Weeknotes 24 April, 2026

There’s a point where gradual drift becomes hard to ignore. Not a single bad piece of work. Not one difficult conversation. Instead, a slow accumulation of small compromises that, taken together, start to feel like the norm. This week, I reached that point with content standards.

Recognising this felt energising rather than deflating. It’s easier to act when you can see the problem clearly.

I’ve been thinking about what it actually means to hold a standard. Not just to have one written down somewhere, but to actively demonstrate it. To find the good examples, share them, and say, “this is what we’re aiming for”. To make the expectation real rather than implied.

Part of what I’ve been sitting with is accountability. Not just for the team or for stakeholders, but for myself too. It’s easy to let things slide when you’re busy, or when pushing back feels like it’ll slow things down. But that sliding is how standards stop meaning anything. You end up defending a line that has quietly moved.

So this week felt like the start of resetting. Less about producing a new document or a formal process. More about being clearer – with everyone, including myself – about what good looks like. Finding examples. Naming them. Making the gap between good and not-good harder to ignore.

It’s not dramatic. But sometimes the most useful thing you can do is draw a line and start again from there.