Im-plan-ovisation

Are you a planner or an improviser? Do you like to take time to asses all the options, develop a detailed plan - or run into the forest with no pants on and see what unfolds?

I’ve spent many years in operations roles, project manager roles and planning roles, so you would think I’m a planner. But I’m not, well, not entirely. I’ve joked before that the worst time to write a plan is before the project starts. You have the least amount of experience, least access to metrics, least access to information. But plan you must. (I’ve talked in another blog about directional leadership, which covers more about this if you are interested).

Now, I love a well-executed plan - some of the most cherished moments have been when I’m stood at the back of the room seeing a great plan rolling smoothly. But, at heart, I’m a seat-of-the-pants, the-curtain-is-open-let’s-rock kinda guy. I love improvising. I love creating new things. The thrill of the unknown is a huge lure for me. At the moment, I’m caught up in creating 10min long ambient solo-bass improvised soundscapes. (Make the art you want to feel, mmkay). Improvising music means I get to create something new, mix it and done. No going back and fiddling about getting it right. It’s done. And done is greater than perfect. The other advantage is, when I listen back, I’m still being surprised and I’m still experiencing new things. But, I digress.

What I want to talk about is im-plan-ovisation. It’s a plan, with a twist of improvisation. Or the other way around. (Probably the other way around). So, what’s the difference between ‘not having a clue’ and ‘improvising a solution’? What’s the difference between a kid who’s been playing guitar for 2 weeks playing a bunch of notes he’s never played before, and a great improviser like Steve Lawson (link here) playing a bunch of notes he’s never played before? Well, it’s 2 things;

• Preparation. Knowing what works, knowing what doesn’t work, knowing what could work and linking those all together takes practice.

• Outcome. Most of the time (the vast majority of the time) - the experienced improviser is going to produce something meaningful and something great. It’s possible that some beginner musicians who don’t understand music could produce something great (The Shaggs for example) but it’s not likely.

So, that’s where the hybrid: im-plan-ovisation comes in. It’s improvisation, with a plan. You need a solid foundation. We are going there to do this in order to create that. But you leave room to learn, to zig-zag, to add, to remove. Obviously, don’t add features to an agile sprint just because ‘fun’ but there are always learning opportunities, and a chance to make something new. Things happen in the middle of projects, and having an open mind and an agile team could mean a new idea, direction or widget could be added to make things better.

Now, this doesn’t mean all plans need to have some ‘magic’ part in the middle where (plot twist!) no-one knows what’s going to happen next. Some (most) plans run from A-Z with no wiggles, zig-zags or magic unicorn intervention. Great. Plus, surprises in business are usually expensive and unwanted.

Sidebar: about ‘leading with your gut’ or ‘instinctual leadership’ - and this can be the same as im-plan-ovisation. Feeling you way to a resolution is a similar thing. You know what success looks like, you’ve done this before - and the answer will present itself. But, be aware of the ‘trust me, I know what I’m doing’ moment, which can be hiding inexperience, over-confidence or just a bunch of BS.

In conclusion, don’t be afraid of not having all the answers - of not having the complete picture. Of not knowing all the moving parts in a situation. Educate yourself, practice your craft and surround yourself with experts you can trust. Know where you are going, and why.

The lights are on. The curtain is open. Time to rock.

Don’t worry, you’ll figure out what to do next.

Stay safe, and wash your hands you filthy animal.

(Don’t) enjoy the journey

It’s a common saying ‘enjoy the journey not the destination’ or ‘happiness is a journey not a destination’. There’s some truth in that - if we become fixated on the end result, the destination, then we might end up missing something along the way (like a view, a tree or a squirrel if we take this journey -> destination thing literally) or we wish-our-time-away with our eyes on the prize, the mountain, the end. But, what if the journey is tough, boring, repetitive, dull and so on. What if the journey is joyless? Hey, what if the journey isn’t meant to be enjoyed?

