davidmasonhawes.com

So (like usual) a few weeks late with this update, but as you’ll soon find out there’s been more important things going on in my life than updating my blog.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that – since late 2024 – we’ve been going through a process to adopt our 2nd child. We have a (wonderful, slightly bonkers) son of our own, but adoption was always something my wife and I had mulled over in the many discussions about having more. Well, a few weeks ago the adoption of our daughter was all finalised – we’re now waiting on the paperwork to make it all official. It’s been a long road but very much worth it. We count ourselves very lucky!

The adoption process is renowned for being tough. I can only speak from our personal perspective, so – yes – it can feel a little intrusive at times, ours was generally a positive experience. A long process, for sure, but we were really well supported throughout the whole process.

Now it’s time to settle down as a new family of four – we’re quickly finding out how frazzled a pair of bickering siblings can be! Our son, though, has been AMAZING throughout the whole process, particularly in recent months since our daughter was placed with us. Super proud doesn’t even begin to touch the sides!

So understandably work hasn’t been my primary focus over recent weeks, but that’s not to say things haven’t been ticking over nicely. We’re moving towards a couple of major system upgrades this week – I’ve enjoyed working through the usual last-minute niggles that come with big releases. There’s always some nervousness about such things, but I’ve learned over the years that calm heads will prevail and it’s been great to see folks pulling together to bring work over the line. Really proud of the collaboration that I’ve seen between the digital team and colleagues across the organisation.

Myself and our digital senior management team stepped away from the day-to-day last week, to talk through our thoughts and plans for the team over the next 3-5 years. A really useful day – an opportunity to understand more about the wider team and the areas that are working well, and those that need some more work.

I’ve been in a fairly reflective mood of late – in part, no doubt, due to everything going on with the family outside of work. I still find it a little wild that it is only 12 months since I’d returned to work in my previous role after a rotten period of burnout-induced sickness. I’ve been having quite a few conversations recently where friends have said they’ve noticed a real change in me – less cranky, more relaxed, less stressed. Not unwell! I put this down to my new working environment – I’ve been surprised (and have surprised myself) by how I’ve settled into a completely different organisation in an entirely new sector.

The other day my mind drifted back to a speech given at the celebration event for the Imperial College Digital Leadership course, which I qualified in a couple of years ago, where one of the speakers, pointedly, stressed to the group that we shouldn’t be afraid of testing ourselves outside of the healthcare sector. I thought it an odd statement at the time, not least because the whole premise of the course was to build out digital leadership capability for the NHS… but it now seems like such a sensible observation. Whether I return to the NHS one day remains to be seen – I’m not sure I will – but I now see (i) just how much I’ve learned during my time with the NHS and (ii) now have a sense on how digital works in other sectors. The challenges are often the same, but how we address them can be so very different. Being more in control of the work I carry out is, I think, one of the major changes I’ve seen in my new role – no external influences dictating (or sometimes constraining) what we can and can’t do. It’s a liberating feeling and, coupled with the wonderful culture at the WJEC, has done wonders for my own personal wellbeing.

A quick bit of promo whilst I’m thinking about it – I have a vacancy in my team. We’re looking for someone to lead our IT Helpdesk function. It’s a great role, working in a fab organisation. Details and application info can all be found via the link below. Feel free to reach out if you’re interested!

https://www.wjec.co.uk/home/about-us/working-for-us/

As a final note… I succumbed to the ChatGPT craze of getting it to produce a caricature of me based on everything it knows me. Initial attempts failed, mainly because it didn’t know anything about me – I take this as a positive. I had to feed it a few facts about me and the picture above is what it came up with. A fairly decent likeness, though I’m still not sure what to make of the mug that reads: “World’s Okayest Employee”! I suppose you can’t win them all.

Have a great week everyone!