Author: neil

Commuting an hour and a half each way sucks. It’s exhausting, energy levels were lowest when I finally reached home. Adapting to this is extended period of absence from home is not easy for the domestic environment either. Why did we do this unthinking commute for years?

Meeting people in person allows some things to progress, and others to slow right down. Being deliberate in how we work, particularly when in the office, is not a choice most people seem willing to do. I observed most people glued to their screens in the office. I don’t quite understand the desire to get everyone into the office – it feels more “cult-ish” than “culture” to me. If the whole team isn’t going to be meeting in person, if the team is scattered across multiple cities, why gather in a central location requiring a 11 hour day for most people?

I’m grateful that I still have the opportunity to continue working from home, with a supportive group of peers. We make things happen without needing us to be physically present, even though it grates on our own selves sometimes.

I’ve been invited to talk to a group of emerging leaders in a week from now, on a topic that their mentors recognise as missing: speaking succinctly.

I don’t often know why I’m speaking, let alone what the point is. I beat around the bush. I speak in metaphors no one seems to understand at first, so I spend time explaining what the metaphor was. I’m so busy thinking a reply to the person speaking that I forget to listen. Because I’ve not listened, I misinterpret what was being said while attempting to pretend that I understood. And on and on.

Early in my career, I was lucky to be handed a couple of audiobooks by two master craftsmen of the spoken word: Bob Proctor and Jim Rohn. I listened to their talks on repeat on my drive to and back from work. I listened to them so many times that I could recite their talks verbatim.  Some ideas made perfect sense. Others took a while, sometimes even years.

For me, Jim Rohn’s message boiled down to this: “Have something good to say. Then say it well.” 

Sincerity. Repetition. Brevity. Style. Vocabulary.

It’s what you say, and how you say it.

The time’s they are a’changin! – Bob Dylan.

The clock went back an hour this morning, and I took more advantage of an extra couple of hours of sleep. The rest is certainly doing me good.

I finally got my project finished this afternoon. Not the finish I was hoping for – and a good reason why I might want to learn how to do book binding. The contributors to the project will be pleased too, I hope.

On a drive, saw a car wrap advertisement for guitar making courses. Craftsmanship exists everywhere, and I’m noticing it more and more lately. I found a few pictures online yesterday that I started to sketch, and was pleasing to discover I could, still. It’s been nearly 3 decades since I deliberately sketched something.

 

I’ve been focused on a project throughout this week, culminating in a trip to the local stationery shop this afternoon. Writing, finessing, crafting, redrafting, writing it out – the one skill I felt missing was book-binding! A substantial amount of time later, I feel exhausted and satisfied. The end result wil be available to see tomorrow at 4 pm.

Craftsmanship will likely never go out of fashion. Regardless of how much automation and machine work takes over much of artisanship, handmade stuff still says “I cared enough to make this a labour of love.” That is reason enough to keep at my craft, all of them.

 

I struggled with my morning pages today. I woke up later than usual, reached for my phone, had the morning chores, and by the time I sat down to write, I was annoyed at myself. That gives no chance for me to get into the flow. I did write several pages of calligraphy that I won’t share here, but a quote for today is still due.

I learned how to ask questions that offers stories instead of answers. (HT Rob Walker). I practised them along with my Toastmasters colleagues and it surfaced some deep, intimate stories that would otherwise have never been shared.

I felt pleased that I was able to bring another 50 or so people together today to listen to a colleague’s amazing campervan adventure, dodging lockdowns while working from the remotest regions of Australia.  Guilt, shame, pride, joy, happiness, laughter, all popped up at various times during the day.

I didn’t have a chance to read much today – browsing reddit doesn’t count. That, thankfully, was not out of control, a few minutes perhaps.

I asked at least three people about their experiences that few seem to be interested in, and yet are a great opportunity for improvement. The insights have helped shape a conversation I have tomorrow. Some more preparation necessary.

Responding to a structure as simple as “What I wrote, felt, read, asked, learned” is useful to reflect on the day, particularly when mental and physical fatigue prevail over the desire to write.

 

Once every three weeks, my colleagues and I invest 90 minutes into what we’ve fondly termed “Learning Hour”. It’s a ritual we deliberately carved out after discovering, by accident, that we were spending most of our planning hour on reflections, and only a fraction of time on actual planning.  Making it a deliberate ritual opened up opportunities and conversations that were impossible otherwise, particularly when the team was split between two cities, and connected by a strand of light.

The quality of these conversations is astonishing. People feel safe to share their thoughts honestly even when they are the minority view. Often, they’re able to persuade the others to consider their point of view, and maybe even change their opinions. “Strong opinions, weakly held” means we can change our minds when the evidence is presented without losing face amongst peers.

There was a moving story shared today about a colleague from another team who has been an incredible supporter to one of us. The person may not be an “innovator” as the term applies yet has created and nourished a relationship that has allowed us to flourish in the face of challenges. They may not be remembered by the rest of the organistion but to us they are a legend.

 

In Dare to Lead, Brene Brown challenges the reader to find the two core values from a long list. It was an exercise I have put off because of course it is hard. This morning, sitting down with my notebook and pen, I marinated over the list, listing out about a dozen that resonated with me. Choosing two? Impossible in the moment.  Not impossible if I stay with it for a while, which I will do over the course of this week.

Ask, and you’ll be given. I did, and received – time with an expert I watched a few days ago, demonstrating the skills of synthesis, sense-making, rephrasing, distilling and clarifying are incredibly valuable when working with ideas. Remember to pay it forward too.

Early to bed, and early to rise. The benefit was 2.5 clear hours this morning. Keep that going will be useful – insanely valuable.