Agency East

Imagine a society where pencils have just  been discovered. The elders gather and after much reflection issue a directive that these new implements would be of great use in educating the young. So they ponder some more and declare that they should make these pencils available in their schools. But they spend many further hours… Continue reading »

Letting young people lead projects is rare. But in my experience, when we do, they are as successful as we let them be. Mostly we offer young people participation – hypothetical, controlled or adult-led initiatives, where at best they are given a chance to impart their thoughts or endorse our existing ideas. There is one… Continue reading »

Historically there were many reasons for the development of the British ‘public’ school system. From medieval times to the nineteenth century, rich philanthropists, eminent patrons, ambitious clerics and powerful guilds founded schools to help disadvantaged people get an education.  Although some schools remained charitable and many still maintained bursaries for bright, poor boys, very quickly… Continue reading »

This is a phrase that has long been associated with anything difficult to master and emerged from Napoleon’s defeat in 1815. Origins I sort of knew but just checked up the facts on the web. The new minister with a responsibility for the national curriculum has said that he thinks young people need to have… Continue reading »

I’m currently consulting on a programme called Next Top Boss for the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation. I’m delighted to be working with my good friend from Agency East, Lucy Harris. The aim is to give teams of young people in Thurrock a chance to develop business acumen and skills through a series of competitive… Continue reading »

Wanting a distraction from the election, I have been looking at the life of William Pitt, ‘the Younger’ who at 24 became Prime Minister in 1781. Pitt and I share some common threads. He came into parliament in Appelby, a town – at the time a rotten borough – in Cumbria, where I spent a… Continue reading »

Today I was among a group invited to join the Cultural Leadership debate at Kings Place rather uninspiringly called ‘Culture in a Changing Context’ and chaired by Ekow Eshun from the ICA. Some potentially interesting speakers including Baroness Lola Young, Stewart Wallace (New Economics Foundation), Claire Fox (Institute of Ideas) and Daniel Glaser (Wellcome Trust). For… Continue reading »

One of the things I am most struck by the emergence of social media and its importance to success, is the level of open collaboration necessary for it to function properly. Until now organisational collaboration has been a highly formalised relationship that attempts to measure success based on the core usefulness of the perceived potential… Continue reading »

The last year, I’ve spent working with the Royal Opera House in Thurrock, where they are building state of the art production workshops on a 14-acre site comprising walled gardens, orchards and renovated 15th century farm buildings. Also on the site will be the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills. When the site… Continue reading »