I saw something today that set my brain a-thinkin’. I was at a roundabout and a truck came past bearing the name IVECO and it struck me that although I had seen many trucks like it over the years I didn’t actually know how the word was pronounced. Was it ”IVE-coh”? Or “eye-VEE-coh”? or “EE-vee-coh?” or “Ivvy-coh?”* Not only that I didn’t know what it meant either. Was it an abbreviation or acronym? Is there an Iveco family somewhere who started the company?** You’re probably thinking “Does it really matter Dave?” Well I think it does. OK not specifically this particular truck type but the prin ..read more

I saw part of an interview with Ben Stokes today (The England Test Cricket Captain) as part of the Ashes build up*. He was asked what would he be saying to the England team before they went out to face the formidable Australian opposition and he explained that he keeps a list of things that are important with the word ‘result’ at the bottom of it. That is because in his view the bottom line is the result; everything else is secondary. He might write words like ‘technique’, ‘attack’, or even ‘strategy’ on the list but if the bottom line wasn’t achieved it was irrelevant. That got me thinking ab ..read more

I saw an excellent article by Julian Burton on LinkedIn today about the hazards of communicating during transformation initiatives and it resonated so much with thoughts I had on the subject that I thought I’d post some material of my own on this tricky situation. I would point that I’ve never had to do the communication within my previous employment but I have been the receiver of it on numerous occasions. I’d also like to point out that this is in no way a criticism of any past manager who may have been unfortunate to manage yours truly, more a criticism of the ‘traditional thinking’ around ..read more

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything for reasons that will become clear shortly but since today is World Parkinson’s Day I thought I’d put fingers to keyboard and post an update on my life with the aforementioned condition. Those of you that either know me or have read my previous posts will probably know that I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 43 in 2010 and have lived with its highs and lows (or ons and offs) ever since. The first chapter of my journey came to a climax two years ago when I underwent brain surgery and had a Deep Brain stimulation device implanted in my ..read more

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have quite strong views on the correct use of language and even stronger views on the incorrect use of it. By incorrect I mean the increasing tendency to use language to cover up what really happened. Here are two examples I have heard this week: SpaceEx rocket undergoes an “unscheduled rapid disassembly” on launching. Actually, it blew up, but I guess that is a little too negative for the SpaceEx media team. It is an attempt to defuse the situation (no pun intended) and begs the question as to what a “Scheduled rapid disassembly” would look like ..read more

I like a good quote, as anyone who’s seen one of my presentations will know. I have several books of quotes that I refer to when in need of inspiration and there’s always something that can be taken from a nugget of external wisdom. Here’s a selection of quotes that have relevance (in my humble opinion) to not only life itself but the everyday work of a Business Analyst. The following quotes are a selection that are relevant to the way a business analyst should think. We begin with an old favourite of mine: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there a ..read more

Another fact-oid about George Lucas that I’d like to share* is that when confronted by a situation that was described as impossible or unworkable, he’d simply say to the person “Just think about it”. Almost invariably after a time reflecting on the problem the person would identify a solution to the seemingly unsolvable challenge. This isn’t a technique unique to Lucas; it’s a well-known ploy by creative thinkers from past and present who have come to realise and rely on the power of the subconscious mind when problem solving. Whilst the conscious mind may not be able to see a potential soluti ..read more

I was watching an interview with Eoin Morgan, the former England Cricket Captain on Sky the other day and was fascinated by the amount of thought which he put into his captaincy and leadership of the team during his tenure. One of the insights I got from him was the value of breathing correctly; but not as you’d expect, during his time when he was batting, but during the time when he was communicating with his team-mates whilst England were fielding. Before talking to any of his players he would read the match scoreboard aloud to himself because he realised that if he was breathless whilst doi ..read more

I learnt something last night that really shocked me; George Lucas survived a horrific car crash when he was in his late teens. It gave him a sense of purpose and a desire to do the things that were important to him and so he became a film director, who after a while decided to write and direct a space opera styled movie that was known as The Star Wars. The rest as they say, is history…. But in this case it’s not just impersonal history, it’s my history as well. I saw Star Wars when I was ten years old and as discussed elsewhere on this blog it changed my life. Without Star Wars I wouldn’t hav ..read more