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Going remote during the COVID19 outbreak, is a tremendous benefit to an organisation that’s usually almost 100% centralised. Not for the processes, or because “remote is better”. No, just because of the new set of communication challenges that have to be overcome. A steady stream of challenges is a must for keeping any team sharp, and aligning a team to deal with the a whole new mindset and toolkit for communication is a healthy exercise for the plasticity of the organisation and, more importantly, the minds that make up the organisation....

In times of stability, the default assumption for me is that peers are doing fine. I don’t have to ask probing questions, because obviously everything’s all good. That changes in times of change, turmoil and crisis. There’s a clear challenge, and a shared experience of need. Needing to deal with it, or overcome, or get through. Such a collective experience is a time to develop and demonstrate caring for each other....

“Strategic” networking is never about getting a series of gold nuggets out of peers. Other people don’t have answers that will map 1:1 into your world – at least exceedingly rarely. Situations are different. Instead, it’s the little ideas. Tiny seedlings that grow into something beautiful only with careful processing and gene-splicing with other lil’ idea-seeds. That changes how to approach a networking conversation. Don’t go in to get “insights”. Go in to get surprised, taken aback, confused, or worried....

You can only really exert a sprint-effort at anything if you come from a place of rest. A boxer is completely relaxed before striking. Brilliant ideas don’t come from extended periods of mild focus, but rather all at once in a burst, typically from a relaxed state. Type II muscle fibers (fast twitch) can only sustain a short burst of energy all at once, and to deliver 100% of that burst they have to start fully relaxed....

It’s common for people to consider the option to invest vs spend when it comes to money. Should you save it up, invest in some kind of value-store, or spend it on necessities and feel-good things? Choices like this are made often, especially monthly around the time the payslip comes along. It’s almost never considered for time. The same rules don’t quite apply, but the same consideration is definitely worth making....