Eclectica

To the mountains again

2009-03-15T10:39:00.003Z

The mountains have always exerted a faintly magnetic presure on me. From childhood picnics on small hillocks in Hampshire to the proper big things with snow on - I like to get the to peak.

The attraction is multi-layered. I love the fresh air and getting out of town - I can almost feel my lungs renewing themselves. I love how the weather is tangibly different - looking down into the valley on the cloud. I love that I become more aware of the physicality of sunshine - looking for the south-facing slopes and the sunshine - and moving round the mountain as the day progresses. I love that the higher I go, the more insignificant humans are - we're like little ants sliding around on the snow.

The skiing bit is good fun too - the adrenalin of going fast downhill. Stick some headphones on and I'm in my own personal bubble. And what makes the personal bubble even better is know the guys you're skiing with are pretty much in their personal bubble too and not bothered by my seemingly antisocial behaviour - but come beer o'clock it's good to reconnect with humanity.

So, here I am again. Third trip this year... a personal best. Two weeks at Christmas with the Sidster, Phil & Yoko; three days with workmates; now another week with the Sidster and another group of folks of whom we only really know one member - but half the fun is looking forward to making new friends.

We've just arrived at Lyon, after a ghastly early start (and the obligatory Hilditch-hangover) - and am sitting in the sunshine, with an hour to kill, waiting for sato-bus to whisk us away to Bourg St Maurice, and the final pick up into Montchavin. Have laptop, will travel. It's glorious. I feel one last crazy wine, beer, and *cheese* (oh I'm looking forward to the special cheese) fest for the year coming on.

Cue Fun. Woo Hoo.

We have to live like this, rather than holidaying like this.

Recession, Restaurants and Community

2009-01-25T20:18:00.008Z

We live in the 'burbs. Northfields W13 to be precise. And we rather like it there. It's only a diddy house - but it's plenty big enough for me, the Sidster and now Denis the dog. The thing we love best is the fact that we are within walking distance to a little miracle of retail, otherwise known as Northfields Avenue. We're two minutes away from a bakers, two butchers, green grocers, a hardware shop, book shop, cobbler's shop, chinese herbalist, gift shop, craft shop, pet shop.... and numerous cafes and restaurants.

These are not fancy-schmanzy restaurants - but good solid neighbourhood restaurants that get repeat business. Our favourite curry house, Monty's, is so popular you usually need to book for a Friday night. So, it was with a mix of trepidation and sadness that we made our way down there last Friday. We hadn't booked - it was a last minute decision - Sid met me from the tube and we thought we'd try our luck. Walking down the road, I was struck that if we managed to get a table, that probably indicated the restaurant was being hit by the credit-crunch as the good citizens of Northfields pull back on their spending. As it turned out, we were lucky - we got the last table - the place was packed. Not only was I delighted to tuck into my favourite tandoori mixed grill, I was delighted to see the place buzzing as usual. I hope these guys make it through these difficult times intact. I think they will - they've got the core proposition just right : great food, friendly service, good value, takeaway box for your leftovers, and always the offer of a liquer on the house when they bring the bill.

It also reminded me of a particularly succint tweet from a particularly succint thinker - in less than the available 140 characters.

So this is what I'm going to do. When I need to buy stuff, I'm going to buy it from businesses that I want to be here in the future. It's Darwinian. It matters on many different levels. I don't want to create custom for child labour sweat shops in developing countries, nor do I want apples air freighted from the USA, when perfectly good ones grow in Kent.

I love the community that exists in Northfields. I love that when I go into Monty's for dinner, I bump into my friends and neighbours. I love that the guys there remember that I always order the tandoori mixed grill and the tarka dahl. I love that the bakery assistants get the pain au chocolat in the bag when I walk in the door. It's a bit like *actually* being in the 'cheers bar - where everybody knows your name'. I have palpable enjoyment from meeting people I know on the streets where I live. I want this little neighbourhood to do more than just survive - I want it to thrive. So sorry Tesco, B&Q, Primark et al, I'm voting with my ££. If I can buy it on Northfields Avenue - that's what I'm going to do.

Cue 2009

2009-01-11T20:06:00.003Z

I've got a cyclical nature. I tend to spend the last few days of December reflecting on the year just closing; and January setting out a few plans for the year ahead. This year is no different, but I thought I'd share....

Not exactly new year resolutions, more a few things I want to explore and try out.

Learning is a key theme. This one kind of snook up on me last year - and now it's here to stay. I'd forgotten how much I *love* learning new stuff. Technology of course, new ways of working, new ways of organising. Mostly though, it's about unlearning some not particularly helpful habits - and making fewer assumptions. Being curious and asking questions is AGT (a good thing), and I plan do be doing more of that this year.

Trying out some new experiences. A range of things big and small: A trip to the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara & Kiva; going to some lecture series/spoken word events; varying my morning commute (so I don't arrive at JGP Towers bad-tempered); working differently - getting my thinking/planning done outside the distractions of the office.

Think more about how I spend my time. And stop doing the things that make me feel I've wasted it. In the last couple of months I've slipped back into "TV as backdrop"; and loosing most of Saturday to a hangover. Enough already.

