Author: neil

The best recommendation you can have is a happy customer.

It was sensational to see that in action today. I was invited to present on the innovation work that my team does to a new team. Rather than put a pack together, I asked a senior colleague who we’ve worked with extensively to give his colleagues (he’s new to this team) an overview. I could not have asked for a better introduction.  Thank you TS!

While words and language have power, having someone you trust extol a product’s – or person’s – characteristics is even more powerful. Do good work, then ask the people who’ve benefited to support you. That’s a lesson worth remembering.

The day ended with a Board meeting that involved a disciplinary proceeding. The person concerned stood by their actions because they believed that they were right, even though they contravened the agreement they signed up to. Integrity and honor upheld, even when the proceedings got hot. I was an observer, and it was hard to watch.

I distantly observe the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The emotions I’m feeling are alike to those I felt when I heard about Aaron Schwartz’s suicide. I can’t do anything about them, I don’t know them personally, and yet the humanity in each one of us pleads and tugs at our heartstrings, at the horror of the circumstances that lead people to kill others, or kill themselves.

 

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

I have to cogitate on that quote tonight. I’ve been watching people jostle to take credit for a few products my team & I have created from nothing, literally, from thin air.  Why is it that the hangers-on appear just after the hard work is done, and yet the creators have to fight for the crumbs of resources, people, money, and time?

There are moments when you feel the time is just.. perfect. Whatever it may be: telling someone how you feel about them, saying thank you, a pat on the back, a caress of the cheek, a text message, a phone call.

I had one such opportunity today to share the story of the women who work with me today. It didn’t feel right to do it myself, so I got a friend to do it for me. I’m grateful that I have friends who I can lean on, particularly when I feel that doing so would be a humble-brag or tooting my own trumpet.

I’m also hooked up to a machine today that will measure how well I sleep. My significant other, who’s never missed an opportunity to needle me about my snoring burst into laughter when she saw me with all these wires protruding from my head and chest. I’ll have had it on for 16 hours before I can tear it off me.

Hemingway readability: Grade 6

The last fortnight has felt like a blur. Writing the day’s memorable experience has been a good way to keep track.  Little things and big things, little frustrations and big joys.  8 weeks into the year, and I’m consistently tackling several meaningful projects.

• • Wordsmith subscription gave me a quote to write, and a human to connect with on the other side of the world.
  • Got frustrated with “the process” of corporate pole-climbing. I wrote a long letter to myself, exploring my feelings about work, and the options I have. Executed on a few of them.
  • My colleagues gave me a strong dose of inspiration to deal with the cynicism. Thanks JJ & KF
  • I practised listening, and what I heard gave me ideas to craft stories. Those stories affected the narrators, myself and eventually over 100 people.
  • A community formed around a work idea I helped to create. It’s taking on a life of its own, and gives me more material to craft more, other, better possibilities.
  • Strategizing in a volunteer capacity was draining, yet rewarding.
  • I began the exercise of writing the opposite party’s argument for them. Challenging.
  • I had loads of conversations that helped people. (I need to write more details!)
  • I saw the power of ‘owning your story’ before delivering it in front of an audience.
  • Someone recognised my combinatorial skills, and I received an invitation to speak to strategists about presentation skills – it surprised me.
  • One of the best Talks I’ve hosted was delivered by 3 women who would not ever be picked up to do a public speech. I was also devastated by my own speculation about how the “jobs for the boys” played out.
  • I wrote 250 days on a day I did not feel like writing. I simply wrote out how I was feeling, and the questions I was asking myself.
  • The volunteer job has become a non-trivial investment of time. I am  doing much of the writing for the grant application, and some of the coordination too. It feels disappointing to be let down by people not living up to their part, or perhaps procrastinating on it.
  • Got on top of tax and finance documentation, and ready to tackle the next phase of investments.
  • Created a set of drone imagery for our local community garden.
  • Kept up with daily writing and calligraphy. Wrote a bunch of wedding invites for a friend. Found a book “Finding your element” by Ken Robinson at a community event. Read “Draft No. 4” and got through a couple of chapters of “Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow”.
  • Read through my blogroll in a 6 hour block. Shared a number of interesting links with a couple of people I am going to create a “communal learning” group with.

I am never short of activities to do. The question to ask myself is: What are all activities these for? Why do I do what I do? And what am I not doing that I could be?

 

Volunteering affords an interesting learning experience. Your skills are gratefully accepted. Your time is well invested. Your relationships strengthened.

Persuading people to hold organisational purpose above their personal ones, particularly after their long involvement is an interesting learning experience. While I do not have to do that, observing how these are navigated has been truly relevatory.
My style of engagement is coaching, not directing. I’m in awe of how my colleagues engage with strong personalities who don’t respond well to coaching. I get to see both sides as a confidante, and I learn from both.
I have spent several hours today with a grant application. I wrote most of it, while a volunteer is collating the documents required. Deadlines have appeared, and our collating volunteer is struggling to keep up. It’s disappointing to have to stay up late when all the information was with them two weeks ago. Ah, well!

Hemingway readability: Grade 7