Sharon O'Dea
@sharonodea.com
Consulting, writing and speaking on comms, collaboration & future of work. Cofounder Lithos Partners, DWXS and 300 Seconds. Gym bore. Takes too many photos of Amsterdam.
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Sharon O'Dea
@sharonodea.com
· May 23
🎉 Big news: I’m writing a book!
Digital Communications at Work is a practical guide for folks managing intranets, apps & comms channels. It’s packed with case studies, tips & lessons from the coalface. Co-authored with @digitaljonathan.bsky.social, published by Kogan Page, it’ll be out in 2026.
Digital Communications at Work is a practical guide for folks managing intranets, apps & comms channels. It’s packed with case studies, tips & lessons from the coalface. Co-authored with @digitaljonathan.bsky.social, published by Kogan Page, it’ll be out in 2026.
Weeknote from Japan: ghost islands, glowing forests, taiko drums, and a 75-year-old barman with strong views on glassware.
Theme of the week: okagesame, or “thanks to the unseen work”. Turns out the future of work isn’t an app. It’s appreciation.
sharonodea.com/2025/11/10/w...
Theme of the week: okagesame, or “thanks to the unseen work”. Turns out the future of work isn’t an app. It’s appreciation.
sharonodea.com/2025/11/10/w...
Weeknote 2025/45
Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island (photo by me) I began the week on a boat bound for Gunkanjima, a ghost island that was once the most densely populated place on Earth. From the deck, it looks like …
sharonodea.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Weeknote from Japan: ghost islands, glowing forests, taiko drums, and a 75-year-old barman with strong views on glassware.
Theme of the week: okagesame, or “thanks to the unseen work”. Turns out the future of work isn’t an app. It’s appreciation.
sharonodea.com/2025/11/10/w...
Theme of the week: okagesame, or “thanks to the unseen work”. Turns out the future of work isn’t an app. It’s appreciation.
sharonodea.com/2025/11/10/w...
If there’s one thing more tedious than people who comment “didn’t happen”, it’s people who drive by in the comments with “AI wrote this”.
November 9, 2025 at 7:58 AM
If there’s one thing more tedious than people who comment “didn’t happen”, it’s people who drive by in the comments with “AI wrote this”.
This from @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social struck a chord. The middle-aged are being radicalised online, with opinions leaking out from Facebook to supermarket queues and bus stops to become acceptable public discourse.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Meet gen X: middle-aged, enraged and radicalised by internet bile | Gaby Hinsliff
Who is driving the populist insurgency? It’s not grumpy pensioners or vulnerable teenagers – it’s my generation, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:09 AM
This from @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social struck a chord. The middle-aged are being radicalised online, with opinions leaking out from Facebook to supermarket queues and bus stops to become acceptable public discourse.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Amsterdam fam: I have a spare ticket to Kae Tempest at the Tivoli in Utrecht this evening. I’m nine thousand miles away so can’t make it. Shout if you’d like to go - free to first taker.
November 5, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Amsterdam fam: I have a spare ticket to Kae Tempest at the Tivoli in Utrecht this evening. I’m nine thousand miles away so can’t make it. Shout if you’d like to go - free to first taker.
🇯🇵 Japan is a country built on education... but not on learning.
Last week at Nagasaki Canvas - a monthly civic forum where locals, students and nomads gather to talk about the city’s future - the theme was learning.
Last week at Nagasaki Canvas - a monthly civic forum where locals, students and nomads gather to talk about the city’s future - the theme was learning.
November 5, 2025 at 6:59 AM
🇯🇵 Japan is a country built on education... but not on learning.
Last week at Nagasaki Canvas - a monthly civic forum where locals, students and nomads gather to talk about the city’s future - the theme was learning.
Last week at Nagasaki Canvas - a monthly civic forum where locals, students and nomads gather to talk about the city’s future - the theme was learning.
I asked Copilot to fix a small flaw in my photo and instead turned me into someone who runs the neighbourhood watch Facebook group.
It’s giving:
– alphabetises her spice rack
– leaves polite but firm notes about wheelie bins
– owns at least three glue guns
– hosts “sip and paint” nights
It’s giving:
– alphabetises her spice rack
– leaves polite but firm notes about wheelie bins
– owns at least three glue guns
– hosts “sip and paint” nights
November 4, 2025 at 7:19 AM
I asked Copilot to fix a small flaw in my photo and instead turned me into someone who runs the neighbourhood watch Facebook group.
It’s giving:
– alphabetises her spice rack
– leaves polite but firm notes about wheelie bins
– owns at least three glue guns
– hosts “sip and paint” nights
It’s giving:
– alphabetises her spice rack
– leaves polite but firm notes about wheelie bins
– owns at least three glue guns
– hosts “sip and paint” nights
This week’s Weeknote: wandering Nagasaki’s old foreign quarter, visiting fruit-shaped bus stops, talking about curiosity and learning, and wondering what happens when a culture, city or company stops letting new ideas in.
