Unconferences about Unconferences, Nuclear Subs running Windows XP and the 4 conundrums of the universe.
I’ve been working on…
- Last week I spoke of our efforts to get digital transformation underway. This week I’ve been working on some guiding principles to act as an initial discussion point. What does a modern digitally enabled Housing Association look and feel like? What changes would we need to consider to get there? You can read my first stab at writing the Key Principles for Digital Transformation here.
- I’ve helping colleagues with service charges this week. We had a really silly recurring problem where our Housing System would generate confusing rent statements for a small number of tenants with a particular service charge. The cost of consultancy to fix the statements was ridiculous (cue rant about the state of housing systems) so we employed some lateral thinking and made changes to the troublesome service charge instead. It was one of those jobs which is low status & low visibility in the grand scheme of things, but will make a huge difference to those tenants affected. That laser focus on resolving niggles is something we often don’t have time to do. People often resort to work arounds rather than persist at making things better. There’s something in that iterative strive for excellence which is compelling. What if we just focused on one service and kept iterating until is was highly polished?
I’ve been thinking about…
- My local train station provided me with an excellent lesson in the perils of designing systems from afar.
https://neiltamplin.me/system-design-from-a-distance-aa2187f996de#.ooemcttvt
I’ve been reading…
- Cracking post from DWP Digital on the importance of arming your staff with a replica of the live service, so that they can see what users/customers are seeing and better support them.
https://dwpdigital.blog.gov.uk/2017/01/20/supporting-customers-with-the-carers-allowance-replica-service/ - I revisited another GDS posts for pointers on webchat. There’s some brilliant insights in here. It’s a reminder that traditional ‘scoping’ for projects like this wouldn’t pick these sort of reflection up from users, staff and managers.
https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/11/14/how-users-feel-about-webchat/ - Ben Proctor attended an unconference about unconferences and came away with some really interesting observations. A good reminder that the unconference format is unfinished and evolving.
http://benproctor.co.uk/the-unconference-where-we-learn-from-unconferences/ - Britain’s nuclear subs are using Windows XP (which is no longer protected by security updates from Microsoft).
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/world-war-three-by-mistake - Should London pilot Land Value Tax to resolve its housing shortage? Makes a whole lot of sense to me.
http://www.londonlive.co.uk/news/2017-01-23/london-assembly-tom-copley - Amazon needs just 1 minute of human time to ship your next package.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/06/technology/amazon-warehouse-robots/ - Did mistaken assumptions stop Polaroid transitioning to the digital world?
http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/what-was-polaroid-thinking - The cognitive bias cheat sheet. The 4 conundrums of the universe that lead to all biases. Interesting read!
https://medium.com/thinking-is-hard/4-conundrums-of-intelligence-2ab78d90740f#.c4illeefr - If you don’t trust your employees to work remotely, why did you hire them? Hat tip to Paul Taylor for this one.
https://qz.com/891537/if-you-dont-trust-your-employees-to-work-remotely-you-shouldnt-have-hired-them-in-the-first-place/ - Transforming Housing through Digital Technology. Good to hear of others fighting the good fight. Recommended reading.
https://medium.com/@paulturner500/transforming-housing-through-digital-technology-afa92ee31b6c#.votdvunol - The perils of perception — what the world gets wrong. Topical reading as fact and fiction compete for our attention.
https://www.ipsos.com/en/perils-perception-perceptions-are-not-reality-what-world-gets-wrong?platform=hootsuite - The team at Bromford Lab have been experimenting with Alexa. Who would have thought a visually impaired customer would use it to describe what flowers look like? Amazing!
http://www.bromfordlab.com/lab-diary/2017/1/25/testing-alexa-update - A study of 1000 UK office workers found that 31% sent email outside of office hours to signal to others how busy they were. Sheer madness! Hat tip to Dyfrig Williams for finding this one.
http://blog.trello.com/slacking-off-speed-up-productivity
I’ve been listening to…
- NPR Politics — The Election of Donald Trump
http://pca.st/cDRV - Desolation Radio : Wales and the Economy featuring Calvin Jones
http://pca.st/Ilkj