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Building a Public Sector AI Tools Catalogue with Cursor

TL;DR: Check out this Public Sector Tools catalogue I made with Cursor. 
 
 
 

 In my latest role with the UK’s Government Digital Service , we’re running a “horizon scanning” function to understand what AI-enabled tools teams are developing across the UK public sector. 
 Prior to my joining, the team built an AI-powerd web-scraper using Python ,…

Assessment Report

Introduction 
 This is a slightly redacted/tidied up version of my ADHD assessment report received in May of 2026 after providing written evidence and conducting a 1 hour interview with a clinician. 
 I have removed the names of the doctor and clinician. 
 I’m sharing here for reference by others to understand my own symptoms and what they can expect a report to contain. 
…

Sarum: playable reverb in the browser

Watch the demo video 
 
 
 

 Click to play with Sarum 
 I love long reverbs. 
 For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by reverberant spaces. I love to hum, whisper, shout, clap, hiss and sing anywhere with hard reflective surfaces: churches, caves, school corridors, racquetball courts, empty halls, underpasses, canyons. Some people hear echoes as a defect.…

London? Live? Coding?

It’s wildly inclusive and aggressively experimental. It’s slightly dangerous but not really. It’s warm and fuzzy and feels like home. Tailor made for creative techie people with ADHD . 
 Discovery 
 I’ve always made music and I’ve loved making things with code since I was a child. In 2019 I saw Alex McLean , Antonio Roberts , and others perform at an…

Question Marks?

Question marks are powerful pieces of punctuation? They instantly melt hard-edged clarity and dissolve conviction into a nebulous space of exploration, wondering, curiosity, experimentation, inclusion, playfulness, and wild abandon. A place with no fixed boundaries, edges, or endpoints. 
 As a kid, I loved watching re-runs of the old Batman TV series from the 60s. I loved the Riddler…

Community Roles

I’m big on communities both professional and personal . One of the mantras of the “London? Live? Coding??” community is “Do it!”. The lens of “doing it” seemed like a useful one to explore the various roles or postures that enable a strong, positive, creative, engaged, supportive community. 
 Essential roles 
 A community member can assume one,…

2026 in Review

It’s a new year! Time for more adventures and things I want to remember. 
 Also check out: 
 
 2025 in review 
 2024 in review 
 
 
 
 January 
 February 
 
 
-->
 
 
 January 
 Fun / Social 
 
 A great hike with my friend Neel Mistry and the Weekend Walkers crew 
 Paying my taxes 😄 
 
 Meetups 
…

A quote from Chief Tecumseh


 “When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” Tecumseh Shawnee Chief, Philosopher, Freedom Fighter. 
 My family has deep Midwestern roots. My dad’s family arrived in Ohio from Germany after the war but…

The GROW Model

When acting as a consultant, coach, reflective-friend, or mentor , one of my favourite tools is the GROW model. It has served me well since I learned through the delivery management community of practice while working at the UK’s Government Digital Service around 2014. 
 A relative of “ Visualise, standardise, optimise ” it capitalises on the value of clearly understanding…

Visualise, standardise, optimise

Years ago, via the brilliant Dan Terhorst-North , I discovered the phrase “ Visualise, standardise, optimise ” as a way to describe a structured approach to business or process improvement. It’s been tremendously valuable in my work to help teams and organisations improve what they do. It’s a nice corollary to the GROW model . 
 When faced with a sub-optimal situation…

Habits

Chaining together habits to create routines is a nice way to reduce mental burden and get better results. 
 They’re a huge part of how I help teams to deliver things . 
 Personal habits 
 Here are a few I’ve tried to cultivate, with mixed success: 
 
 Send fan mail 
 Meditate 
 Eat healthy stuff 
 Cultivate feelings of gratitude 
 Get outside 
…

Routines

For most of my life, I resisted routines. They felt like constraints—unnatural limits that would dull my creativity and flatten my experience of the world. As a kid, I would take a different route home from school every day for the sheer joy of novelty. As an adult, I still love finding new ways to navigate my city or approach a problem at work . 
 But with time and the experience of working…

My Evening Routine

I’ve become a big fan of routines where they make sense. A good morning routine starts with a good night’s sleep. 
 For me, a good night’s sleep depends on three things: 
 