I’m a runner (though not so much this year as I tore my ACL in a skiing accident in 2019) and there are many, many times that I’ve not enjoyed running. I’ve not enjoyed the journey. I don’t love running as much as I love stopping. Then eating all the pizza and cake I can find. I found, over time, that the further I ran, the more I enjoyed stopping. And so I ran 10km, then half marathons then marathons. Stopping after running a marathon is euphoric. The sense of accomplishment, pride and inner strength is overpowering (I cried when I finished my 1st marathon). The food and drink consumed after a marathon is unbelievably good, your body is just craving fuel and tingles with joy when you re-fuel it. Running a marathon is tough. Often dull. Often painful. Generally not fun. I don’t enjoy running marathons. I enjoyed having RAN a marathon.

Learning to drive is also dull. It’s technical, stressful, confusing, and just hard. Funny thing is no one ever tells you to enjoy a driving lesson. Enjoy the journey! Learning to drive isn’t supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be education. If your driving lessons are fun, then you (or your instructor) are doing-it-wrong. I didn’t enjoy learning to drive. I enjoyed being ABLE to drive and the freedom it gave me.

Music is a passion of mine, I’ve been playing music for probably 40+ years of my existence and I’m sure I’ll continue playing music till the point at which I can’t. I’ve spent a few of those 40 years (not enough) learning how to play music. I’ve had formal tuition at school, college and music schools. On both piano and bass guitar. I’ve learnt how to read music, chords, theory and elements of song-writing and music production. Lots of that learning has been academic. Scales, arpeggios, ii V I progressions. Music theory is quite dry at times. I spent maybe a year or so at college learning how to harmonise a 4-part Bach chorale. Most of that was painfully dull. If the lessons were in the afternoon then I’d often been in the pub at lunchtime (another story for another time) which made it more tolerable, but less musical. I’ve also had lots of fun music lessons with laughs and banter. And though I know both approaches are valid, I learnt far more (and more useful) in the dull lessons than the fun ones. I didn’t enjoy learning music. I enjoyed having LEARNT music and being able to make music I love with people I care about.

When I’m running or doing chores I often listen to audio books. I alternate between sci-fi (just finished Ready Player TWO (not as good as Ready Player ONE, but still good)) and something educational. My educational choices could be philosophy, history, business related. I do enjoy reading the sci-fi books (oh no, I enjoyed the journey! My blog is a hoax and contradictory! Nah.) but the educational ones, not so much. I read them because I want to have the knowledge that is inside them. I don’t always enjoy reading, but I always enjoy having READ.

(okay, I’m done with examples and metaphors. I feel like I’m labouring the point).

To summarise;

The journey is just the journey. You don’t have to enjoy it. It’s often not fun, and it mostly isn’t supposed to be.

Learning to read music is boring. But being able to read music is joyous.

Running is dull and hard work. But being fit and health is invaluable.

Learning to drive is technical and stressful. But being able to drive gives you freedom.

Reading academic books is dry and often tedious. But having knowledge of the world around us gives us wisdom.

• For teachers - you don’t have to make your lessons fun. You have to make them valuable. Fun is a distraction from the work.

• For students - you don’t have to enjoy your lessons. It’s not meant to be fun, it’s meant to be work. If you’re having fun, you probably aren’t paying attention.

Last thought, if you focus your energy on trying to enjoy the journey and you can’t, then you’ll probably give up. But if you understand that the destination is the goal, then you can hunker down and do-the-work.

Bye-for-now, keep safe, keep healthy and rock on.

What’s your superpower?

Do you have a special skill, a unique attribute, a magical force that makes you different from everyone else? Something you have honed and practiced and poured your passion into for many years? Of course you do. We all do, just that maybe you didn’t find it yet.

I grew up with cartoon superheroes, like Superman, Spiderman, The Hulk and Wonder Woman. They were all normal(ish) people who could transform into something ‘extra’. It usually involved lycra and some crappy visual effects in the 80’s but the important part was their superpower. This was the thing they did that made them special. Unique. Valuable. Many of them found / were given their powers by accident but in all cases there was a time when they had to hone their skills and find out what they could be used for.

