Category: Learning

The imagination of children – Lego and AI…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI, Education, Information Technology, Learning, Lego, Risk, Toys

While returning home from a stroll through a glorious deciduous wood resplendent with Autumn colour, the Badger saw an interesting book in a charity shop window. He popped in and came out with a carrier bag half-full of Lego bricks of all shapes, sizes, colours, and types rather than the book! The Lego was in great condition at a bargain price and buying it for his grandson to play with when he visits seemed a no-brainer. On arriving home, the bag was emptied onto a table. There were standard bricks and bases, Technik bricks, wheels, motors, and arms, legs, torsos, heads, and hands from Lego figures, and much more. The Badger was hooked. He spent the rest of the afternoon using his imagination to produce a number of creative masterpieces! Indeed, everyday since, the Badger’s improved his masterpieces and created new ones. It’s addictive!

Lego empowers creativity, provides immediate gratification from having built something with your hands, and it helps to develop spatial reasoning, design thinking, and problem-solving. Furthermore, it encourages an understanding of mechanics through trial and error. It’s fun, educational, and great for kids (and adults) of all ages with building things often a collaborative and social activity. Kids, for example, learn from each other when they play with it together and when adults help them. Building Lego models together strengthens the bonds between individuals.

As the Badger built his own masterpieces, he remembered that Lego has been an excellent teaching aid at home and in education establishments for decades, as the recent announcement about a teenager building a robotic hand using Lego illustrates. It also struck him that Millennials were shaped by the emergence of the internet, Gen Z were moulded by social media’s evolution, and that Gen Alpha – his grandson’s generation – will be defined by the rapid expansion of AI use. The Badger senses a danger, however, that Gen Alpha may simply ask AI for ideas and instructions of what to build from a bag of bricks rather than use their own imagination and individuality to create masterpieces. Always inquisitive, the Badger asked CoPilot what could be built with a bag of mixed Lego bricks. It replied with ideas and instructions, and thus neatly illustrated that the danger of Gen Alpha outsourcing their imagination, creativity, and physical trial and error learning to AI is real.

A recent UK study found that ~22% of 8 to 12 year-old children already use generative AI tools, which – let’s remember – have not been designed from the outset with children in mind. Have the  lessons from social media’s impact on children been learned? The answer’s not obvious, which is why the Badger will be encouraging his grandson to produce his own Lego masterpieces without engaging in virtual world interactions. Another reason, of course, is that the Badger will be able to transfer knowledge and enjoy helping to build his creations too…

Expect up to 20% of people on your project to be ‘problematic’…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Delivery, Information Technology, IT Project Management, Leadership & Management, Learning, Training

After completing a couple of IT project leader roles early in his career, the Badger’s employer sent him on the company’s 3-day residential Project Management training course. In those days, attendance on the course was seen as a stepping stone to career advancement within the company. The Badger, however, wasn’t convinced about Project Management as a career path. He’d also heard that the course focused mainly on ‘processes’ rather than leadership. His boss, however, was adamant that the Badger attend, and so reluctantly he complied and joined ten others drawn from across the company in a small hotel in the Chilterns. The course’s focus was, indeed, mainly on Project Management processes, but it was quickly apparent that its real value was in providing an environment for attendees to share their experiences and learn from each other.

At the end of one afternoon, a guest speaker – the company’s most senior and experienced Project Manager (PM) – gave a formal talk and then took questions. They stayed for an evening meal with the attendees and subsequently adjourned to the bar to continue conversations. They were impressive, relaxed, and keen to pass on their knowledge. They communicated many insightful nuggets gleaned from their experience, and the Badger’s found many of them to have been valuable reference points throughout every facet of his working life. Process is, of course, important in delivering projects of any kind, but the most significant  and memorable learning points from this particular course were not from formal sessions, but from this senior PM’s experience and the experiences of the other delivery people attending.