Take a little more care of myself. I never thought I'd fret about turning 40, but now it's going to happen this year, I'm fretting. I just don't have the resilience I did even five years ago - late nights, booze, stress - it's all beginning to catch up. So, a little more activity, less beer and a bit more me-time...

Oh, and I've decided to say something friendly to a stranger everyday. It's kinda freaky (especially when I speak to people on the tube in the morning and they think I'm mad) - but actually easier than I thought. It's all about putting a bit of good karma out there. Which is a AGT.

What about you ?

OK, here's the photographic evidence...

2008-05-20T21:11:00.010+01:00

On Sunday, I did the Cancer Research "race for life" with some friends. Given that I'm not exactly a natural athlete, I enjoyed it more than I imagined I would ! I might even do it again, although maybe not this week. So, for all you lovely folks who sponsored me by making a donation to Cancer Research - thank you *very* much. And here's the public humiliation I promised. The photographic evidence of me running.

Ok, this is the "mass warm up". Not really my cup of tea - low-impact aerobics with a couple of thousand women, but hey, never let it be said that I'm not game for a laugh.

Then here I am, mid course, waving to the camera . Not tooo red and sweaty at that point. Very glad it's not a close up though.

I'm particularly fond of this one - heading towards the finishing line - being beaten by two small people !

And afterwards with Gaynor and Eileen - note the medals !

How much do I love....

2008-05-05T20:51:00.005+01:00

... bank holiday weekends, London, my bicycle? Well today, loads and loads.

I'm very fond of a bank holiday weekend. It means that if I get a bit too trashed on Friday night, I've still got a full two day break, even if Saturday is dominated by a hangover. That said, I'm more a cheap date than party animal these days, so I rarely loose a Saturday in that way - but some feelings are pretty well ingrained.

This Friday was a bit of a mixed bag though. I had a great night out with some of fab colleagues at Notting Hill - it was the "thank-you christmas party" for the crew that organise and work all through the big staff Christmas party. We had a great meal, and I worked my way through all the "green" cocktails on the menu. Seemed as a good a reason as any other. My vote goes to the midori sour, with the mojito coming in a close second. For once, we were being relatively well behaved, and called it a night before it got to hangover inducing stage.... which meant I got home in time for the confirmation of the london mayoral election result.

No prizes for guessing I wasn't exactly chuffed with getting BoJo for the next four years. But, we live in a democracy (thank goodness) and the people have spoken. Let's just hope he appoints some good advisors and doesn't screw up this great city.

I'm so back in love with London. I don't quite know how this happened. For the last year or so, I've been grumping about this city - and trying to work out where to move next. But the malaise has gone. The mayoral election really brought home to me how much I *care* about this city. I got really worked up (still am, but trying to move on) about having someone run it who clearly loves it as much as Ken does.

I particularly loved London today. Lovely sunny day, so a great opportunity to go for a bicycle ride. I wanted to work out how long it would take me to cycle to my new job at JGP in East London. When I realised that JGP were in East London, I groaned. Not that I have anything against East London. Aside from its (lack of) proximity to West London. However, today I realised this could be A Good Thing. The cycle ride there is about 15 miles, and more straightfoward that I thought....

Ealing to Hammersmith (mostly along cycle lanes)
Hammersmith to Kensington Gardens (again, mostly cycle lanes)
Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, St James' Park (the best bit)
slightly hairy bit round Trafalgar Sq, Charing Cross, the Strand and Aldwych
then through the City and into Whitechapel

Today it took me (and the Sidster) an hour and half, including stops for map-reading and faffing. And that was at a gentle pace, as apparently the bike saddle doesn't accommodate the gentlemans undercarriage very comfortably (!) Should be able to get that down to about an hour and ten when I've got the route nailed and I'm back in the regular cycling habit. I've not been a regular cycling commuter over the winter, so need to get back in shape. I reckon 30 miles a day should turn me into a lean-mean-COO-machine (well, should at least liberate my inner thin person)! Am hoping JGP have a shower, as I'll be a red sweaty beast by the time I arrive.

Cycling through London today just re-invigorated my love-affair with the city. How could I ever have doubted it. Great parks, great architecture, vibrant river, loads of people out doing stuff : going to galleries, cycling, skating, skateboarding, running, playing softball. It's just so alive. Alive with possibilities.

Mood Music, Spring, and New Awakenings...

2008-04-27T21:40:00.005+01:00

The link between these three things is probably a bit tenuous, but hey-ho. Sometimes random is as good as patterns...

I blogged about mood/music last week - but today, I had a bit of a music-related epiphany.

Music whilst running. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before (well, I suppose strictly speaking I have always listened to music in the gym, but I've never thought about running outside whilst ipod'd up. duhhh) - but hell, it made a cracking difference. Continuing my week long "Scissor Sisters" fixation, I'm pleased to report that the first album makes for a great pace-setter. I find it really hard to pace myself when running outside. So far, I've always found the treadmill easier because it sorts that bit out for me - but it's profoundly less fulfilling running on the spot - bugger all sense of achievement. But "take your mama" et al kept me on track and pumped up. I made 4K without a breaking into a walk. Which might not seem a lot, but this lady ain't exactly a natural athlete.

