Monthnote, June 2026

What is this?

This is my monthnote for June, a post where I reflect on the previous month's work, alongside other life stuff.

What I've been working on

• I'm delighted Vicki has picked up the weeknoting mantle since returning from maternity leave – both her and Adam's posts give a rich flavour of the range of delivery, and not insubstantial load people have been under, to put in place significant website updates and the latest release of RDS's primary service.
• On that theme, it's felt like this month has been *a lot*. The teams are trying to complete longstanding, and often complex, pieces of work at the same time as refreshing our strategy and firming up plans for the years ahead. Research Data Scotland operates across multiple different parts of the public sector, which means we're competing with the priorities and procedures of multiple individual organisations. This is an issue many face, but it means the process of getting ducks in a row can seem like a never-ending endeavour. I'm hoping some summer recharging and renewed focus will help iron out creases.
• That refreshed strategy was the main emphasis of the RDS board meeting at the beginning of the month. Lots of prep went into this across the whole Leadership Team and we used an informal event the night before to help sow some seeds, and the meeting itself to convey what we see as our priorities and means to deliver. It provoked a huge amount of discussion, alongside some constructive challenge and valuable steer in terms of where to go next.
• In line with all of the above, I carved out a smidgen of time to write what could loosely be termed "a roadmap for a roadmap". It was an attempt to put in words the necessity of being on the same page when it comes to service delivery, and where a lack of clear end points and slightly different takes on terminology can confuse and perplex. More work required, but a useful starting point.

• Talking of service design... I had a fleeting visit to Glasgow School of Art to watch the wonderful Lou Downe showcase their new book Bad Services. It was so worthwhile – a chance to step back from the detail and engage with stories and examples of the compound ways things stop working as they should. I had a brief but joyful chat with Sarah Drummond afterwards, where she pointed me to the madcap promo films they've been making.
• June is always extra busy as I have responsibilities for Charity Finance Group in my role as Chair of the Board of Trustees. This meant two trips to London in quick succession for:
  1. A board meeting, featuring an excellent roundtable discussion on responsible AI adoption which was grounded, pragmatic, but still ambitious; the sort of conversation all boards should be having.
  2. The CFG annual conference, held in peak heatwave in the (thankfully well air-conditioned) Convene Sancroft venue near St Paul's. It was a manically busy day for me as I facilitated four sessions, as well as appearing on the lunchtime plenary panel to talk 'AI in the charity sector'. Such an incredible event though, topped off by a punchy, at times hilarious, closing plenary by Lord Adebowale: empowerment means shifting power.
• One of the best things I did this month was meet with Rob (more weeknotes!) and take a stroll around Edinburgh's Meadows to discuss how we're each faring. Sometimes all you need to gain perspective is the easy familiarity of a person who knows what makes you tick in the workplace.

Listening, watching, reading

🎧 Listening
No point in listing my top three tracks this month, as I have listened near exclusively to the new Olivia Rodrigo album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which is an honest-to-god pop masterpiece. It has a song called The Cure, and another song featuring the lead singer from The Cure. Clever huh?

Bonus Olivia content: she's hosting a festival in August with the most incredible line up of female talent.

Other things I enjoyed listening to:

• This interview with David Sedaris about the changing nature of language.
• Jon Stewart's funny, hopeful, and unexpectedly emotional discussion with Roger Bennett and Tariq Panja about the impact of the World Cup on the USA.

📺 Films & TV

• I've been roundly chastised for my Disclosure Day opinions 😂 so I clearly need to lose myself in movie magic a bit more readily. On that note, I loved and highly recommend Supergirl. Ignore the haters.
• I dragged myself to the end of Half Man, which was as relentlessly grim as everyone says, but with some outstanding performances and unforgettable scenes.
• Widow's Bay. Sooooo good. Very funny, proper spooky.
• I'm enjoying the premise, and the many regional British accents, of Apple's For All Mankind spin-off Star City, set in a space race obesessed USSR.

📖 Reading

• Thanks to John for sharing this white paper on LinkedIn. The Integration Problem is genuinely one of the smartest pieces I've read about AI adoption. Mostly because it's not about AI, and instead focused on governance and structure and what charities (aka most organisations) actually spend their time doing.
• A new newsletter from the Society for Hopeful Technologists.
• No time to read an actual book. 😢

📝 Thank you for reading.