How would your colleagues describe you in one sentence?
“Colourful”. Oh wait, A whole sentence? I would like them to say that I like pushing the envelope a lot, that I push extremely hard on quality and proactivity, up to the point where a team comes back and says: `Enough! We are already going at the maximum pace that we can, the maximum quality that we can, given the constraints. Enough`. I really like that.
Name some books/tutorials/speeches that had an effect on your career path.
I read a lot of books. The most recent one is Google Design Sprints, which is about how Google initiates projects, tries new user interface approaches and new products in just one week. Our approach and process in Endava Labs are very similar.
What advice would you give yourself if you were starting work at Endava today?
There are a couple of things about Endava. One is, if you have a good idea, no one at Endava will turn around and say: ‘It’s a great idea! Go for it!.’ Endava is much more entrepreneurial and autonomous than that. My advice would be to stop waiting for the go-ahead and just start doing it.
Tell us more about yourself outside of work
Firstly, I have a nice large family. We have 4 children and they all keep me very busy. I also have lots of hobbies! People at Endava know that I try climbing a major mountain every other year, the most recent one being Kilimanjaro, which was two years ago. I also climbed some mountains in Retezat in Romania with some Endava colleagues. I’ve done loads of mountaineering in the UK too. I’m planning on climbing Mont Blanc next year.
As well as that, I am also a Scout leader. Every Monday night I lead a very successful team of Scouts - 30 kids aged between 10 and 14 and I am really proud of that. I also run 3 camps a year ranging from a weekend to a 8 days long camp in the summer, some of them being international too.
Other hobbies of mine: I am really into cycling, I cycle over 20km to work every day and run about 400 miles a year – a lot of that is to raise money for charity, including the work we did with Beazley on a hackathon last December where we had to run or cycle 200 kilometres during the event. Every year I set some physical and spiritual goals to achieve: 2 years ago I ran my first marathon at the age of 42 and last year I completed one of the stages of the Tour de France called “E’tape” on a road bike - that was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done.
Last but not least, tell us how your passions have contributed to your day-to-day job?
I love what I do; I am totally and truly passionate about what I get to do every day – inside and outside of work. Outside of work I keep a technology blog (
https://www.bradbox.com/blog/) that I have maintained for several years. I write about similar Topics that I deal with at work. Obviously, I do not divulge anything that is secret, but I like to share and analyse trends. The blog generates a fair amount of traffic, which is growing all the time. The reason for the Bradbox name is because that is how my grandfather called me, and it just stuck.
We tend to work on innovation projects within Endava Labs, obviously, but I like to personally dabble around with some of those things a few months in advance before they hit the industry.