Author: neil

Spencerian: John Naughton

”Three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write.” – Anthony Trollope

He would know. According to some reports, he paid a servant an extra £5 a year to wake him up at 5:30 am every morning and get him a cup of coffee. Trollope would then work on a novel for three hours. The first half hour was spent reading over what he had already written, and after that he wrote at a pace of 250 words per 15 minutes. So, over three hours, he would write approximately 2,500 words.

Range of Emotions

I wrote for over 30 minutes this morning in my journal, and felt in the flow. I wrote to the me in the audience, and how I wanted me to feel. Through the course of the day I felt the whole range of emotions – fear, joy, exhilaration, gratitude, anger, calmness, fear, a sense of satisfaction when the whole thing was over, did I say fear?

I asked far more questions today of several people, and got some useful insights. I was able to help several people, and forgot to connect with a few others.

I learnt how to draw an ellipse using the four point method, because my daughter was struggling with her homework. Breaking it down into easy steps was made even easier by someone who’d posted it on YouTube. She went from frustration and anxiety to being in control and even taking a break!

It’s been an wonderful day of learning and connecting with humans. I hope at the very least, I have a few people thinking about problem spaces rather than problems, and how to reduce both.

 

Learning in public

The experiment I have set in motion is on tomorrow. My preparation, as much as I have done it, is under strain. A few key people I had thought would be there to contribute have had significant personal challenges to deal with.  There’s quite a few people who can’t/ won’t make it.

The primary objective of my experiment is to invite people to feel safe to share their ideas. Many do already. This is for the silent majority that I can not meet individually but who I trust are as creative as everyone else to join in. They show up all the time, and yet hold a little back.

I get to learn and practice my facilitation, leadership and synthesizing skills. In public.

I read the first few pages of “The Metaphors We Live By” today. It’s felt like an update of my Operating System!

I asked for help from a few people, and some agreed! Others gave me an opportunity to practice my persuasion skills.

I wrote for twenty minutes this morning in a journal, and for twenty more transcribing the first paragraph of “The Metaphors…” in Spencerian.

I learned that under the veneer of control, several close friends are struggling with their fears. Some are learning how to be vulnerable despite their fears of being vulnerable.

I most felt at ease with myself, my thoughts, and my emotions. I felt enormous gratitude for someone who’s helped me – and my team – survive through challenging budgetary times, and is about to depart. I also felt enormous pride in the tribe that I work with.

Scary

Doing something big yet personally meaningfully is scary. Worrying that it isn’t perfect, that it doesn’t meet the (imaginary) standards that other people have for it, that it might not be successful, the pressures are endless. And because of that, most of these ideas remain just that.

I felt fear, and I took a leap of faith today. I’ve set things in motion that can only result in learning and perhaps personal embarassment. I can, and will, prepare of course. I know what it’s for, and who it’s for, and what the constraints are. I don’t know if the outcomes will match my hopes or expectations. In the process of discovering it, I will learn things I won’t have a clue about while I’m preparing.

I learnt today that even when someone is keen to know more about a subject, the environment they have to do that in will make a huge difference. There were workmen who could only attend today, at the very time we were speaking, and it turned into a splitting headache for me, and a series of embarassing apologies for the other person. I could have quite as easily moved our session to a later hour/day.

Re-read the “From Problems to Problem Spaces” blog again today. A few pages of Daniel Kahneman’s book later tonight.

Asked a few questions today, both at work and at home, and truly listened to the answers. I also asked questions and got distracted when the other person spoke; happened more times than I will admit.

 

 

 

Spencerian: The Flux Collective

it might be useful to pause and examine the norms and incentive structures still in place from those exuberant days of heedless problem-solving. These structures now lock the organization in place with paralyzing might. Solving problems is still the currency of the organization, but that currency dries up when there’s an implicit “without creating new ones” requirement added.

We need a shift in perspective. What if, instead of looking at individual problems, we visualize the set of related problems, both solved and created, as a problem space? This problem space shrinks and grows depending on the actions of those who work within it. If the problem space shrinks, the team is doing good work. If the problem space grows, the team is struggling.

Health check

Spent two hours at the hospital, learning about spirometry and lung capacity and how to read charts and sampling and adjustments. It was an interesting experience blowing air through a mouthpiece, almost a full workout. The tests seemed to have ruled out upper respiratory infection at the present moment anyway, and a follow up appointment with the specialist should confirm next steps.

Keeping track of food intake – when I eat, how many times through the day, the choices of food, the emotion I feel when craving food, the emotion after eating. Paper and pen will work just fine.

The havoc wreaked by the storms is very visible on the beaches.  Volunteers and council are doing their best to tidy them up, and there’s still an awful lot of detritus – and mammoth logs – washed up.  The frothy surf makes the water hard to swim in too – and in due course will tidy itself up too, I suppose.

 

Sprint 5: Activity

I got lots of things done this sprint, sure.   Reading the daily blog is a good way to remind myself what they were 🙂 Lots of activity, a few accomplishments.

I learnt not to forget preparation when speaking.  The weather reminded us to not forget Nature’s power. I put my foot in my mouth again, and bought a couple of books instantly to learn how not to say things in translation. I’ve read a few books, and applied the ideas.

I started writing for 20 minutes  this week, long hand, inspired by Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages.  The exercise has been cathartic when I’ve done it – my mind is calmer throughout the day, and I have more ‘mental room’ to deal with things.

Finances and taxes got the attention they needed, and back in order. That was a weight off my shoulders.

My family got the attention they hadn’t been getting, due to my long hours helping the speakers with their talks. I got both quality and quantity time with the people I most love and want to be around. The benefits are not measurable in the short term.

I’m drawn to the idea of systems and long-term impact. Helping people turns my creative juices on. All the reading I do on various subjects helps me help them more effectively. This fortnight: Speech-writing, crafting stories and presentations, creating narratives that resonate and cause action, connecting several people, financial reviews, grant applications, joining several dots at work and in my local community.

Health takes front-stage this next fortnight.  Follow through on the intent with Yoga mornings, walks at lunch-hour, and inhaling Nature in the evenings. A couple of medical appointments feature in this fortnight, all going well.