Doug Belshaw
LightNews LightNews
banner
dougbelshaw.com
Doug Belshaw
@dougbelshaw.com
760 followers 760 following 1.3K posts
"If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again." (Groucho Marx)

Founding member of We Are Open Co-op. General man about town.

🟡 Some capacity for new projects
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
dougbelshaw.com
Doug Belshaw @dougbelshaw.com · Nov 18
👋 Hi, I'm Doug. I deleted my Twitter account in 2019 as I could see the way the wind was blowing.

I'm part of a #coop focusing on #learning, #technology, and #community.

Probably best known for my work on #OpenBadges and #DigitalLiteracies

Currently studying towards an MSc in #SystemsThinking
dougbelshaw.com
Some of your worst decisions probably came from your "best" analysis.

New post on why over-optimised, purely rational decision-making can backfire – and how to bring head and body back into the process:

blog.dougbelshaw.com/decision-mak...

#DecisionMaking #SystemsThinking #Leadership
Why your worst decision probably came from your best analysis
When we stop trying to choose between our head and our gut, we are more likely to bring our full intelligence to work.
blog.dougbelshaw.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Doug Belshaw
danhon.com
"what if our universe is a computer simulation" vs "what if our universe is the output of a generative AI model" ohhhhh now more of it makes sense
January 21, 2026 at 12:55 AM
dougbelshaw.com
LinkedIf: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/20/linkedif.html
Auto-generated description: A group of people stands outside a large, narrow building with a sign labeled Entry Level, while a man carries an AI box on the side.
January 20, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Doug Belshaw
coldwarsteve.bsky.social
January 19, 2026 at 9:12 PM
dougbelshaw.com
“I'm not paranoid, and nor am I a privacy absolutist. Instead, it's about matching my tool choices to my actual requirements. I handle client data and can now say “my email, files, and calendar is encrypted end-to-end and the provider has zero access”.”
January 19, 2026 at 3:43 PM
dougbelshaw.com
🚨 NHS England is rolling out Palantir software for our health records - handing huge power to a US firm with a track record in surveillance, military technology and human rights abuses.

Email your local Trust and say NO to Palantir in the NHS: notopalantir.goodlawproject.org/email-to-tar...
Say no to Palantir in the NHS
NHS England is rolling out software to run our health records from Palantir - fight back
notopalantir.goodlawproject.org
January 19, 2026 at 11:30 AM
dougbelshaw.com
After more than a decade, I've moved my consultancy business from Google Workspace to Proton.

