weeknotes

Weeknote 2025/16

/ Sharon O'Dea / Leave a comment
Papieneiland on a beautiful spring day. Photo: me.

Easter weekend, and while I don’t mark it in any religious sense, I’m grateful for the long weekend all the same. It’s a well-timed pause in a year that already feels like it’s moving at double speed. We’re supposedly in spring now, though the weather hasn’t quite got the memo. Still, a bit of space to slow down and take stock has been welcome after a week that’s been emotionally intense, creatively energising, and, at points, quietly sad.

This week at work

An emotional rollercoaster of a week. We’re helping an organisation re-align and re-plan their digital transformation programme after a difficult-but-necessary pivot. Ahead of a team workshop, we’ve run a series of one-to-one interviews so people can share—confidentially—what’s happened and how they feel about it.

Being external gives us some distance and objectivity. We don’t carry the same baggage, which means people have been refreshingly honest. But at times it’s felt like being everyone’s therapist.

Despite the short working week, by Thursday I was absolutely wrung out.

And yet, also buzzing, because we officially signed contracts on a very exciting something. Which means I can stop being cryptic about it and, y’know, actually start doing the work. But not before a small celebratory toast.

I put the finishing touches on my presentation for LumApps Bright in Chicago next week. A few practice runs still needed, but I’m feeling pretty well prepped.

Oh, and I may have said yes to another side project, because apparently I’ve learned nothing.

Also this week

As mentioned in last week’s weeknote, I took to the stage on Sunday for PowerPints, the PowerPoint-based comedy show. My presentation—Hotels and their Design Crimes—didn’t win Best in Show (robbed, obviously), but I did get to say “jizz-stained wank blanket” repeatedly into a microphone in front of actual humans, so I’m calling that a win anyway.

I have strong views on plug sockets
And hairdryers
And wish to warn you about kettles

Ciara Murphy’s winning prezzo (“DuoLingo: Smash or Pass?”) had me properly howling. The whole evening was a joy. Would do again.

Some sad news too: Nick Booth died suddenly this week, far too young. Nick—aka Podnosh—was one of the first people I connected with when I joined Twitter back in my local gov days. He welcomed me into the digital government fold at the first LocalGovCamp in 2009. Kind, generous, funny, and full of heart, Nick was one of the good ones. He’ll be missed by so many.

Lloyd Davis wrote a beautiful tribute here.

Consuming

👩🏻‍💻 Internetting

This week I fell down a delightful rabbit hole watching fish on a webcam. Not just any webcam: Utrecht’s Visdeurbel (fish doorbell). It’s a live stream of a canal lock, and with spring migration underway, volunteers are asked to ring a virtual doorbell when they spot a fish. Enough rings and someone opens the lock to let them through.

It’s charming. It’s weird. It’s very early-internet vibes. And yes, I pressed the button

📺 Watching

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, the Netflix retelling of that truly bananas case that spawned the podcast. Years of fake Facebook accounts, phantom illnesses, and even Skype calls with someone who refused to show their face. Kirat Assi is a calm, sympathetic narrator—but I still spent most of it yelling “HOW did you fall for this for ten years?” at the screen. “Witness protection? Come on.”

Glossy production, plenty of unanswered questions, and a resolution that lands with more of a shrug than a punch.

📚 Reading

Absolutely nothing. My brain said no thank you.

🎧 Listening

Caught French psych-rockers The Limiñanas at Tolhuistuin. Channelling Gainsbourg, Morricone and The Cramps, they delivered fuzzed-out riffs, retro cool, and pure groove with barely a word spoken. Like a Tarantino soundtrack come to life.

Support band David Shaw and The Beat were an unexpected delight too. Dark synthy post-punk vibes. Brussels-based Mancunian weirdos: I’m in.

Travel

A whole week without going near an airport. Glorious.

Sadly, the last such week until… late May.

Coming up: London, Chicago, Toronto, London again, Glasgow (twice), Berlin. And probably London again.

Pray for my inbox.

