Looking back over my career, I’ve realised something that wasn’t obvious at the time.<\/p>\n
Although I’ve worked in software development, programme management, coaching, editing and writing, I wasn’t really changing careers.<\/p>\n
I was exploring the same question from different directions.<\/p>\n
That question has quietly followed me throughout my working life.<\/p>\n
It still does.<\/p>\n
Long before artificial intelligence became part of everyday conversation, I enjoyed writing.<\/p>\n
Writing taught me something that has stayed with me ever since.<\/p>\n
Clear thinking and clear communication are closely connected.<\/p>\n
The effort required to explain something well often improves the thinking itself.<\/p>\n
I still believe that.<\/p>\n
Software development introduced a different challenge.<\/p>\n
Technology wasn’t difficult because computers were complicated.<\/p>\n
It was difficult because people were.<\/p>\n
Every successful system depended upon understanding how people worked, what information they needed and how they made decisions.<\/p>\n
The technology mattered.<\/p>\n
Understanding people mattered more.<\/p>\n
Large programmes rarely failed because individual people lacked ability.<\/p>\n
More often they struggled because important information wasn’t available to the right people at the right moment.<\/p>\n
Communication.<\/p>\n
Preparation.<\/p>\n
Decision-making.<\/p>\n
Those themes appeared again.<\/p>\n
I simply hadn’t recognised the pattern yet.<\/p>\n
Memoir editing reminded me that every reader experiences a story differently from the person who lived it.<\/p>\n
Helping writers recognise that difference became one of the most rewarding parts of my work.<\/p>\n
It also reinforced another lesson.<\/p>\n
Understanding someone else’s perspective changes almost everything.<\/p>\n
When artificial intelligence became widely available, I found myself asking a surprisingly familiar question.<\/p>\n
Why do intelligent systems sometimes produce such disappointing answers?<\/p>\n
The more I explored the problem, the less I believed it was simply about artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Again and again I found myself returning to preparation.<\/p>\n
Not better prompts.<\/p>\n
Better prepared knowledge.<\/p>\n
That eventually became Continuous Knowledge Preparation.<\/p>\n
Some people spend their lives specialising in one subject.<\/p>\n
I’ve been fortunate enough to explore several.<\/p>\n
Writing.<\/p>\n
Technology.<\/p>\n
Leadership.<\/p>\n
Editing.<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Looking back, they seem much more connected than they once appeared.<\/p>\n
Each helped me understand something about the way people think, communicate and make decisions.<\/p>\n
I’ve accumulated a great many observations over the years.<\/p>\n
Some have become articles.<\/p>\n
Some have become books.<\/p>\n
Some remain questions I’m still trying to answer.<\/p>\n
Rather than leave those ideas scattered across notebooks and conversations, I wanted one place where I could share them.<\/p>\n
That’s what this website is.<\/p>\n
Not a complete record of everything I’ve done.<\/p>\n
Simply some of the discoveries that have seemed worth sharing.<\/p>\n
You won’t find exaggerated claims.<\/p>\n
You won’t find certainty where uncertainty is more honest.<\/p>\n
You won’t find fashionable opinions simply because they’re fashionable.<\/p>\n
If I don’t know something, I’ll say so.<\/p>\n
If my thinking changes, I’d rather explain why than quietly pretend it never happened.<\/p>\n
I think ideas improve through conversation, evidence and experience.<\/p>\n
That’s the spirit in which everything here is written.<\/p>\n
Whether you’re writing a memoir, exploring artificial intelligence or simply interested in better ways of working, I hope you leave with one useful idea.<\/p>\n
Not necessarily agreement.<\/p>\n
Just one observation that helps you think about your own work a little differently.<\/p>\n
If that happens, then I think this website has achieved its purpose.<\/p>\n
One of the pleasures of growing older is realising that the questions become more interesting than the answers.<\/p>\n
I’m still asking questions.<\/p>\n
Still discovering.<\/p>\n
Still changing my mind occasionally.<\/p>\n
I hope I always will.<\/p>\n
Thank you for spending a little time exploring with me.<\/p>\n
If you’d like to begin with the ideas behind Continuous Knowledge Preparation:<\/p>\n
If you’re interested in memoir writing and editing:<\/p>\n
If you’re simply curious about the questions currently occupying my thinking:<\/p>\n
I’ve Been Fortunate To Spend Much Of My Life Doing Work That Made Me Think Looking back over my career, I’ve realised something that wasn’t obvious at the time. Although I’ve worked in software development, programme management, coaching, editing and writing, I wasn’t really changing careers. I was exploring the same question from different directions. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-173","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":747,"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/symcox.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}