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Search listings: Just like an episode of The Apprentice
The boardroom is tense. The losing team from The Apprentice (TV series) stand in a line. Nervous smiles. Too much confidence for people who clearly know they are in trouble. At the the table sits...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 21 May 2026

0; David Attenborough Observes the Modern Workplace
At first glance the open-plan office appears calm. But tensions beneath the surface are rarely far away. Near the coffee machine several younger employees exchange information of questionable...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 20 May 2026

0; The Recruitment Song Contest
Why modern interviews are more Eurovision than science The Eurovision Song Contest and the modern recruitment interview have far more in common than either side would like to admit. “Good evening...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 19 May 2026

0; FSA survey reveals public’s growing appetite for healthier and more sustainable food choices
FSA survey reveals public’s growing appetite for healthier and more sustainable food choices | Food Standards Agency The latest wave of the survey, conducted between...

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By:
Josephine Jorsling
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Last updated: 18 May 2026

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London Healthier Catering Commitment; The Working Man’s Blues (Still on the Payroll—Just Not Ours)
“You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.” From Sixteen Tons. Written in 1946. Not retired since. We like to think the song is over. The pits closed, the mills...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 18 May 2026

0; Sudoku puzzles and problem solving in leadership roles
I do sudoku. I have a system. I go across and then down. I look to complete a line rather than a box. It works. It gets me there. But with experience comes a shift. Sometimes a box stands out. It...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 15 May 2026

0; AI is changing how we access knowledge, but it’s not replacing knowledge management
There is a growing assumption that artificial intelligence may remove the need for formal knowledge management as we know it. If AI can instantly search millions of documents, summarise information...

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By:
Roger Haddon
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Last updated: 26 May 2026

0; Recruitment Bingo
More people chasing fewer jobs no wonder organisations are turning to AI to sift out applicants. No surprise then that applicants are gaming the system. The jobs market is crowded. Very...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 12 May 2026

0; Not Brave Performance
Good. Not brave. Most teams aren’t failing. They’re behaving. They hit targets. Attend meetings. Contribute constructively. Raise concerns carefully. Deliver what’s asked. It all looks fine. ...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 12 May 2026

0; Play safe Performance
Play safe. Call it success. You’re not underperforming. You’re under-challenging. You deliver. You attend. You contribute. You stay just inside the lines. It works. That’s the trap. Because...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 12 May 2026

0; Strategic Theatre
Say everything. Change nothing. You build strategy to avoid choice. Five priorities. Seven themes. A vision big enough to include everything and offend no one. It sounds ambitious. It is. Just...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 11 May 2026

0; AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #11
AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #117 May 2026 AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #117 May 2026 Welcome to the bi-weekly AI Engineering Lab newsletter What's happening next weekWhat's happening next...

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By:
Alana Barrett-Frew
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Last updated: 08 May 2026

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AI Engineering Lab; Riding the Dragon
Leading a large organisation is often described as riding a horse. That’s flattering. It’s also wrong. It is much closer to riding a dragon. From a distance, it looks impressive: scale, power,...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 07 May 2026

0; Innovative Theatre
Change. But not really. We love the idea of innovation. We just don’t like what it does. Real innovation breaks things. It creates losers. It makes existing systems look stupid. It threatens...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 06 May 2026

0; Who are ya?
It starts as a murmur. Then it turns into a verdict. “Who are ya? Who are ya?” A few voices. Then a stand. Then the whole ground—kids, pensioners, everyone. Arms out stretched fingers pointing ....

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 05 May 2026

0; Feedback Theatre
Speak up. Not like that. You ask for feedback. Then you flinch when it arrives. Not the vague stuff. That’s fine. “Could improve.” “Some concerns.” Easy to absorb. Easy to ignore. The specific...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 01 May 2026

0; Leadership Theatre
Sound strong. Avoid risk. Modern leadership has a tell. It sounds impressive. It commits to nothing. “We recognise the complexity.” “We’re taking this seriously.” “We’re listening.” All true....

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 30 Apr 2026

0; AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #10
AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #1029 April 2026 AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #1029 April 2026 Welcome to the weekly AI Engineering Lab newsletter What's happening this weekWhat's happening...

