Duncan O'Leary
Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.
- Lion-sized leadership The bit that really interested me comes towards the end of the article when Woodward says that those selected will be meeting for two days later this month, but that no actual training will be taking place. He says ?Those two days will be absolutely vital. We will be meeting to discuss exactly how we are going to operate as a team on and off the field. The players will be deciding the procedures and the standards they want to live by".Technically, I expect he already knows how he wants the... continue reading on 4th April 2005
- Pros vs Ams? If you enjoyed our publication last year The Pro-Am Revolution then the discussion taking place on Joi Ito?s blog at the moment is worth a read. He raises a few interesting questions including: - whether ?amateur? is a helpful term in this context, given the level of competence of some people who may have other day jobs are in fact experts in particular areas - what this means for the current raging debate about wikipedia (merits vs demerits) - whether amateurs have more fun (he gives the... continue reading on 23rd March 2005
- Wake up! So it's Monday. Feeling tired? I'm not. But then according to a survey reported in the Independent today, that's probably because i'm a man. According to the story, not only do men get more sleep than women, but their fidgety, noisy, demanding nature is the main cause of women's sleep deficit (ahead of restive babies and rebellious teenagers). Our Dream On report, published at the end of last year, get's a mention. continue reading on 21st March 2005
- Parent Power With an election drawing closer, there?s been an ever?growing clamour over the last year or so for more ?parent power? in education. Often this debate has boiled down to squabbling as to which party offers the most ?choice? for parents and children. It?s good, then, to see the government adopting a posture towards parents which begins to see them less as consumers of their children?s education and more as active partners in it. The use of ICT to provide parents with information about their... continue reading on 15th March 2005
- Policing by the book Great story on BBC news this morning about a new directive in Mexico City ? the mayor of one of the city?s districts has decided that police officers must read at least one book per month or forfeit the chance of promotion. Apparently they will be regularly tested to make sure they haven?t just been reading the Letts Study Guides rather than the real thing. The programme is designed to increase general levels of literacy, although there are some suggested titles for reading. I haven?t seen... continue reading on 10th March 2005
- The way it should be The topic up for discussion in our seminar was Personalised Learning and the presenters, from an LEA, took us through the work that they have been engaged in over the few months.The exercise that they have been through has been to adopt David Miliband?s five gateways to personalisation as a framework for understanding and directing all of the work they do.Starting with key issues in local schools (such as behaviour and attendance) they have mapped out drivers of these issues (such as lack of... continue reading on 9th March 2005
- Did you hear about the... ?survey that says word-of-mouth/personal recommendation is more important in creating a best-seller than traditional marketing, cover design, or even who has written it..? Well I just did [although not from the people who commissioned or carried it out, incidentally] and it?s got me pretty excited. We?re doing some work on the communication of ideas at the moment and we?ve been straining at the leash to get all Malcolm-Gladwell about things. Trouble is, how do you start a word-of-mouth... continue reading on 3rd March 2005
- Renewing the Beeb So the BBC's license fee looks set to be renewed today, with a new governance structure put in place. Any thoughts..? Wasted investment in a toothless institution, or the essential preservation of public service broadcasting? Or something in the middle...? continue reading on 2nd March 2005
- The Wage Forward..? It may have died down a bit recently, but one phrase that?s been hard to avoid during Labour?s second term in office has been ?progressive consensus?. [It was mentioned by both David Lammy and Douglas Alexander as guest bloggers on the Greenhouse, for example].The key to the idea is that a progressive government should aim to shift the centre of politics in order to leave a lasting legacy, rather than simply aligning itself with the centre ground whilst in government. In some areas it?s... continue reading on 25th February 2005
- One more drink and a lie-in? There are undoubtedly many profound ways to engage with the public realm. For now, though, the old-fashioned public consultation lives on: have your say on the whether the London Underground should run an hour later at weekends. continue reading on 23rd February 2005