Creativity • Integrity • Connection
I was asked recently to run a workshop on self-assessment for members of the Humanitarian Centre in Cambridge. It was a great opportunity to re-think how self assessment works for smaller groups. Most (though not all) of the members are smaller organisations run by students or volunteers, and the Humanitarian Centre acts as a hot […]
I was lucky enough to take part in a mediation training course for primary school children last week. Over three days, a group of 12 children learnt how to resolve disputes between other pupils – not through arbitration or judging the rights and wrongs, but by mediation. It was inspiring. The course was run by […]
I have just finished the facilitation of INTRAC’s 5-day course on Advanced Partner Capacity Building, and, as always, I found it a very stimulating experience. The focus is on a values-based framework for the design and implementation of capacity building programmes, and this Advanced level always attracts people with a wealth of experience and plenty […]
I have just started as a ‘test-pilot’ for Edinburgh University’s exciting new online course entitled ‘Global Environmental Challenges’. Already I’m learning a lot about how to set up a small online community and make it vibrant (encourage people to connect with one another quickly using blogs and online mind-mapping); how to provide course material in […]
I’m currently working with Oxfam Novib on their approach to innovation. It’s fascinating examining the overlaps and interconnections between innovation, knowledge management and organisational learning. As a result of the research I am doing, I’m clearer now that there are three stages to the process that we often lump under the one word, innovation. First […]
If you’re interested in helping organisations to sharpen how they put their values into practice, there’s a new report out called To practice what we preach: A survey of organisational values in charities. Published by the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at the Cass Business School, the report surveyed over 130 organisations, and gives detailed case […]
The county of Norfolk is aiming to be a fully restorative county within a few years. In January I delivered two trainings in Restorative Approaches for the Norfolk County Council. These were the first of what will be many series of trainings across the county. The County is beginning the roll out of trainings with […]
It’s been both enlightening and frustrating reading this book – the unlikely winner of the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award in 2011. The starting point is that policies to help the poor need to be based on solid evidence (i.e. randomized control trials), and the evidence and analysis presented here is […]
I have just finished reading Walter Isaacson’s incisive biography of Steve Jobs. It was fascinating to gain insights into Jobs’ visionary thinking for Apple (and Pixar). In a particularly revealing section on the development of the iPod and iTunes, Isaacson reports how Sony – a company that should have been able to beat Apple in […]
At the end of December, we finished the second (and more or less final) draft of the Capacities for Effectiveness Self Assessment (CESA) tool for Bond. It has been a good process, starting from about February last year, with many people and organisations giving their time to pilot, reflect and give us feedback. The challenge […]
I’m delighted to share that insights from the two virtual convenings I facilitated with SARELL are now being hosted as a case study on the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Digital hub. The convenings explored the nature of mistrust in social platforms, and proposed actionable strategies for rebuilding user wellbeing and trust
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