One insightful nugget from the senior PM was: ‘Expect up to 20% of those on your project to struggle, underperform, or have questionable capability and character. Act to reduce that percentage but recognise it will never be zero.’ From the Badger’s experience since,  IT projects operating well will always have ~10% of the project complement that fall into the senior PM’s categories. The reasons why range widely from personal crises, and character, personality, and behavioural flaws, through to poor skills, inadequate management, training, or simply mismatched skills for the specific role. These people can drain management time and impact project morale and so it’s essential to strive to keep this component of a project’s complement at a sensible level.

The senior PM’s insightful nugget embodies an underlying truth, namely that in any group of people there’s always a portion who are ‘problematic.’ This is as true for a project group as it is for a group of business managers, a group of politicians, and even a group of world leaders! The next time you observe,  engage with, or simply watch media content of a group of people, have some fun deciding what percentage are in  the ‘problematic’ category. It can be fun and therapeutic…but be warned, it can also be depressing if it’s a group of politicians…

Do acquisitions disproportionately shed older staff?

Posted on by The Information Badger in Acquisitions, Business, Education, Human Resources, Information Technology, Leadership, Learning, Legal matters

A youngster about to join a large enterprise after completing a degree at University asked an interesting question last weekend. ‘Does an enterprise that acquires another company use the purchase as a smokescreen to shed older, long-serving, higher-paid employees?’  That’s an interesting and unusual question from someone at the very start of their career. So why did they ask it? Well, firstly their new employer has acquired another substantial company and restructuring activities are underway. Secondly, they knew the Badger had some experience in navigating a number of mergers and acquisitions. Lastly, the tech-savvy youngster had come across online chatter that his new employer’s older staff with long service were being disproportionately targeted during restructuring. The youngster, with no experience within large enterprises, anticipates a long career with their new company, but they were a little perturbed that their new employer might possibly be engaging in age discrimination, something that’s prohibited under the UK Equality Act 2010.

Answering required words that were balanced, honest, and rooted in personal experience of post-acquisition integrations. So, what did the Badger say? Firstly, that acquisitions often lead to reorganisations which can legally justify redundancies based on performance or role duplication at any age or level of seniority. Loyalty and long-service counts for nothing in such a scenario, and older employees may be more vulnerable because they typically have higher salaries and benefits, which means shedding them can significantly reduce payroll costs. Secondly, an acquisition can be a vehicle to change an enterprise’s culture, especially in fast moving industries subject to rapid innovation pressures. This always favours the retention of younger, tech-savvy staff and those with in-demand skills. Thirdly, not every acquisition is a smokescreen for eliminating older, higher-paid employees, but, in reality, some acquirers do quietly use their purchase to shed older, higher-paid employees because they know that it’s normally difficult in these circumstances for individuals to prove age discrimination for their redundancy. Do acquisitions disproportionately shed older staff? Some do, some don’t.

The youngster nodded, reaffirmed their intent on a long career with their new employer, and asked if the Badger had any advice for the long term. Yes. Maintain skills that are current and valuable outside your company, as mergers and acquisitions rarely reward loyalty or long service. As you get older and more experienced, watch out during acquisition integration activities for a) silence about future roles for you or your peers, b) performance reviews, and c) role redefinitions. These often signal something is afoot that affects you personally. Also, never forget that HR works in your employer’s interest, not in yours.

The youngster grinned and said they obviously had lots to learn! The Badger smiled too, pleased that he’d sown a few seeds of awareness in a youngster who will soon learn that things are never quite what they seem inside organisations when it comes to workforce matters.

A career as a TikTok/Instagram influencer?

Posted on by The Information Badger in Business, Education, Information Technology, Learning, social media

If a student says they intend to develop a career as a social media influencer on TikTok, Instagram (and other platforms), and they ask your opinion on their intent, what would you say? The Badger was put on the spot and asked this question during a discussion with a sizeable group of University students midway through their degree courses. Most in the group were studying various flavours of science, engineering, computing, or IT-based subjects. So, what did the Badger answer?