What’s this got to do with anything hey? Well, for many years I’ve been asking interview candidates about their special skills. Framed as part of a discussion about T-shaped people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shaped_skills where I’ll talk about a general set of skills (communication, punctuality, organisation and so on) that is complemented by a speciality. I am always thinking about how a new hire can fit into the team. I assume they can all do what we are hiring them for - but what else do they bring? It’s doesn’t have to be the ability to cut mountains in half with a thought, it can be a simple as ‘I love to learn and share’ or ‘I can spot a lie from a helicopter’ or ‘I’m great at bringing people together’.

It can be a bit of an ambush question, very few people have a pre-prepared answer, but it always (mostly always..) results in a dialogue about the person, their interests outside of work and a better view of themselves. And that’s what I find interesting - AND it often makes the interview less formal and more friendly. I’ve hired lots of business development / sales development people over the years and getting them to talk freely and passionately about things they care about tells me a lot about how they will adapt to selling.

So, a couple of times recently I’ve been asked ‘what’s your superpower Steve?’. And it has caught me off guard (Ha! That’ll teach me). I’ve asked the question plenty of times, but rarely been asked it. I’m not sure I’ve really honed my answer yet (that’s why I’m writing this…) but I’ve formulated a framework. I’ll reveal my superpower at the end. :-)

So, a superpower has to be more than a skill (speaking French, or being able to fix a car) or a party trick (juggling, riding a unicycle or walking on your hands). A superpower (my definition) is that it should be;

• Unique (or at least your version of it)

• Meaningful (being able to tell if a egg is boiled or not by sniffing it could be useful but it’s not meaningful)

• Makes an impact (when you execute this skill, something amazing happens)

• Means something to you (you have to have passion about it, or else it’s like King Midas, you’ve got this amazing skill, but you don’t want it)

• Effortless (to you)

*Feel free to add your own or disagree with me, I’ve not got the copyright on this.

You might not know what your superpower is yet, but your friends and colleagues do. This is one of the best ways to find out. The other way is to spend some time thinking about when you find yourself in ‘the zone’. When the work is ‘flowing’ and you get that ‘zen-like’ feeling that this is just so easy and I’m Getting It Done(tm).

It’s really important to find out because, otherwise (as my wife has catch-phrased) ‘what’s the point of you?’ (she doesn’t direct this at me of course, well, not often). Once you know and understand your superpower, the unique you-ness(tm) of you, then you can apply your skills to make big changes with little effort. And that (to me) sounds like an amazing way to spend your time.

Maybe I’ll run some Find Your Superpower workshops. Anyone interested?

In short - your superpower is the way that your harness your unique skills, passions and expertise to make a meaningful impact on things that matter. All the time looking cool and feeling chill.

I guess that’s all I have to say about that - you made it to the end - yay. Well done, you can have an extra merit. So, what’s my superpower? I did promise to tell. Well, I would say it’s my ability to see end-less possibilities to success from any challenge, then formulate a practical plan to get there. And my sub-power is playing improvised, ambient solo bass soundscapes.

I’m available to hire for either of the above superpowers if you wish, and can do both remotely.

Oh hey, final thought, next time you can in a job interview (as a candidate) - ask the interviewer what their superpower is. :-)

Be good, be safe, behave.

Steve.

Are we there yet?

I don’t know about you, but it feels like I’ve been on this journey for at least 6 months. It’s not that I’ve been bored or struggling to fill my time, it’s more about where my long-term focus has been. I’ve realised that I’ve given away my power to enjoy the now in return for the anticipation of knowing that normality has returned. We have arrived. It’s over. But when?

It’s a cliché right? Enjoy the journey, not the destination. Turns out when you don’t know where you are going, then it’s hard to focus on the journey, never mind enjoy it.

Some people are on a normal path. My wife is pretty much carrying on as normal, her work hasn’t changed, only her environment. Some are on a not-normal path. My eldest son was due to take GCSE exams (would have started this week) and his life is completely changed. No exams, virtual learning, no contact with friends.

Some people are baking, some are learning a new language, some are doing unlimited exercise (ha!), some are ignoring the rules. But most of us (sorry to generalise) are just trying to keep going right? Wake up, breakfast, make your bed (it’s the 1st step to success!) brush your teeth, then… something, and repeat. With no sign of the kids going back to school, friends over for bbq, summer holidays, it’s going to be a long 5-months. 113 days till September 3rd when term might begin again.