Openness, isolation and whimsy. sharonodea.com/2025/11/02/w...
Openness, isolation and whimsy. sharonodea.com/2025/11/02/w...
Weeknote 2025/44
Joyfully waiting for a bus on the Kyushu coast This week began, and ended, where Japan once met the world. On Monday I joined a walking tour that began on Nagasaki’s Holland Slope, a steep street l…
sharonodea.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:58 PM
This week’s Weeknote: wandering Nagasaki’s old foreign quarter, visiting fruit-shaped bus stops, talking about curiosity and learning, and wondering what happens when a culture, city or company stops letting new ideas in.
Openness, isolation and whimsy. sharonodea.com/2025/11/02/w...
Openness, isolation and whimsy. sharonodea.com/2025/11/02/w...
The Telegraph’s quest to find the least sympathetic poverty case studies continues
November 2, 2025 at 2:36 AM
The Telegraph’s quest to find the least sympathetic poverty case studies continues
A day late: October in One Second Every Day. Amsterdam, Paris, but mostly having the time of my life in Japan.
November 1, 2025 at 4:00 PM
A day late: October in One Second Every Day. Amsterdam, Paris, but mostly having the time of my life in Japan.
Even bus stops are better in Japan 🇯🇵
November 1, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Even bus stops are better in Japan 🇯🇵
If you haven’t gone to Don Quixote at midnight to buy random crap, are you even in Japan? 🇯🇵
October 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
If you haven’t gone to Don Quixote at midnight to buy random crap, are you even in Japan? 🇯🇵
Phew. Thank goodness for that. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Centrist D66 party will win most seats in Dutch election, exit poll suggests
Result would pave the way for the Netherlands’ first out gay prime minister and end far-right populist Geert Wilders’ time in power
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Phew. Thank goodness for that. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Visiting a local museum in Kyushu, Japan… I did not expect to see this panel about the UK’s COVID-19 Enquiry 🤷♀️
October 27, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Visiting a local museum in Kyushu, Japan… I did not expect to see this panel about the UK’s COVID-19 Enquiry 🤷♀️
Japan keeps catching me off guard. One moment I’m making wax lettuce, the next I’m crying in a peace museum.
Found a thread in Nagasaki that runs from my grandparents’ anti-nuclear campaigning to the modem that started my digital career and eventually led me here. sharonodea.com/2025/10/26/w...
Found a thread in Nagasaki that runs from my grandparents’ anti-nuclear campaigning to the modem that started my digital career and eventually led me here. sharonodea.com/2025/10/26/w...
Weeknote 2025/43
Nomads at the peace statue, Nagasaki. This week swung between solemnity and silliness. Running down hills like a kid one day, weeping in a peace museum the next. Japan has a way of pulling you into…
sharonodea.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Japan keeps catching me off guard. One moment I’m making wax lettuce, the next I’m crying in a peace museum.
Found a thread in Nagasaki that runs from my grandparents’ anti-nuclear campaigning to the modem that started my digital career and eventually led me here. sharonodea.com/2025/10/26/w...
Found a thread in Nagasaki that runs from my grandparents’ anti-nuclear campaigning to the modem that started my digital career and eventually led me here. sharonodea.com/2025/10/26/w...
Went to a talk by Derk Loorbach recently and couldn’t stop thinking about how his theories of societal transition apply inside organisations.
So I wrote about it: why communicators are perfectly placed to help companies move from managing change to shaping it.
strategic.global/Change-to-Tr...
So I wrote about it: why communicators are perfectly placed to help companies move from managing change to shaping it.
strategic.global/Change-to-Tr...
Change to Transformation to Transition - the next wave - Strategic
Reading Time: 5 minutesSharon O’Dea: “We’re not just experiencing another round of “transformation.” Earlier this month, I attended a talk by Derk Loorbach, a Dutch academic renowned for his work on ...
strategic.global
October 21, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Went to a talk by Derk Loorbach recently and couldn’t stop thinking about how his theories of societal transition apply inside organisations.
So I wrote about it: why communicators are perfectly placed to help companies move from managing change to shaping it.
strategic.global/Change-to-Tr...
So I wrote about it: why communicators are perfectly placed to help companies move from managing change to shaping it.
strategic.global/Change-to-Tr...
Lloyds Bank announce Copilot saves their staff 46 minutes a day. A number so specific, it must be true
Any CFO will tell you productivity savings aren't cashable savings. Is headcount down? Problem resolution improved?
Come on lads, you can do better than this
www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/l...
Any CFO will tell you productivity savings aren't cashable savings. Is headcount down? Problem resolution improved?
