One of the reasons I love Harry Potter is the amazingly subtle foreshadowing. It is a work of art in storytelling planning. The fact that the main characters play with Slytherin’s locket in the fifth book, completely unaware it will play a massive role in books six and seven. The fact that Voldemort alludes to … Continue reading Storytelling planning →

The stronger the opinion, the more commitment to a way of thinking and the less open one is for opposing views. Disagreements rarely end quickly and they rarely end with both parties not taking it personally. So you have to ask yourself is this worth arguing about?

With all this isolation and social distancing one's ability to deal with boredom will be put to the test. The first port of call is obviously one's phone. With access to the internet the possibilities are endless. Then of course there's TV. Netflix has so much content you could spend weeks trying to watch it … Continue reading Coping with boredom →

The meeting is now in it's third hour and there is still 94 slides to go. At this stage focused attention is ancient history. Finally the meeting ends and there is very little feedback. Which is understandable because how could one feedback on a three hour presentation? It's hard enough to keep one's attention for … Continue reading 94 slides to go →

This is a big video call for you. You've worked really hard on this project and you desperately need approval/sign off/someone to understand. But your attempts at holding attention are consistently being thwarted by colleagues showing everyone the latest cute thing their dog/kid/partner did. Interruptions happen in offline conversations all the time but I think … Continue reading Meeting hijackers. →

It's very hard to hide behind simple. Simple means everyone understands, there's no confusion, they can see the intention clearly. And for that very reason some people will choose to be confusing.

The people pleaser in an organisation is simultaneously loved and hated. They are loved by all above them and hated by all beneath them. The higher ups love the way the people pleaser says yes to everything. They especially love it when the people pleaser accomodates the higher up's preference for beating traffic, even though … Continue reading People pleasing – love hate →

The hierarchy of a company is like a pyramid. There's one person at the top and many at the bottom. It's easy to visualise and it's quite efficient. To have an inverted pyramid, with many at the top and one at the bottom, would be lunacy. It would take the many forever to come to … Continue reading Chief to Indian ratio →

The trick is to be decisive when it’s not an emergency. The trick is to know what you want when there is not time pressure. The trick is to be switched on and detailed focused when your back isn’t against the wall. Waiting for it to be urgent to spring into action is procrastination at … Continue reading Productivity v panic →

Every superhero needs to have a weakness. Otherwise it's boring. The struggle is what makes it interesting and we love the struggle. We love to see our heroes pushed to their limits and producing something extraordinary.   Nobody would pay to see Superman swat flies.