Personally, I jump between wanting rigid structure, plans and deadlines and wanting open space and nothingness. I do spend a lot of time wondering / worrying about my 2 kids and how to occupy their minds / bodies with useful information and activities for the best part of half a year. I think it’s going to get a bit easier once we are allowed ‘out’ more. Parks, galleries, museums, castles and beaches are such great places to spend time and thoughts, and I really miss days out right now.

So, knowing that the destination is unclear, the time of arrival is unclear, the only thing I’ve got control of is the journey. It’s up to me how I occupy my time and how I encourage others to do so. Actually having less freedom, less options actually gives me a better chance to get things done.

Now, I’m not saying that we all have to become bi-lingual, mono-cycling triathletes before September, in fact, please don’t. Well, if you want to, go right ahead. What I’m saying is, understand there’s a bunch of things we have no control over, but there’s more things that we do have control over. We have control over how we live each day and how we spend our time. How we guide and influence and how we love. Be aware of the things you can control and take control of those things.

Make sure the destination you have in mind is one you can reach, that you know how to get there and take active steps every day to make progress towards the destination. You’ll never have to ask ‘are we there yet’ ever again, because you will know when you have arrived.

Take care of each other.

Shall we play a game?

I’ve been playing games my whole life. And so have you. From your very 1st steps, very 1st words to playing chess, monopoly, dating, politics and job interviews, it’s all games. In my experience, games are just problem solving, with added fun. Some games are really easy, like tic-tac-toe / noughts and crosses or snap. Some games are a little harder, like chess, go or poker. But they all have a bunch of similar traits that compel us to play more, try harder, beat the next boss.

Games draw us in and encourage us to be things we can’t (yet) be in meat-space. Like an astronaut, plumber or a blue hedgehog, all while teaching valuable lessons. And they can serve a great purpose when designed and directed properly.

Some of you might have heard about the 10,000 hour rule. Malcolm Gladwell in his book ‘Outliers’ said that “The principle holds that 10,000 hours of "deliberate practice" are needed to become world-class in any field.” According to a US study, the average gamer will have spent around 10,000 hours gaming by the age of 21. *10,000 hours is also equivalent to the time spent in school from 5th grade to high-school graduation (for the UK / Europe this is secondary school through to end of college (10-18)). Interesting.

So, we have a whole generation (including myself…) who grew up playing video games and in plenty of cases we are pretty bloody good at some. But as adults, it’s not quite so cool to be into games. Especially at work. But games are how we learnt everything in the past. About problem solving, social interaction and how to save the earth from asteroids. Why don’t we continue? When did games become ‘for the kids’?

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing teams over the years and be part of some high-energy business development / sales development groups. One thing that always brought people together and raised the energy level was games. Competing for prizes, leaderboards and glory brings out the best in people, focuses the mind and stops work feeling so 'worky’. People can solve amazingly complex problems though play - and will be relentless and determined like nothing else when it comes to getting to the end-goal.

There’s a story (with some historical evidence that it was actually true) about the Maeonians in the 2nd millennium BC who survived a 18-year famine (18 years!) by alternating between playing games one day and then eating on the next day. The game playing was so distracting that they didn’t pay attention to their hunger and so survived for much longer than they ever could without games. I’m sure you’ve all got examples of yourselves (or your kids) forgetting to eat because you were in the middle of an incredible game.

I’ve been wondering recently whether there is some way to gamify ‘social distancing’ to help us though our current pandemic. Like the opposite of fitbit. Points, badges and leaderboards for not moving or leaving the house. Hmmm, it’s a work-in-progress. I’ll keep you informed.

In the meantime, there are loads of ways of bringing gamification to your teams and to your customers. There’s a great book I just finished reading called ‘Actionable Gamification’ by Yu-kai Chou. He’s built a framework of 8 elements that any gamification system should / could contain. I’m not going to list them here (read the book, give me a call etc. if you want more info) but I’d like to highlight the most important one to me. Number one is the beginning of everything - ‘Meaning’. Or ‘Epic Meaning’ if you are feeling awesome.

