Ice Palace?

After all the snow, no real thaw, just continued cold and iciness. Yesterday went to the 6th Rosa Parks Symposium at the University of Bradford. It is always a great event, organised by Udy Archibong, Professor of Diversity. This year's theme was Intergenerational Learning, and included some fantastic presentations from school children who have participated in what they consider life-changing programmes. Well worth the trek.

Gloomy Monday - need for inspiration

It's a gloomy Monday here in West Yorkshire, after a weekend of moderately heavy snowfalls, and days getting shorter and shorter for another month yet. I feel a great need for inspiration and today just feel tired and uninspired.

I've been sitting at home all day, reading and doing chores related to a house purchase. We're buying a small house in the far north of New Zealand, as a rental investment. Buying a house at 12,000 miles distance is a real challenge. There are so many people to contact, forms to fill, reports to commission and progress to monitor. It is a major project to manage, and keeping hold of everything that needs to be done is not easy.

Out of the original plan, we began the research work, early probing, and made a decision to make an offer. Now we're co-ordinating the surveys, rental appraisals, sorting of financial and legal issues, while keeping an eye on the required timescale. Having done it once before, it should be familiar, but it's easy to forget the tendency to chaos and "one more thing"-itis. We'll get there eventually, and be very happy, though exhausted by it all.

Knowledge in icy times

Winter is setting in here in northern England, and I have been looking at solutions to the threats ice and snow bring to safe walking. There are numerous products that supposedly make shoes and boots safe by providing effective grip, but none seem to effective in all conditions. Some are good for snow but not ice; some are best only on 'black' ice. It's confusing, but in the end the only way I can decide what works is to try them and observe the results.

Similarly, the pursuit of knowledge in these icy times is fringed by many 'solutions', but few of them work effectively in all situations. Verna Allee called knowledge 'slippery', and so it is. If we want to share knowledge and work in collaboration with others, we have to talk with one another and find out 'what works' in particular situations. There are some good English metaphors I can think of: "Get your skates on" , "we're skating on thin ice", "beware of slips and falls", and "not a snowball's chance in hell". Those of us in the business of knowledge learn repeatedly how fallible we are, how tentative our real knowledge is. If we deny it, chances are we're wearing the clichéd 'rose-tinted spectacles'.

more sky talk...

After a brief period of sun, the sky is becoming smudged with cloud, the wind is stirring again, and soon it might rain once more. My world reduced to a partial window sill view.

West Yorkshire autumn day

Illness is forcing me to rest at home, and appreciate the world around me. Moat of this week has been characterised by rain and wind, but today, now, the sun is shining, reflecting off the brown leaved-beech hedge in our garden. Above some low lines of cloud, the sky is a fine blue. There is time enough to enjoy this West Yorkshire day while I regain better health.

Redundancy News ... seven months on

Just over seven months ago, I was made redundant, and the novelty of freelance work in hard times is pretty thin now. I've had scraps of work for short periods, but I've realised that I'd prefer to have a big idea, a big project or two that will engross me for the next five to six years.

So far, I haven't found the big idea, though I suspect it will be connected with writing, research and connecting people. I'm not well at the moment, so I haven't got the energy to push ahead with new things. As ever, will try to write more regularly :-)

Return from holiday

On Wednesday we returned from holiday. Away for eight days, we had three parts to the holiday. Firstly, we drove to the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, to stay with my sister and brother-in-law, a remote spot with big sky, and an attractive wildness - buzzards, wild ponies. Secondly we went to Toys Hill in Kent, to my mother-in-laws home. It was her 87th birthday, and last Saturday we had a family lunch to celebrate. Of equal importance, we spent time playing with our niece Zoe's two small boys - precious time that will never be repeated. Thirdly, we went south west again to Brockenhurst in the New Forest, for the only two days entirely to ourselves. It was a quiet spot with wild ponies, the sea nearby. We could live there, given an opportunity. A lot of travel, a lot of time with others, so we were happy but exhausted on getting home on Wednesday night. We had a lovely drive up the centre of England, on the A34, the A43, and the M1. Getting back to normal everyday life isn't easy after such a gruelling week.

Scanning the Horizons

Scanning the horizons of new knowledge, ideas and policy - that's what I do - is a demanding but vital activity in whatever field you work. The question for me is: " How do I devise tools to make my experience and skills demonstrably valuable to potential customers."

Monday ... a tiring day

Sometimes just sitting at the computer is tiring in itself, especially when my back is 'playing up'. Yet it is important to persist with some sort of work, whether research, search, simple writing or more complex work. The persistence pays off when pain decreases and energy levels rise. This is even more important now I am working freelance again.

Horizon Scanning - endless...by definition

Today I have been doing some horizon scanning for a 'Patient-led Innovation' website. Horizon Scanning is an endless process, by definition. What we see on the horizon may be what we look for, or it may turn out to be something else altogether.

Summer Rain

Tonight I am sitting in my study, and I can hear the sound of rain falling outside in the garden. There is something to like about summer rain: it is a restful sound. However, I know I will want it to be sunny again tomorrow.

Still talking; brokering knowledge...

I'm still talking; still brokering knowledge. I remain convinced that the role of knowledge broker/intermediary/boundary spanner - whatever you call it - is one of the essential skills of the 21st century. For my next 'trick' I hope to convince some influential people of it, too.

Knowledge Broker back on the way

My study is a lot more sorted now, as I regained energy and started to make it a usable space again. Next I have to resume thinking and acting to resume work in some shape or form. Anyone want a freelance knowledge broker?

Freelance again ... not yet sorted

I'm freelance again, but not yet sorted. My office remains a mess, full of unopened boxes, unsorted papers. Knowledge unmanaged, you might say...

Sixteen Days and counting...

Counting down to the end of my contract on March 31st, so beginning to clear out rubbish in my home office to accommodate the rubbish in my work office. I plan to take April off, more or less, then begin some energetic writing on a couple of books, and take up any freelance work that comes my way.

At least the days are longer and lighter now here in the north of England. This morning returning from collecting newspapers in Crossflatts, the village below ours, I could walk along the towpath beside the Leeds to Liverpool Canal just after 6 o'clock. Walking by the water and watching for swans, ducks, and anticipating the return of a few herons, it is easy to refresh my mind and feel fairly at ease with things, despite the meagre amount of work on the horizon.

Redundancy looms

Redundancy looms: my contract at the University of Leeds ends on March 31st. At 59, I don't expect it to be easy for me to find new work. Maybe now is time to spend a year out, writing? I find work, usually, so maybe even in these bad times, I shall do so?