Well, to create a little time to marshal his thoughts, the Badger asked the group to raise a hand if they thought being a TikTok or Instagram influencer was a career path that needed a degree-level education? Only two students put a hand up. A couple commented dryly that most social media platform influencers had little underlying talent or expertise and were focused on their egos and gaining celebrity, notoriety, and money rather than something beneficial for today’s world. That’s harsh, but it’s an understandable perspective. Whether we like it or not, however, becoming a social media influencer is the aspiration of many young digital natives because it’s seen as an easy and convenient way to generate an income.

So, is being a social media influencer a real career path? Many believe so, ostensibly because some with that label make considerable sums of money through brand partnerships, sponsorships, advertising, and selling merchandise. They also perceive that influencers don’t need high educational qualifications although they must be adaptable and adept at analysing trends and staying relevant as audience preferences change. There’s no doubt that some influencers have skills in content creation, marketing, and audience engagement, and a natural charisma, and flair for storytelling, but the reality is that only a small percentage succeed in making a reasonable living from their efforts. Like in any career, success as an influencer on the likes of TikTok and Instagram requires some competence and skill, and so it would be foolish to suggest that being a social media influencer is not a legitimate career path in today’s world.

The Badger was thus careful when answering the student’s question. He simply communicated the advice given by his father when the Badger was first deciding to further his own education at University, namely ‘Get the best education you can in a subject you enjoy and are good at. Don’t pre-suppose how you’ll use that in the future because life has a habit of taking you in unexpected directions’. The students thought this was wise counsel because none of them thought they would secure jobs directly relevant to their degree subject. That’s a shame, but ever that’s been the case. They unanimously concluded that if you intend to have a career as a social media influencer, then it’s prudent to get the best education you can first.

VE Day, Gen-Z, resilience and preparedness…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, Internet, Learning, Life, Online Services, Risk, Technology

Many have family members who lived through the violence and hardships of World War 2 as civilians or combatants. Their experiences shaped not only their own lives, but also the values they instilled in their children. The Badger’s father, for example, proudly served his country in the military and then worked hard to create a better life for his family once he was demobbed. He was the epitome of that ‘Keep calm and carry on’ and ‘There’s no such word as can’t, try!’ generation, and he brought his children up to embody discipline, standards, hard work, duty, calm objectivity, preparedness, and a sense of right and wrong. These instilled values have served the Badger well over the years. The 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE), a day which saw spontaneous rejoicing and street parties, is being celebrated on Thursday the 8th May 2025. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices and resilience of a WW2 generation, civilians and combatants, who resisted tyranny. It will be poignant for the Badger because his father, sadly no longer with us, was unable to celebrate on VE Day at the time.

Life is very different today, as the Badger explained to a couple of Generation Z digital natives last weekend. Homes in the 1940s  were different. The internet, social media, instant communication, music and video streaming, electronic games, smartphones, personal computers, online banking, online shopping, robots, and driverless cars were science fiction, and children played physical games that would make today’s health and safety coterie wince. The Gen-Z natives struggled to relate to how life functioned in the 1940s without digital technology. The Badger then asked them two questions – what would you do if a) the UK experienced an electricity blackout akin to that seen recently  on the Iberian peninsula, or b) cyber-attacks took out online and critical infrastructure services for a prolonged period. ‘We’ll get by until someone sorts things out’ was the glib response, although they had no real idea about how they would actually get by! This made the Badger wonder about the resilience of our completely digital-native Gen-Z generation. As individuals, perhaps we’ve all become complacent about the risks associated with our dependence on digital services.  

