In the years before Covid I often found myself often people who worked in teams a simple question to open up a discussion about the maturity of hybrid working and collaboration practices: Where do you work? The answers could be enlightening. People working for traditional organisations with traditional mindsets would answer in terms of the … Continue reading Where do you work?
Today's coffee companion manages products. We talked about: how the tyranny of Outlook and Teams means that we are now talking about 2 minutes being "Fashionably Late" rude diarising the guilt of taking coffee 90 minute lunch breaks and them being expected to be taken my current Protestant Work Ethic obsession alternatives to Powerpoint, and … Continue reading 126th of 100
This week I have learned: a short break is as good as a rest, or something. Exmoor is very hilly It also seems to completely confuse Google Maps. There was a road closed in the middle of the National Park which seemed to put Google Maps into a complete tizzy. A 55 minute journey ended … Continue reading Weeknote 654 – Exmoor
I vividly remember one of my first lectures at university. Actually, that's not entirely true. I vividly remember one line in one of my first lectures at University: "There's no such thing as common sense". It's a perspective that has held me in good stead. Whilst what I see as common sense might not be … Continue reading Is this the real world?
The end of the month of October this year marks the end of my first 30 years of post-university working life. In October 1993 I popped into the Select Employment Agency on The Parade in Watford on the off chance to see if there was any temping work going. It happened that they were looking … Continue reading 30 Years of Work
Today's coffee companion helps clients deal with change and transformation. We talked about: a new game I've recently been working on to help consultants improve their consulting what we've both been up to recently whether extroverts actually exist or if they're just psychopaths hierarchies in organisations if it's possible to change culture, and if so … Continue reading 125th of 100
This week I have learned: sometimes you just get those days when meetings don't happen. "Hoorah!" say those people who don't think that meetings are real work as they get back to shifting pivot tables around in Excel or whatever it is that they do. I find it much more discombobulating because meetings are actually … Continue reading Weeknote 653 – stood up
Today's coffee companion builds trust-building content. We talked about: the origins of 100 Coffees mutual contacts the business of building trust extremely sticky wickets keeping your view of the world as a provider of services even when you are an employee the importance of building relationships extroverted introverts the Protestant Work Ethic and being engaged … Continue reading 124th of 100
Today's coffee companion is a reluctant networker. We talked about... barriers to "putting yourself out there" and neurodiversity building relationships with a purpose the horrors of "So what do you do?" toxicity in the workplace, acquisitions and Private Equity being a shit umbrella the Protestant Work Ethic and the license it gives to poor management … Continue reading 123rd of 100
Today's coffee companion is a CEO. We talked about: building software businesses the difference between building products and building software for other people scaling the multi-dimensional nature of Product Management being a generalist, and the empathy that gives you for others T-Shaped versus Comb-shapeds recruiting globally the time it takes to learn a new business … Continue reading 122nd of 100
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