Author Archives: James

About James

I've been an unconventional leader since I was a teenager. First with the scout movement, then the Territorial Army. After university I joined the UK civil service on a graduate management development programme. My career is now in its third decade and I've worked in Finance, HR, policy, strategy, IT, change, operations management and internal consultancy. Over the years I've mentored, coached and developed dozens of senior managers and hundreds of people.

Second Assignment done

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At last I have finished the second assignment for the B301 Making Sense of Strategy Open University course that I am currently doing. I got a week’s extension to this one because I’d been a little unwell and very busy, Continue reading Second Assignment done→

You Cannot E-mail HMRC?

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I was somewhat surprised tonight to discover that HMRC apparently refuse e-mails from members of the public (AKA customers) with tax enquiries. This was started because I got a coding notice (dated 21 February 2011)  that said I owed some Continue reading You Cannot E-mail HMRC?→

First Assignment Submitted!

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After a couple of sweaty days (mostly from the gout and related medication rather than the assignment it has to be said) I finished off my first (of 6) Tutor Marked Assignments (TMA) for the B310 Making Sense of Strategy Continue reading First Assignment Submitted!→

Making Sense of Strategy (Open University B301)

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OU logo for Making Sense of Strategy blog post

Some musings about where I’m at so far with an OU course about making sense of strategy that I started (offiically) on 5th February 2011. Continue reading Making Sense of Strategy (Open University B301)→

A long time…

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It has been a week since we got our shiny new government and already it feels like we’ve set the calendar back 13 years or so. The language has changed, we’re now supposed to talk about ‘the public’ instead of Continue reading A long time…→