#32 Off the Plateau and a Train to Newcastle
Weeknotes — Monday 23 February – Sunday 1 March 2026
The last week of February. The Pathways off the Plateau workshop landed, and I had an amazing time connecting with Heather in Newcastle
Pathways off the Plateau
The Pathways off the Plateau workshop with Sheffield Digital, ran this week — the Participatory Strategic Session. All the prep paid off. There is always a moment in a workshop where you can feel the room shift and people do the real thinking. That happened. Lots of lightbulb moments at different points. One attendee who has got over 25 years in the User Centred Design Space, had never seen strategy done in the way I presented it and I was deeply honored and grateful for the conversation which followed around how much this strategy framework resonated with the work he was doing and a more holistic way of viewing strategy. They are an organisation that I have been following and admiring for years.
After the workshop, I had a debrief, and we started planning for the next session in March. Capturing what worked and what to develop while it is fresh is one of those habits I am glad I have with clients. It's growth for me, self-reflection about how the participants felt, what they took away. Learning from every workshop delivered is a big part of my practice.
Dot and Dash
Lots of admin to do this week with invoicing, timesheets and sorting out expenses. Not thrilling but necessary, and there is a small satisfaction in getting them properly up to date before everything stacks up into chaos.
Consultancy work running through the week. Finding the balance between the contract days and the business work is something I am actively managing alongside all the IAF volunteer work. I am building into my routine to decompress each week with a very long sleep at the weekends, given all the early mornings and late evenings I am doing with IAF community and app work.
Lettering with Heather Martinez
Train to Newcastle at the end of the week for a lettering masterclass. Genuinely excited about this one. Lettering is something I have been wanting to develop properly for a while, and getting out of Sheffield to do a focused day of it felt like the right investment. I've been following Heather and her work for a while. I wanted to go to the training last year but didn't have the funds. Luckily, I received payment for the work in January, so I can get myself over there. Honestly, it will be amazing learning from her in person. I've worked from her books and videos, and its going to be an epic two days. Plus, there are a few people I know going, so it will be good to meet in person again.
When you work for yourself, any training you do needs to land immediately. That return on investment in your practice. So I apply everything straight away. That's different from being an employee, where training just happens and it's funded by someone else. Over the years, I have seen so many Learning and Development departments filled with people dragging their feet to sessions. I find it very frustrating when people don't respect the privilege they have. Especially when people who are dismissive about it try to ruin the experience for everyone else. Or arrive with an attitude of not taking part, or even worse, they don't turn up.
I wonder... how long it takes to see a return on investment on your personal development. Are there others who track their investments and how they use the training ongoing?
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