Results & Relationships

This episode has been rerecorded. Thanks for the feedback on the glitchy cable noise in this episode. I didn't hear it, but I'm not an audio pro like some of our listeners.

A slight shift of just a few percent recurringly in how you prioritize and thus allocate your time, focus, energy, and effort will make a big difference in your relationships. Thus, it will significantly lift those you keep showing up for (and with)

Seth Godin is back on your podcast for a conversation about Strategy, Time, Empathy, Games & Systems. And his new book "This is Strategy." 

Hopefully, it will guide your own compass, decisions and actions today so we can serve those it's for in a way they want remarkably repeatable. Want to get Seths book?

https://seths.blog/thisisstrategy

Curious on the Udemy course?

https://udemy.com/course/this-is-strategy-with-seth-godin

The other book mentioned The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists by Richard Rumelt

https://amazon.com/Crux-How-Leaders-Become-Strategists/dp/B09WRTFWNZ

Quote:

What am I stalling right now because I’m afraid?

Results, Relationships and actions over time that matter for both.

What do you want to create and for whom?

Find someone, organize something and help others by creating a space where you talk about it

You have more options than we can ever imagine

In case you dont have time to listen:

A quote or two. Quality creates Growth. Growth creates Bloat. Quality lets you do more with what you've got—forces you to focus. Bloat might be technical depth, doing things that are not in focus, or in ways you didn't intend/design. Often, bloat is a symptom of never deciding whom to serve, how, and why that matters to those specific people who care.

Peter Drucker say "Results only happen outside the organisation; everything inside it is a cost."

Below is the full raw Descript Auto-transcription of this episode. raw = its not edited, and Descript isn't perfect.

Continuous improvement and what you're unaware of control you. Continuous improvement is co-work. It's collaborative in nature. Yet quite often, we have countless books for self-development, and I'm quite sure wherever you've been working throughout your life, you have individuals who perhaps talk languages like self-learning, taking the initiative to learn. 

And something happens. Usually, we have one or a few individuals in each team who are skyrocketing what they are able to achieve and what they're doing; they're embracing new technology, they're learning new processes, and they're adapting faster than most in a reorganisation.  Yet something happens with improvement when we have a team of, say, six+ people, when we have a team of 15 people, and you're trying to scale that, and I'm not talking Dunbar's numbers now.

And the personal thing, an empathy thing.  I'm talking about focusing on improvement as requiring a lot of vulnerability and trust.  Yet,  quite often, we don't talk about it. We talk about it as helping individuals to better things.  We're talking about retrospectives and thinking, figuring out how we as an organisation become better. 

it's important we actually think about this: what you're unaware of controls you here.  We can't talk about continuous improvement if we don't ask ourselves,  why are we here as a team? What's our promise to the organisation?  Here, I think it's vital that we embrace the fact that our hurry to get to say number three on a scale of ten is often what blocks us from actually getting to ten. 

Ten being able to scale up. Ten is being able to automate instead of require or hire,  speed things up,  and let people be free for vacations. In the long term, ten means serve better, not just because what happens when I say in our complex enough to get 3, it often blocks us from getting to 10.

What happens is, quite often, we have a KPI behind that we must get to.  And perhaps we're unwilling to "embrace reality", as Manager Tools discusses. So we're instead focused there on ONLY doing enough to reach "level 3", blindfolding us for what we know lies beyond. Because that's what we need to get done this month.  Sacrificing the future.  And we need to have empathy for that. 

Empathy for that other team who does it "to us un-intentionally".  You need to realise you're most likely doing it, too.  You're most likely also in a hurry to get to three.  That blocks you from scaling up and automating more.  And the better we become at talking about it, the higher we can grow. If we can talk about that quality creates growth,  which is a good thing,  because then you have resources to automate, then you have resources actually to figure out a better way to serve.

What is this team here for?  Who are our customers, who are, and what does the revenue look like?  And as that starts to grow, growth creates bloat and bloat is usually again, in the form of, okay, there's the journey of the urgent looking good in the KPI, in this specific thing that some of the team, especially if you're in a global organisation. 

