Keystones and Rivets

Stuck in the middle with you

“Doing a podcast and singing is a bad idea.  Just do a normal blog”

“OK”

"Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I'll fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am
Stuck in the middle with you"

(Stealers Wheel, 1973)

Since the holidays ended it feels like I’ve been working non-stop. Thankfully, last Friday I found some time to relax and listen to some of my favourite music.

It was great to close the doors, kick off my shoes and slump into my favourite chair.

Governance and Government

We weren’t sure whose chin hit the floor first.

“He did say 25 million, didn’t he?” asked The Pebble.

“Yip”, I replied.

We had just begun watching a news broadcast about the latest data security breach by a British government department, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

25 million personal records, including the banking information for every family in the UK with a child under the age of 16, had been written with only password protection onto two CDs which were subsequently “lost in transit”.

The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said that the security breach was down to “Failure in implementing the proper procedures.”

He went on to explain that:

1. “Only authorised staff should have access to protectively marked information”
2. “Information must not be removed without appropriate authorisation”
3. “Encryption should be used whenever information is being sent”

Succession Planning

A company I worked for a while ago had a novel approach to managing “indispensible” staff.

“It’s better for them to leave on our terms rather than theirs,” one of the senior personnel managers enthused.  “You never know when they might leave, and it could be at the worst possible time for the company, so better to just let them go during a quiet spell”.

Well, every department has a lynch pin, a person who can deliver to clients with consistency and who can be relied upon when the chips are down.  Surely, sacking them can’t possibly be the answer?