I feel the ground under the soles of my feet, solid and – at my scale of time – permanent. I lift my gaze slowly, the crown of my head rising up, imperceptably to others, obviously to me. My spine straightens as the vertibrae align and I stand taller, straighter, stronger. My eyes remain unfocused, […]
At first thought, where you work appears to be as obvious – and closely related to – your answer to that perennial question ‘what do you do?’ Perhaps this is the case for minds still attuned to the factory model of work, the one which says that we show up for fixed hours, are broadly […]
It’s not usually a topic of general conversation, yet local government is at a critical Covid-exacerbated cross-roads. Fork right and head towards complete abolition. Head straight on and continue down a path of fiscal and legal emasculation. Fork left and head towards rejuvenation. In this concluding post I explore the more optimistic option. (Read part one […]
Transitional periods are a mix of both letting go of the old and experimenting with the new. Relationships, habits, patterns, behaviours, identities, ideas… It is not simply the case that a transition is a clean switch between two known states, the before and the after. Usually the after can’t be known. It arrives after a […]
It’s so long since I last took the tube. The Thursday before I started working from home in response to Covid-19, so my last tube ride would have been March 12th. Exactly a year ago. I’m realising it’s possible to have a degree of nostalgia even for things that previously felt like a necessary evil. I […]
For reasons irrelevant to this post (and despite probably being detrimental to my general wellbeing) I follow the Arizona Cardinals NFL team, a historically bad franchise. Last season was founded on high hopes and a positive start but ultimately dashed by an all-too familiar slide to mediocrity. Pundits and commentators were critical of player leadership […]
Can you remember when the first lockdown was finally lifted? It’s easy to be so focused on the present and worried about the future that we forget about the times we have passed through, the distance travelled. This is, in part, why I published a framework in the summer to support people to track those […]
It’s easy to look ahead – to the next task, meal, commute; the next week, month or year in our lives. Things to do, commitments to honour. Sometimes, perhaps, we think in a longer time-frame – our retirement options, perhaps, how we might afford to send our children to Uni or whether we’ll leave the […]
There’s really nothing especially new about behavioural science1 yet it has gained traction with policy makers over the last decade due in no small part to the publication of Thaler and Sunnstein’s ‘Nudge2‘. Rory Sutherland refers to it as ‘putting what marketeers have known for decades into economics’. It’s certainly not rocket science. But as […]
I share here copies of the various publications I’ve authored or co-authored at the RSA, from most recent first. They offer examples of the research programmes I have completed. A stitch in time Realising the value of futures and foresight (October 2020) Seizing the moment The Covid19 response of public services (November 2020) Using economic […]
I’ve delivered a number of consultancy projects as a freelance strategist and within my role at the RSA. I’ve delivered value for a range of clients, including the following. Developing a strategy for the shift to hybrid working Staff engagement to determine opportunities for post-Civid work. Delivering a programme with internal entrepreneurs to create change […]
Ian Burbidge 