People are mindful of their own KPIs, and they're not really seeing the whole business.  And that's why when we talk about continuous improvement,  we need to start with, why are we here?  On a great day, what is our healthy boundaries? I'm probably making that a block of three instead of ten for some teams. 

Then we need to talk about that with our manager and people up senior saying how can we  work on this together.  Then we need to go down again to look at our own continuous improvement saying why are we here again?  This is to who are we doing this for?  Probably, the continuous improvement will change. 

Because not everything matter.  If we dare to be very specific,  who our team is here for, if we dare to be very specific,  what our promise is for the work we're doing,  the better we can become at it, the faster we can become really good at it,  figuring out how can we automate more, how can we save resources so we can do this better long term. 

And another way of saying this  is focus. How can we focus on what actually matters and is worth improvement?  New shiny objects will always come along, so how can you stay committed to that?  And how can you be consistent with that? It's only with consistency that real improvement happens, especially if we go beyond ourselves and look at a team.

Notice it gets more complex when we're talking about getting a team to do continuous improvements. There are a lot of negotiations and painting a picture,  and I am looking for that enrollment because no one exactly aligns with any one individual.  So you probably need to work on your very local situation, um,  on how continuous improvement looks like. 

With trust, with transparency, with protecting your team. With this embracing that, reality is someone else isn't hired to get to three that will block you from getting to ten.  And how can you have empathy for your own situation with that? How can you have empathy with their situation with that? 

And then when you have worked on improving your local situation,  And the resistance and the hard work of getting that to work beyond one.  Now, looking at the global,  how can we work with continuous improvement globally?  It's very different from what it's for. It's a very different who it's for. 

And probably starts with empathy. Probably with yourself, with that, you have multiple accesses that will only partially align.  And when you do scale that up to 60 people, 100 people, perhaps thousands of people,  safety looks very different.  Especially if you're thinking of multicultural countries and stuff like that, you probably have one idea of what safety looks like.

You probably have one belief and trust in that, that won't be exactly the same globally.  Yet safety and trust is really important for continuous improvement.  And we need to embrace ourselves too, that,  when we say who it's for,  it's quite, quite often, specifically,  if you're a freelancer, choosing your clients. 

If you're an entrepreneur, choose your customer.  If you're,   an employee, choose your manager.  It's really, really important. And continuous improvement is really important for your next thing in life.  So,  and that also goes back to the core, be the one who lift other people, be the one who train other people, share what you learn, goes back to this three out of 10,  carve out some space to elevate the people around you.

It does not mean picking up a new shiny object because there will be a new tool, a new reorg, a new thing, and daring to commit and focus,  daring to be specific.  And also again,  in the line of continuous improvement, sometimes the challenge is, are we supposed to do this?  And how does that fit into the trajectory this team is on? 

How does this work with the other work we're doing?  And if we think we can fix our bubble and then ignore the rest,  the continuous improvement will fade,  will be less impactful.  So if you can start to embrace that it's actually very collaborative,  and other people see what you're unaware of,  there will be accesses that you will never see that are sort of coax grinding against yours,  the better you become at improving what matters for the people who actually care. 

But it starts with you,  thinking about who you want to serve, what problem is worth solving,  and thus, if it's worth solving, worth improving on.  And then talking to other people around you about that.  About how that changes as you grow.   Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Have a great one. 

[ Recorded with Audio-Technica AUD BPHS1 and Rodecaster Pro2, 2024-07-21 ]

use it to put some constraints on shipping what might matter today

Remind yourself of it daily. On your decisions. On your effort. On your relationships. On those you choose to help get to where they want to go.

On the internet. On Everything...

Easy is already taken.

Great, since you don't really want to play an easy game.

You want to play an interesting, worthwhile game with people who care and who want to come back the next time you gather the party.

You sure its yours?

Please move your stuff where its protected, actionable and less costly for our future.

Are you Creating and holding space for Questions? Are you pondering on what uncertainty to to you and those around you?

Are you actively helping others reflect and ask themselves what if and other powerful questions?

Autobot summary:

We explore the concept of "after commitments," focusing on the impactful actions and efforts that would be missed if discontinued. It highlights the importance of ensuring others recognize the value of these efforts and continue them after our involvement ends. This concept is particularly relevant in project management and cybersecurity, where success is measured by reaching milestones and ensuring sustainability and continued relevance over time.

