July 2024

Work Reflections

This month marks the passing of my seventh year at Hippo. It's hard to believe how fast these years have flown by. They have been filled with incredible achievements and intense hard work. Despite being here for seven years, it still feels like Hippo is new to the consultancy space as we continue to build our reputation. Since August last year, my role has shifted slightly, focusing more on the delivery of projects and ensuring quality in our work. Almost a year into this role change, it feels like my team and I are hitting our stride, understanding what we do well, recognising what good looks like, and knowing how to achieve it better and better. Ironically, given Hippo's continued growth, things could adjust and change again shortly. I have noticed an almost yearly cycle of change at Hippo. This is one downside of growth: you never quite hit your stride and get to run with it for a while. However, the consultancy market has changed significantly during my time in it. If we don't continue to grow and push forward, there is a danger of being left behind. Winning government work, in particular, is more competitive than ever, and Hippo still feels like one of the smaller companies competing. It's definitely a challenge. Days are very busy, and progress can sometimes feel difficult to register, but entering my eighth year has given me a moment to pause, reflect on the last twelve months, and prepare to keep improving things. This month has seen the usual travel between London, Leeds, and Manchester. The travel is hard when you've got a six-month-old at home, but being present with people is still a really important part of my role at Hippo. I still firmly believe that you can achieve a lot more in person than you can through a series of Google Meets, Teams, or Slack calls.

This month also saw me returning to client work, something I desperately try to do as often as I can, although it's been around twelve months since I last engaged in it. I am now supporting the Department for Education on work around data sharing. This will be my fourth or fifth time working on similar projects in various government organisations. The success of these projects has been mixed, but data sharing (or exchange) remains a key enabler. It's encouraging that it featured in the Labour manifesto, so hopefully, this project can be another success rather than a dead end. Client work remains the best part of my job and one of the main reasons I love consultancy. Taking apart problems and building solutions gives me a buzz that is hard to replicate in other areas of my work.

Home Life

At home, my wife and I have been continuing with the challenges of parenthood, navigating the intricacies of teething and weaning. The teething phase has brought about countless sleepless nights, with our little one waking up every few hours crying. We've tried most medicines and ways to alleviate pain. The weaning process has been fun so far—messy but fun. You're always keen to do the 'right' thing as described by the books, other people, and social media, but we've got a few vegetables down him and he loves the fruit, which is great to see. This month has also brought my return to football. I've entered my 17th (I think) pre-season, which at 35 is a challenge for my battered and bruised body. Being surrounded by teammates and opposition who are at least ten years younger is also a challenge!

Something interesting I've learned this month

This month I was introduced to Google Alerts https://www.google.co.uk/alerts, which you can set up so that Google will email you based on keywords. So far, it's working quite well to get alerted to things happening based on my keywords. It is quite useful to navigate the sea of content there is.

Months Media

Song: I pretty much had "Sun to Me" by Machine Gun Kelly on loop for the entire month.

Podcast: I really enjoyed "The Incomparable Mothership" https://www.theincomparable.com/theincomparable/ reviews of the Planet of the Apes films.

TV or Film: House of the Dragon Season 2 has been and is excellent.