<insert something here that doesn’t define me by the work that I do>
Hi, thanks for dropping by. I don’t really like talking about myself, so here are a few quick paragraphs to set some context:
Personal
Married, two kids that are growing up too quickly, and a dog that barks too much. Amateur triathlete, runner, and (very poor) springboard & platform diver. No, not the diving where you look at coral. Yes, the one in the Olympics.
Live in Brisbane, Australia. Travel too much for work, and not enough for holidays!
Work
After 10ish years of technology and marketing roles, in 2015 I started a company called Adopt & Embrace.
Adopt & Embrace was one of the first “Adoption & Change Management” focused Microsoft Partners to emerge after the launch of Office 365. It grew reasonably well, won some awards, and was acquired in 2021 by another Microsoft Partner – Rapid Circle.
Today I am on the global leadership team at Rapid Circle, as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer. I am accountable for things that will help us be a better business over the longer term – like our strategic foundations, our operating model, and marketing.
If you are interested in the rest of my professional / education back story – check out my LinkedIn profile
Community
Throughout my working life, the best times have been when I have had another place to focus my energy.
Early on it was in Emergency Services, volunteering with the Queensland State Emergency Service.
Now it is focused on Community Sport, and Entrepreneurship
RE: Community Sport, I volunteer as a Non-Executive Director at Diving Queensland, and Technical Official at Diving Australia
I also volunteer at our local parkrun every now and then with the kids.
RE: Entrepreneurship, I mentor students at the Queensland University of Technology in their accelerator programs. I also guest lecture from time to time.
Writing / Speaking
I have co-authored a couple of books, one of which outsold Simon Sinek on Amazon for about 12 hours. Together, they have sold over 10,000 copies. About 9800 for one, and 200 for the other… still not bad for a self-published book.
I have had the pleasure of speaking at many conferences over the years, mostly in the Microsoft ecosystem, including Microsoft TechEd, Ignite, and Inspire, as well as the European SharePoint Conference. Usually focused on collaboration, future of work etc.
Research
My Master by Research degree was focused on technology and its ability to impact borders we establish between work and life. If the content of this blog does not put you to sleep, you can find my thesis (“Technology enabled mobile work and the porosity of work-life borders” over at QUT ePrints.
I have a half-written research proposal for a PhD to explore one particular aspect of Entrepreneurial Identity. But I might sit on it for a while longer yet.
Paul Woods 