At the end of 2016, I left the Government Digital Service. It was time to move on.
Now I’m going to do my own thing. I’ve set up a limited company called Use The Human Voice, because that’s something I believe in.
It starts with Project 0, and that's the one where I sort out all the basics: actually creating the company, sorting out the admin support necessary to make it function, and finding some clients. Work continues on all three of those, and I’m not going to deny that it’s harder and taking longer than I expected. That’s the first thing I’ve learned.
But there’s clearly work out there to do. So much digital change is happening, because many organisations have realised that it has to happen. But good digital change is not about computers, it’s about people. It means changing how organisations work and think and act. It affects not just what people do, but how they do it, and how they talk about it.
That’s where I can contribute, by:
Being freelance again gives me freedom to do other things. I’m hoping to do some writing again. I want to dive into my years-old ideas.txt file and revisit some of the stuff in there, even some of the really daft bits. I’ll let you know how that goes.
My most important goal is to spend more time at home (and therefore seek out more work in Bath, Bristol and the south-west). I spent at least 2 nights per week away from home for the best part of four years, and that’s a lot of family time missed. I’d like to do better in future.
That’s not to say I won’t be doing any work elsewhere – I’m sure I will, and plenty of it will be in London. But as a freelancer, I can control my time much better.
So there you go, that’s Project 0. It’s slightly terrifying, slightly headache-inducing, a little bit exciting. I have only the vaguest idea what I’ll be doing next week, and no clue about next month or next year. Which isn’t that much different from government, now that I stop to think about it. 👍
Filed under: work
(19 Jan 2017)