Writing – RJ Wheatley

What my English Teacher taught me

13th February 202211th February 2022 by Richard

Whatever your position it is difficult to argue that the main stream media has played a blinder throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. One particular aspect of that has been the failure to effectively frame the discourse. Failure to frame the discourse has resulted a lack of critical thinking and associated insight. Let’s take the example of … Read more

Anatomy of an Anti Vaxxer – Merriam Webster version

14th January 202212th January 2022 by Richard

Wow it quickly gets complicated. My wife and I were in Italy celebrating Christmas 2019 with my mother in law when we first became aware of Covid-19. The news reports from China were alarming. I also recall British Expats were pressuring the Govt to fly them home. I often wonder where those same expats … Read more

My NHS Doctors Surgery has absolved all responsibility for Covid 19 related health

28th August 202127th August 2021 by Richard

I had occasion to access my local NHS surgery online system and noted an extraordinary notification as follows: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Get information about coronavirus on NHS.UK. Do not book a GP appointment if you think you might have coronavirus.Stay at home and avoid close contact with other people. Use the 111 coronavirus service to see … Read more

Trip to Torino in the time of Covid

11th February 202224th August 2021 by Richard

After not seeing her mother Fiorenza for 21 months my wife and I flew with Ryanair from London to Torino on Monday 9th August. On the Saturday 48 hours prior to departure we completed a lateral flow test (£50) at our local chemist. Upon arrival we traveled to Fiorenza’s house and remained there for the … Read more

Primer on Agile

20th April 2020 by Richard

Agile was founded in 2001 when a group of software development thinkers got together at a Utah ski resort. Martin Fowler was one of the original names who is still actively blogging at Thoughtworks. The Agile Manifesto is worth referencing in terms of context. Things have moved along way but this is where it all … Read more

The Iron Triangle of Project Management

18th September 201917th August 2019 by Richard

As the tech world marches to the tune of Agile in some respects the discipline of Project Management has lost is lustre. However, as in physics – an apple and a feather will really fall at the same rate in a vacuum – some of the principles are worth hanging on to.

Moving beyond the platitudes to achieve sustainable change.

12th October 201916th July 2019 by Richard

We are living in an uncertain world, where the one thing that organisations can be sure of is that they will need to respond to change, and those organisations that are more equipped to respond to change have a competitive advantage.

Applying a security-first approach to building software applications

28th January 201924th September 2018 by Richard

Whether it is personal banking, completing our tax returns, controlling the heating system in our homes or running our personal lives, we are all dependent on software applications. Consequently the impact of a security breach ranges from the inconvenient to the positively damaging.

Hold on the ‘out of the box’ thinking and explore the riches within

17th July 201924th September 2018 by Richard

With headlines like “Apple under Tim Cook: A nicer company, but a better one?”, some people are questioning why 5 years into his tenure Apple has not delivered a breakthrough product. Such is the harsh reality for product companies whose business models are predicated on year-on-year growth.

Innovation a Vendor Management perspective

28th January 201924th September 2018 by Richard

The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by MIT’s Peter Senge was a seminal book on systems thinking, at the core of which was the premise that if you have good people with a bad system, the system will win every time.