Nick Smith

The unintended consequence of asking "what can we say we've done?" is the focus it can create on comms as the primary strategy.

Comms _is_ important, it takes time and energy to get right, but it's not everything. Changing the question, focussing on delivery unlocks so much (inc comms, ironically).

15 years and Amazon "never validated [their] core assumptions". The sad thing is that this still seems pretty common in the tech industry. aka HIPPO (highest paid person's opinion). I've also heard it called "vibes and shiny".

bsky.app/profile/leti...

Receipts: a brief list of prominent articles proclaiming the death of the web. They say AI will replace the web as we know it, and this time they mean it. Here follows a short list of previous times they also meant it, starting way back in 1997. Wired: March 1, 1997: “You can kiss your web browser goodbye” – Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf, The Big Story. 1Inspired by the success of PointCast, a clever application that displayed news headlines as a screensaver, our "Push!" story argued that Web browsers were about to become obsolete. 

They say AI will replace the web as we know it, and this time they mean it. Here follows a short list of previous times they also meant it, starting way back in 1997.

For what it was going for, I liked it! Lots to visually stunning set pieces. Nice references. The IMAX sound was immense

The word Tron in blue neon projected onto a wall with Philips Hue lights beneath in matching colour.

Last night I rewatched Tron Legacy and am ready for Tron Ares tonight at the IMAX. Based on reviews I’ve set my expectations low but am looking forward to the nostalgia and escapism

Regularly used image showing the importance of graphic design. The sentence 'You will read this first' is big and bold in the middle. Visual users will indeed read this first. Then there are other sentences: 'and then you will read this'; 'Then this one'; 'And you will read this last'. To make the point, the last sentence you read is the first a non-visual user would have read out on the page, it's at the top.

It's buggy and the interfaces look like they were designed by a drunk monkey. Everything I look at reminds me of this graphic (as in, I wish they'd seen it and internalised the point).

Life finds a way

Oh, that makes sense. I've seen a few 404s. Yes it could fail much more gracefully / usefully

*somewhat (not someone)

URLs (or URIs *) are someone second class citizens in MS world, it seems.

* feel free to have that discussion elsewhere.

Therefore in Google Workspace it's easier to trust linking between documents. To create a web of documents.

You can imagine what this is doing to me, having grown up on the web. This is how my brain works

So if the culture of your org is used to how the web works, vs desktop publishing, and you regularly link out to guides from wiki pages, be ready for lots of links to break regularly as (quite rightly) folder structures change

My understanding is, and nobody seems to talk about this, a big difference between how Google Workspace and MS Sharepoint works: files in Google retain a canonical link. So moving a file between folders in Google, the link to the file stays the same. Move a file in Sharepoint and the link changes

Photo of a 30 day calendar pinned to a fridge. Each day is crossed out. It’s a record that I took a supplement each day. The calendar is printed and has QR codes with info from the supplement manufacturer, Zoe.

I just started #Daily30 (a food supplement) and can say I have more energy and am eating less. It’s part of attempting marginal gains to improve my diet and lose weight

This post sent with the smugness of someone who, after 5 months, has finally switched off all of the ways Microsoft services like to play sounds with notifications

I’ve heard this before where English wasn’t someone’s first language

Why use 'whilst' where 'while' will do? 'Whilst' doesn't make your sentence more formal

Oh no. Best wishes to her and you all, hoping for a speedy recovery

Pollinator Pathmaker Design and plant gardens for endangered bees, butterflies and other pollinators using the algorithmic tool - an artwork by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg.

So interesting. Pollinator Pathmaker. Design your own garden for free. An art project using code to design gardens for pollinators (and humans). Art, code and gardens, right up my street. Featured on BBC Gardener’s World last night: pollinator.art

Agile delivery manager ≠ project manager.

There's crossover in what they do and they can learn from each other, but they are not the same. Assuming they are devalues them both.

I worked for them in Greenwich in the late 90s, early 00s. Back then it was a public private partnership. The council owned the buildings, GLL ran the services. They expanded across London in the 00s, then went national following that. IIRC it was skilled and tightly run, hence their success

What happened when we stopped having meetings and sending emails We took advantage of the switch to remote working and tried new working practices in GOV.UK Pay. Our aim was to help people find a balance between work and life that works for them. Here’s what happen...

Here's a thing @visitmy.website and Xander wrote about: gds.blog.gov.uk/2020/10/07/w...

Solar install update. Our first year.

Since April we’ve had a better than expected June. August was a smidge less solar than predicted. Our peak was 34 kWh on 8 July. It came out of nowhere.

Solar is down in August but still greater than the energy we used in January 🎉

bsky.app/profile/skyn...

Despite their eagerness, I'm never going to sign in to the BBC News website to read the news

Without going into specifics, and without trying to seem like I have all of the answers, my job over the last while seems to have been coaching many levels of an org to have a healthy approach to change. Being deliberate. Being aware of my own emotions. Trying to find the words people need to hear.

Winning! 🎉

*possibly

… Which was as far as I got before the AI went on another tangent. But at least now I know what driving change literally looks like.

AI generated image of someone driving an oversized Flintstones style grey stone car on a road with trees and fields in the background. The car has the word ‘CHANGE’ on the side.

OK, we're getting somewhere.

But are you sure that's the most literal image you could possible create for driving change? Why don't you try again and create an even more literal image of driving change?

AI generated image of a hand on a car steering wheel that’s connected to a large rough grey block of stone with the word ‘CHANGE’ written on the side. The hand looks ready to turn the wheel.

I want the most literal image you can possibly create for 'driving change'…

AI generated image of a red Tesla driving on a sleek motorway. The wheels are fashioned into a complicated triangular rail system. The road has grooves that the rails sit within.

Generate an image that's *even* more literal…