I know I keep banging on about the four-day week. But I keep banging on about it because it’s possible. We’ve been doing it @hellostarling_ since 2019. We haven’t crammed four long days with five days’ work. We genuinely work 28-hours per week. 4 days with 5 days pay. @4Day_Week @4DayWeekCymru 7 years on, we’re still here. Growing, winning business, doing great work for brilliant clients and, I think, running a better business because of it. I’m not pretending it’s easy. You have to be disciplined. You have to get better at meetings, communication, processes, handovers and deciding what actually needs doing and you have to trust people. And as I type this, I think that’s the point. The 4 day week forced us to become a better agency. If as a nation we could move from six days to five, there’s absolutely no reason we should assume five is where the story has to end.

The response to us launching @codi_cymru has been amazing. Diolch! 👏

When people find out that over at @hellostarling_ we've been working 28 hours per week for the last 7 years, I often get asked the same questions: Surely that can't work in an agency? Do clients mind? Doesn't it just mean longer days? How do you fit everything in with just 28 hours in a week? But I can honestly say that 7 years on, it works and it's not because we've somehow squeezed five days into four, but because we've completely changed the way we work. Are we perfect? No! Could we be better at saying no to meetings that don't have a purpose? Yes! But we have become better at planning our workloads, and we're more intentional with our time. And let's be honest, no good idea ever came from sitting in back to back meetings for 6 hours a day for 5 days. We've learned plenty along the way, and we're still refining how we work today, but since making the move in 2019, we have continued to grow, win brilliant clients, recruit awesome people and deliver award-winning work. I genuinely believe that being a @4Day_Week Foundation Gold Standard Employer has helped make us a better agency, and the reality is, if our team are happy, our clients are happy, and that can only be good for business 💛 Check out this article I wrote if you want to find out more about how we made (and continue to make) it work. hellostarling.com/news-views…

I couldn’t agree with this chap more! I genuinely believe that you can’t fix what you don’t understand from the inside. 
A career politician who’s never worked on a ward, never balanced a budget, or never run a business will always be one step removed from reality. They get their information from civil servants and lobbyists whereas people who’ve actually done the job feel it in their bones. For me, expertise and experience beats ideology every time.
 Generalist politicians talk in slogans but those who have spent years in the trade know what actually works and what doesn’t. We keep electing generalists with very little experience, then act surprised when the NHS stays broken and the economy keeps lagging. To be clear, I’m not anti politician, I am just pro competence and I think the people who have walked the walk are best placed to do the job of running these huge government departments.

There’s something in the air today. Something feels different. Is it ‘fairness you can feel’? Or is it a feeling that Wales is about to be ‘fixed’? Or is it that there could be ‘new leadership for Wales?’ Whatever you feel today, please go and have your say by voting. It’s one of the greatest things we have and in some countries, citizens don’t have that right, so please, exercise your democratic right, regardless of who you vote for, please, go and put a cross in a box 🗳️

With just 18 days until the Senedd elections, today is the last day to register to vote. If you’re not on the electoral roll yet, go to vote.wales before midnight tonight. This election feels different and not just because we are electing 96 Members to a reformed Senedd with new powers and new constituencies. This is a genuine chance for Wales to reset, to demand better public services, to tackle the housing crisis, to fix our NHS waiting lists, to protect our language and culture, and to start closing the prosperity gap. But real change only happens when we understand the problems properly In the first place, and that’s why I am a champion of @WillHayCardiff’s brilliant new book - Who Cares About Wales? Why the Welsh Need to Get Angry. Will lays out exactly why so many people in Wales feel overlooked, frustrated, and sometimes forgotten and why that anger could actually be the fuel we need to build something better. There’s also a lush forward by the fabulous @carolvorders! If you want to go into this election informed, fired up, and understanding of the deeper challenges we face (instead of just the usual soundbites you see from politicians), this book is essential reading. When I finished it I genuinely thought differently about Cymru’s potential. To get the conversation going, I’m going to gift 10 copies of the book. If you’d like one, just DM me. There’s no catch, I just want more people across Wales reading this ahead of the election. Wales deserves better but we only get better if we show up, get informed, and get angry in the right way 👌