I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22.

Taylor Swift might be feeling 22, but I most certainly am not. It is somehow June, my birthday month, and I’m staring my 44th in the face.

In a misplaced burst of nostalgia I went to a 90s music theme ride at spin today. Halfway through I realised that not only was I the only person there who danced to these tunes at the time, but at least half of the riders weren’t even born. Life comes at you fast, huh?

But hey, everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we’re 22 22 22 22.

Some things I did this week

Trying to bring order to chaos on a complex programme of work. A big question this week was to take a look at recurring meetings and think how to make that time more productive (whether by making the meetings themselves better, or catching up in different ways and using that time better), and how to make it easier and clearer for decisions to be made and turned into action.

We mobilised the team to kick off a new project for a client next week. Exciting. I think.

Talked to two founders in the HR tech space. There’s a symbiotic relationship between digital workplace/intranet and enterprise transactional tools. Employees are focused on tasks over comms, but they often need content to help them at the same time, and as organisations we need to give people relevant comms to build engagement and alignment. Because of that overlap it’s an area I find myself spending more time looking at, and should probably investigate a little more.

Saw Fat White Family at Tolhuistuin. A vastly under-rated band imho, especially live. They have a raw, unapologetic garage rock/post-punk sound and a zero-fucks-given stage vibe.

The following night me and my mate Ngozi saw Paloma Faith at the Melkweg. The first two thirds of the show were tracks off her new album – which I’ll confess I’ve never listened to – which is about her break up with the father of her children. But between her absolute belter of a voice and hilarious bants about motherhood, her ex and her sex life it was a perfect night out.

On Saturday Cate McLaurin and I went on a public transport adventure across the Netherlands – via train, tram, metro and a pedestrian/bike ferry – to Futureland, a visitors centre and exhibit in a far corner of the Rotterdam port. Along the way we learned more than we ever needed to know about container shipping. The most fun bit was the ferry which took us right alongside the ships. The photos don’t convey how monumentally HUGE these things are and what a technical and logistical feat the port is. All in a super nerdy day out which I can thoroughly recommend.

What I’m reading

I finished Jonn Elledge’s A History Of The World In 47 Borders. This book took me on a wild tour of the planet’s quirkiest and most contentious lines.. With sharp wit and a knack for storytelling, Elledge dives into the messy, often absurd history behind borders, from the infamous to the obscure (I was quietly delighted that he covered Bolivia’s coastline, which still appeared on official maps when I was there 20 years ago, despite them having lost it in a war over a century earlier).

Each chapter is a snappy vignette, blending historical insight with present-day relevance. Elledge’s irreverent tone makes heavy topics surprisingly digestible, whether he’s unpacking colonial legacies or modern-day disputes. The last few chapters felt a bit rushed, but even so I loved this equal-parts-eye-opening-and-entertaining book.

For anyone curious about the arbitrary lines that shape our world (or if, like me, you just have an obsession with maps) Elledge offers a rollocking ride through the world’s most fascinating boundaries.

Connections

Had a dinner at Jansz with the irrepressible Lauren Razavi. A digital nomad for over a decade now, Lauren knows more then most about life on the road.

One of the best things about having worked and travelled all over the place – as we both have – is that there’s almost nowhere in the world we don’t know someone I can catch up with coffee. Over dinner we talked about how it’s hard to keep track of who we know where, especially if the people you know are also pretty mobile.

This feels like something LinkedIn could/should help with. A way to tell it I’ll be in this city on those dates and have it give me suggestions of people I’m connected with who are temporarily or permanently in the same place.

Relatedly: The next few weeks will see me in Berlin, Rotterdam, Florence, and Bristol. So if you’re in any of those and want to catch up, do slide into my DMs. Or if anyone’s in Amsterdam for Money2020 I’m uncharacteristically in town for the entire week.

Coverage

With the tiresome debate about low value degrees rolling around again in the latest desperate Tory policy announcement, I was in the i this week talking about my own ‘Mickey Mouse Degree‘.

Those who dismiss newer subjects often betray a lack of understanding of what these degrees actually entail and the skills they offer employers.

But more than that, reducing any degree to its impact on average salary rates is nonsense.

University helps you learn how to learn – the most valuable of skills in a modern economy, where the half-life of hard skills is shrinking every year.

Degrees of all kinds foster creativity, cultural awareness, and the ability to build a nuanced understanding of issues, which are invaluable in cultivating a well-rounded, informed society. Those qualitative benefits don’t show up in salary statistics but unlock opportunity, personal fulfilment and societal progress. Perhaps that’s what those who lean on tired stereotypes about “Mickey Mouse” degrees have a problem with…