Category: Weeknotes

  • December ’21 — Can we deliver leaner Programmes in Gov?

    December ’21 — Can we deliver leaner Programmes in Gov?

    I went for a walk along the Embankment on Friday to clear my head from a long, and at times, frustrating week. The cold fresh air does absolute wonders for the mind, and made even better with some hot churros. So what’s been frustrating me recently? Well as a delivery person (and it doesn’t matter…

  • November ’21 — Understanding sunk cost

    November ’21 — Understanding sunk cost

    I’ve previously written about our Digital Transformation journey and the various techniques that worked well. Something I want to do more of is talk about some of the challenges we’re coming up against. Sunk Cost Fallacy [Noun. The phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily…

  • Weeknote: 23 July 21

    Weeknote: 23 July 21

    I jumped out of bed yesterday, forgot to eat anything and rushed to my first HIIT spinning class in 15 months. It was going ok but 30 mins in, just after the most intense part of the class, I wasn’t feeling great. I stopped and sat down…next thing I know, I’m surrounded by paramedics. So…

  • Weeknote: 9 July 21

    Weeknote: 9 July 21

    I took a much-needed break last week. I received one of those emails from HR asking everyone to check their holiday allowance and turns out I still had 90% of my annual leave remaining — So I promptly booked 3 days off. Football Let’s just get the football out of the way. Absolute pandemonium ensued…

  • Weeknote: 25 June 21

    Weeknote: 25 June 21

    Recently, I have been able to put some of the ‘project’ things on hold and spent more time with some of my direct reports. With objectives high on the agenda this month, I used this time to discuss how they could stretch themselves over the coming year. I’ve been proud to see how this group…

  • Weeknote: 18 June 21

    Weeknote: 18 June 21

    It’s been one of those weeks where the weekend can’t come soon enough. I’ve been feeling quite frustrated, demotivated and somewhat absent-minded. I’ve been unable to focus in meetings and it’s taken me ages to complete tasks. I’ve been increasingly doubting myself in situations where previously I’d be confident and assured. It could be due…

  • Weeknote: 11 June 21

    Weeknote: 11 June 21

    Things picked up momentum this week following a relatively quiet one the last week. My areas of focus this week were succession planning, team check-ins and more x-gov conversations with colleagues from DfE and Defra.   Highlights One important update I forgot to mention last week was that I got my first COVID vaccination! Massive…

  • Weeknote: 4 June 21

    Weeknote: 4 June 21

    With school holidays this week, the ‘office’ has been a lot quieter, meaning less time in meetings and more time to tick things off the to-do list like writing this week note! Highlight With the Bank Holiday weekend, I was finally able to invite friends over after what feels like an eternity. Best of all, we got…