{"id":8944,"date":"2025-01-31T16:12:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T16:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?p=8944"},"modified":"2025-01-31T16:12:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T16:12:33","slug":"monthly-retrospective-january-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/01\/monthly-retrospective-january-2025.htm","title":{"rendered":"Monthly retrospective: January 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Last year I tried a thing &#8211; another attempt at weeknotes. Weeknotes became monthly retrospectives. Monthly retrospectives sometimes became every two months&#8230; and then they dried up completely last summer. I&#8217;m sorry. I was busy and, to be honest, this blog is not as important to me as it once was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then, an anonymous commenter said that they miss them and asked me to fill the gap to the end of 2024. That might happen (or it might join the great list of unwritten blog posts in the sky), but let&#8217;s have another go at the present. So, 31 January, 2025. Monthly retrospective&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">At work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Things have really stepped up a gear at work. Last year I started to work on a future vision around which the Office of the CTO could structure its &#8220;thought leadership&#8221; content. Some important people supported it and I found myself co-presenting to our executive board. The next steps will remain confidential, but it&#8217;s no bad thing for me. And, the follow-on work has given me a lot of exposure to some of the marketing activities &#8211; my last fortnight has been full of market analysis and ideal client profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the last fortnight was not just those things. I had the hairbrained idea that, as productivity is is one of the outcomes we seek for our clients, maybe we should &#8220;do something for National Productivity Week&#8221;. After writing a series of blog posts (see below), and a fun day recording video content with our brand team, it feels like a one-man social media takeover. In fact, we had so much content that some of it will now have to go out next week. But that&#8217;s OK &#8211; productivity is not just for one week of the year. These are the posts that are live on the Node4 website today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/node4.co.uk\/blog\/understanding-productivity-its-importance\/\">Understanding productivity and its importance<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/node4.co.uk\/blog\/strategies-for-enhancing-productivity-in-your-organisation\/\">Strategies for enhancing productivity in your organisation<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/node4.co.uk\/blog\/the-role-of-artificial-intelligence-in-transforming-business-productivity\/\">The role of artificial intelligence in transforming business productivity<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And the last post, next week, will be about building sustainable productivity approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are also a couple of videos up on LinkedIn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/embed\/feed\/update\/urn:li:ugcPost:7290044325931941888?compact=1\" height=\"399\" width=\"710\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Embedded post\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/embed\/feed\/update\/urn:li:ugcPost:7290672605211086848?compact=1\" height=\"399\" width=\"710\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Embedded post\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>And, earlier in the month (actually, it sneaked out on YouTube before Christmas but I asked for it to be pulled for an edit), there was this one. Not my best work&#8230; but it did lead to the purchase of a teleprompter which has made later videos so much easier!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/embed\/feed\/update\/urn:li:ugcPost:7282016900983754753?compact=1\" height=\"399\" width=\"710\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Embedded post\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Also on the work front, this month I completed my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.i-l-m.com\/learning-and-development\/management\/management-and-leadership-generic\/8607-level-5-leadership-and-management\">ILM Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management<\/a>. Node4 runs this as part of a 7-month programme of workshops, with two coursework assignments that relate to four of the workshops. Over the last 7 months, I&#8217;ve covered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Developing your personal leadership brand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inclusive leadership and motivation skills.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Managing and implementing strategic change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developing a High-performance team culture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Manager as a coach.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Personal impact and emotional intelligence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High impact presentations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">At home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Home Automation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I bought myself a <a href=\"https:\/\/thepihut.com\/products\/shelly-h-t-gen3?variant=53959117013377\">Shelly temperature and humidity monitor<\/a> for the Man Cave. It&#8217;s Home Assistant compatible, of course, so lets me use cheap overnight energy to stop the cabin from getting too cold\/damp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also on the home automation front, I picked up some cheap Tapo P100 smart plugs. Like my no-name Chinese ESP32-based plugs, they are a better form factor than my older Kasa HS100\/110 plugs so they don&#8217;t take space from the adjacent socket. But they lack any kind of reporting for energy usage so I should have got a pack of the slightly more expensive P110 models instead. I also struggled to add them to Home Assistant. They were recognised but wouldn&#8217;t authenticate, unless I reset my TP-Link password (which seemed to be the workaround &#8211; even if the password was the same)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Getting away from it all<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from the tech, Mrs Wilson and I got away to London for a weekend, to celebrate a friend&#8217;s birthday. We were almost blown away by the tail of Storm \u00c9owyn at Primrose Hill viewpoint but had fun (I&#8217;d never been before, but it&#8217;s in so many films!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tomorrow, I&#8217;m off to France for the UCI Cyclocross World Championships. Not competing of course (and disappointed that British Cycling is not sending a Women&#8217;s team or an U23 Men&#8217;s team). Just spectating. And probably consuming quite a lot of beer. And frites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Writing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There have been some personal blog posts this month too:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/01\/thoughts-on-the-uk-governments-ai-boost.htm\">A few thoughts on the UK Government&#8217;s AI announcement<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/01\/digital-transformation-is-only-as-good-as-the-supporting-processes.htm\">Digital transformation is only as good as the supporting processes<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In pictures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some snaps from my Instagram:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DErtbRoNeuK\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DErtbRoNeuK\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\"> <div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\"> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;\"><svg width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewBox=\"0 0 60 60\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\"><g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><g transform=\"translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)\" fill=\"#000000\"><g><path d=\"M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div><div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\"> <div style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DErtbRoNeuK\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\">A post shared by Mark Wilson (@markwilsonuk)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote><script async src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DEvStfOtoH-\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DEvStfOtoH-\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\">A post shared by Mark Wilson (@markwilsonuk)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote><script async src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year I tried a thing &#8211; another attempt at weeknotes. Weeknotes became monthly retrospectives. Monthly retrospectives sometimes became every two months&#8230; and then they dried up completely last summer. I&#8217;m sorry. I was busy and, to be honest, this blog is not as important to me as it once was. But then, an anonymous &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/01\/monthly-retrospective-january-2025.htm\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Monthly retrospective: January 2025<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[811,218,38],"tags":[646,56,708,639,633,521,370,589,431],"class_list":["post-8944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retrospectives","category-technology","category-inane-waffle","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-blogging","tag-business-transformation","tag-digital-transformation","tag-home-automation","tag-learning-and-development","tag-marketing","tag-photography","tag-productivity"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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