… I was wishing I was 18 again so I could go to Bilbao and spend four years doing a degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation at Mondragon University. I’m not kidding. This was all slightly unexpected, and I’ll cover that in the next post […]
Is common sense more useful than the rule book when you are making decisions
This is the second of three post (First one here) about some work using SenseMaker to trying and get a better understanding of attitudes towards risk. In particular how ‘well manged risk’ works in relation to innovation and major changes. Text from the original post is below, with the hopefully familiar ‘What’s the PONT?’ added at the […]
Safe to Fail Pilots, Well Managed Risk, Context is Everything and a bit of SenseMaker
I don’t usually mix work and what I write here (well not in any sort of way that is too obvious). For the next three posts I’m crossing the line. These posts are all about some work using SenseMaker to get into the area of attitudes towards risk. In particular how ‘well manged risk’ works […]
The Life Cycle of a Silver Bullet
“Silver Bullets could actually be called Silver Boomerangs, because they keep coming back…”. A lovely observation from Matt Wyatt which doesn’t need much explanation, and I’ll pick it up again later. It was prompted by the previous post, A lesson from the Lone Ranger on Pascale’e Management Fads and Silver Bullet Syndrome, which led to […]
