Here you can find some of my articles and other content that’ll give you more of a feel for my work.

Always Argue With Success (PDF)

After a friend attempted to put me in my place with a success story, here are my reflections on why it's always vital to argue with success if you want to learn and ultimately improve at what you do.

A Bigger Block of Concrete (PDF)

This is an article about organisational learning. Or perhaps it would be better to say that it's an article about wooden bollards, blocks of concrete, and how organisations fail to learn.

Something Useful

Taking the UK Government’s statutory user satisfaction survey for local councils as my starting point, this article considers the potential value of ‘opinion’ research aligned with the operational purpose of those responsible for the delivery of public services.

Getting the brief right

One of the all time favourite ‘known solutions’ for planning successful projects in all fields. This article explores what it takes to get the brief right for ‘opinion’ research and provides a checklist to use with clients.

Consultation Fatigue: What Are Customers Really Tired Of?

In this article, I suggest that most people wouldn’t mind regularly taking part in surveys and other research and public consultation if it demonstrably made a difference.

Wish you were here...

In November 2005, I led a session on the meaning of community using ‘Postcards from the Future’; a favourite exercise of mine. This discussion thread was started by a delighted participant.

Our Survey Says: Not Much Really (PDF)

Slides from a presentation to members of the North of England Transformation Network (NET2). So many of us have felt under-whelmed by the results from surveys. Here’s some thoughts on how this can be avoided, focusing on questionnaire design.

Planning to Make a Difference (PDF)

Slides from my talk given at the Local Authorities Research & Intelligence Association Conference 2006. Some pointers for ‘opinion’ researchers with low expectations that their work will make a difference.