Cross
Day 65: Friday 14 April Thinking about precedent and crossbreeding today I recalled a story Richard Feynman told. I need to dig it out to confirm the details. This took place either at university or when he started working at Los Alamos, when they were developing the atomic bomb. Quite possibly he always did this. […]
Remember, people love to help
Day 64: Thursday 13 April So often I might hesitate to ask for help. To reach out to an acquaintance or colleague or even to someone I’ve only an oblique connection. But I met with a past student of mine. She asked for help. I was very happy to do so. I could have said […]
Inbred
Day 63: Wednesday 12 April Been thinking about a new frame for my work on a better culture in the profession. In his book Build- An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making, Tony Fadell writes about how Steve Jobs used metaphor for Apple’s big ideas. A metaphor makes ideas immediately accessible and gives them […]
Enrolment
Day 62: Thursday 6 April Enrolment is not about forcing, cajoling, tricking, bargaining, pressuring, or guilt tripping. Enrolment is the art and practice of generating a spark of possibility for others to share. The Art of Possibility In my research today I came across the above quote. It reminded me that at the heart of […]
Precedent
Day 61: Wednesday 5 April Randomness from a random day. To embrace precedent requires Making space for curiosity requires making space for the humility of opening yourself up to being wrong. To being open to rethink what it is you do, believe and think possible. A space for “Yes and” and “can if” -itySuffix forming […]
Where’s the tension?
Day 60: Tuesday 4 April To be unavoidably meta, The tension for me is being able to identify the tension that those I wish to work with are experiencing. I mapped out my ideal work week. Super fun and interesting exercise I sometimes do with my clients. It helped to clarify some of my thinking […]
Questions not asked
Day 59: Monday 3 April It’s not just about assumptions. It’s about those questions we fail to ask altogether. Accepting without question. When thinking about questions to ask in a workshop on leadership for architects, it occurred to me that we don’t ask why leadership is important. It’s a question that we often skip over […]
A world view
Day 58: Friday 31 March No-one likes to be challenged on their world view. When someone challenges us on our beliefs we might arc up. Resist the suggestion and block our ears. It’s called psychological reactance. The thing is I know this. I know how much I hate people telling me what to do, believe […]
Keep going
Day 57: Thursday 30 March Positive feedback is always seductive but I’ve always been uneasy with it. Yes, it’s nice to receive. But I’ve always felt I don’t learn much from it as I would like. Negative critique, however, is an opportunity to embrace what make things better. Of course that “better” might just be […]
To lead or not to lead
Day 56: Wednesday 29 March Leadership is not for everyone. I think that’s easy to forget in an aspirational culture. I love Derek Siver’s observation that being a follower is an important leadership role too. Sometimes it’s OK to follow and not feel like you need to lead. Leadership takes bandwidth and it might be […]