In fact, do you know how you would ‘keep calm and carry on’ if digital services suddenly disappeared for a prolonged period? Do you have any personal emergency measures or pack of essentials to fall back on if something catastrophic happened to the electricity grid? Individuals rarely consider such questions even though our digital world is highly complex and believing ‘it’ll never happen’ just reflects naivety. Without their tech will digital-native Gen-Z ever be as resilient, resourceful, and prepared to make sacrifices like those of the 1940s in really tough times? If the Badger’s conversation was anything to go by, the jury’s most definitely out…

Uncomfortable meetings…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Delivery, Information Technology, IT Project Management, Leadership & Management, Learning, Meetings

When a signed contract is in its delivery phase there are normally regular progress meetings between the two parties involved. There are often ups and downs during delivery, but for most IT sector contracts these bumps in the road are normally ironed out through these meetings and associated follow-ups. Some contracts, however, experience major problems that cause strained relationships and lead to confrontational interactions. Meetings between client and contractor can then become quarrelsome, uncomfortable, and unproductive. When this happens, no matter what training you’ve had, it requires iron personal discipline, resilience, and control over one’s emotions to avoid wasting energy by getting angry. That energy is better channelled to turn the tables in your favour.

The Badger has experienced many uncomfortable meetings, but two in particular stand out as memorable because they were challenging from both a human dynamics, and a contractual, perspective. The first related to an IT contract for a system to computerise a manufacturing process in a new facility being constructed by a major US prime contractor. There were delays in constructing the facility, and the prime contractor blamed these on the IT contractor. In one important meeting, the prime contractor’s lead resorted to shouting, thumping the table, and angrily questioning the Badger and his team’s competence. The second related to a contract delivering business process operations (BPO) for a public body. There were service difficulties because the client and contractor teams had different understandings of their contractual obligations. The client’s lead convened a meeting and vociferously blamed the contractor’s team for all the difficulties and for being unprofessional. The lead was in aggressive, transmit-only, finger-pointing, bullying, and raised-voice mode, and they would not allow others to speak.

These were uncomfortable, tricky meetings. In the face of vitriolic verbal onslaughts, they were handled by not arguing, staying calm, listening carefully, maintaining civility and professionalism, and then acting decisively once the meetings had ended! The decisive actions, which the Badger isn’t expanding on here, forced both clients to face up to their own contractual obligations and behaviour and to take steps to repair relationships. In both cases, when things had settled down, the clients admitted not only that the contractor could ‘look after itself’ commercially, but also admiration and respect for the composure, resilience, discipline and professionalism they’d seen from the contractor’s staff.

The Badger mentioned the above meeting dynamics to a young IT project manager recently. They were horrified and commented that they wouldn’t cope with such unacceptable shouty meeting dynamics today. The Badger smiled and suggested that  since humans are all different, then exposure to volatile characters and shouty, bullying meetings can be useful for personal development. With a look of disbelief on their face, the youngster called the Badger a dinosaur. The Badger laughed. That’s nowhere near some of the things he’s been called in the past!

An inspiring, impressive, and heartwarming moment…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Education, Information Technology, Learning, Software, Training

Take a moment. Think about the most inspiring, impressive, and heart-warming moments that you’ve experienced during your career. Does one immediately come to the fore more than others? The Badger’s experienced many inspiring and impressive moments over the decades, but far fewer that were inspiring, impressive AND heart-warming! The one moment that is always the first  comes to mind meeting these three criteria was the witnessing of a speaker at a technical conference overcome their stage-fright and public-speaking demons to receive a standing ovation from the audience.

The young Badger had attended the conference, about novel software design practices, to give one of many twenty-minute presentations to the ~350-person audience from across industry. His presentation went well, ostensibly because he was well prepared and had lots of previous public-speaking experience from presenting at large conferences during his academic days. On returning to his seat afterwards, the Badger felt that usual human reaction of being both pleased and relieved! The next presenter was another youngster. As they took to the stage and walked to the lectern, their hands were visibly shaking, but what unfolded was more than just the initial nerves most people experience in such situations. What unfolded was, in its own way, awesomely inspiring, impressive, and heartwarming!

The speaker introduced themselves. Thereafter their body perpetually quivered, their voice trembled and incessantly faltered, and their presentation delivery fragmented with long pauses between sentences and often between individual words. It was obvious that the audience found the situation uncomfortable, and after ten minutes one of the conference organisers approached and quietly asked if the speaker was okay and would like to end their presentation immediately. The speaker insisted on carrying on and did so overrunning their allotted time by 50%. On closing their presentation, they apologised to the audience for their nervousness, thanked the audience for their patience and understanding given that they had never presented to so many people before! As they left the stage the whole audience gave them a standing ovation.