This week in photos

The most photographed spot in town, before all the tourists arrived
Een koffiemometje
Singel, 9am.
Limiñanas on stage at the Tolhuistuin
Monet painted this. And did a far better job of it than I did.

Weeknote 2025/15

/ Sharon O'Dea / 1 Comment
Obligatory touristy shot of Nyhavn, Copenhagen. Photo: Sharon O’Dea

There’s something about spending time with your nerd tribe that hits the reset button in the best way. After a few days in Denmark talking shop with the digital workplace faithful—followed by a gloriously sunny weekend back in Amsterdam—I’m feeling that perfect combination of knackered and energised. The kind of tired that comes not from burnout, but from doing work that matters, with people who get it.

This week at work

Huge week. Monday brought excellent news about a new project I can’t tell you about yet (and keeping it a secret is killing me). But rest assured, the moment the NDA drops, I’ll be shouting about it from the nearest rooftop.

Tuesday saw me hopping over to Copenhagen for the IntraTeam Event. My annual pilgrimage to the temple of digital workplace nerdery. I’ve been going since 2011, and it remains one of the few conferences that doesn’t just skim the surface. No hype, no fluff, just solid, detail-rich sessions with people who’ve done the work on complex, interesting digital workplaces.

My Lithos colleague Jonathan took to the stage with Sabine Arnold from our client SEFE Securing Energy for Europe, talking about how we delivered a content-first intranet in just 100 days. No generative AI in sight, just good, old-fashioned content design done properly, in two languages and at a frankly indecent speed. We didn’t stop at launch either: we built in training, governance, and community spaces so the thing can grow without collapsing under its own weight.

Jonathan Phillips and Sabine Arnold on stage at IntraTeam
Lithos Partners’ Jonathan and SEFE’s Sabine Arnold at IntraTeam

As ever, the real value came from conversations in corridors. Susan Hanley’s SharePoint insights were especially useful (though, as someone about to dive into a new SP project, they also induced mild heart palpitations). Copilot agents are showing promise (but as ever the biggest challenges are in the human factor side of implementation), intranet governance is still the wild west, and the best strategy remains doing less, better.

After the main event, IntraTeam’s Kurt gathered a gang of us “invited experts” to discuss where the industry’s going. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out to be the most valuable day of all. No slides, no sales pitches, just actual grown-up debate with some of the smartest people in the game.

And then, in an odd bit of narrative whiplash, I got blocked on LinkedIn.

Someone posted one of those “a bad intranet costs millions of dollars a year” type takes, based on the McKinsey stat about people spending 1.8 hours a day searching for information. You know the one. It did the rounds again, complete with some back-of-the-napkin maths and sweeping statements about the cost of poor digital experiences.

If you’re going to make the case for a better digital workplace, “time saved” isn’t going to cut it. Telling the CFO you’re saving five minutes a day is like telling a doctor you feel vaguely better. It’s not a diagnosis. It’s not a business case. Time spent searching is a symptom, not an outcome. Want to be taken seriously? Show how poor findability leads to risk, compliance failures, attrition.

So I said so. Politely. Succinctly. Then followed the LinkedIn prompt and turned my comment into a post. Got a ton of engagement—likes, nods, DMs… and then, boom. Blocked.

And interestingly (depressingly?), it’s not the first time. A few weeks ago another industry “influencer” responded to a (very polite) build I’d offered on one of their posts by… quietly deleting it. Poof. Gone. Not because I’d been rude or even really challenged their post, just because I’d dared to expand the conversation beyond a narrow comms focus.

And look, it’s their feed, they can do what they want. But if your response to professional critique is “lalala can’t hear you,” we have a problem. Our field doesn’t move forward by clapping along to every fluffy take.

If we’re not willing to have grown-up conversations about what good looks like (and doesn’t) then we don’t get to complain when we’re not seen as a business-critical function.

We do our industry a disservice when we treat criticism or challenge as a personal attack. If our default mode is cheerleading and groupthink, we’re not growing, we’re just echoing.

