Skip to main content
Calvis logo

Soap Box

Go Search
Home
SharePoint
Consultancy
Expertise & People
Clients
Partners
Resource Centre
Soap Box
Contact Us
  

Shaping the future > Soap Box
Have your say...

You may have picked up from the words we have used on this web site that experience and knowledge is the foundation of our business and we're always searching for ways to encourage staff to communicate and recycle their experieneces.  Communication helps us to create new connections and improve our understanding of the markets we operate in and the world we share with our colleagues and our clients.

Our Soap Box will give you a taste of one of the methods we use to faciliate communication within the firm.  Each week a member of staff will write an article, no more than about 500 words, on any subject.  This could be work related or something totally unrelated.  Below are some examples of "The Calvis Bulletin" that we'd like to share with you.

Storm in a teacup...- Chris TooleUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I’ve noticed that the initial excitement which greeted the arrival of our nice new BlackBerry Storm handsets seems to have been tempered somewhat by a number of usability niggles, so I thought it might be handy to go through some of these and see if we can improve things...
Developing agility - by Chris LeesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
At Calvis we often talk about ourselves as “agile” and using “agile methods”, but these terms, as with almost all business shorthand, risk becoming vacuous linguistic space-fillers. However, agility is at the core of who we are for a reason, so I want to explore that reason and refill the semantics of the language.
Perhaps we were never supposed to have pets? - by Mark GrayUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
We’ve not had much luck with animals over the years.  First there was the epileptic Greyhound.  Spot was a lovely dog but wouldn’t win any awards for break dancing and sadly had to be put to sleep.  Next was Conker the £120 “elephant man” hamster.  Well, he actually cost £5 from the local pet shop and once home turned out to be the most viscous hamster I’ve ever seen.  Rather than go for one of the nice sedate hamsters snoozing in the corner of the cage, the kids chose the hamster that was the most active, the one that was running around and coming to the bars to see us. None of us noticed the glint in his eye, not even me. 
Carbon Neutral - by Steve MarshallUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I see more and more emails with the tag line – "We’re a Carbon Neutral company" – and being the sort of person I am I get suspicious.
Linux – It’s a funny old world - by Craig TookeUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Once upon a time, there was an IT consultant that had through the years worked as a developer using a number of different UNIX and Linux operating systems. One day he arrived at Calvis, unaware that lurking in dark corners were customers with Linux needs.  Now perhaps I should clarify, before I hear you all ask "well what's wrong with that? If you have experience using Linux then you shouldn't have any reservations, right?”  Maybe an analogy is in order...
Illogical logic…- by Chris LeesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Logic is a peculiar thing. Something that is logical is usually simple, obvious, rational, or some combination of these. The word suggests a series of steps that inexorably lead to a conclusion. But logic can be complex. Consider the following story...
Vegetarians probably shouldn’t read this - by Steve MarshallUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
We got the puppy because friends and neighbours had recommended a dog as being the best way to keep a fox away.  Apparently the dog does not need to chase the fox, just be around.  The scent is enough.  A couple of weeks earlier we had lost some poultry to a fox.  Two turkeys, a hen and our cockerel had been chased away from the house and killed.
Etymology - the history of a word or phrase - by Craig TookeUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
From time to time we come across a phrase or word, that for years you have heard used and never thought about, and then along comes a meaning to it that defines why it came to be...
It’s dinner Jim, but not as we know it… - by Chris LeesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Jim and Jane lived happily in their spacious suburban semi with their children, Claire (14) and Clive (10). Jane was a successful architect, and the family had enjoyed a period of comfort and affluence. Jim had recently returned to work part-time after a career break to look after the children...
“Globalization” at a local level - by Chris LeesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I hear a lot of people talking about “global solutions”, “global service lines” or just plain “globalization”, and I wonder how many have stopped to think about what they really mean. Of course, superficially they are talking about providing a consistency around the world – as Barclays once put it in an internal campaign to encourage their staff to follow standards, “where ever you touch us, it should feel the same”...
Matrix Management – Heaven or Hell? - by Cathy MacNamaraUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Ok – so your normal day at the office involves working on five separate projects, which are controlled by five different people, who have five different views on what is achievable by “EOP” Friday.  This is either a chance to spend all day doing nothing whilst looking good…
Doorway stopping syndrome – by Steve MarshallUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I want to tell you about a dreadful problem that is troubling more and more people in our modern world.  I also want your help in dealing with this problem.  Please do not stop reading just because I ask for your help.   As the world becomes more difficult and crowded we must all be prepared to help each other...
Making a cup of coffee – by Chris TooleUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
We previously discussed the general absurdity of how the human body has evolved to what it is.  The cause of this was a growing wonderment of how we actually manage to get anything done at all, given the complexities of controlling such a strangely-structured entity.  Let’s carry on where we left off, and look at what’s involved in going and getting a cup of coffee...
Irony - by Craig TookeUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I'll start with a comedian and Alanis Morissette.  A couple of years ago I came across a TV show in which a comedian from this side of the pond was on stage in Canada, giving the inimitable Ms Morissette a good grilling over her song 'Ironic'...
Climate Change - by Mark GrayUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Have you noticed that more and more media attention is being given to the subject of climate change? London's free newspaper pages are now dedicated to the subject and each day new thought provoking information is being reported from around the world...
My typical weekend - by Mark GrayUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
It definitely feels like if there's a chance of immersing myself in a problem, or completely missing a deadline because I just plain forgot, or finding myself in the middle of a misunderstanding that I'm pretty sure I didn't cause, then I'm there, centre stage...
Excuse me, what happened to my taka dahl..? - by Steve MarshallUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Whether we like it or not we all spend our lives managing projects.  From organising the weekly food shopping to moving house, we live through a series of activities that usually conglomerate into groups with some overall identifiable aim in mind.  I call these projects...