The speaker’s dogged determination to complete their presentation in the face of their inexperience and rampant nervousness was inspiring. The fact, as the Badger learned talking to them afterwards, that they had consciously put themselves in that uncomfortable situation because ‘it was necessary’ in order to improve and have a good career, was impressive. The audience standing ovation was heartwarming because it demonstrated our inherent human empathy and respect for ‘those that try’. For the Badger, the moment also highlights that we all have weaknesses and that facing up to them by doing the right thing with dogged determination, and resilience in the face of personal discomfort, builds respect and demonstrates the ‘right stuff’ required to be successful. What happened to the speaker? They ultimately became a senior executive at an international corporation, and a much sought after keynote speaker at international conferences!

CEEFAX, pocket calculators, and the best music ever…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Change, Information Technology, Learning, Life, Science & Engineering, Technology

The postman pushed a package through the letterbox. The delivery of anything by a regular postman is always a surprise these days, especially when no one is expecting it! As the Badger bent down to pick the package up, alarm bells went off in his head as the security training during his career kicked in. Could this be something dangerous? These fleeting thoughts were quickly allayed because there was a return to sender name and address handwritten across the sealed end. It was from an old friend that the Badger had caught up with recently over Zoom. The package was opened to reveal two CD-ROMs holding 40 of his friend’s favourite songs from the 1970s.

The Badger chuckled. His friend is an entertainer who’s passionate about the music of the 1970s, and during our Zoom session we had reminisced about the music and technology of that decade, and our good times together. They had sent the CDs to test if the Badger still has devices that play this ‘old technology’ that first arrived in the early 1980s. The Badger has, and the sounds of the 1970’s filled the home for the rest of the day! Tunes like ‘Mouldy old Dough’ by Lieutenant Pigeon, ‘Sundown’ by Gordon Lightfoot, ‘Joybringer’ by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, and ‘It’s Only Rock and Roll’ by the Rolling Stones’ echoed through the house as a reminder that they were part of the soundtrack to the 1970s decade of innovation and technological change.

The Badger remembers the BBC’s launch of CEEFAX 50 years ago in 1974! It was a world first allowing viewers to access text-based information on their TV sets – an internet before the internet! The same decade saw the arrival of battery-operated pocket electronic calculators, electronic ignition systems becoming standard on cars, microprocessors, the start of Apple and Microsoft, the 747 Jumbo Jet, Concorde commercial flights, MRI machines, the Sony Walkman, barcodes, floppy discs and email. There were countless scientific and technological advances, and also an oil crisis and the emergence of Punk!

Today’s life is dominated by digital technology that was science fiction in the 1970s. Developments since have been phenomenal and made the Badger’s career in IT always interesting, perpetually challenging, rewarding, and full of learning. So, if you are a student about to start, for example, a new year at University, then work hard, be inquisitive, learn as much as you can, extend your interests and boundaries, and remember that the technology you use today will be obsolete before long. Remember that today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality, and that good music will be played for decades and transcend the generations. After all, music from bands like Abba, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, Queen, Blondie and many more is still popular today proving that the best music ever comes the 1970s!

Knowing when to speak up, and when to stay silent…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Business, Human Resources, Information Technology, Leadership & Management, Learning, Training

People attend meetings in their work environment on a daily basis. Moans about the time meetings take up and their encroachment on an individual’s productive work activity were commonplace during the Badger’s career, and they still are today. That’s hardly a surprise because meetings are a key element of the operational rhythm at every level of an organisation. Meetings are crucial for decision making, sharing important information, problem solving, innovating, building and maintaining relationships, aligning people with expectations, and holding people accountable for achieving goals. That’s why training in meeting-related skills is usually a prominent feature within enterprise training programmes.