As well as being a personal best in terms of distance covered, running today was oddly magical. The weather wasn't that great (we got rained on) but all the signs of spring and new beginnings were there - the Gingko Biloba tree outside our house has got fresh green leaves; the street trees of Ealing are in blossom; the woods on the way down to the canal tow-path are peppered with the blue haze of bluebells. Simply glorious.

The plants aren't the only new things springing up though. Now the paper work is done, I'm really excited to announce that I'm off to a new job. I've had three and half great years at Notting Hill, it's been a ball, we've achieved loads, but time for a new challenge.

I'm off to be Chief Operating Officer at JGP. JGP is probably best known for http://www.jobsgopublic.com/ - the UK's biggest public-sector specialist jobsboard. But there's lots more besides (oh yes, I'll be blogging about it all very soon). I've been using JGP products for the last few years - and I think they're great (if I didn't, I wouldn't be taking the job!). So it feels like a bit of a Victor Kiam moment. All that lovely technology to get to grips with, and new people to meet.... it's fair put a spring in my step.

J

Twitter, Music and Mood

2008-04-23T20:53:00.003+01:00

Over the last nine months or so, I've pretty embraced the Facebook thang. It was great getting in touch with folks I've not seen for ages, looking at pictures, and generally exchanging the inanities of daily life in a gentle way. I never did get the zombie thing, nor the stripper-name thing, but I quite liked the books, photos; and best of all the status updates. As a medium, it really got me interested in how the tinterweb is changing how we interact with each other. However, I'm getting a bit bored with it now - and am off exploring new stuff....

Twitter. Essentially, it's the functionality bit of FB that I embraced the most - in FB lexicon : the status update. In twitter lingo : a tweet. The answer to the question "what are you doing". In 140 characters. Think text message. Think short and sweet. There's a great little animation that answers the "why twitter" question here

So, I've been tweeting. There's a feed on the left hand side of the blog page (if you're reading this in FB notes, just click on "original post" at the top to get to the original). I'm interested in the discipline that the 140 characters impose. There's both the regular stuff of daily life, and some remarkably erudite discussion threads about technology and the new economy. What's tickling me most though, is "LOTD"

LOTD is "lyric of the day". It's a twitter bot - you send it a message quoting your song lyric of the day and the artist, and it re-tweets it under the LOTD username... hence during the day you can follow an eclectic mix of twitterers song lyrics : so far it's inspired me to unearth a few forgotten gems on my ipod. In case you're interested in how the bot works - here's the lowdown from whitneymcn, the brains behind it. Cute.

I've also been following a rather interesting blog (and twitter) of a chap called Fred Wilson, a VC in NYC, mostly about technology, new economy etc. But yesterday Fred made an interesting post about needing to "lift the funk". There followed an interesting thread of comments on various different approaches... but music featured in a quite a few

So these two things led me to thinking....

...There is a clear correlation between my mood and my tunes. Or lack of tunes. Not sure which way the cause and effect goes. But when I'm listening to upbeat tunes, I'm generally in upbeat mood. When I'm listening to chillout, I'm well, chillin' out. When I'm listening to Pink Floyd, I'm wallowing in self pity. The real danger comes when I'm not listening to music - that's when I'm really falling off the edge of the world (very rare I hasten to add).

Soooo, is there an app out there anywhere that enables the "friending / following" (whatever the terminology is) of our ipod playlists - would it possible to "take the mood pulse" of a group of friends, (or with my professional hat on - an organisation or work team) by music choices ? I wonder if there's any research out there that tells what the likely mood impact of music might be. Personally the higher the bpm, the more chirpy I am (no shit sherlock) - is that universal ? Perhaps there's something more neural that could be done? Is there a magic playlist for starting the day off in a good way ??

FWIW, at the moment, in the mornings, I'm really hammering the Scissor Sisters - "Mama" - it just makes me smile so much, I'm singing along on the tube (great stuff - people leave breathing space around me because they think I'm nuts)... and right now, it's chillout with Zero 7.

J

Satellite delay to the brain, flowers, gentrification and designer dogs

2008-04-20T18:06:00.004+01:00

Woke up marginally groggy this morning, with a vague feeling that I should be somewhere other than horizontal in bed, listening to Sunday Service (one of only 2 hours per week that I can't bear to listen to Radio 4. The other hour is "any answers" when it feels like all the really annoying people in the world phone up R4 to share their Daily-Mail inspired bigotry). The thought process went something like this...

Ah, Sunday....
Eek, God on the Radio.
OK, snooze for a bit till the interesting news-thingy comes on at 9. Then the Archers at 10.
Snooze.
News thingy at 9
Faintly unsettling feeling of "shouldn't I be somewhere else?"
F*uckety f*ck f*ck. yes I should be an hour across town at Columbia Road meeting Helen.

So, leap out of bed, perform morning abolutions, stumble down stairs just as adorable husband (yep, still adorable) climbs stairs bearing boiled egg and soldiers for the good lady wife. Fully engage brain, eat breakfast. Remember that arrangement was to ring Helen at 9 to arrange meet-up, rather than actually *be* in east london at 9. Recover from indigestion of hurried breakfast and enjoy coffee and sight of husband in bathrobe. Even after all these years, I can almost purr when I look at him !