Disagreement isn’t disrespect. And blocking someone for calling out lazy thinking isn’t strength—it’s fragility.

Also this week

I also managed a quick visit to the Ocean exhibit at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. A stunning, immersive look at our relationship with the sea, blending science, art and activism in a way that somehow made me feel both awestruck and vaguely guilty.

Tonight’s the night: PowerPints, the PowerPoint-based comedy show. I submitted my slides Monday and promptly panicked about learning the thing. Enter ChatGPT, which turned out to be an unexpectedly brilliant rehearsal partner. Its dictate function can’t hear tone or pace, but it will sit quietly while I mumble at my screen for 10 minutes and offer some surprisingly helpful prompts to help me memorise my script.

Feeling ready. I’ll report back next week (unless I bomb spectacularly, in which case let’s all pretend this paragraph never happened).

(Still a few tickets left. If you’re in Amsterdam, come witness the chaos.)

Consuming

👩🏻‍💻 Internetting

I’m glad people are out there asking the important questions about emerging technologies. Such as “why DO so many AI company logos look like bumholes?”

📺 Watching

I’ve been too busy to watch anything this week, which has helped me manage the FOMO of knowing the final series of Handmaid’s Tale is out across the pond.

📚 Reading

Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five was brilliant, so I’ve leapt straight into her latest, Story Of A Murder. Only a few pages in, but I’m already hooked.

🎧 Listening

Delighted with the new Pulp single, like bumping into an old mate in a pub and realising they’re still cool as fuck.

Connections

IntraTeam was full of excellent humans, but the people-ing didn’t stop there. I caught up with UX designer Eugene (from The Breakfast) for coffee, had dinner with two of my Colombia travel crew in Copenhagen’s achingly hip Meatpacking district, and squeezed in a drink with Hiveonline’s Sofie Blakstad before my flight. 10/10 week for chats.

Flash Pack Colombia reunion

Travel

Nowhere next week. A rare and beautiful thing. But after that, it’s all systems go: London, Chicago, Toronto, Glasgow.

If you’re local to any of those, let’s grab a cuppa. Or a gin. I’m not fussy.

This week in photos

The engine and side of an orange and white EasyJet plane, on the tarmac with a clear blue sky
On the move again. AMS > CPH
A white woman with brown hair stands in front of a Microsoft sign. She is wearing sunglasses, a bright green top and a black jacket,
At the Microsoft offices in Copenhagen
An AI-generated picture of an action figure. The text says "Sharon O'Dea: Digital Workplace Expert"
The AI-generated action figure trend
A historic brown brick building with a mostly empty square in front. It has a clock tower on the top-left.
Copenhagen Radhuisplads
A selfie of two women - Sharon O'Dea and Sofie Blakstad.
With Sofie Blakstad in CPH
A Japanese-style stage in the background with a patch of daffodils in the foreground.
Finally visited Tivoli Gardens
A woman (me) surrounded by coloured lights in a dark room
Inside the Yayoi Kusama artwork at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Spring Saturdays in AMS

Weeknote 2025/14

/ Sharon O'Dea / Leave a comment
London, this week. Photo: me.

Time is a flat circle, calendars are lies, and yet somehow it’s April and I’m still knee-deep in tasks I confidently told myself I’d wrap up in January. The to-do list has developed sentience and is now breeding in the wild. Meetings beget more meetings. Progress is measurable only by the faint glow of a Teams notification turning off.

So: not a week of breakthroughs, but of motion. Possibly even forward.

This week at work

A week of spinning plates rather than carving out any serious thinking time.

Bitsy jobs included planning workshops, writing and delivering a couple of presentations, and wrestling the year-end finances into something resembling order.

Had a great chat with an HR tech vendor about digital employee experience. Specifically, how platforms only deliver value if they’re actually aligned with processes and, wild idea, people. Training, culture, the human stuff. We’re exploring ways to work together, so watch this space.

Started digging into pre-work for a team alignment piece with a client. Everyone needs a say, but time is tight, so we’re walking the tightrope between inclusion and getting it done. So we’re having to be flexible and creative, while giving everyone confidence that we’re genuinely listening and can be trusted to be discreet.