Ric apologizes for missing last week's episode and expresses gratitude for listener feedback, emphasizing the importance of specific and meaningful communication amidst a sea of generic messages.

The discussion underscores the necessity of embedding the principles of after-commitment into our work. This approach aims to achieve immediate goals and secure lasting benefits and value.

It then addresses the challenge of recognizing the true impact of our work due to biases and the importance of viewing our efforts from others' perspectives. The episode touches on the necessity for empathy, humility, and the questioning of our contributions' long-term sustainability and integration within existing processes or habits.

The episode concludes with reflections on the role of after commitments in assessing our work's relevance and effectiveness and the importance of facilitating a smooth transition for others to maintain and build upon our efforts.

Listeners are encouraged to consider their areas of influence—whether topics, people, or values—and how they can contribute to sustained positive outcomes. The episode challenges the audience to think about the legacy of their actions and how their efforts will continue to be fruitful and relevant in the future.

In summary, "After-Commitments" calls for thoughtful, enduring impact beyond completing a task or project, emphasizing the importance of building habits and systems that ensure continuity, relevance, and lasting value.

Almost 100% of the world didn't notice last week episode not showing up as usual. Focus on the important people (select few) who missed what it brought to their lives.  Don't let the others distract you from you helping those who see, those who care. Those who benefit from your hard work. Those who would miss THEIR steps if they didn't get to engage with your work showing up for them.

Sharing some of my own fears and struggle

You're Not Ready, you're Intentionally Small & Meaningfully Bold.

Auto-summary for those who don't have time to listen.

The importance of starting before feeling fully ready, arguing that waiting for readiness hinders learning and helping others. 

It highlights the struggle with uncertainty and the human tendency to seek certainty, which can lead to inaction and missed opportunities for growth and assistance. 

Suggests focusing on small, meaningful actions that can make a difference now,  rather than waiting for the perfect conditions. I know it leaves less space to hide than a superb plan in your head. Remind yourself it's worth it when it feels too pressing to close.

By daring to take small steps, individuals can learn, help others, and eventually find a path that accelerates their ability to serve effectively. The overarching message is to embrace imperfection and uncertainty as opportunities for growth rather than barriers to action.

Barbara Oakley and I converse about Critical Thinking and Learning - recorded for those it might help. Barbara is the creator of Uncommon Sense Teaching, Learn Like a Pro, Learning How to Learn, and many other courses, books, talks, and business presentations.

Want to learn more from Barbara?

Here’s a great start

Books mentioned in this conversation

The article mentioned Curiosity’s different stances.

https://www.templeton.org/news/curiosity-has-two-faces General interest curiosity, Deprivation curiosity (Barb also said something new to me. predatory curiosity)

Explores the significance of understanding probability in decision-making, drawing on personal experiences with computer games like Stellaris, board games and roleplay games.

Combining this with YOUR perspective. What did you remove? What do you add? What you choose and not.

IF you're doing work that is meaningful and worth it you will be tired. Don't wait until you're not. Embrace it as part of the work. Embrace doing it early. Put it into the hands of someone who cares about it EARLY; don't wait until you're fully done or have figured it out. Do the hard part early and then EARLY put it into the hands of those who care so they help you pull it forward, feedback early before you waste time and others effort and attention on things you will cut once you understand the constraints better.

This is the summary from the generos bot, in case you don't have time to listen in.

explores the nuances and importance of disengagement in communication, especially over the phone. It emphasizes the need to recognize when the other person is not fully engaged and the significance of respecting oneself enough to disengage when necessary. The writer discusses the concept of active listening and creating space in conversations, not just filling it with one's own priorities.

it touches on the broader implications of disengagement for personal work and relationships, advocating for clarity and respect for others' time and engagement levels. The piece concludes by reminding of the value of disengagement and self-respect in various aspects of life.

if you prefer catching the summary from the generous bot instead of listening here it is:

this audio clip highlights the significance of embracing ambiguity in relationships and decision-making, viewing it as an opportunity for leadership and action. Clarity is essential, but most meaningful progress often occurs in ambiguous situations. Clarity is better reached by ACTION than by waiting any day of the year. Surely Patience, caution and other things are also critical yet often that NOT what it's about when we're waiting for clarity or a "better idea" or "know it's worth it before starting/daring."

