Why call the blog 'One Less Cut in a Thousand' ?

Is there anything more dully self important than writing a post on why you called your blog a certain thing?

However, I was asked, so here's the answer.

You may have heard the expression 'death by a thousand cuts'; it derives from a barbaric method of execution used until 1905 in China but generally the phrase is used to describe 'creeping normalcy', or negative change which happens slowly in unnoticed increments.

My career so far has been spent on the inside of enterprises of all size. In my experience the most inspiring visions, innovative ideas and game changing technology fails to be adopted not because of a considered architectural or strategic decision to reject it but because of 'creeping normalcy'; the organisation fails to improve because there is inertia and apathy. Great ideas simply fail to find fertile ground - or, worse, we drift, apathetic, into creating terrible, unethical organisations.

Likewise, improvement projects fail not because of a considered decision to close them down - in fact, this is a successful scenario - but because lots of small negative actions chip away at the business case, or reduce uptake, or invalidate assumptions.

There are thousands of negative actions that reduce an organisations capacity to change, to improve. When I started the blog, my aim was simple; every post should have something positive a reader can take away that helps them to change their organisation; something positive to counteract the thousands of possible negatives.

Every post should be one less cut in a thousand. Perhaps one day we'll never make the first cut at all.