Every game needs an Epic Meaning. What’s the quest? What’s the goal? Save the princess, slay the dragon, destroy the meteorite, solve the puzzle and so on. It’s similar to the ‘Start with Why’ methodology from Simon Sinek that I also love.

If you want a game to be great, if you want your teams to be great, if you want your customers to love what you do - then start with an Epic Meaning. Define the quest. Articulate the purpose. Give your dragon, princess or meteorite a name and tell the story. People love stories and they will love your story, once they understand the goal. Once you have defined the meaning then get everyone to play. Make it fun, make it meaningful, use intrinsic and extrinsic motivators - build problems with unexpected twists. Reward the winners, but make it fun. Gamification is everywhere, from Music Grades to Karate Belts, Airline Gold Cards and Foursquare Mayorships. Starbucks, Nike, Fitbit and even Kickstarter have built ways to connect tribes, articulate an epic meaning and build a game that engages and motivates.

As with anything, start small, communicate frequently and be prepared for unexpected plot twists - but start today.

Now, how about a nice game of chess?

What happens when the pasta runs out?

So, we’ve all got some extra spaghetti, penne, fusilli and macaroni because you never know right? Some of us acted too late though, and when we got to the pasta isle - it was gone. All of it. Even the spinach gnocchi. But that stuff is staying in the larder till the school’s next harvest festival food hamper amiright? Funny thing is, we keep going back to the pasta isle (only when essential though - do you get me?) to check when it’s back. Bad news, it’s still not there. Sad face.

But what did we have for dinner before pasta? A whole bunch of stuff that != pasta. Even the most basic supermarket or corner shop has a huge array of options available for dinner. Some obvious combinations, some less obvious. Some will be amazing. Some less so. But the important thing is - there are loads of options!

It got me thinking about change and how we deal with it. Years (and years..) ago I read a book called ‘who moved my cheese’ (it’s amazing, buy it now) which is all about how we (well, actually a group of mice called Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw) cope with change and adapt to it.

A couple of important points that are made;

“When change happens, the first thing to realise is that how you react is your choice. The biggest barrier to change is inside you.

The second thing to realise is that the best way to deal with change is to keep things simple, be flexible and move quickly. When change comes along simply change with it.”

To keep fighting against change or to pretend it isn’t happening is both tiresome and unproductive. I know we all love routines and predictability (it would be no fun if someone came into your house overnight and moved your socks and pants to a different location every night - right?) - but it’s also inevitable that change will happen.

> Change is inevitable

> Pain is temporary

> Hard work is mandatory

(not sure if this is a mash-up of some buddhist wisdom - sorry sky-dudes)

Personally, I love change - I love the thrill of the new and the anticipation of seeing something I’ve never seen before. It’s probably why I take a rock’n’roll approach to business management. With a detailed plan of every anticipated step and approach, there’s no place for improvisation and the potential for the new.

I’ve been watching a lot of Prison Break on Netflix these past couple of weeks (Netflix and Zoom and major winners in our current predicament!) and I’m always impressed with the main character’s ability to adapt to change. (I’m not going to spoiler-alert anything here). He’s got a pretty detailed plan, but he’s always got a plan b) c) d) and )x. He’s not phased by change or even slowed down by it. There’s a ‘oh, the cheese isn’t there… hmmm… I’ll go over here then’ attitude that always keeps him moving towards his directional goal (mixed metaphors and mixed up stories / formats - yeah!).

So, what I’m saying is - yep, things have changed and you can’t have pasta for dinner. But that’s okay, you can have pretty much anything else. I am pretty sure that:

The number of meals with pasta < the number of meals without pasta

If you focus on what has changed rather than what has stayed the same, or what you have lost rather than gained - you will be forever running back to the pasta isle shouting ‘who moved my parmesan!?’ and you will get angry, frustrated and hungry.

And no matter what happens, don’t put dairy-free sheese on your dinner, that stuff is wrong.

Stay home, protect our NHS, save lives.

Planning with direction

Do you know when the worst possible time to write a plan is? No, it’s at the beginning. Before a project starts (I’m going to refer to everything as a project today whether it be a product launch, event, software implementation or garden party) is when the you have the least amount of data available. You have the least amount of insight into the many variables that will dictate the success (or lack of) of your project. Drat.