A recent pitch didn’t land. New client, new sector—it was always a stretch, but still a bit of a sting after putting in the hours.

More positively, I had a fab chat with a founder about something new, interesting and intriguing. The thinking behind it really resonated, my brain’s fizzing with ideas, and I’m keen to get involved. But I need to find some clear headspace to give it the depth of thinking it deserves.

Also this week

Spent one more day in Bucharest and visited its crazy-large Parliament building.

Back home in Amsterdam, I found myself in Dam Square at the exact moment someone drove in and set themselves and their car on fire. What looked, from my brisk departure angle, like a terrorist incident. Flashbacks to growing up in London in the 80s and 90s. Suspicious bags, dodgy alarms, constant low-level anxiety. Ah, the nostalgia.

Did a lightning dash to London to catch up with a bunch of mates I’ve known since I was a teenager. Between us: Johannesburg, Singapore, Amsterdam, North London and several time zones’ worth of baggage. First time we’ve all been in the same place in years, and it was glorious.

My long-delayed turn at PowerPints—the PowerPoint comedy night—is finally next week. Slides are ready. Memory? Less so. Wish me luck.

If you’re local, come down to Boom Chicago on Sunday and heckle support. Tickets here.

Consuming

👩🏻‍💻 Internetting

New research from Centre for Cities shows how WFH has reshaped the capital’s pub trade. Thursdays are now the new Fridays, as seen in both pub takings and TfL passenger data.

London bucks the national trend. Elsewhere, post-work pints have vanished almost entirely. Commuters are also spending less on food near the office, but not at cafés—it’s all going to suburban supermarkets. Living the Aldi dream.

The FT did a piece last weekend on LinkedIn “super users”. Apparently, I’m one—81,000 followers puts me in the “mid-tier influencer” bracket.

Is it useful? Occasionally. Mostly, it means more men in my DMs explaining things I already know.

But despite the hustle bros, AI sludge and endless posts about personal brands, LinkedIn can still be brilliant. It’s where I show how I think, what I do, and learn from people outside my bubble.

People ask how I “grew my audience”. No strategy, no funnel, no content calendar. Just be useful, be funny, be consistent. For years.

My top tips, if you want them:
🚀 Say something original. If ChatGPT could write it, maybe don’t.
🚀 Ditch your niche now and then—you’re allowed layers.
🚀 Social media is social. Don’t just dump content like a cat dropping a dead bird to impress its human.
🚀 LinkedIn loves video and carousels. I don’t. That’s ok.
🚀 Be a human, not a brand.

Accidental mid-tier influencer, signing off.

📺 Watching

Series 3 of Slow Horses. Still loving it. Still wouldn’t trust any of them with a stapler.

📚 Reading

Almost finished the book about Romanian history I started last week, Children of the Night: The Strange and Tragic Story of Modern Romania.

Got over-excited in the airport WHSmiths yesterday and bought a whole stack of dead tree books to get me through the next few months.

Connections

With Q1 now done with, here’s a progress update on my 100 People project – my annual mission to catch up with 100 people in my network.

19 met, 5 booked. Just shy of 25%. But with a travel-heavy Q2 looming, I’ll be racking up catch-ups at pace.

Travel

Last week’s trip to Bucharest reminded me of another hotel design irritant: the annoyingly quirky labelling.

“This might be vodka.” No. It’s lukewarm water from the bathroom sink, and confusing the jet-lagged is not a flex. Please stop.

🇩🇰 Next stop: Copenhagen on Tuesday for IntraTeam. Ready to nerd out about intranets with the best of them.

This week in photos

My feet in Bucharest
I like large administratve buildings anfd I cannot lie
Incident in Dam Square on Thursday
Amsters early in the morning, when it’s weirdly peaceful
Travelling light
My first visit to Stansted in 20 years
With my mates in London

Weeknote 2024/13

/ Sharon O'Dea / Leave a comment
number 13 in a heart on gravel
Photo by SC Lime (Pexels)

“Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes, they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand. But in practice, well, some may feel confined.”

