What I’ve been doing
The first full week back has been busy with different plates spinning. The team finalised (and submitted) our funder grant report for the Mohn Westlake Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.
We’ve identified some new grant opportunities that we’re going to discuss a little more next week.
We’re seeking organisational 360 feedback as part of our end of year review and planning a strategic roadmap development session with the team working alongside our Board to understand best where we can have most impact in the coming year.
I’ve been learning another new HR skill - this time around secondments across two independent organisations. The breadth of HR and finance experience I’ve had in this role, on top of the management experience I have for over a decade before this, - well it feels pretty ninja. Related I completed the December monthly reconciliation on 2 January! Possibly the earliest I’ve ever done it…I felt pretty smug that day.
I’ve also mapped and documented the first draft of our delivery plan for a new contract starting this year. It’s not a huge piece of work but the learning for us (as well as the output itself) will be great I think.
After enjoying the previous round of ONS webinars on ‘bringing data to life’ I’ve signed up for some of the next ones too. I think I recommend them if you’re interested in statistics and how they’re used (and have a relatively low starting knowledge). You can see previous recordings and sign up to future webinars on their website.
What I need to take care of
I’m excited to be attending UKGovCamp next week. I’ve often heard talk of it and feel lucky to have got a ticket in the ballot this year. Aside from the content I’m interested in refreshing my experience of the unconference format and have been reading / watching this to that end too. We’re in the early stages of planning an unconference for March - watch this space.
What I’ve been inspired or challenged or moved by
I (even before Meta’s announcement this week) have been increasingly disliking Threads as a space - it over prioritises “influencers” and there is a LOT of hate on there (and misinformation). But I am amused today when (in response to the announcement) people are posting as “fact” that Kamala Harris is being appointed the 47th POTUS. (Of course I’m also deeply disappointed in this further degradation of ‘public’ spaces and the likely motivations for Mr Zuckerberg making such a decision…and to top it off, in the same week announcing the UFC chairman is joining Meta’s Board…this is the same man that is so in the inner circle of a certain incoming President that he was on stage next to him when he declared his recent victory).
Actually, on that note I was inspired by Kamala Harris certifying the election (in her constitutional role as Vice President) that she lost. Such personal strength and depth of integrity. “I do believe very strongly that America’s democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it…every single person”.
What I’ve been reading
I’m going to try and read one of my work-related bookmarks each week (I know I won’t manage it but…you know…intent). This week I started with shorter reads and covered:
- CAST blogging about their development of a wellbeing policy. This genuine focussing of organisational attitudes on wellbeing is part of the care I see in Connected by Data too - and truly believe it to be the future (not least due to the expectations of younger generations). I see how people with the same desire for wellbeing but being trapped in larger “this is how we do things” organisations suffer.
- The Datasphere initiative on amplifying youth voices and the importance of recognising that not all young people (certainly when considering globally) are a homogenous group. It reminded me a bit of the work Behind Our Screens are doing in the UK - seeking to amplifying young voices that are largely unheard.
- An old (in tech terms) article about privacy law and how it is being managed by Big Tech in practice. I was left feeling that this is not just a privacy / Big Tech problem (although that is a problem) but I have seen first hand similar around equality in a range of settings, including public sector organisations. I think there’s something here around law forcing processes to become embedded and how often that leads to a sense of “this is how we do this” with little room for radicals to come in and ask the “why” question, or offer alternatives. It’ll need someone with power in the organisation to change it, or a shift in perspective in law (shaking things up every X number of years), or something to go really wrong. None of which seem particularly reliable ways to keep improving your practice because that is the right thing to do.
- I also finally read a blog our Tim had written (before I was even a twinkle in the organisational eye of Connected by Data) about his experience of observing a public dialogue. It was actually really interesting reading it now - having been around discussions and practical experiences of dialogues over the last year. A lot of the content in Tim’s blog was resonate of the knowledge sharing that takes place in our Data and AI public engagement community of practice.
For pleasure I’m still reading ‘More Perfect’ by Temi Oh. It’s fairly dystopian fiction about us all having Meta-like tech implanted directly into our brains and how some push back against it (calling themselves Luddites). I think I’d recommend it generally but not sure if it is too fictional for a real life data and AI crowd.