Who am I, and what am I doing here?
Who Am I?
I am who am, I do what I say, and I say what I mean…for better or worse. I was born and bred in London before moving to Kegworth village in the mid-1980s. I’ve lived in Oslo, Zurich, and now I’m based in Prague. I’ve spent a lifetime in IT in one form or another, and I’m still drawn to shiny techie toys. I love to read, cook, and undertake little adventures taking photographs (or sometimes bigger ones). Curiosity probably will kill me. I spend much of the day listening to music, and I have very eclectic tastes. I’m the chairman of the Kegworth Heritage Centre, and I’m the owner of the only truly moderated Organisational Change Management group on LinkedIn. I play Pétanque for my local pub team when I’m back in the UK.
My Writing and why you may want to read what I write…
Perhaps I should have written this before I started publishing but better late than never. I’ve been writing for most of my life one way or another, but I started blogging in 2010, firstly about my work passions, then a few months later about living in the Apple eco-sphere, and finally, in 2014, about my experiences living and working in Prague in the Czech Republic. In total, I’ve published over 300 articles on these blogs, all while keeping down a consultancy career, building my business and brand, and having a life to write about!
In 2011, I published my first (and only completed) e-book. I wondered how difficult it was, so I decided to have a go. I started early on a Saturday morning, and by early evening on the same day, I had successfully submitted it to Apple Books.
I make no direct income from my writing. My website and blogs are advert free, and my book was a giveaway. I write because I want to, and if some people get enjoyment, pleasure or practical advice from it, that’s a fantastic bonus.
So, Prague, Apple and Ways of Working are my specialist areas, but I’m quite happy to go off-subject from time to time, and I’m expanding my repertoire to write about the new challenge of Retirement. Hopefully, amongst this melange, you’ll find something that resonates or sparks your imagination. I know that everyone says you need to find a niche and focus, but that’s beyond my boredom threshold (which is very low these days!)
My Career and my Retirement
I started working as an IT contractor in the City of London in 1984 with a degree in Agricultural Science from Nottingham University (I wonder how many people could say that back then — or even now?!). I started by becoming an expert in Lotus 123, customising it to do things it was never designed to do — ultimately running position management for two trading floors in established banks. I then moved on to more serious programming as part of a team building a complex multi-currency portfolio management system. A couple of years later, I worked in a team of two building an award-winning Unit Trust and Insurance Fund analysis system before leaving the city and moving back to the East Midlands. I worked for CCN in various roles before the company became Experian, and my final role was to redesign the whole way we built software — using principles that would later become known as Agile. After that, I moved to EDS on the Rolls-Royce Account.
Without realising it, I was by then already an internal consultant, and I loved the challenges and exposure to so many different things. After eight glorious years, I had become the Business Improvement Leader for Europe. My next role changed me completely. I was sent to Norway to work on a huge project to rebuild the emergency services mobile communications network; at the time, it was the biggest contract in Scandinavian history, and as the third quality manager in three months, I had my work cut out.
In 2008, I went freelance after an argument too many with my corporate masters. I had a short stint in Wells in Somerset before moving to the first of three contracts with Credit Suisse, the first two in Zurich. In 2014, I ended up in Prague for the first time working for Novartis and helping them “Reimagining Medicine”. Little did I know that I would spend most of the next eight years working for them in various roles.
I loved working as a consultant, and as a one-man band, I could provide my unique viewpoints and observations without being hindered by the policies and procedures of a consultancy house. I must have been doing something right because I kept being asked back to work in different areas and with different groups of people, and I’ve made countless friends and acquaintances along the way.
At the end of November 2021, my most recent contract in Prague ended. I turned 60 in March this year (2022), and after 40 years of treading the corporate boards, I decided I wanted to start living on my terms, answerable only to myself, my fiancee and my maker! I decided to stay in Prague for a while longer. I adore the city and the people, and there is a freedom that I don’t feel anywhere else — the irony is not lost on me that this city has had its freedoms and liberties stolen on so many occasions, including my own experience during the pandemic.
I am a semi-retired independent management consultant specialising in organisational change management and better Ways of Working. I’m from the UK but based in Prague in the Czech Republic. I mainly write about developing better ways of working (https://allygillcouk.blogspot.com/), about working in the Apple ecosystem (https://appleharvest.blogspot.com/) and about my adopted home in Prague (https://onlyinbohemia.blogspot.com/). However, I’m still fairly new to Medium (so please be gentle with me!)