One thing I was thinking about while was away was doing what you do as well as you possibly can. I think I’m doing a talk on swimming at The Interesting conference, and while I may ask for help later, I already know it will be about the joy of doing something well. So what…

I think it’s the people and experiences that define places for us, and it’s amazing how little triggers can bring some of those experiences crashing back.One minute I was on the way to a meeting, then a saw this sign. Suddenly I was in my twenties again. I was a student in Leicester, which seems…

By the way, I managed to do my swimming challenge. It’s official, in late December I was as fast as I was at fourteen. It’s taught me one or two things: I’m not young anymore. At fourteen, getting out of bed at the crack of dawn and diving into a cold pool to work every…

I grew up in Wetherby, a small market town in between Leeds and York. That’s I learned to ride a bike, had my heart broken (aged 10) by a girl for the first time, it’s where Mum used to walk me to playgroup and then we’d have lunch on the sofa while she watched Pebble…

Since this is a blog about being a planner in the North of England, I’d thought I’d better do something about what it’s like here. Leeds to be precise. I spent two years in London and I loved it, but I ended coming back. It’s not for everyone; personally I could never get used to…