Accountant | Designer | Educator
It's been a week of talking about paper. Specifically, organisations that continue to insist on printing & sending information to customers, whether they like it or not. In 2018 there's really no excuse for doing that. The common refrain is, "well, we've always done it like that". However that doesn't mean you should be. Last … Continue reading Let’s talk about paper
I had lunch earlier this week with an old colleague. He currently works for a global business, gets paid well, but feels no joy in the work. He'd love to setup his own business, but doing what? He just doesn't know. We spoke about different ways to start the idea generation process. When I worked … Continue reading Where do good ideas come from?
Recently I had the opportunity to spend a day working with two of the world's best designers. It was an inspirational day, learning from people at the very top of their profession. In sport it would be like being able to spend a day training with Lionel Messi or Eliud Kipchoge (one for the runners!). … Continue reading Mind your language!
Well, that's been two weeks away from blogging, and what a busy two weeks it's been! The first week was the Design Sprint at DJCAD, where Louise and I worked with 80 amazing students during an intense, emotional rollercoaster of a week. This was one of the most rewarding weeks of my working life. I've … Continue reading I’m back!
A few months ago I was pondering what it is that I really love doing. I spent a Saturday morning freewriting and mind mapping, and by the end it had become clear - teaching! I'd been talking about the fog I'd had around this with my friend Caroline McKenna earlier that week, so I excitedly … Continue reading I love teaching
I spent a fun evening yesterday delivering a workshop for students on the Enterprise Challenge at the University of Dundee. I love teaching, and take every opportunity to get in front of a group of people to help them learn new things. This week I've run three workshops, as well as a full day of … Continue reading Marketing 2.0
Yesterday morning I spoke to 80 design students at DJCAD about communication. We talked about the importance of writing or creating content regularly and how the more often you do it, the easier it gets. We spoke about the need to reflect, to think our own ideas, and not just write about what we did. … Continue reading Be More Human
Every day, hundreds of thousands of people commute to work in large offices, then spend all day sat at a screen. When I think back to 1987, when I left school and started working, that wasn't even a 'thing'! For many people, this work is repetitive, following systems and processes, or a software system that … Continue reading Do something creative
Last night I spoke to students at Aberdeen University about Sales. I was given total flexibility about content, so I decided to speak to them about how to sell themselves in a crowded job market. Let me give you some context. Depending on which publications you read, the average graduate job will have between 60 … Continue reading Standing out from the crowd
Every year at about this time The Economist publish a special magazine entitled The World in [insert next year]. I first came across it in the mid-90s, and have been buying it ever since. I used to buy the magazine itself every week, but found that I didn't have enough time to read it. It … Continue reading Are we losing our general knowledge?