Leaves
Writing
The kind that takes its time. Field chronicles and video notebooks: what gets written day by day, before it becomes a book, a film or a paper.
"This is an era of shock images and flashy slogans. I belong to the old guard: I love writing, the kind that takes its time."
This is the notebook: the chronicles written along the way and the filmed notes on how I work. The books, papers and films that come out of it live in the Fruits.
Video notebooks
Filmed notes on my writing process - the behind-the-scenes, the doubts, the digressions.
How I write a book
Where does inspiration come from, how to find the time...
36 reactions · 4 comments
Go With the Flow
Writing about what you love, letting go...
35 reactions · 7 comments
On the difficulty of being constant
And other thoughts of the day...
20 reactions · 4 comments
Zoom in, zoom out
The pen as a camera. Taking readers by the hand...
Late wake-up
Stylistic innovation. Letting yourself be surprised.
21 reactions · 3 comments
The Baobab Man Chronicles
Posts published on LinkedIn - reflections on aid, writing, research and the roads less travelled.
Conformity vs authenticity
"We celebrate transformation... yet only reward predictability and conformity." On hiring systems that value stamps over substance.
88 likes · 19 comments
System transformation?
Critique of "the Projectorate" - endless pilots, rotating consultants and evaluation frameworks that prevent real change. Reform or abolish the aid system?
70 likes · 28 comments
#NoExcuses - Writing against all odds
"I claimed the time I didn't have. I wrote in airports, on buses, during missions." A novel written between a PhD, a full-time job and four children.
42 likes · 5 comments
PhD: finally a real-world use
"My PhD thesis - the product of nearly a decade of research - is now proudly stabilizing furniture." Academic self-deprecation at its finest.
42 likes · 3 comments
Go With the Flow
Starting from Steve Jobs: a brilliant idea is worth nothing without execution. Rigid logframes and budgets don't reflect field reality. A case for adaptive project management.
21 likes · 5 comments