How my way of thinking developed.
Everything I did yesterday prepared me for today.
Looking back, my career doesn't feel like a series of jobs.
It feels more like a long conversation.
Each organisation introduced a different way of thinking.
Each industry had its own language.
Each project revealed something I hadn't understood before.
Sometimes those conversations took place inside large corporations.
Sometimes with entrepreneurs.
Sometimes in museums.
Sometimes alongside artists and makers.
The settings changed.
The questions rarely did.
The answers almost always did.
I've been fortunate to work across a surprisingly wide range of sectors.
Retail.
Music.
Energy.
Technology.
Museums.
Arts organisations.
Fashion.
Social enterprise.
At first glance they appear unrelated.
Yet every organisation is trying to understand people. Communicate an idea. Create something of value.
Only the terminology changes.
Industries don't solve different problems.
They simply describe them differently.
The arrival of the internet fascinated me, not because it was new technology, but because it was changing the way people behaved and communicated.
That curiosity led me into digital businesses, audience development, online marketing and organisational transformation.
Over time I found myself asking different questions.
Not simply,
“How can digital improve this?”
but,
“How do we adapt to digital change?”
Working with businesses, agencies, cultural organisations and museums reinforced the same idea.
Technology is valuable when it creates space for critical thinking, design thinking and continuous adaption. It has less value when it simply adds more complexity.
More recently I've found myself wanting to make something tangible.
Perhaps that shouldn't have surprised me.
Projects like Morley Scales and CORESET have reminded me that making isn't simply about producing objects.
It's about connections
People.
Materials.
Culture.
Heritage.
Meaning.
Looking back, there wasn't a master plan.
There was simply curiosity.
One opportunity led to another.
Each new environment offered new perspective, new situations, new people.
Ideas from museums influenced business.
Technology informed cultural projects.
Craft challenged commercial assumptions.
None replaced the previous experience.
Each simply became preparation for the next.
Places I've kept developing.
Texaco
npower
Rough Trade
Deal Group Media
Companeo
Crimtan
Of Many Circles
CORESET
Morley Scales
Along the way I've collaborated with organisations including Lloyds TSB, British Gas, RBS, BNP Paribas, John Lewis, The Bowes Museum, Attenborough Arts Centre, Philadelphia Museum of Art and many others.
I've never thought of these as milestones.
Simply different places where I had the opportunity to keep learning.
A few things that have stayed with me.
Mistakes are the best training.
Always employ people who are better than you.
Lead by example, but not always from the front.
Treat people as you would expect to be treated.
Learn something new every day.
Changing your mind usually means you've learnt something.
Curiosity ages remarkably well.
I enjoy working with people trying to create something that doesn't yet exist.
That might be an organisation.
A museum.
A founder.
An artist.
A social enterprise.
Or simply someone trying to make sense of a complicated problem.
The titles change.
The sectors change.
The conversations remain remarkably familiar.
Another Perspective
I've been fortunate to work alongside some generous people over the years.
If you're interested in what colleagues, collaborators and clients have said about working together, you'll find a collection of recommendations on LinkedIn.