Anyways, lovely morning at Columbia Road flower market with Helen. A good opportunity to buy flowers, enjoy the ambience of the market traders yelling out the various merits of their goods, have a coffee and a catch up on the gossip. I bought a *huge* pile of rather garish bright pink flowers called "celosia brains" for the princely sum of a fiver - and they're looking just great in front of the fire place.

Helen and I have been frequenting Columbia Road for a good 6 years or so I'd guess, and we observed today how much it's changed - it's become v chi-chi ! It's still great fun, and I do enjoy browsing (and buying) in the shops that line the market, but it's really the flowers and the market characters that are the stars. During that time though, the little quirky arty shops have become a bit more upmarket (still quirky though) and I'm guessing the socio-economic grouping is firmly ABC1.

My first ever trip to Columbia Road must have been when I first moved to London in 1998, and I remember marvelling that the pub was open at 10am, so we went in for a coffee (it just wouldn't be right to a beer before noon) - and to my amazement there were loads of, well, frankly p*ssed people. I hadn't heard of a market licence before! Still plenty of merry folks around today - a particularly splendid pair of clubbers returning home looking a little the worse for wear at 10:30am... I'm only jealous that my energy wouldn't make it past midnight these days!

Today though, seemed to be "designer dog day". Whilst we slurped our coffees outside the Jones dairy, we noticed a number of hounds (and their people) walk by... but none of them was a heinz-mutt, they were all rather *fabulous darhling* fancy-shmanzy dogs. I saw a Weirmerama, an Afghan, two Standard Poodles (in chocolate brown - v lovely), a Chow-Chow, a Westie and a Old English Sheep dog.

All in all, a good day out, and getting to feel more at home in East London. Which is good thing, as I'm going to be spending more time there from July. New job, new environs... but more about that later !

I'm back and bouncing. Call me Zebedee.

2008-03-29T15:53:00.003Z

The last month or so has been a particularly tough one at work, hence the lack of blog-posts. Not just in finding the time to write, but more that we've had some difficult things to deal with, that weren't really appropriate for writing about here. Writing about anything else seemed like missing the point. I've turned the corner in the last week though, so it's back to my brain buzzin' with lots of new stuff and the fug is lifting. So...

Tag Clouds.

I felt like I was the last one to notice that tag clouds are everywhere - until I mentioned it to a friend who said "what's a tag cloud?" However, I'm loving them, and the general concept of quick, snappy, word association. I reckon they're great for selection processes. This week I ...

saw a word assocation list on a CV for a job application. Inspired. Made me laugh. Knowing the author, I'd say it gave a pdg indication of his corporate DNA. I'd hire him any day of the week ;)

decided we should discover our own Notting Hill staff word-cloud and use it in our employer brand marketing materials. Nothing like a bit of authenticity to add value. If we can get the message across about "what it's really like to work here", we stand a better chance of attracting the kind of folk who will fit-in and thrive; rather than those that won't feel comfortable in our organisation. Square pegs and square holes etc.

asked a digital media firm pitching for our intranet redevelopment business for the five words that would describe what it would be like working with them. It didn't floor them, quick as a flash they came back words that were resonant for us. They're so hired. More amusingly, when we invited the various firms in to pitch, Web Monkey asked them all to name their favourite type of biscuit (and then provided them for munching through the pitch - we look after our guests!) Not sure exactly what the relatively scoring mechanism for pink wafers versus hobnobs is... but it's it got me thinking.

I love the sheer economy of words in a cloud though. Rather than long prose, the tight, punchy message of a tag cloud is immediate. I guess it's the norm for the Gen Y that grow up with tinterweb and txt as communication norms - but even an older-fart like me is gettin' it.

So, my twenty words for this week ...

boing, fun, excitement, anticipation, optimism, trepidation, sadness, good-bye, fin-de-siecle, woo-hoo, adrenalin, discovery, serendipity, seperated-at-birth, sweat, over-stretched, full-roasted, home-coming, knowledge, friends.

Yours ?

Life on (and off) the ski slopes

2008-03-03T21:08:00.002Z

I've been away for a week - skiing in Folgarida, Italy. Unfortunately the internet connection was a bit ropey, so I wrote this up last week, but coudn't post it until now, when I'm back home, tucked up on the sofa with the laptop.

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I'm in Italy - my first ski-trip to Italy - and it's great. I'd read that Italy has great food (it does) but awful loos (it doesn't). We're having a ball : sunny weather, few lift queues, beautiful ski area with lots of tree-lined runs, and so far, no injuries.

It's our annual trip with the group of friends that first got me into skiing about 8 years ago (although they've all been skiing together for longer than that). This year we're down to a core group of about 8, but in previous years we've been upto 16 or so. Skiing is definately a holiday that lends itself well to hanging out with old friends. There's something rather joyous about the familiarity of knowing that Lesley will have sorted out all the tickets, Collette will have remembered any pharmaceutical products you'll have forgotten (one year, she even managed a spare asthma inhaler where I'd left mine at home), and we'll have a pack of cards out whilst enjoying a few beers in the evening.

So a few beers... this year's highlight boozy night. Monday night... a couple of beers in happy hour, some rousing Europop (Anton Aus Tirol). Pile out of bar to stroll (stagger) back to hotel. Walk past local recylcing point, to witness a woman lifting the tail on her dog (a whippet/greyhound type mutt) and then wipes it's bottom with loo roll. This would tickle me even if I was stone cold sober, but after a few beers, there was significant risk of stress incontinence as I couldn't stop laughing...

