Things I have learned this week:
- I’ve been (separately) experiencing aspects of both the health system and the judicial system this week. Both involved extensive periods of waiting with little information being supplied to alleviate frustration and anxiety. One has been able to take my mind off the other, though.
- Last night, I had the opportunity to see the Bristol Bears’ and Barbarians’ coach, Pat Lam, speak. I’m not usually a fan of sportspeople speaking at business events, because the analogies between sports and business can often be a bit tenuous. Lam, however, was inspirational. Three things particularly stuck with me…
- Firstly, Lam values visualisation over numbers when it comes to data usage. Video seems to be his most important source of information, but by turning numbers into things that can easily articulate concepts, he gained more from it than just the numbers alone.
- Pat emphasised the importance of having a clear vision for what you want to achieve, as it drives culture, which in turn drives performance and results. Interestingly, he didn’t talk about strategy at all.
- Finally that Lam has a strong ethic that the players with which he works should feel that they have bettered themselves by working with him, and that’s something he asks them about outright. It’s something that I’ve always valued in my work with others as a manager and leader, but that has made me realise that I should be more intentional and explicit about it.
- All of that comes in a week which began with a discussion about data and sport. The joy of serendipity.
- We enter into the last month of preparing the book for the publisher. Images are now pretty much complete. Text is under review. We are very much getting there.
The week in media
Read
Have at last got round to starting David Parlett’s early 1990s book The History of Card Games
Listened
Have started listening to the audiobook of Cory Doctorow’s Enshittification.
Next week
Conclusions and results.
The week in photos
mmitII 