I’ve always subscribed to the idea that you are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. I’ve been very fortunate in who those five are and how they have shaped me. Creating this site has made me think a lot about my life to date, the phases of it and all the people I have met and spent time with - those five people are quite the transitory group.
Writing here, I can feel a little of each person - it might be a thought, a line, a way of saying something, or an opinion. Whatever it was, and whoever it was - to those who came before - thank you. I am a little better because of each of you.
This site itself is a mix of my professional and non-professional life. To some this might appear unclear, or a contradiction, but to me each part informs the others. Today in an interview for a technical role, I might pull an example from my experience running The Questors Theatre. A lesson learned writing an adventure for a role-playing game, or story structure for a play, can apply to the narrative flow of a sales pitch. Managers in cutting-edge tech companies can have real issues retaining staff whose skills are in massive demand; time spent working with volunteers giving tens, sometimes a hundred or more hours over a short period can give some real and valuable insights into that problem.
Whilst of late I’ve focused more on organisational change and building, I still feel like a kid obsessed with the latest, loudest, fastest-moving tech I can find, and AI has tapped that dopamine button like nothing else. At the other end of the scale, I’ve begun to love more and more the slow - valves in amplifiers, record decks, E61-based espresso machines, analogue dials in a car..... I’m the first to jump at a voice assistant or grab an Apple Pencil, but I think it’s still worth carrying a Moleskine and a decent fountain pen.......
As for the driving licence idea, thank you Rackspace. I didn’t steal it, it’s an homage, as a good friend of mine is fond of saying.