Folgaria has a predominantly Italian visitor-base, but not exclusively. It's been fun to observe the different national characters playing out on the slopes...

Italians. Ah, so stylish. Not much "grunge-iness" in evidence. Chic ski-wear - including a remarkable amount of fur trimming. Skiing style also really neat - skis and knees close together - all very swooshy. But the smoking was a bit of a surprise - loads of smoking - in the lift queues, on the lifts, whilst skiing - all looking v cool of course !

The Dutch. We love the cloggies. A particularly lively group of about 10 Dutch skiers are here in Folgarida ... on the slopes they sported big yellow foam "clogs" that fitted over the top of their ski/board boots, and "milk-maid" hats, complete with orange plaits dangling round their shoulders. As well as an endearing ability to send themselves up, they just loved the Euro-pop in the Apres Ski bar. DJ Otzi with "Anton Aus Tirol" ellicited a particularly fine display of jollity and sing-a-long. (OK, we joined in too).

The English. Well, aside from us, there's a particularly fine mad-granny character in the resort - I hope I have her pazzaz when I'm 60. She's been tearing down the slopes, drinking like fish and dancing like one of pan's people in the apres ski bar. A wonderful display of English eccentricity on a par with Morris Dancing.

The Swedes. A small group of Swedes staying in our hotel have brought with them a small "table display" consisting of 6 swedish flags. They plant it on the table at breakfast each morning. Perfectly behaved, speaking perfect English, and looking like perfect IKEA people (nice knitted sweaters), but what's with the flags ??

I'm always completely impressed by the mainland european ability to happily converse in a language other than their own - most often, English. I had a good chat with a teenage Dutch lad, who's English language skills included none of the grunting I'm used to from my 16 year old nephews ! Sadly I speak no Italian beyond a few pleasantries (and the entire Pizza Express Menu), but my brain seems to have a very simple "foreign language mode" - and just the one mode - when not in England, speak French. Oddly enough, it wasn't hugely helpful in Italy !

Happy Days.

J

Valentine's Day.

2008-02-15T21:59:00.004Z

OK, the post is a day late... but I was somewhat incapacitated last night.

Actually, the Hilditch-Harman household doesn't go in much for the card/flowers routine. We're such cynical old bastards - we refer to it as "hallmark-cards mega profit day". I'm not sure when the cynicism set it - we did cards at some point in the last 17 years, but not sure when.

We did however, mosey out for a spot of live music. A friend from work plays in a band called the Jazz Traitors, and they had a gig at a rather lovely pub in Twickenham. Having checked out the pub's website (another cynical old bastard moment : since when did pubs have a website?) and discovered their speciality is belgian beer and food, we reckoned on enjoying a spot of dinner, alongside the dinner jazz. And very nice it was too... the moules, the frites, the fruit beers. These days I just can't drink on a school night - I'm such a cheap date, three pints and I'm all over the show. Three pints of belgian beer and I'm well and truly done for. Because it's so fruity and yummy (obviously healthy and good for you - it's fruit for god's sake), I never realise I've had enough until about a pint too late.

Anyway, the jazz was great. The vocals are silky-smooth and the whole thing hangs together rather well. We reckoned we were lucky to hear such a performance in a local pub instead of trekking off into town to an expensive venue !

Vincent, my friend in the band, is a multi-talented fellow. As well as the day job (a senior manager at Notting Hill) and playing saxophone in the band, he's also the producer for a play called Blue/Orange at Wimbledon Studio (4th - 22nd March). I'm in awe of his energy to pack so much into 24 hours. Yesterday we were talking about the various things that need to be done to get the curtain up. V said he'd been scouting around the environs of Wimbledon station with his camera, looking for a suitable locations to take publicity pics. He'd been stopped by the police who wanted to know what he was doing.

My initial reaction was to chuckle - I couldn't think of a less likely troublemaker : Vincent is the epitomy of decency, and armed with nothing more dangerous than a camera and a pile of flyers for a play. Then on balance though, I was less amused and more reflective. Chances are that he was stopped because he's a man of colour, photographing near a tube station. It sounds like the exchange between V and policeman was perfectly courteous, but that still leaves me with a sinking feeling. So in no particular order, points to ponder....

Suicide bombing on the tube up'd the ante. We all feel less secure than before. Not necessarily in a direct "I'm scared of travelling on the tube" way, but in a more widely pervasive, or more accurately invasive way - marginal declines in trust are all around us.

Risk-based judgements. What does that mean for all of us ? I understand why a black or asian man is more likely to be considered suspicious than me, a white woman. But understanding why something is that way, doesn't make it OK. Doesn't make it any less damaging in the long run to those young men who grow up in an environment where they're the subject of curiosity at best, and and worst suspicion.

...which brings me back to thinking about the book I finished last week Ed Hussein's "The Islamist". How did those young men who carried out the suicide bombings on tube come to feel that Britain in the 21st Century wasn't a place for them. The book is not a literary beauty by any means, but interesting, compelling reading. It's one of those books that will travel with me for many years. I understand there is much debate about some of the theological points in the book, and the extent of his involvement in Hibz ut-Tahrir, but I was most interested in how the "non-mainstream" spoke more strongly to him than anything else.