 Bedroom – cool, dark, and quiet 
 Body - Clean and cool 
 Mind - calm, relaxed, and dreamy 
 
 Bedroom 
 
 Crack open the bedroom window open 
 Turn down the heat in…

Delivery Management

Nearly every organisation thrives by bringing high-quality products into the world efficiently and affordably. Whether it’s ideas, clothing, or cars the ability to “ship” a thing is paramount. 
 Much of my career has involved delivering things with teams. Sometimes called “scrum mastering”, project management, programme management, portfolio management, or service…

How I Winter

It’s cold in London this week. The clocks have changed. It’s dark by 4pm and I’m thinking about winter. In mid-November the gloom still has a certain charm that will fade by March but for now the change in the weather invites introspection, relaxation, and blanket forts . 
 I grew up in a family that embraced coziness and romanticism like a competitive sport. I remember…

Flexible hourly consulting


 Flexible, affordable, hourly consulting to suit your team 
 
 For select clients only, I’m pleased to offer blocks of flexible, hourly consulting designed to deeply embed OKRs in your organisation’s culture, governance, and day to day operations. 
 What can we do together? 
 Here are just a few ideas… 
 
 
 Develop teams & individuals 
…

Hamnet Premiere

Full disclosure: I did some work for BFI earlier this year and really enjoyed it. 
 Art or entertainment? 
 
 “The difference between a ‘movie’ and a ‘film’ is that one is scared to death of boring you for a second and the latter refuses to entertain you for a moment.” — director Alan Parker via Neil Williams 
 I’m not much of a “film buff”. 
…

Berlin 2025


 I recently visited Berlin to run a workshop with a client. I took the opportunity to go a few days early and enjoy one of my favourite cities. 
 On previous visits I’ve: 
 
 Danced until dawn at Berghain 
 Seen a wonderful avant garde dance performance by Yumiko Yoshioka at Dock 11 
 Floated at the Liquidrom while listening to Yngwie Malmsteen -inspired trance music…

Teams vs Workgroups

Teams vs workgroups 
 Understanding the difference between teams & workgroups is critical when setting and aligning OKRs . 
 A team is a small interdependent group of people (usually 5-9), with cross-functional, complimentary skill sets and mutual accountability for shared outcomes. Thanks to The Wisdom of Teams via Christina Wodtke for this definition. 
 Think of a string quartet or a…

Case Studies

These case studies are to be used only for evaluating the suitability of my services for your organisation. Please do not copy or share. 
 If you have any questions, please get in touch . 
 Thank you! 
 Peter 
 
 The Government Digital Service 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Referee Name: 
 Poss Apostolou - Head of Delivery Operations 
…

Aligning OKRs

Aligning OKRs is one of the more challenging and rewarding aspects of the framework. 
 This is where larger, more complex organisations unlock tremendous focus and create breakthrough value. It requires careful negotiation, open dialogue and, above all, a keen understanding of how the organisation works—how it delivers its unique vision. 
 Do you even need multi-team OKRs, yet? 
 Many…

How can I help?

Let’s work together! 
 👋 Aloha! 
 If you’re here, we probably already share a connection through work or mutual trust. 
 Here’s a short story and some ways we might work together. 
 
 
 Fixing the flow: a turnaround story 
 After bringing me in to help 20+ teams adopt OKRs, a well-loved British broadcaster asked me to rescue a team in crisis.

Team Room

Here’s a really simple & informal way to help your remote team collaborate and stay connected throughout the day. 
 Overview 
 For remote teams who want a way to easily work together and hangout: 
 
 Bookmark the URL of a video call/meeting. This is your “team room”. 
 Invite folks join and leave the “room” throughout the day 
 Use chat/IM to…

Building an OKR Community

Better together 
 OKRs often fail not because the framework is flawed but because implementation is inconsistent. 
 Getting started with OKRs takes study, reflection, and practice . Successfully scaling the practice takes encouragement, sharing, and support across the organisation to achieve broad consistency, experience, and skill. 
 Creating internal OKR communities of practice…

2025 in Review

I didn’t keep up with with my weeknotes in 2025 but here’s a list of things I want to remember from each month of this year. Scroll down for photos. 
 Also check out: 
 
