Category Archives: Organizations

So, Shell has settled out of court with the plaintiffs in the Saro-Wiwa case. As a retired employee of Shell, I have the uncomfortable feeling that too much dirty linen would have been aired in court, which saddens, but doesn’t really … Continue reading →

This story, from The Daily WTF, reminds me of what I often observed in my working life. To be fair, though, in some of the buildings the facilities seemed as though they had been designed as an IQ test by a … Continue reading →

I’m a member of KLM’s frequent flyer group: Flying Blue. My membership dates from the time when I worked for Shell, and clocked up a fair amount of flying points (and over forty of the Royal Delft houses) visiting various … Continue reading →

Here’s a video (with an accompanying article) of George Monbiot interviewing Jeroen van der Veer, CEO of Shell. It’s worth watching, and the article is thoughtful as well. The key point, it seems to me, is that, as Monbiot says: Saving … Continue reading →

Yes, I know it’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but I couldn’t help but cheer the Cranky Product Manager on as she pours withering scorn over this poor sap. 

Related to the last post (about the description by Pat Helland of the two camps in IT: Controllers and Doers), Stephen Walli has his own thought-provoking post about setting up a Standards Office within Google. Such a place is usually … Continue reading →

Pat Helland has a few wise words about the two broad categories of people who work in IT: the Controllers and the Doers. I recognise the types very well. Indeed, I started off in the Doer category, but for most … Continue reading →

I don’t know about you, but if I were to set up a Public Relations firm, I think that last thing I would call it is Mischief PR. It sounds such a hostage to fortune to me. Anyway, someone’s gone … Continue reading →

… in the long tradition of cock-ups. Heathrow’s Terminal 5. I confess to stirrings of schadenfreude over this:         I do feel for the poor guy (one Ian Bailey). His faith in computer technology is touching. The … Continue reading →

Diamond Geezer writes of his experience with business cards. It’s very like my own experience in the days when the organisation I worked for kept on reinventing itself (for no good reason that I could discern).

The PSD Blog has a bizarre little tale about fire extinguishers in Tajikistan. Kafka would be proud…

I see that my old colleagues in Shell IT are faced with yet more major changes. I don’t envy them one little bit.

I see that the Vatican is to bring in performance-related pay for the 2,600 lay members of its staff. I also note that the priests, bishops, monks and nuns who form the Papal administration are exempt from this. I’m sitting … Continue reading →

Joel turns over the iPod and the Zune and reads the fine print. What he says is, on one level, perfectly true. Apple captures a feeling and Microsoft just sucks in the attempt.   But, on the other hand, the … Continue reading →

This week’s Bug Bash takes me back… Been there, heard that, mentally shook my head in despair…

I see that the Girl Guide organisation is thinking about introducing courses for some new badges. Apparently, it’s going to introduce sessions on how to practise safe sex, manage debt, and reduce the size of one’s carbon footprint. They’re probably more … Continue reading →

Public bodies, such as government agencies, are supposed to serve the public. But all too often, it seems, they actively take steps to thwart this intent.   I came across two such examples today. First up is the UK’s Environment … Continue reading →

A particular bugbear of mine is the growing encroachment of management-speak into every part of our daily lives. Whenever I hear it I cringe inwardly and sorrow that more humans have been taken over by the pod people.   Here’s … Continue reading →

… and I use the term "gentlemen" with the utmost irony. While, clearly, some journalists and newspaper staff have high moral principles, some, equally clearly, do not. 

Here’s a salutary tale from an overseas student at Cambridge. He received a letter from his bank (the HSBC Group) telling him that they no longer wished to provide him with banking services, and that he had 30 days to … Continue reading →