Category: personal

I was recently asked how I kept progressing in my career. After a little thought I blurted out that I first tackled the current problem, which was something in my control. I then went on to solve the next problem. I simply repeated this.

Oh and bonus round to expand that the reason I say “in my control* is that at the beginning it’s easier to solve a problem that nobody can stop you fixing. Or they don’t care either way. Fix the squeaky door, the out of date PowerPoint template that is still set as 4:3 ratio, replace the tea spoons in the shared kitchen by raiding the nearest charity shop, bug fix or sticky customer interaction.

After nearly five years at Birmingham Museums Trust it has only just dawned on me I don’t have a desk. With nine locations plus lots of travel i’m never in any one place for very long. The stereotype is the more senior you get the bigger the view/desk/. I like to judge myself on how many people I have helped. How many projects have shipped. I do like being socialable in the office and that’s what I largely think “being together” means. When people diss working from home I often think they really mean “I need to be sociable”. I’m thinking hard about how to get the best out of myself and others when together. And then leaning out of the boat on how “I” best work. No mouldy cups here. No cactus plant. No planting of a flag to mark my patch here.

“Excuse me, is anybody sitting here?, I won’t be long.”.