When I ask participants at my workshops ‘give me your worst examples of ’bullsh*t language’ they mainly choose buzzwords — short, catchy, cliched phrases which seem innocuous, but for reasons I will come to, are intensely annoying! …

Bullshit language is driving us all nuts. It’s everywhere. But bullshit is not a straight forward concept, and all bullshitters are not the same. …

For many organisations trust is a vital component of their license to operate. But it is not an exaggeration to say that for healthcare organisations trust is more important than that. It is a matter of life and death. If people trust the healthcare system, particular health services, individual hospitals…

Understanding why this style of language is so seductive might help us break free from its grip — This post was first published on Apolitical, the platform for public servants. Buzzwords, clichés and endless strings of meaningless words have taken over our language like some sort of invasive strangling vine. But it’s not until I tried to think up alternatives that I saw why and began to appreciate…

It’s fun to ridicule corporate nonsense like the multinational coffee company who tells you they have ‘a passion for sharing extraordinary sensory experiences’ or mentally tick the boxes on your bullshit bingo list as a manager exhorts you to ‘think outside the box and give 110% so you can pick…

I went to my first in person meeting since February 2020 last week! (What to wear? How to be? Wonderful and scary!) It was an enjoyable Responsible Tech Meet Up hosted by Cennydd Bowles and inspired by the All Tech Is Human meet ups held elsewhere. …

Understanding the very real problems and issues of vaccine hesitancy are of course important. And exploring the concerns of citizens which prevent them from being vaccinated incredibly valuable. But the famous in social science ‘Deficit Model’ of public engaement seems to be on the rise again (“If only they had…

Co-authored with Sam Brown, Director, Consequential “On artificial intelligence, trust is a must, not a nice-to-have” proclaimed European Commission’s digital chief, Margrethe Vestager in a statement launching the long-awaited European Union rules on Artificial Intelligence (AI). She is right. The new rules and actions the EU has proposed will be…