Between the lines
Originally published on Substack on September 30, 2025.
A new dawn
When I started this newsletter 45 issues and 4 years ago I was responding to an internal ask from leadership for succinct regular insight into the Startups, Technologies and Methodologies which might impact AEC sector . To locate the wheat from the chaff in the firehose of news, announcements and PR hype that they were bombarded with in the zero interest rate era with new startups appearing weekly.
Even though the newsletter was intended for an internal audience I started using Substack because our internal tooling wasn't up to the job (seriously… I got more bouncebacks using the internal tool!).
Four years on the subscriber list has grown to just under 500 (thanks all!), mostly a mixture of current Atkins, past Atkins, and their friends/connections, even though my writing output in the last year or more has been dire. 'Harrys Newsletter’ was a placeholder name as everyone who received it knew who I was and what I was about. Plus I'd been a fan of the ‘keep it simple stupid’ approach of naming advocated by 'Good Services’ (Great book!).
So why 'Between the lines’?
I'm a firm believer that good strategy and delivery only happens if people, processes and environment align to create a optimistic, collegial and ‘can do’ culture. That executives can create as many vision statements, 10,000ft strategy documents and motivational messages as their powerpoint'ware will allow, but whether an idea, a concept, a project will succeed or fail depends more on the 'vibe’ of those working together than the financial model included in the business plan.
I'm going to write more about the messy'ness of strategy and delivery. Of thriving in chaos and navigating the technicals, personalities and politics of getting great stuff done in big and small organisations.
You'll also see a fair bit about institutions, how these are formed, maintained and evolved; I've a strong opinion that many of our institutions both private and public need significant reform and I'll be sharing my thoughts on this. Lastly… Technology… yes I'll continue to write on Tech; my new role is as cutting edge as you can get and frankly the consequences for the future we are creating intimidates me. You'll understand why soon……….
In terms of style I intend to write more personally than before, more in the style of ' Week Notes’. You can now see my past efforts trying to hone my writing craft on my website.
As always reach out if you have any ideas or feedback to share, or you simply want to say hello.