Never mind apportioning blame; just sort it out
Over recent years there seems to have developed a huge blame culture; it’s always someone else’s fault when things go wrong and the desire to point fingers is very strong. When you look at cases such as the Olympic security or West Coast Main Line contracts we can all see that there have been apparent failures, but try to cut through all of the media and political rhetoric and what do you actually have? Read more…
A Patient’s Progress – The Book
For those that remember my series of stories on life in hospital, the 20 or so stories that appeared here were a little under half of what I wrote during my stay, and I have pulled the whole work together in an eBook.
As with my previous book it is on Kindle to begin with, but I will start looking at the paperback options in a week or two. You can buy the Kindle edition here: A Patient’s Progress
My hospital sojourn interrupted the process of another book that was also almost ready for publication, and I want to resume work on that with the aim of having it on Kindle before Christmas, so watch this space.
2013 could see a number of publications from me depending on how other work goes; writing is a very time-consuming activity!
the office of the future needs to be flexible and productive; but what does that mean?
I saw a headline that said the office of the future would need to be flexible and productive, but that’s a bit like saying that a house has to have walls and a roof. Let’s examine those words in more detail though. Read more…
things that go bump in the night – a Halloween special tale from the facilities front line
“We’ve lost about 100 yards of fence”. The words were succinct and, as it turned out, accurate, but when you hear them on the ‘phone at 0130 having been woken from a deep sleep to take the call they take a moment or so to register.
Outside the wind howled and the rain lashed on the windows. It was a foul night, but I was on call so I told the security guard who had rung me that I would be with him in about ten minutes and dragged on some warm clothes. My waterproof hi-viz gear was in the back of the car and I was quickly on my way. Read more…
wardrobe malfunction! it’s back into the closet!
I really must stop writing these prophetic posts. This morning’s Monday Musing had barely hit cyberspace when my tea making activities were interrupted by an ominous rumble above me. The Berkshire Belle was then heard getting out of bed and that moment every Facilities Manager dreads was upon me, for the client’s voice was heard to call “we have a problem”. Read more…
getting facilities management out of the closet and into the mainstream
I am often asked what I miss most about no longer being an operational Facilities Manager, and I have a two part answer; on the up side I am glad I no longer have to put up with sitting at interminable meetings where the chair and many of the participants are ill prepared, but on the down side I miss making things happen. Read more…
the importance of being educated
I always find it sad when I hear people say that they’ve never used anything that they learned at school, because I have found what I learned in my school days to have been a help in so many ways. Read more…
with feet of clay it pays to tread carefully
I started this a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t quite finish and wrote a different Musing for that week, although it might have been quite prophetic given the news over the last week. I had been reading a few biographies and had been struck by one thread; whilst all of the people concerned have been highly regarded by some, or many, they have been flawed as individuals. Read more…
developing the second place; more thoughts on the office of the future
Continuing last week’s thinking about the workplace, but here using the definitions of First, Second and Third places as defined by Ray Oldenburg, with the First Place being home, Second being where we work and the Third Place as being somewhere between the two as Mr Oldenburg describes. (Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories about the “Great Good Places” at the Heart of Our Communities. New York: Marlowe & Company. ISBN 978-1-56924-612-2). Read more…
mid week musings around the water cooler @tomorrrowsfm
Check out my contribution to the Water Cooler debate in Tomorrow’s FM talking about London2012 and the G4S security provision controvesy.
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