 2026 in review 
 2024 in review 
 
 Jump to a specific month 
 
 
 January 
 February 
 March 
 April 
 May 
 June 
 July 
 August 
 September 
…

The OKR Accelerator Programme: Welcome Letter

Hello 
 And welcome to the OKR Accelerator Programme ! 
 This programme will help you get the most from Objectives & Key Results . 
 It combines online learning, live training, and hands-on facilitation to help you master the four key disciplines of setting, aligning, checking and closing your OKRs over the course of an 8-week OKR cycle. 
 You will soon receive a link providing 90…

Decomposition


 If it isn’t good, let it die. If it doesn’t die, make it good. – Ajahn Chah 
 Spring has arrived in London. 
 I’m not particularly religious but in the run-up to Easter I always like to think about reinvention and rebirth, something which always starts and ends with death and decomposition. 
 When things start to feel stuck, look for things that may be dead,…

Visual control

Do you need a BRANDMELDPANEEL? 
 On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I began noticing large panels showing coloured floorplans with small LED lights labelled “ BRANDMELDPANEEL ” or “fire brigade panel”. They were mounted to the walls just inside the doors of museums, metro stations and other public buildings. 
 When firefighters arrive at the scene, they don’t know…

2024 in Review

Introduction 
 A few years ago, my family started a New Year tradition of putting a big piece of butcher-block paper on the wall and adding sticky notes to it over several days with the things that made an impression in the previous year. It’s an easy, fun, and low-stress way to wrap up the year and a nice example of visual portfolio management . 
 Also check out 2025 in review .…

Aligning & refining OKRs across teams

Aligning OKRs vertically & horizontally 
 Drafting some OKRs in your team is a huge first step – and sometimes it’s enough on its own. But refining & aligning OKRs across multiple teams within multiple layers of your organisation is a force-multiplier like no other. This is where organisation-wide focus and transparency come into play. 
 The OKR Marketplace 
 “Having goals…

Closing your OKRs

Closing your OKRs at the end of the cycle 
 In this video, I’ll share how to close OKRs at the end of the cycle providing a final score, capturing lessons learned, and agreeing improvements to the overall OKR process. 
 Meanwhile, check out this blog post .

Setting OKRs with your team

Check out my FREE Guide to OKR Check-ins

Setting OKRs with your team

Setting OKRs with your team 
 OKRs are a team sport. They help a team to understand each other, their operating context, and what they’re capable of. 
 Facilitating the session 
 Writing OKRs is an emergent activity grounded in discovery . By involving everyone in the OKR-drafting process, you build accountability, clarity, and excitement. 
 To distill a diverse set of…

Thank you!

Thanks for watching! 
 Thanks for taking my OKR course! I’d love to know what you thought and how I can continue improving it. Please use the feedback link below. 
 And don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list to be informed when I make updates. 
 Meanwhile, keep making OKRs work hard for you! 
 All the best, 
 Peter

Book notes: The Goal

After years of hearing about it from my process improvement nerd friends, I finally read “ The Goal ” by Eli Goldratt. It became something of a cult classic in the 80s. It’s 40+ years old now but still feels like a useful “business novel” to introduce the Theory of Constraints (ToC). ToC is a management philosophy aimed at improving organisational efficiency by…

Welcome!

Thanks for working with me! 
 Welcome and thank you for becoming a client of my boutique consultancy, PNK Industries! 
 I work with a handful of carefully selected clients every year to provide cutting edge, high-touch, high-impact OKR training, facilitation and consulting. I look forward to working with you! 
 Here’s what to expect as we get started with either the Jumpstart or…

Stuff

Miscellaneous things I’m working on in various states of completion. 
 Please suspend expectations accordingly. 
 
 Sounds & Music 
 2025-01-09 - A short bit of music with a field recording by kangaroovindaloo . 
 


Sync Google Calendars for Free

Update: I was hitting API rate limits so I made a few tweaks including adding a 'backoff' function and not synching events where I haven't accepted all-day holidays which end with 'day'. Latest code is below. 
 