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan. But it’s a different kind of planning. I’ve described myself as a ‘rock n roll manager’ in recent times (I’m a dad, so it’s okay to be uncool) and what that means to me is this:

Rock is different to jazz in that it’s more about ‘the show’ that ‘show’. It’s about putting on a great show and making everyone have an amazing time. There’s no sheet music on stage, the audience is encouraged to sing, dance and make a lot of noise. I love jazz and classical music, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a more cerebral activity. The other thing about rock is when the curtain opens, the show is ON. If the lights explode, carry on. If you break a string or drumstick, carry on. If the stage catches fire, carry on. The show must go on. That’s rock n roll. There’s a directional purpose here. To Put On A Great Show. Each song, each note, each light, each band member is part of that purpose, and understands their part to play. When (not if) things go wrong / happen unexpectedly then you improvise. Find another way to get it done. You don’t stop the song because you broke a string. In fact, watch this;

Stevie Ray Vaughn barely misses a note changing a guitar mid-song.

https://youtu.be/JIFdMbhCa94

What a legend. What a crew. Communication, understanding and improvisation.

That’s how we rock.

Anyway, back to planning.

When you are planning with direction you start with the end in mind.

• Where am I going?

• How am I going to get there?

• What change do I want to make when I arrive?

When you employ directional planning and give your team orders based on outcomes rather than tasks it means that the project can continue in the correct direction with many, multiple course changes. There’s a parallel with agile methodology here, using small, iterative changes to build something meaningful over time.

If you can start your project planning with these questions in mind, and SHARE them with your team it will give them a better understanding of the WHY. It will also help them to make small, smart course corrections when they need to.

Example:

• We are going to build a yoga app by:

• using cloud-hosting services and open-source code with agile methodologies to build, test and deploy because:

• we want people to be more mindful and relaxed at this difficult time

Or “These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!”

We now know WHAT we are going to do, HOW we are going to do it and WHY. Any snags along the way can be addressed by referencing the above.

Any plan is going to involve multiple course corrections (well, it should). Even Usain Bolt running the 100m sprint is making many, many change plans along the way. A plan that lasts less that 10 seconds. He might be leaning forward, leaning back, changing his attack angle, increase his foot turnover, raising his elbows higher, smiling at the camera. But he knows where he is going (a finish line, 100m away), how he is going to get there (controlled falling, commonly known as running) and the change he wants to make (a world record).

You might have noticed 2 constants and a variable here (if you did, well done, take a treat), The WHAT and the WHY don’t change. The HOW changes. It changes dependant on the execution of the plan, in Real Time. That’s the rock n roll element. We are going to put on a great show (WHAT), in order to make people have a great time (WHY). How are you going to do that? We ROCK.

So, make plans. It’s important. Plans for success, for survival, for health, for happiness. Start with WHY (read Simon Sinek’s book, it’s amazing), define your WHAT, then directionally plan your HOW. Be prepared for it to change. Have a change plan in place and empower your teams to be able to make directional changes in order to achieve the WHAT and WHY goals.

Until next time, rock on.

*if you want / need some help with planning or execution. Call me :-)

Don’t stand so close to me

In 1980 The Police (well, actually Sting) said “don’t stand so close to me” - in 2020 it looks like it will be the actual police (no capitalisation) who will be saying the same thing. Social Distancing and Self Isolation is going to be (is currently) a huge challenge for us human beings.

We are a social species, it’s out nature. Perhaps part of the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus is our social nature. Even in the face of the rampant spread, countries in lockdown and thousands of deaths, many of us are continuing to ‘stay calm and carry on’. Despite the best advice of the government and scientists. But I’m not going to lecture about any of that. (But, yeah - stay home okay).

I’m a huge fan of the book ‘Be a free-range human’ by Marianne Cantwell - and in a blog post from last week she talked about the importance of words and their implications, meanings and the emotions they create. In particular ‘social distancing’. It’s a really scary concept for a social species. What we really need to do right now is physical distancing. It’s the same, but different. We need to remain connected socially, perhaps more than ever, but at arms-length okay? I think it would be much easier for us all to cope with the concept of being isolated if we accepted that it’s just physical distancing that we need to adhere to. We need social nearness and social connection, it’s going to be virtual, for a while. We’ve got phones, video, VR and AR. We could even write a flipping letter. We’ve got all the platforms we need, youtube, instagram, facebook, linked-in and so on.

