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Just remembering... I get to use the Cambridge University Library these days, which I have to say is a pretty nice privilege if you can swing it. Perhaps that's why i seem to be reminiscing more about student days. I seem to...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on April 5, 2013
Stuck That thing where you have this really meaty topic you want to write about. It's so meaty that you think it will need a really long post. So you never write the thing. That....
Posted by Johnnie Moore on April 5, 2013
The linearity of books vs the non-linearity of intelligence Donald Clark observes Knowledge is not held in our minds alphabetically or in a linear or hierarchical menu structure. Knowledge is held in different ways, procedural, episodic, semantic, and called up into working memory, but it is fundamentally a neural...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on February 16, 2013
Report writers Government seems to reverence a particular kind of cleverness. The lawyerly sort, that can write precise reports and prescribe best practices. I would dearly like to see some of the sages that write these things put to a public test....
Posted by Johnnie Moore on February 16, 2013
Pomposity Pomposity is a wonderfully plosive word. I've been thinking lately that the first physical manifestation of pomposity is a failure to breathe out freely. It's often an unconscious defence and it's effect is, literally, to puff the perpetrator up. I...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on February 16, 2013
Training for surprise I have to agree with Harold Jarche: In the network age, learning is conversation. But aren’t training courses more like “exhibit halls”? They are prepared in advance, checked for quality control, and delivered with the best look & feel. Conversations...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on February 16, 2013
Concreting Complexity I've been thinking about the urge to scale things lately - see here and here. I understand the concern with being able to effect big social change, and simultaneously see how easily that urge can be used to block small...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on January 30, 2013
Scaling and Theory U I really enjoyed Dave Snowden's reflections on Theory U. I've been meaning to write a comprehensive post but those never get written, so here are a few reflections for now. Definitely worth reading the whole thing. He reflects more generally...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on January 29, 2013
Pitfalls of training Donald Clark discovers some research that should give trainers, and those who hire them, something to worry about. He describes it in more detail, this is my crude summary: Various methods were tested for training people to cope more effectively...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on January 22, 2013
On writing a book People have often told me, "there's a book in you." I have always suspected that is a polite way of trying to stop me going on about something for too long. I've always felt that even if there is a...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on November 30, 2012
Oxbridge anecdote I was reading Dave Snowden's latest post on western cultures preference for thinking in categories rather than relationships. I associate this with a liking for the reductionism of lists. It reminded me of the old story of someone walking down...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on November 10, 2012
Not King I was in a Waterstones the other day, surveying the shelves full of business books and thinking: if these books really did have the answers, how come things aren't closer to excellence in the world? Content is not king,...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on November 9, 2012
It ain't that simple Chris Rodgers pours cold water on the idea of evidence-based practice when managing people.Organizations are complex social processes, not rational scientific endeavours. As such, they are not amenable to the research and testing protocols needed to provide rigorous 'evidence' of...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on October 29, 2012
Values? I have been following the US elections fairly closely. It's interesting to see how partisan they are, and how people can take the same data point and reach quite opposite conclusions. People claim their views are based on values but...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on October 29, 2012
Watching online fighting I have been following some fierce online arguments about complexity lately and recognising how easy it is for these things to get very heated. There is something about understanding the subtleties of complex systems that seems, paradoxically, to trigger our...
Posted by Johnnie Moore on October 21, 2012

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