Meetings can be gatherings of people in the same room, video or telephone conferences, or hybrid setups involving all of these at the same time. The Badger’s attended a huge number over the years, so what’s the most important thing he’s learned from doing so? This very question was, in fact, recently asked by a family member while bemoaning ‘interminable meetings’ in their own workplace! The Badger’s answer was simply this – know when to speak up, and when to stay silent. It’s something he learned early in his career from participating in a difficult meeting about a failing project.

The meeting had client and supplier representatives in the same room to decide on the future of the project. The Badger was present because he was part of the supplier’s team trying to fix the project and its commercial difficulties. The client and supplier leads, both experienced in dealing with troublesome situations, engaged in a direct but business-like manner. One of the client’s team, however, frequently interjected with vitriolic and negative comments which rankled with some of the Badger’s colleagues, one of whom responded in kind every time. That is until a senior colleague prodded them and whispered, ‘shut up, keep quiet, listen and watch’. The meeting eventually ended with an agreed way forward. In the debrief afterwards, the supplier’s leader pointedly told the team that ‘We all have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth. Use them in meetings to listen, watch and speak in that proportion’. They are wise words.

Knowing when to speak up and when to stay silent is an important skill, particularly in difficult and important meetings. Being a good listener, a good observer of participant  body language, and having good control of the urge to speak for the sake of it are important competences for face-to-face meetings, video and teleconferences, or hybrid meetings alike. Knowing when to stay quiet and when to speak is a good discipline and a trait of good managers and leaders. Remember, while every meeting has a mix of different personalities, the smartest and most influential person present isn’t necessarily the one doing all the talking. It’s often the one doing the watching, listening, and being careful about when they speak and what they say…

Gamesmanship and getting an invoice for a milestone paid…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Business, IT Project Management, Leadership & Management, Learning, Processes and Practices, Project Management

Important lessons arose early in the Badger’s career from experiencing the stress, effort, and time taken to get an invoice for a contractual milestone paid in full. The Badger learned about the importance of rigour when invoicing, and the need for detailed, verifiable, proof that all deliverables were delivered and contractually compliant. He also learned that clients may play games to delay payment if it suited them or provided useful leverage over their supplier.

This stemmed from particular dynamics encountered after completing software Acceptance Testing on a client’s site. It was an important contractual milestone with a sizeable payment attached. Its achievement also marked the point whereby a) control of the software transferred to the client to roll it out to their users, and b) the contract’s warranty and support phase started. Testing had been successful and on its completion the client agreed the milestone had been met, they took control of the software, and they agreed the start of warranty and support. Relationships were good and the invoice for the milestone payment was submitted. Then things became difficult!

The client claimed the invoice format was wrong, that all contractual deliverables hadn’t been provided, and that relevant documentation and certifications were not contractually compliant. They continually demanded more and more material to support the invoice. Relationships soured. The Badger’s line management, fearful of jeopardising future work for the client, simply said ‘do what they want and get the payment in pronto’. The Badger did as he was told! Eventually the client said everything was in order and that payment would arrive in line with contracted terms. The money, however, did not arrive!

It emerged that the client’s user rollout programme was suffering delays and so they had decided to withhold payment to ‘keep the supplier on the hook’ until it was back on track. A frustrated Badger wrote to the client pointing out that contractually there was no transfer of software to the client without payment for the milestone, which meant their user rollout activities constituted a breach of contract. It was not a popular move, but a contract is, after all, never an irrelevance! Payment happened a few days later.

The young Badger learned lessons about the real dynamics of business from this experience. Sometimes clients don’t pay because they choose to preserve their cash flow at the expense of suppliers, they don’t have the funds, or they really have lost an invoice. Sometimes, however, they simply engage in gamesmanship and choose not to pay. Today the proportion of invoices not paid on time by large UK businesses can be checked here, but business fundamentally revolves around people who have diverse characters and behaviours. Gamesmanship will thus always have a part in business dynamics, so it’s worth remembering that, as the Badger learned then and over the years since, suppliers need to be just as good at playing games as their clients…