After such weighty matters... back to Valentine's evening. We get home from the boozer, and the Sidster gives his adoring Missus a christmas present (punctuality is a much over-rated virtue as far as he's concerned). I am now the pround owner of a nintendo DS portable game console thingy. Complete with the brain-training game. Much to my horror, my initial "brain age" was 67 ! I tried to reassure myself that obviously the belgian beer was slowing me down. Maybe but not not a lot. I had another go this evening, and I've reached the "brain age" of 51. Hmm, better, but not much, given that I'm 30-something. I'm loving the brain-training game though - it's compulsive - and it gives me a practical antidote to my deep-seated fear that I've killed off too many cells of the grey matter.

I did start to wonder though, about whether the scoring mechanism of this game was a reflection of youth culture - valuing (mental) speed and agility over wisdom and reflection. Then I realised I should remove my head from my backside and stop listening to so much radio 4.

Memories of the Office Move...

2008-02-13T21:03:00.002Z

I've been invited to speak at an office relocation seminar. Apparently Notting Hill makes a for an interesting case study ! I've prep'd the slides, and on Monday went along to do a run-through with the other speakers. It was good timing really, as I'd been reflecting on our experiences with some other folks who were due to move last week.

A year ago, I never imagined I'd say it, but I really enjoyed leading our move project. At that time, it was pretty terrifying, and one big headache as I couldn't quite see how we'd pull it off. However, now it's all done and dusted, I'd say it was a great success. There's been lots of feedback that people love it. Not everyone, but if you ever need evidence of the old adage "can't please all of the people all of the time", then try out organising an office move for 500 people ! Oh, it also came in on time and budget. It was a huge team effort and everyone involved can feel proud of their achievement.

I could write reams about what we did, what worked, what didn't, what I'd do differently next time. However, the focus for my slot at the event is on the "people aspects" (just what you'd expect from an accountant eh ?), so I'll confine myself to that today.

We recognised early on that this was going to be emotional. If you think that sounds a bit fluffy, try this. Go into work tomorrow and sit in someone else's desk for the day and see how it feels. I'd put money on it being disorientating, frustrating, uncomfortable - and it's not because you've currently got the best desk and you're trading down - it's just different, you're not used to it, you hadn't planned for it. Given that we knew it would be an upheaval, there were various strategies we deployed to mitigate the impact....

Communication. We communicated. We communicated for England. News items on the intranet, posters on the wall, newsletters on the desk, standing update item at Managers' meetings. Often we said the same thing in three different formats, but it was all about generating familiarity with the project.

Involvement. Ok, not design by a 500 person committe, but we put most of the furniture choices out to staff to vote on. An initial group of 8 staff went out on selection visits, selecting ranges within our price bands, making sure that they met all our operational needs (this group included the Health & Safety Manager and FM Manager). We then got the suppliers to deliver samples to the office and asked everyone to vote for their favourites. Nope, we didn't rig the vote - just staff at NHH have great taste !

Not just the usual suspects. The good ol' chain of command is useful. Brief the senior manager, they brief the middle manager and so on with the information cascade. There's a pretty significant risk though, that something will get lost in translation, and if you're looking for feedback and action, the management chain isn't always the most effective route. Typically a senior manager won't have the same understanding of the nitty gritty of "how things work" on a very practical level in their office. How many senior managers know how whether they have (or need) a laminator, spiral binder or shredder in their area (I didn't until I needed to know this for the move!).... however the PAs and Team Administrators probably do. They were a great source of knowledge, terrific planners and great influencers. We formed a team of "Move Co-ordinators" populated mostly wiht our PAs and Administrators. They were vital to the move - it wouldn't have been so successful without them.

Have some fun. The move weekend was exhausting, but it we also had some fun....Clearning up the left-over kit left in our old office : we had the music on full volume as we "swept" through the building in waves - 15 or so Move Co-ordinators, gathering up electrical ephemera (100 or so desk fans), bagging up excess stationery for recycling (do get in touch if you want a few thousand lever arch files) and generally making sure that nothing got left behind. We flaked out in the reception later that afternoon when the pizza delivery boy arrived - not on a moped though - he needed a family hatchback to get them all in !

So, the punchline in a cliche. Many hands make light work.

I'll write some more on another day, about the design elements of the fit-out and also the actual move weekend itself.

The Spice of Life ?

2008-02-08T20:19:00.000Z

Variety.

It's been a busy ol' week in Corporate Services world....talking to a creative agency about what we want to achieve with podcast programming; a series of long-list interviews; exec team meeting considering property investment decisions; internal communication mechanism briefing; meeting an architect who's interested in working for us; chairing a disciplinary panel hearing; meeting with the trainer who's delivering our "train the trainers" programme for active learning sets; participating in a workshop on how we use email and whether we can use it more effectively; and last but not least, analysing the various test/questionnaire results for the appointment for a new exec director... and that's just the scheduled meetings. So, never a dull moment in the back-office !

Aside from the stuff I've been "doing", there's the stuff I've been "thinking". Three things came together with a bit of serendipity this week ....