You can see with the way the Italians and French are coping right now with the need to remain socially connected whilst remaining physically distanced. It’s okay, we can do it, and just for a little while. It also means for those of us lucky enough to work from home and have a family - that we can build and strengthen the bond of our family unit. I’m looking forward to playing Dungeons and Dragons with my family this weekend (and they are dreading it). It’s a chance to re-connect, find new ways to connect and share.

So, that’s the message, physically distance yourselves, please. Remain socially connected and find ways to create new connections. We ARE social animals and need each other. Just without with touchy-feely for a while.

Be kind to each other.

Steve.

Who’s to blame?

Okay, own up - who did it? Somebody started this whole thing right? Somebody did something irresponsible, stupid or crazy. Or maybe all three. Where do we point the finger?

Moreover, who allowed it to happen, through action or inaction? Who’s policies, decisions, indecisions or mistakes? Who’s overreaction, inaction or dithering got us here?

In business we often talk about ‘the buck ends here’ or ‘one throat to choke’. About ultimate responsibility, or ‘someone’s going to get fired over this’. But, you know what, it’s not helpful. Okay, it’s mostly not helpful. I’m talking about people and business here, not crime. When people commit crimes, they should be held responsible and punished. But often in business, people make mistakes for a bunch of reasons, some innocent and some less-so.

What I’ve found time and time again is that more effort is put into finding who is to blame that into fixing the problem, fixing the process or fixing the behaviour. It’s more fun to choke throats and keep on doing the same old things than to make meaningful change.

These are unusual times for sure and one thing we don’t have right now is time for blame. The Law of Conservation of Energy, states that ‘energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system’. Well, we are clearly in an isolated system right now. So what are we going to do with this finite energy? Chase blame, or make a meaningful change? I’m not going to claim that something good is going to come out of all of this, but we can certainly make it less-bad.

So, here’s my 5 tips for working from home. Only kidding.

Here’s why blame isn’t really a good way to spend your time and energy.

Blame uses energy and time, both are finite resources that could be better used elsewhere.

Blame creates friction and puts up walls between people who need to work together right now.

Blame shifts responsibility away from ourselves, it’s a defence mechanism. I’m not going to fix this - I didn’t break it.

Blame is a distraction that pretends to be a solution. It pretends to be helpful, you are looking for a root cause right? Wrong, you are avoiding the fix.

Blame doesn’t solve the problem or even help identify the steps needed to fix it.

So, what to do instead?

You’ve clearly identified a problem, can you help fix it? Do you have tools, resources or skills that could help? Is this a learning opportunity? Does your team need some helping understanding a process, a technology? Is a process not fit for purpose?

The point is - moaning and groaning and finger pointing and escaping goats is a distraction. You are using time and energy that could be better used elsewhere. We are all under a lot of stress right now, and it’s going to get worse. Sorry about that. But don’t fall into the blame trap, take 20mins on a Friday to talk to your team about all the great things you’ve achieved this week and plan for the week ahead. Keep your eyes forward, keep solving problems and finding ways to be helpful.

In the meantime, if you need any help with planning, process re-engineering or meeting management, give me a call.

TL:DR Trump did it.

<witty closing remark and sign-off>

Music & Mood

Those of you that know me, know I love music. Always did, always will. If I’m not listening to music, I’m playing music. If I’m not playing music I’m thinking about music. One of the most amazing things about being alive today is that we can have all our music everywhere, all the time. We used to be restricted by hardware (who could take their record player everywhere?) and format (don’t have a CD player in your car?) or access (didn’t bring your favourite tunes to the beach?). All of that has been swept away with digital formats and streaming.

I can listen to a song in my kitchen on bluetooth speakers, get in the car and plug my phone into the stereo to continue - then jump out of the car, plug in my headphones and I’m still there. In the moment. It’s magical.