— Beyonce, SPAGHETTII

It’s barely a day since Beyonce – not content with her status as Queen of Pop – released Cowboy Carter and rode into country music like she owns the place. 

She’s plucked a little bit of hip-hop here and mixed it with some psychedelic funk there, pulled in a bit of Miley Cyrus, covered a Beatles song and even reimagines Jolene, with fiercer lyrics and an intro from Dolly P herself. 

I’ve listened to it through over and over and I love every darn thing about it. I even went to a Bey special spin class this morning, in which Velo’s indefatigable Jeff can make a legit claim to have delivered the world’s first Cowboy Carter indoor cycling class. 

The album is a masterclass in reinvention, in bending genres to your will, in never sitting still, and not just being comfortable with change but embracing it, thriving on it and having everyone love you for it.  

I like to think I can be a little bit Bey. I mean, I have a career that’s veered from publishing to comms to tech to consultancy to… whatever this is.

But I am writing this weeknote from the hairdressers, where I am getting exactly the same haircut that I have had since 2005. 

Beyonce I am not. But I guess I’ll never be Jolene or Becky With The Good Hair either.

Some things I did this week

The big theme of this week was wrapping up. We’ve completed two discovery programmes recently. This week the focus was on helping both of those teams to socialise these internally and turn them into budget and support to move forward with the required change.

One of these teams is considering both build and buy options for their intranet. Every client is different so I can never give an answer without considering their specific circumstances and needs. But on the whole unless your needs are genuinely unusual, building your own is rarely worth it. I was reminded of this blogpost I wrote on exactly this; despite being five years old I still stick by this principle:

You could build it, and in doing so you could make it perfectly meet your needs. But, really, can you be arsed?

Between wrapping up and people being off for the long weekend it was a relatively quiet one. I took the opportunity of an entirely meeting-free day to skive off on a day trip to Maastricht. A rather delightful little city, with some interesting history, decent places to eat and a truly next-level bookshop. 

Between that and the trip down to Den Haag I zipped up and down the country twice for under €100 all-in, with no pre-booking or discount railcards or anything. In case anyone wants to know what a well-functioning nationalised rail network looks like. 

What I’m reading

Electrify: An Optimist’s Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future by Saul Griffith. 

The tl;dr is “make everything run on electricity, then we can use renewables to make it all work without everyone having to give up the stuff they like”.

The author isn’t just dreaming big; he’s got the science and engineering chops to back up his vision. He breaks down the idea of electrifying everything—from cars to homes to entire industries—with renewable energy sources like wind and solar, making it seem not just possible, but achievable (and even exciting?).

What I liked about this book is how it combines optimism with pragmatism. Griffith lays out a blueprint for us to follow, showing how current technology can be harnessed to create a sustainable future without sacrificing the comforts of modern life. Plus, he dives into how this shift could save money and create jobs, making the economic case for clean energy just as strong as the environmental one.

Amidst gloomy predictions about the future of the climate and increasingly extreme weather highlighting the pace at which this is becoming a lived reality, it was refreshing to think about the climate crisis in the context of a clear, actionable path forward. 

It’s a mix of inspiring vision and hands-on advice that could really make you look at the world differently and feel hopeful about our ability to tackle climate change head-on. If (like me) you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the doom and gloom of environmental Armageddon, this book offers a refreshing perspective.

Connections

When I wrote my last weeknote I had no particular plans to meet anyone. But the best plans are spontaneous ones.

Susan Hayes Cullerton (aka the Positive Economist) was in the Netherlands so we had a lovely catch up in Den Haag. A cracking evening of chat about the challenges and joys of running your own business.

Then the following day I caught up with AutogenAI’s Gurjinder Dhaliwal, a fellow Brit-in-NL, to talk navigating life in the Netherlands.

Something I learned

That coming up with a new Something I Learned every week is a huge PITA that makes writing a weekly note more work and less fun than I’d like. Binned.