The Blog - 2022 Review

I’m winding up my writing for the year. The blog is my first reflective space (which can mean it’s more a stream of consciousness than any type of structured story), and invaluable to me in the development of my own practice. Indeed: i think it characterises my practice: imperfect, fluid, changing. I dread the thought of being trapped in what i used to be certain about.

This flightiness can work against me: this space sometimes is divergent, contradictory even. It would certainly be hard work for a future?archaeologist?of ideas to spot the patterns from the layout of the artefacts. But for me, it works.

There is a narrative element: earlier in the year, as i developed bodies of work about ‘power’ (and how it flows through systems), ‘story’ (and how it enables or traps us), and ‘humility’ (about intention, reflection, action and impact), i was #WorkingOutLoud in this space. Sometimes on the text, but sometimes simply on the illustrations.

Illustration is part of the thought process for me, not a picture of what i have already thought, but rather a dynamic part of the ideation. I typically have an idea, then illustrate it before i write.

After this initial flurry, i used the space to guide me through some thinking about the ‘Future of Work’, and ‘Future Organisations’. Both of these represent the type of forward questing that the blog is useful for: they build upon earlier work on the?Social Age?and?Socially Dynamic Organisation, but expand or deepen elements of it.

This type of speculative writing is typically where i find great value in this space: not like digging up treasure, but a more gentle process of finding phrase. Often you will see that i prototype language here and iterate/adapt/abandon it rapidly, with an occasional phrase taking root and persisting.

‘Leadership in the smallest of actions’, which guides the whole?Quiet Leadership?work, originated as a phrase on the blog (whilst writing about the things that Social Leaders should do every day).

Other ideas stutter: the idea for?Radical Interpretations?magazine i first aired early in the year, with a view to publishing around now… but it ground to a halt, and only now is it figuring in my plans for late 2023. I was over ambitious in that, and lacked clarity of thought that it needed. But you know, that’s also ok. Not every idea is meant to fly. Or meant to fly right now!

Latterly i have been using this space for more in depth writing, sharing both the thought process, and new writing, with Sae and Geoff for the?Learning Science Guidebook. This is #WorkingOutLoud at it’s best – sharing uncertainty and evolution. Not ‘publishing’ as artefact, but publishing as continuous process. I really enjoy this type of writing.

I think sometimes the writing is almost wilfully obtuse: not because i don’t mean it to be accessible, but almost to challenge myself. Some of the writing about?AI, and Art, is in this vein. It’s where i am trying to not simply emulate what is written elsewhere, but push myself into new ideas. But that can easily fall to arrogance, so it’s a fine line: i try to remind myself that the best ideas are anchored on, or founded in, existing thought, but that they stretch the connection, or combine different elements.

I’ve written a hundred thousand words on the blog this year, and it’s not been a particularly productive year! Over 200 new illustrations too. Alongside this work i’ve written fifty five thousand words on?Social Leadership Daily?(and over 200 videos), and a further seventy thousand for ‘The Identity Project’, a piece of work that i badly underestimated the time it would take (i’m currently three times beyond what i factored in…).

If i reflect: my writing continues to evolve. I said to someone the other day ‘i think i’m an extremely good writer’ – which again i realise is an arrogance, but also i think it’s ok to say that – what i really mean is that i’m like a carpenter who has some pretty good tools, and who looks after those tools well. I mean, i’m not exceptional at writing, but i can use those tools to explore an idea pretty well. So maybe i am a confident writer now?

I still recognise my limits: of thought and breadth. But i’m willing to fail quite openly.

2023 will be an exciting year, starting with the launch of a new Publishing business. I’ve thought long and hard about it, but we live in a renaissance of publishing, with creative formats in engaged communities, and, to be honest, i just love the idea of creating a publishing business in this space. Next year we have five or six projects lined up, including two creative magazine ideas, so watch this space…?

I also aim to continue with some collaborative writing next year, both on the Learning Science Guidebook, and one other currently secret project!

My writing is held in the arms of this community: thank you for your support.