 
 

 
 My calendar chaos! 
 I often work for multiple clients at once on the basis of outcomes delivered. Recently I was helping a government agency to adopt…

An OKR Sharing Template

Get the template 
 So you’ve drafted some OKRs with your team and you’re eager to start checking in and bringing them to life. Awesome! But wait – before you start checking in, it’s critical to look outside the team to align those OKRs horizontally with other teams and vertically through layers of leadership – identifying dependencies and negotiating precise, shared outcomes along…

Exploring AI Fiction

Unsurprisingly, London has major Dark Academia vibes. 
 Perhaps it’s why I don’t mind the persistent gloom, especially from about November to April. 
 There’s a recurring image which pops up in my head and my reality living here of ivy covered brick buildings. I passed one the other day and thought it would be fun to ask ChatGPT to speculate on who might live there. 
…

Color by Number: Pi

Color by Number: Pi depicts the mathematical constant, pi. 
 My friend, Angela Hill is a the photographer and painter with synesthesia. She has a strong association between colors and numbers eg. 1 is white, 2 is yellow, etc. Using the color palette informed by her synesthesia, I’ve created several pieces around math and color. 
 Want to buy a poster? 
 Contact me and let me know…

Align OKRs with a Gallery Walk

After running an initial OKR setting session , but before teams start checking in , it’s important to refine & align those early OKRs . 
 An OKR Gallery Walk is a variation on the OKR Festival , and one of my favourite ways to align OKRs after the initial drafting workshops . 
 Combining elements of a traditional Gallery Walk and a more structured “ Shift & Share ” I run…

Deterministic vs Emergent Work

There are at least two kinds of work: deterministic and emergent . 
 Deterministic work is predictable, repeatable, and clear. Even with extremely complex pieces of work, given the same inputs, and the same processes, if we follow the steps we can confidently reliably predict the outputs and outcomes every time – making a cheese sandwich, launching a rocket for the fiftieth time, manufacturing…

OKR Advice From Bruce Lee

Recently, I was introducing my son to the work of Bruce Lee and it dawned on me that he may have been the best OKR coach, ever. 
 Here are some of my favourite quotes and how I interpret them in the context of OKRs. 
 
 “A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” 
 Let your goals inspire you! Use them to give you energy and direction…

Health Metrics, Business as Usual, and OKRs

Summary 
 Defining OKRs for BAU activity can feel counterintuitive but exploring health metrics as you write OKRs or even introducing “health metric OKRs” can help teams to transition towards a stronger focus on transformative outcomes. They enable you to use the OKR framework to articulate the things that must be maintained even in the face of great change. 
 Shooting for the…

Week Notes 2024 07 12

Work 
 This week I went deeper with my government client. I’m gradually developing stronger relationships and gently helping busy directors to think about their OKRs so they can meet next week and begin to negotiate & align. I’ve also met a couple of delivery managers and started looking for things we can remove from our existing governance process to make space for a lighter…

Week Notes 2024 07 05 - Election

New government - new client 
 My new central government client had a lot of recent changes at the top and I expect more to follow under the newly elected Labour government. As a part-time civil servant again, I’ll refrain from sharing any political opinions and just say that it’s an exciting time for a fresh start! 
 As expected, it’s been tricky getting much time &…

Why OKRs?

OKRs claim to do a lot of things. During my work with Genomics England we narrowed the benefits down to these big three: 
 Outcomes – OKRs keep us focused on measurable impact – rather than simple outputs . Objectives remind us why we’re doing things and Key Results make it clear how we’ll measure success. 
 Transparency – Through their concision and precision , OKRs make it easy to share…

Week Notes 2024 06 28

Work 
 I was glad to finally kick off some OKR work with my new government client this week. We’re rolling out OKRs across 6 directorates and 30+ teams in the face of an impending election. Onward! 
 The teams have already taken a first crack at OKRs. Some of them are quite good. In many areas, I’m spotting the usual suspects of too many OKRs, project tasks & milestones…

Week Notes 2024 06 21 Hong Kong

This week I had the privilege of travelling to Hong Kong to speak about OKRs at a private event for a global banking client. 
 I spent the first two days in a very posh hotel, rewriting, adjusting, and rehearsing my talk with help from the organisers to ensure it would land well with 100 busy top executives. There were a lot of cooks in that kitchen but I appreciated everyone sharing their…