Blog
Running a School: How to be Idle
The first in an occasional, irreverent series looking at the lesser-reported charms of school ownership. There are lots of how-to guides, online gurus, coaches and people who claim to have a method for something. There are lots of people doing their own thing. Many of...
What I Learned About Business from Being in a Band, Part 6
We sat excitedly at a table in the Dog and Parrot on Clayton Street in Newcastle upon Tyne, a pub and live venue we’d debuted at some 10 months previously. We were waiting for the A and R man from London Records. This had come about as my guerrilla marketing skills...
Happy New Year
We hope 2020 will turn out to be a fantastic Year of the Rat for everybody; that you will all be scooting about hither and thither in prosperous endeavours. Here at Moran Towers, we’re feeling effects of lounging around doing pretty little for two weeks. From next...
Merry Christmas
Dear All, Many thanks for reading the Moran Actually blog in 2019. Writing it has reminded me of why I do certain things and helped me focus on others for the future. Wherever you are and whatever you do, I hope some of what we’ve written has been of some use. We...
What I Learned About Business from Being in a Band, Part 5
We developed proficiency individually by practising on our own. We developed proficiency as a unit by practising together. The creative aspect was enhanced by regular song writing sessions by me and the guitarist. As we were getting older, these were often fuelled by...
What I Learned About Business from Being in a Band, Part 4
By 1983, we’d been through several personnel changes and had firmed up as a three-piece. In two years of hanging around, occasionally rehearsing, all the while dreaming, we had dispensed with two bass players, one vocalist and a keyboard player. The original drummer...
What I Learned About Business from Being in a Band, Part 3
Most people are familiar with the format of rock and pop bands. Drums, bass, guitar or two, singer or two, sometimes combined. Sometimes just a three-piece. In the summer of 1981, the first ‘proper’ band I was in spent most days of the summer holidays watching Richard...
What I Learned About Business from Being in a Band, Part 2
When working with clients to help them organise their businesses, there are several things we start with. One of these is a personal mission statement, and the other is a mission, vision and values statement for the business. The personal vision statement focuses, of...
What I Learned About Business from Being in a Band
We’ve talked previously about self-organised learning environments (SOLEs). In future posts we’ll also discuss self-organised working environments (SOWEs). Being in a band, without me knowing it, involved me in both. As previously discussed in the blog, a school...
Euro Zone
We have been on our travels again. October saw us in Frankfurt, for the Book Fair, promoting our materials, working with friends and making new ones. It’s always a fun time, but the spaces in the aisles hint at changes in the distribution of print. From there we flew...