Centres on the importance of persistence and simplicity, suggesting that solutions should focus on core needs rather than unnecessary complexities. 

USE ambiguity as a catalyst for personal growth and effective problem-solving, particularly in a fast-changing world. If you're NOT your not leveling up nearly as effective.

Advocate for daring decision-making in ambiguous situations and using knowledge management tools to avoid repetitive errors and foster collective learning and progress. Please help others dare to embrace this too.

Summarized by the generous bot.

Think about your life, work and relationships in the terms "replaceable" and "irreplaceable parts". emphasizing the importance of recognizing which aspects of our lives and work are replaceable and which are not.

Most material things and processes, including our roles at work, are replaceable, but certain aspects, particularly related to our perspective, time, and decisions, are not.

The irreplaceable parts of our lives are largely defined by our perspectives and are not influenced by external opinions or societal norms. Understanding the difference between replaceable and irreplaceable parts can lead to freedom and clarity, allowing us to focus on what truly matters.

Tthe importance of relationships with family and friends, which are irreplaceable, unlike our replaceable roles at work. Reputation is discussed as something unique to each individual, irreplaceable yet fragile, necessitating careful nurturing and protection.

Reflect on your own life, identifying replaceable and irreplaceable parts, and to honour the latter to avoid losing what's most important.

There's an emphasis on backing up irreplaceable items like photos in the digital space, illustrating the need to understand and protect what's truly ours in a world largely controlled by others.

Focusing on the parts of our lives that we can change or influence, encouraging self-forgiveness and self-improvement in these areas.

Its important to regularly reflect on and have conversations with others to help distinguish between replaceable and irreplaceable parts of in your life and theirs, from their perspective, ensuring we focus our energy and care on what truly matters.

or doing experiments wrong? And some ABJ testing

Generously, a bot has summarised like this, so you can skip this episode if it's not what you want to listen to.

The concept of "viable" in the context of product development and relationships emphasises its importance over "simply achieving the minimum" to get to green on the next iteration/shipping.

Viability includes ensuring a product or solution is effective for the creator, the customer, and the environment and that it should be meaningful.  It's an easy trap to fall into focusing on the minimum by skipping the critical "minimum meaningful specific" instead of favouring the "minimum I can flag green on the project chart"

The speaker also touches on insecurity in product development, suggesting that accepting they exist and addressing insecurities leads to robust and impactful outcomes. 

Encourage embracing inconvenience and addressing hard questions to create long-term viable and significant work. Finally, the speaker advises listing and being specific about the various viability aspects to ensure that solutions serve their intended purpose effectively.

How can you dare to focus more on viable early and recurring?

To make the meaningful specific as small as possible into the hands of a real user, a real customer or whoever you aim to help who also cares about getting that specific help - so you can learn what matters and quit what doesn't as fast as possible, with as little waste as possible. And especially waste that your future self doesn't thank you for because you were too rushed to cut corners to get to green today.

The generous Autobot said this about today's episode

it emphasises the importance of a collaborative, multiplayer mindset in adapting to the speed of technological advancements. It highlights the need to enhance processes across various aspects, not just individually. In the workplace, it urges reflection on how team members contribute to organisational success, considering their roles, learning speeds, and collaborative efforts.

The piece also explores the difference between human and AI ideas, underlining the significance of cooperation in our rapidly advancing world. Historical misconceptions, like the flat earth theory, are cited to demonstrate how human understanding evolves slowly, advocating for openness to new ideas. The example of handwashing in surgery, which took decades for doctors to accept, illustrates human reluctance to embrace new concepts.

Finally, the text poses a reflective question: if one isn't actively helping others learn and adapt to new technologies, are they truly participating in the collaborative environment knowledge management of today (multiplayer with async singleplayer threads), or are they isolated in the old ways of working (locked single-player mode)

Personal sounding board in today's arena Choose your HARD problem, and YOUR people who care about that problem don't just say it.