blog.dougbelshaw.com/google-to-pr...
How and why I've migrated from from Google to Proton
I'm not suggesting everyone should follow this path, but this is simply the best choice I've found that aligns with how I think about digital sovereignty and who I want controlling my data.
blog.dougbelshaw.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Doug Belshaw
dougbelshaw.com
What I've been up to this week blog.dougbelshaw.com/weeknote-03-...
Weeknote 03/2026
More generally, it’s not beginnings and ends that count, but middles. Things and thoughts advance or grow out from the middle, and that’s where you have to get to work, that’s where everything unfolds...
blog.dougbelshaw.com
January 18, 2026 at 1:03 PM
dougbelshaw.com
What I've been up to this week blog.dougbelshaw.com/weeknote-03-...
Weeknote 03/2026
More generally, it’s not beginnings and ends that count, but middles. Things and thoughts advance or grow out from the middle, and that’s where you have to get to work, that’s where everything unfolds...
blog.dougbelshaw.com
January 18, 2026 at 1:03 PM
dougbelshaw.com
What’s strange is how little of that generosity we extend to each other: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/17/whats-strange-is-how-little.html
Auto-generated description: A man in a layered digital art composition combines real and abstract elements, with a background of blue sky and geometric patterns.
January 17, 2026 at 9:54 AM
dougbelshaw.com
Time appears in this 3D sort of calendar pattern: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/17/time-appears-in-this-d.html
Auto-generated description: A swirling abstract pattern in deep blue resembles an inkblot on a light grey background.
January 17, 2026 at 9:41 AM
dougbelshaw.com
Somewhere I'd like to spend some time: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/17/somewhere-id-like-to-spend.html
Auto-generated description: A solitary white chair is placed beside a small stream surrounded by dense, lush green trees.
January 17, 2026 at 9:26 AM
dougbelshaw.com
Postal Arbitrage: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/17/postal-arbitrage.html
Auto-generated description: A list of food items, including lime, drink mix, gravy mix, ramen noodles, and pasta, with their respective prices is displayed.
January 17, 2026 at 9:22 AM
dougbelshaw.com
The Cost of American Exceptionalism: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/17/the-cost-of-american-exceptionalism.html
Auto-generated description: A comprehensive infographic displays various statistics highlighting differences in economy, equality, family, livability, institutions, and justice between the United States and OECD averages.
January 17, 2026 at 8:48 AM
dougbelshaw.com
Bottom-up (systems) thinking: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/17/bottomup-systems-thinking.html
Auto-generated description: A book with the text wanting always interrupts being is open at the beach, with sand and water in the background.
January 17, 2026 at 8:44 AM
dougbelshaw.com
LinkedIf: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/16/linkedif.html
Auto-generated description: A LinkedIn post by Jamie Hardesty discusses the implications of invoking the truth without naming the thing and avoiding facts.
January 16, 2026 at 12:39 PM
dougbelshaw.com
We will no longer have the conspiracy nonsense about state control: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/16/we-will-no-longer-have.html
Tinfoil hat
January 16, 2026 at 10:09 AM
dougbelshaw.com
We experience the externalities of hte attention economy in little drips: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/16/we-experience-the-externalities-of.html
January 16, 2026 at 9:54 AM
dougbelshaw.com
If execution is no longer the differentiator, what is?: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2026/01/16/if-execution-is-no-longer.html
Auto-generated description: A series of intricate, wavy white lines on a black background creates an abstract, topographic-like pattern.
January 16, 2026 at 9:50 AM
dougbelshaw.com
"We use frameworks to organise complexity. But if we don't regularly examine frameworks themselves, become the complexity from which we're trying to escape. It's a paradox."
January 14, 2026 at 3:06 PM
dougbelshaw.com
Framework fundamentalism: when your thinking tools become thinking cages.

Anarchist theory + pragmatist philosophy = liberation through temporariness

blog.dougbelshaw.com/cognitive-autonomous-zones/

#SystemsThinking #Strategy #CriticalThinking
Cognitive Autonomous Zones: against “framework fundamentalism”
Anti-frameworks are temporary structures for thinking, tools tested by consequences rather than dogmas defended against experience.
blog.dougbelshaw.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:54 AM
dougbelshaw.com
"You are here. In 2026. Systems are tangled, feedback loops are everywhere, time delays mask cause and effect, and linear thinking fails constantly. The mental models that help you see that clearly are your compass to navigating the polycrisis."
January 13, 2026 at 2:24 PM
dougbelshaw.com
I wrote about the mental models we actually need for 2026. Less "climb the ladder," more "survive the polycrisis"

blog.dougbelshaw.com/mental-model...

#SystemsThinking #Education #Economics
You are here: mental models for 2026
Systems are tangled, feedback loops are everywhere, time delays mask cause and effect, and linear thinking fails constantly. The mental models that help you see that clearly are your compass to naviga...
blog.dougbelshaw.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:31 AM
dougbelshaw.com
Shared this in multiple places and it is actually incredible how much people will not actually read what you write, but rather set you up as a strawman so they can vent their frustrations about AI in general.
January 12, 2026 at 3:46 PM
dougbelshaw.com
AI writes the code. You’re still responsible. New post on what that means for non‑developers building software:

blog.dougbelshaw.com/ai-code/ #AI #DigitalLiteracies
You can ask AI to write the code, but the hard part is... everything after that
Code is becoming cheap. Care, it turns out, is not.
blog.dougbelshaw.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:10 AM