My Ethos

It's important to have an ethos some core principles that drive who you are. It's also important to make them short and pithy for those that have short attention spans.

• In Life

• Make good trouble

• Creative time isn't well placed on a calendar

• Small bets compound over time

• Asking questions and listening is an art form

• Do not take small joys for granted

• The tinniest details sometimes weigh the most

• Develop your curiosity into everything

• Think of things and people in relation to each other

• Don't be noisy be interesting

• In Leadership

• Dream for the future, build for today

  Plan for a cake and ship a cupcake, preparing for it to sit nicely next to each other but iterating faster where things need to change shape. Don’t wait for the future but understand how to get there.

• See something, say something

  Be a tank filler, give positive feedback and boost people. At the same time when you see something wrong avoid falling into the trap of thinking it's not your problem.

• Assume positive intent, think people first

  I try to assume positive intent and optimism even if it’s often contrasted with dry British wit about a situation. You’ll never go wrong optimising for happy, knowledgable and productive people, they build great things.

• In Design

• Success is the impact not the preparation for it

  Endless meetings or workshops to create understanding and debate direction are often valuable however we also need to start acting, get things in front of customers and learn and make progress. A strategy without the first strategic gain isn’t success.

• Art sits on a foundation of science

  That magical feeling user experience full of personality and creative solutions was built on a foundation of method, research, understanding and iteration.