‘Change is the process by which the future invades our lives’
Alvin Toffler
Only Dead Fish is a consultancy focused on AI strategy, transformation and leadership, run by Neil Perkin. Neil is the author of three best-selling books on the intersection of business transformation, organisational agility and leadership: Building the Agile Business, Agile Transformation, and Agile Marketing (all through Kogan Page). He curates the Google Firestarters thought leadership series and designs and delivers AI programmes for the IPA.
Neil works with organisations navigating the strategic, cultural and leadership challenges of AI adoption, through keynotes, workshops, training programmes and strategic consultancy. Clients include Google, AstraZeneca, Lloyds Banking Group, Diageo, BBC, the NHS, Imperial College London, and agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and Omnicom.
Latest Posts
-
Creating an AI Braintrust
Years ago, when I first read (Pixar co-founder) Ed Catmull’s brilliant book Creativity Inc, I remember really loving their ‘Braintrust’ idea. This is where a group of Pixar’s finest creative brains come together regularly to review outputs and provide candid, constructive feedback on films in development. Ed Catmull described at the time how the job of the…
-
The AI Inevitability Trap
If there’s one phrase that best expresses the two-way nature of the relationship between humanity and technology it’s probably Father John Culkin’s quote (often attributed to Marshall McLuhan): ‘We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us’. Humans create the technology, but that technology later shapes human behaviour, culture, perceptions, norms, and even the physical…
-
Why Every Company Needs an AI Philosophy
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about that MIT Sloan piece that I shared in FF686 on how ‘Philosophy Eats AI’. The piece argues that three branches of philosophy are already embedded in every AI deployment whether leaders recognise it or not: teleology (what should AI models achieve?), epistemology (what counts as knowledge?), and…
-
The Brodie Helmet Problem
When the Brodie helmet, designed by John Leopold Brodie in 1915, was introduced to the British Army in the First World War it was intended to protect the soldiers from flying shrapnel. Until 1915 soldiers went into battle wearing soft cloth caps but it soon became apparent from the huge number of fatal head wounds from…
-
Techniques for critical thinking in AI augmented strategy
The ever-greater need for critical thinking in the age of AI has been a consistent theme of mine in this Substack. Humans are so-called cognitive misers. It comes very naturally to us to make use of techniques that make things easier for us, and humans have long used technology to outsource mental effort (digital calendars,…
-
How Data Won the Premier League
In 2015, Liverpool Football Club hired Jürgen Klopp as their new manager. It was a decision that was met with scepticism by many pundits. During Klopp’s last season at Borussia Dortmund the side had dropped to the bottom of the Bundesliga. But Liverpool had seen something that the pundits had missed. Dr Ian Graham, the…
My books
Agile Transformation
Now on its second edition, Agile Transformation sets out a blueprint for a different type of organisation which is characterised by continuous change and adaptability. Covering approaches to organisational design, operations and culture, this book reveals how leaders can catalyse far greater responsiveness and apply agile principles at scale.
Agile Marketing
Published in 2022, Agile Marketing is the definitive guide to redesigning marketing structures, processes and culture for the digital age. It covers how to put data at the heart of agility and performance, how to empower fast-moving teams and decisions, and how to catalyse a culture of collaboration and learning in marketing strategy and execution.
Building the Agile Business through Digital Transformation
Also on its second edition, Building the Agile Business is designed to be a comprehensive guide to transforming organisations to be fit-for-purpose for the digital-enabled world. This book defines a roadmap for digital transformation setting out the key principles, strategies and tools that leaders can use to create lasting change.