Stuff

Stuff contains my other interests. Some of my experiences and lessons learned in business. Social and political issues that matter to me. Sport, music, film, photography. Being obsessive about coffee. That kind of stuff.

Work and business have been a big part of my life. Sometimes I’m surprised to realise I have worked for fifty years. From my early days doing manual work into a corporate career, and then into the world of startups and small companies. Along the way I did an MBA and a Diploma in Clinical Organisational Psychology.

Stuff is too light a word to apply to a category that includes racism and discrimination. But equally, I don’t believe it’s my place to hold forth too much on the issues. I’m a heterosexual man with a lot of white privilege. I haven’t had to suffer as a result. I’ve been poor, I’ve been miserable, but I’ve never been discriminated against.

I also include my broader art-leaning stuff. I’m not artistic. Being married to an artist for nine years has amplified that even more in my mind. But I consume many films, music is integral to my daily life, and I love photography – looking at photographs, as I don’t have the eye to practice it.

Welcome to my stuff – the serious and trivial.

My Companion Bruce Springsteen

Still Rocking For Three Hours My companion Bruce Springsteen came to town last week. I was fortunate to see Bruce him play a typically high-energy three-hour set at Hyde Park on Saturday. He promptly walked on at 7 pm and left at exactly 10 pm. …

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How Do We Define Failure?

How do we define failure? NBA great Giannis Antetokounmpo was visibly frustrated after the shock defeat in round one of the playoffs last week. At himself, and I suspect his head coach. When reporter Eric Nehm of The Athletic asked him how he viewed the …

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Work From Home Or Work From Work

Post-COVID business is going to challenge organisations like never before. The pandemic itself was clearly a challenge, a crisis. Many companies didn’t make it; some got by; a few thrived. It affected companies across the globe. Vaccines are helping to bring the virus under control, …

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Sponsorship In Pro Cycling

Sponsorship in pro cycling is an important dimension in my professional life. I don’t normally mix my business and personal perspectives directly on this blog. It’s my personal blog. But I’m a long time fan of pro cycling. This subject brings a personal and professional …

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Football Business – Or A Game?

United Fans Boiling Over Is football business or a game? Manchester United fans have been simmering for a while and yesterday they boiled over. The press will focus on the dangerous, idiotic behaviour of a handful. But beneath that, it’s worth noting that thousands of …

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Am I An Entrepreneur?

Manager Or Entrepreneur? I was asked last week if I regarded myself as an entrepreneur. It’s a good question. A few months ago, I received an anonymous email from someone suggesting that I was deceiving people by writing a blog post on entrepreneurship. So am …

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An Idiot With A Plan

The Overnight Accident Someone reminded me how long I had been in my current role a few weeks ago. I said to them ‘I’m just getting started’ and the person said ‘that’s what you always say.’ Reflecting on the conversation later, I realised they had …

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Inside The Four Walls

Inside The Four Walls is a business podcast by Nick Morgan, focusing on the sports nutrition and wellness nutrition industry. I was fortunate enough to feature on it this week. I was given the opportunity to talk about the development of the business I lead, …

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Working From Home: COVID Diaries

Working From Home My COVID diaries try to capture the chaos and uncertainty of the last months. It’s a problematic diary to write, as the effect on our species has been so profound that it has affected all corners of our personal and professional lives. …

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My White Privilege

Of Course, I Have White Privilege I wanted to acknowledge my white privilege. I started by entering ‘white privilege’ into a search engine and found myself surprised by the results. On page one, 50% of the results helped with definitions and the rest for articles …

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