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By:
Alana Barrett-Frew
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Last updated: 30 Apr 2026

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AI Engineering Lab; Pull your socks up
Wellbeing has become the most popular topic in HR. Every conference, leadership away day and strategy document promises a stronger focus on mental health, resilience and psychological safety. Yet...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 29 Apr 2026

0; Meeting Theatre
We don’t work anymore. We attend. Calendars are full. Outcomes are not. The meeting has replaced the decision. It feels productive. It looks collaborative. It avoids the only thing that...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 29 Apr 2026

0; The Interview
Tell us a little bit about yourself? Which version do they want—the safe one or the impressive one? What’s not on your CV? What have I left out for a reason? Why did you leave your last job? How...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 28 Apr 2026

0; With a Little Help from My Friends
HR is trying to fix a hole. Not in policy—in practice. The gap between what leaders say and what people feel. They call it compassionate management. Not soft. Not optional. The hard...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 27 Apr 2026

0; Manager Upgrade
Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss, but this one really isn’t human. I’m Marvin, the paranoid android. I have a brain the size of a small planet, which, in parts of the public sector,...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 26 Apr 2026

0; A small minority, a big impact on public services
After a recent two-night stay in hospital, I came away with an uncomfortable thought: much of the NHS still works remarkably well. The bigger problem is how a small minority of people use it. That...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 23 Apr 2026

0; We need more meetings (just not the ones you think)
We need more meetings, which is not as bad as it sounds. Everyone assumes I mean more time in rooms with long agendas. Not another calendar invite that quietly wastes an hour. Especially when the...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 22 Apr 2026

0; Who would Captain Kirk call
Who would Captain Kirk call? If the toilet on the Enterprise was blocked. If the environmental controls went on the blink. If there was a sudden lack of propulsion. Not a strategy consultant. Not...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 21 Apr 2026

0; The Dog Ate It *
There’s a familiar explanation that gets wheeled out when things go badly wrong in organisations: “It was group think.” The grown-up version of “the dog ate my homework.” How...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 16 Apr 2026

0; Water fluoridation: health monitoring report for England 2026
Details This 2026 health monitoring report compares data on the health of people living in areas of England with varying concentrations of fluoride in their drinking water supply and in areas with...

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By:
Obiageli Onyekpe
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Last updated: 15 Apr 2026

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Environmental Public Health Tracking; AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #9
AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #9 14 April 2026 AI Engineering Lab Newsletter #9 14 April 2026 Welcome to the weekly AI Engineering Lab newsletter What's happening...

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By:
Alana Barrett-Frew
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Last updated: 14 Apr 2026

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AI Engineering Lab; “ Some Managers Climb the Ladder. The Best Ones Lower It.”
Careers don’t begin with strategy. They begin with someone lowering a ladder—or quietly pulling it up behind them. We like to think organisations are fair, structured places. They’re not. Progress...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 14 Apr 2026

0; Why pressure is not the answer to failing public services
Monday morning. Cold. Damp. Another defeat at the weekend. The team is effectively relegated. The best players have been sold. Contracts are running down. The club is skint. At Sheffield...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 12 Apr 2026

0; “Most organisations say they reward talent.
Golf, as it is meant to be played, is a game of skill. It rewards practice. Experience matters. Coaching helps. Over time, you get better. Not quickly. Not easily. But predictably. It’s not about...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 10 Apr 2026

0; What Adult social services Directors really think about the NHS
What social services directors really think about the NHS The conversation we don’t have—but should Let’s start with something we don’t say out loud: Most of us in social services don’t think...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 09 Apr 2026

0; Openness to Self: A Journey of Personal Discovery
"The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper." (Holy Bible, Proverbs 19:8) In an increasingly complex world, the value of 'Openness to Self' cannot...

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By:
Mavarine Du-Marie
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Last updated: 09 Apr 2026

0; You’re expected to be loyal
After a bad day at work and a few drinks don’t be tempted to vent on social media There are always a few managers who are cynical about senior management and the organisation...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 08 Apr 2026

0; The Annoying Co Worker
It’s the workplace situations that managers are most uncomfortable facing but is it an HR issue? It’s one member of the team who irritates and annoys everyone else or so the person...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 08 Apr 2026

0; The toilet on Artemis 11 isn’t working properly.
Which is awkward. Not just for the astronauts, but for the rest of us who like to believe that if you can send humans 238,000 miles into space, you’ve probably cracked the basics. Apparently not. ...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 06 Apr 2026

0; Every one knows
Everyone knows HR are responsible for dealing with difficult employees Everyone that is except HR! A great many managers think the role of HR is to deal with the difficult people issues...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 03 Apr 2026

0; Don’t be one of those managers who rings round the HR team till they get the answer they want.
They say phone calls are monitored for training purposes clearly they do not do anything with the info or else why would the response be so different depending on who you speak to? How...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 03 Apr 2026

0; How to acquire a mentor
I have had both a formal and informal mentor and I have also been a mentor. In selecting a mentor don’t go for status but wisdom and respect of their judgment. The fact that they are a...

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By:
Blair McPherson
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Last updated: 03 Apr 2026

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