Come on lads, you can do better than this
www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/l...
Lloyds Bank claims Microsoft Copilot saves 46 minutes a day
: That's 46 minutes in which more work can be done, not an extended lunch
www.theregister.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Lloyds Bank announce Copilot saves their staff 46 minutes a day. A number so specific, it must be true
Any CFO will tell you productivity savings aren't cashable savings. Is headcount down? Problem resolution improved?
Come on lads, you can do better than this
www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/l...
Any CFO will tell you productivity savings aren't cashable savings. Is headcount down? Problem resolution improved?
Come on lads, you can do better than this
www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/l...
Instagram v reality: up the top of a very windy hill taking a photo of a beautiful sunset
October 21, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Instagram v reality: up the top of a very windy hill taking a photo of a beautiful sunset
Considering starting a rumour that Prince Andrew had AWS taken down to knock the news about him off the front pages.
October 20, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Considering starting a rumour that Prince Andrew had AWS taken down to knock the news about him off the front pages.
Ohayō gozaimasu! おはようございます
October 20, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Ohayō gozaimasu! おはようございます
Week 1 in Japan 🎌
Ferries, karaoke, challah baked in a rice cooker, and client calls from a mosquito-filled kitchen. Working remotely-remotely is chaotic, funny and brilliant in equal measure.
Weeknote 42 comes to you from the Goto Islands.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/19/w...
Ferries, karaoke, challah baked in a rice cooker, and client calls from a mosquito-filled kitchen. Working remotely-remotely is chaotic, funny and brilliant in equal measure.
Weeknote 42 comes to you from the Goto Islands.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/19/w...
Weeknote 2025/42
Goto, Japan. Photo by me. I’ve been in Japan for a week, but it feels like at least three already — the kind of week that’s so full it bends time a little. So, I’m abandoning my usual weeknote form…
sharonodea.com
October 19, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Week 1 in Japan 🎌
Ferries, karaoke, challah baked in a rice cooker, and client calls from a mosquito-filled kitchen. Working remotely-remotely is chaotic, funny and brilliant in equal measure.
Weeknote 42 comes to you from the Goto Islands.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/19/w...
Ferries, karaoke, challah baked in a rice cooker, and client calls from a mosquito-filled kitchen. Working remotely-remotely is chaotic, funny and brilliant in equal measure.
Weeknote 42 comes to you from the Goto Islands.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/19/w...
After a surprisingly cosy night sleeping on a tatami mat in a lovingly-restored traditional house in Japan’s Gotō Islands, I’m on to a round of book edits here.
Life is good.
Life is good.
October 18, 2025 at 1:54 AM
After a surprisingly cosy night sleeping on a tatami mat in a lovingly-restored traditional house in Japan’s Gotō Islands, I’m on to a round of book edits here.
Life is good.
Life is good.
Paris for an exercise class, Japan for a new adventure, and my suitcase living its best life somewhere in France.
New weeknote (comin' atcha from 39,000 feet above Mongolia) on change, chaos, gratitude, and doing ridiculous things just because you can.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/11/w...
New weeknote (comin' atcha from 39,000 feet above Mongolia) on change, chaos, gratitude, and doing ridiculous things just because you can.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/11/w...
Weeknote 2025/41
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris. Awe-inspiring, literally. A week of motion and mixed emotions: gratitude, nerves, excitement. Paris one day, Japan the next. I keep catching myself thinking how lucky I am —…
sharonodea.com
October 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Paris for an exercise class, Japan for a new adventure, and my suitcase living its best life somewhere in France.
New weeknote (comin' atcha from 39,000 feet above Mongolia) on change, chaos, gratitude, and doing ridiculous things just because you can.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/11/w...
New weeknote (comin' atcha from 39,000 feet above Mongolia) on change, chaos, gratitude, and doing ridiculous things just because you can.
sharonodea.com/2025/10/11/w...
Reposted by Sharon O'Dea
anyway, I am pleased with this column, I think it is good, I hope you read it rather than just shouting at me for what you think it might say
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
October 11, 2025 at 8:36 AM
anyway, I am pleased with this column, I think it is good, I hope you read it rather than just shouting at me for what you think it might say
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
The ridiculous exercise class I go to did a one off special at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. I love that building, so I blagged a spot and went all the way to Paris to do a single exercise class.
And it was absolutely fucking beautiful.
Life is short; enjoy the shit out of it.
And it was absolutely fucking beautiful.
Life is short; enjoy the shit out of it.
October 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
The ridiculous exercise class I go to did a one off special at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. I love that building, so I blagged a spot and went all the way to Paris to do a single exercise class.
And it was absolutely fucking beautiful.
Life is short; enjoy the shit out of it.
And it was absolutely fucking beautiful.
Life is short; enjoy the shit out of it.