I’ve got pretty eclectic taste, I grew up listening to the Beatles and the Police and ABBA. My teenage years were spent with Iron Maiden, Faith No More and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. My autumn years (<another blog post!>) are sprinkled with ambient music, some jazz, some heavy metal and occasional girl bands. As I get older I care less about fitting in and more about standing out. About being myself, and being the best version of myself. Music is the soundtrack to all of that. Sometimes I’m feeling like a pop princess, sometimes and ambient mage, sometimes a rock god. I love being all those things.

Mood > actions < Music

Where does it all begin?

Do all stories start at the beginning? Probably not all. And although many stories begin with ‘once upon a time’ - starting a story is the hardest part. Starting a blog is tough, especially when you have as much ‘experience’ (age) as I do. Not that I have so much to say or to share - but decision-paralysis is real. It’s not a lack of ideas, it’s too many ideas. Too many options, too many possibilities.

So, as I’ve been walking around, driving around (not running around… that’s a story for later <future blog alert!>) and thinking ‘how to begin?’. I figured, why not write a post about how hard it is to write a post? Why is it so hard to start sometimes? (and impossible to finish <future blog alert pt 2!>) I think it’s all about the balance between procrastination and perfection. Perfect is the enemy of done. And done > perfect.

That’s a big deal for me. Getting it done. I like planning, metrics and goals for sure, but I really love getting it done. But the challenge with getting it done (tm) is now everybody gets to see it. You’ve just said ‘look, I’ve done a thing, judge me’. That’s scary. But here I am, getting it done. And just like pulling off a plaster, it’s usually quicker and less painful that you think. Blog, done. Yay.

Productive Meetings

It’s inevitable now right? We are all going to spending more time working from home shortly - at least those of us that can. For those who can’t - that sucks.

For most people, working from home is going to mean meetings are going to be held remote. We still need to collaborate and email is not the answer (to most problems <future blog post!>).

I’ve been on a fair share of both audio and video conferences over the past years so here’s my top 7 tips to conducting a productive remote meeting. You can also use these tips for IRL meetings when normality is resumed.

1. Make your goals clear. Every meeting needs to have a goal: learn something, share something, agree on something, make a decision. State your goal at the beginning of the meeting (in fact, make sure it’s clear in the meeting invite - as well as any pre-reading), re-focus on the goal midway and make sure you close the meeting having achieved it.

2. 45 mins is plenty. In fact 20 mins should be enough in most cases. If you default all your meetings to an hour, they will last an hour. No-one will have time to stretch, go the bathroom or grab a coffee. Focus on the goal, avoid waffle and be efficient. If you set your meetings to 45 mins then you are giving the attendees time to prep for their next call, catch up with other work or just take 5 mins to breath and re-focus.

3. Limit the number of attendees. Committees are a terrible way of making decisions. 6 people is a good number to have in a meeting, any more and there’s no scope for all voices to be heard. *Unless this is a broadcast with no interaction planned other than Q&A. Get the right people on the call, state your goals and…

4. Have a moderator / facilitator. Designating someone to keep track of time, keep the conversation on track, and keep the goal in mind is invaluable. Pick someone who is calm, non-biased and understands the subject matter (more on this below).

5. Wrap up with 5 mins left and document next steps. So what, now what? You’ve made a decision, agreed on an outcome, what next? Make sure everyone knows that the time was valuable, progress was made and there’s a next time.

6. Use a transcription service to take notes. You don’t want 6 people all typing away in the background taking notes. You want them to listen, and contribute. Outsource the note taking to a transcription service (or an intern). Both Zoom and Webex offer transcription services - I’m also a big fan of otter.ai

7. Start on time, end on time. Meetings that start late end late. You need some flex in your schedule but it’s vital you keep your eye on the clock. Your facilitator is the bad girl / guy here. It’s going to be tough in the beginning - but you’ll get better in no time at all.

So, there’s my top 7 tips; remember, pain is temporary - change is inevitable. Make a small change today and see a big impact tomorrow.

Final note - why not recruit an external moderator / facilitator to help you instigate, implement and embed this change? Where could I find a person with lots of experience, who is calm, organised and non-biased? Right here. Me. :-) Message me for details and a proposal. Invest in change and you’ll see a quick return.