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.

Talking about Failure of FiReControl

In Monday I delivered a seminar on the Failure of FiReControl as part of the IPA Project X. At the invitation of Richard Kirkham, theme lead for X, I went up to Manchester University and spoke about my perspective on Continue reading Talking about Failure of FiReControl

An Unremarkable Endnote

After almost three years I’m now in handover mode. I’ll be going to work for DEFRA on loan from Thursday 12th on EU Exit contingencies. My last day here will be Tuesday 10th September. That’s two weeks short of three Continue reading An Unremarkable Endnote

Project Failure and Future Project Success

I was at a Major Projects Association breakfast event on sharing stories of project failure and what we’d learned to help future projects succeed. It was a frank discussion, with many personal examples from the inside, including mine on the Continue reading Project Failure and Future Project Success

Weeknotes 8-14 June 2019

I’m writing this on the train up to Leeds on Monday morning, rather than reflecting at the end of the working week. Even with just a couple of days gap it’s hard to remember everything that went on last week. Continue reading Weeknotes 8-14 June 2019

Weeknote 01-07 June 2019

Market day in Ste Mere Eglise, with dummy US paratrooper hanging from the church tower (photo: James Kemp)

I had a week off last week, which I spent in Normandy with my family. We visited some of the D-Day sites over a couple of days, and also a French theme park. It was a good week off, and Continue reading Weeknote 01-07 June 2019