I've been reading a compelling book "The Future of Management" by Gary Hamel (thanks to Richie T - you're so right - it's completely up my street). If you have even a passing interest in making work a more rewarding experience, and creating value - read it. I'm not going to attempt to review it at length (go here for that) as I haven't finished yet. The punchline so far is that if organisations don't innovate, they stagnate - and traditional management strictures don't enable innovation, they stifle it. If we fail to pay attention to the fact that corporations are made up of humans and not automatons, we're doomed to mediocrity. Some of the examples are truly radical, like the organisation where managers are not appointed by more senior managers, but elected by their team member peers. But one common demoninator across the various exemplars seems to be effective internal communication....

Pilar, one of my colleagues in Communication team has been studying for a PG Dip in Internal Comms. This week she ran a fab briefing session for the team on what she's been learning - both the theory and more importantly, how we're going to apply it to developing our internal comms matrix at NHH. It's gotten me thinking about how we can generate some of the lively, two-way communications that feature in Hamel's book. Tecnhology has to be part of answer, but probably more fundamently, we must further foster the environment where colleagues want to contribute to the information exchange. I think we've made a good start, so now it's time for the web2.0 intranet...

Monkey, another one of the Comms gang circulated the spec for our new intranet this week. It's soooo exciting - I've been pinging around like Zebedee. It's early days yet, but the ideas are looking good. As well as bringing upto date the technical engine of our intranet (Nott.net), we're looking for web2.0 style functionality : user generated content. Nott.net is pretty well used and loved (ever since Monkey injected comedic value on the news items - but more about that on a future post). However, compare it to the functionality and user-engagement of a platform like FB, and it's looking rather long in the tooth. This has the potential to be a great enabling technology to take us forward. I'm really looking forward to working on it with the team.

J

I'm lost for words (but not for long)

2008-02-04T19:59:00.000Z

And for those of you that know me, will realise that doesn't happen very often.

I've plonked myself in front of the goggle-box (hilditch dictionary for TV), laptop on the lap, ready to blog about the fun I had last week, re-discovering my inner computer-geek. However, an item on Channel4 news has just floored me. At the practice laps for the Catalunya F1, Lewis Hamilton has been on the receiving of racial abuse (bbc report). He is quoted as being "saddened" by events. Bloody hell, I'm saddened, but it also makes me angry. I can't help but admire Lewis Hamilton. It seems that the qualities of focus, self control and discipline that have made him a great F1 driver have also equipped him to handle such events with great dignity. What a remarkable young man.

So, my inner computer-geek. Back in 1980-something, I loved messing around with computers. My parents bought me a sinclair ZX81 (complete with 16K memory extension pack) as a Christmas present one year - and I was hooked. At school I went on to do prograame in BASIC on a Commodore Pet (who remembers a memory-mapped screen.... and that 32768 was the address for the top lhs??) and then a BBC B. The BBC B used to have a two-note sound on booting up. In (about) 1990 there was a KLF track that had a sample on it, that sounded remarkably similar - I've always wondered if the BBC B was the source or inspirations for it! I guess that little sound was a fore-runner of the intel "da-da-da-da". Somewhere in our understairs cupboard, I think I still have a the floppy disc with some of my early programmes! However, since university, I've been a regular computer user, rather than a technical-whizz. The nearest I've come to coding anything over the last fifteen years is knocking together a few VB macros in excel. Well, no more. I've had a re-awakening.

Last week, I spent a few days on course looking at the technical side of web development. I've gotten my head round html, xhtml, css and a splattering of jsp and asp. Not that I'm contemplating a major career change to geekdom, but I think I'll now be a better "commissioner" of such projects. It was the first time I've been "back in the classroom" in many years, and I really enjoyed learning something new (although it did amuse me that the basic operations of programming haven't actually changed that much). I definitely experienced what I understand the psychologists call "flow" - I became so absorbed in what I was doing, time flew by.

J

The Joys of Recruiting

2008-01-28T21:03:00.001Z

One of the most important things I do at work is recruiting, and that is what has held my attention for most of the day. It would be inappropriate for me to blog about the details of today's recruitment exercise, but I thought it worth recording some general observations...

Recruitment campaigns have various stages : putting together role profile and candidate information; identifying search and advertising strategy; first sift & shortlisting; and of course, that final interview. Today I spent time working on a first sift - sorting through applications, matching them up against our key criteria and working out who to take through to the next round. I'm afraid it's nowhere near as dramatic as Alan Sugar or the X Factor!

I always find this stage the driest - a CV can't discuss or explain, it just sits there as a sheet of paper... or maybe not. Although no-one has yet to submit a podcast application, I imagine it's only a matter of time !

Some CVs and supporting statements stand out better than others - here's my list of top tips :

Keep it concise : no more than 2 or 3 sides of A4 (without shrinking the font). This demonstrates the candidate's ability to focus on key issues, and ability to present information a structured format.

Chronological order, starting now and working backing in time. In the past I've witnessed a CV from a senior executive which started with their first job as a bookies clerk in 1960 !
Highlight key responsibilties and achievements, rather than just listing tasks carried out in a role.
Don't use txt msg spk. Do punctuate properly. Am astonished I need to say this.

Stick to the same "regular" font throughout, random switching between paragraphs is distracting. I'd counsel against unusual or fancy fonts, just stick to something simple.
Address each criteria on the supporting statement, one by one. Give examples of how your experience matches the criteria, rather than just stating "I am a team player" etc.

When I read CVs, I'm amused how frequently men record that they're married and have children. I guess it's meant to give the impression they're steady chaps. One I read a few years ago even quoted "father to three happy boys who are into rugby, cricket and their x-box" - I cynically I wondered if the author had carefully selected active sports plus one bit of technology, to make him seem like a "regular guy". In contrast, I rarely read a woman's CV that quotes marital status or numbers of children. For right or wrong, it's an interesting observation on people wish to portray themselves.

One last thought on putting together a CV - I wouldn't bother paying a CV writing agency to do it - with a bit of thought and research, chances are your effort will be just as good as theirs. A couple of years ago, the Notting Hill stand at a recruitment fair happened to be right opposite a company running workshops on good CVs. The advice they gave was at best poor, and on occasion, down right dishonest.

Jayne

What a glorious day

2008-01-27T20:20:00.000Z

It started gently enough, with a cup of coffee in bed, a few chapters of my current book (The Islamist - Ed Hussein) and listening to the Archers. Then it dawned on me that I had no excuses - it was one of those gloriously bright sunny winter days - it's time for the training programme to start.

Together with a couple of friends, I've signed up for a charity 5 kilometre run, race for life, on 18th May. So, contrary to my usual habit of leaving things to the last minute, I figured I'd try to get with the programme early doors. It was a surprisingly pleasant experience. Sid and I walked up the road (warm up, warm up) to the entrance to the park that borders onto the canal. Once through the stile and into the park, we ran (OK, jogged) down to the canal and along the tow-path to Brentford. We estimate it's about 5km in total, and made to the destination with a couple of breathers at about 3km and 4km. The tow-path is lively place on a Sunday morning : the good burghers of Ealing go out jogging and cycling with their children and dogs. And there's a great cafe when you reach Brentford lock. By 18th May I need to do it in one stretch, and I guess I better set a target time to aim for.

After the exertions of the run, I was planning a quiet hour on the allotment, doing a bit of tidying up, then back to the homestead for quality time on the sofa with the Sunday papers. However, we had such fun on the allotment we didn't stop till it got dark. There was lots of dried up vegetation, hedge-clippings and chopped up hazel-nut tree to dispose of. One incinator, one match and a pile of cardboard later, we had a roaring fire going. I'd forgotten just how hypnotic a bonfire can be. I popped out to get coffee and cake from the cafe near the allotments. It's a lovely example of demographic change in london - it's now a polish-food cafe - and I can vouch for the traditional polish apple pie being fabulous.

Perfect Sunday methinks.

J

The Sobering Business Breakfast Briefing

2008-01-24T20:23:00.000Z

Not that I usually attend boozy business breakfasts, but yesterday's was distinctly sobering...

It was a session put together by London First and was all about counter terrorism and security measures and how they might affect London businesses. The key messages were that the threat level is high, and it's long term.

A senior Met officer spoke about risks concerning public spaces like shopping malls and high streets - places where it's not feasible to screen or control entry. They have an impressive training resource which features a video simulation of a serious explosion in a busy public space - challenging you to think how to react if you were the retailer - have you trained staff appropriately ? He pointed that we (it was a business audience) all have evacuation plans for our buildings in the event of fire - but actually, if the incident is an explosion, evacuation isn't always the best option. Imagine you hear/see an explosion near your building, you evacuate people as per the fire plan - they're all standing outside at the assembly point to potentially get showered with shards of glass from a secondary explosion. It may be that a better action is to move people within the building to a secure refuge away from windows. Obviously the circumstances depend on each building - but it got me thinking about what arrangements we have in our office of 500 people - it's a big responsibility.

Other stuff I learned....

Glass is the biggest danger following the actual explosion
Pyramids are the most explosive resilient structures
The police have "architectural liaison officers" to advise on designing-in resilience to new buildings
There has been a (foiled) terrorist plot to cause mass casualties through poisoning beer
The police/government love for acronyms is undeminished - ranging from frequent references to CTSAs (I still don't know what that stands for - but am guessing counter-terrorism something something) to MSK (Mohammed Sidiqi Khan, the 7/7 bomber).

It was one of the better business breakfast briefings I've attended - probably reinforced by the fact that when I got to Oxford Circus tube to head back to the office, there were a signficant number of policemen with big guns, patrolling the concourse. What's happened (and happening) to our city is truly saddening.

Jayne

I'm on the starting blocks...

2008-01-22T15:01:00.000Z

... not sure how this is going to work out, but we'll see. The idea is to document the various thoughts, ideas and observations in both professional and social life. I say social life, rather than private life - as this isn't a corporate belle de jour's blog !

I'm the Group Corporate Services Director at Notting Hill Housing, one of London's biggest Housing Associations. So, expect observations on the challenges of delivering value for money public services; the property market; and the (occasionally) fascinating minutiae of office life. Sometimes I've got more questions than answers, so I'm hoping the "comments" feature of the blog will trigger some debate.

When I'm not in the office, I'm passionate about most things in the great outdoors - from the therapeutic benefits of gardening to the adrenalin rush of skiing, so I'm intending to blog about that too.

Jayne