In today's fast-evolving landscape, choosing "your meaningful specific hard problem" and "your people" affected by it is crucial. Soft skills like empathy, understanding, and re-learning have always been essential. They are the core of this 10-year-old podcast, yet today, it's more important than ever. It's also becoming more accessible and easier to have your software-based sounding board give you tailored, specific answers instantly. This is great, yet bias and filters also pose a risk. AI-powered Ways of Working are already here, and middle managers are greatly affected since most of their work is coordination, communication, resourcing, and decision-making - stuff software often does way better, way more straightforward and without the cost of delay. An illustration in comparison. LinkedIn job ads will have a "get a resume review" button a year from now; many people will say thanks for helping us train our users to click this button. Top on this service is now an Autobot that will do this for 1% of the price and 90% of the results, making it critical for those who used to live "of/within" that boxed-in service - they now need to find other, better revenue and thus better ways to help their people.

Way of working agile resistance from managers - that kind of transparency and owning what is committed and what not is hard

Automation - SLA, KPI, OKR fulfilment. Often, I've encountered we don't want that automated since that would give conflicting reports with those PowerPoint where I've given myself some poetic freedom not to show all, to round a few metrics up for years, etc. An organization will only learn to run experiments for continuous risk reduction and better experiences faster and more often. What is the core of this for those you serve? And what experiments and learning should go where since not every initiative should be a win if your organisation aim to do better.

Ask yourself what complex and challenging problem might be worth it and for whom we ask yourself a meaningful specific. You need to be precise; otherwise, you can't follow up if it's working for its intended outcome or if you're becoming better at solving this specific problem.

Ask yourself this question.

What happens when your Autobot instantly gives time back to your boss or client while also leaving no room for conflicting reports?

You can ask any meaningful, specific question about any problem like this from many perspectives. Perhaps your client is a higher-up, getting time stolen from conflicting reports, which might help. Perhaps your client is middle management, juggling multiple perspectives from both upwards and peers.

Perhaps your client is forward-orienting and Happy to let go of sunk cost. Perhaps she is defending sunk cost whatever it costs?

Asking yourself questions like this, with empathy and daring to choose a whom, daring to choose a what, daring to ask ourselves, does it work great for those we aim to help? And where is that heading in the big ocean-like waves of change? Who are you in this and what do you want to become? AND who cares about having those problems solved well in a way that will get you and them there?

There is likely a third more effort, cost, and risk than you perceive and accept. Are you holding space for this? If not, is it worth pursuing?

Peer pressure during our school years often leads to groupthink, causing us to lose our identity in the quest to fit in.

Growing up, for me, it rarely led to anyone's elevation. Instead, it taught me to hide and remain within the margins.

However, the right kind of pressure, combined with a peer, cohort, any group of choice or a mentor's keen observation, can profoundly impact. When we and those we care about hold us accountable for our actions and words, helps us see what we said we would and show us our wants. It helps us to stand up for our beliefs consistently in what we do and say.

You become a reflection of the company you keep.

You directly mirror the expectations of your peer group. You're not a tree. You can find new places and new groups without moving, yet not without reflecting on your time, and efforts and owning your behaviour

EVERYTHING you do in your work is, from other people's perspectives, a movable part. Are you designing with that in mind? Are you rearranging what others hold fixed?

It's a wonderfully powerful constraint if embraced, yet often we're surprised by it.

thinking out loud on how do you approach thinking about the unthinkable? Measuring the unmeasurable? if discipline is a journey of discomfort and joy, how do we improve? if doubt and a wavering mind are the opposite of discipline how could "that what if" help those you serve? is it thus a feeling? if we choose to be resolute in our behaviour it looks a lot like discipline When working its important we embrace data, metrics, and predictions AND what's hard to measure, quantify, and touch ourselves. for example when conducting due diligence for our systems, we must consider operations, cybersecurity, privacy by design, AI, sustainability, scalability, costs, and robustness. Equally important is the well-being of the people we serve and those who operate and maintain our systems for their intended purpose. What can be backed up by metrics, code, and documentation? and what is hard to measure yet still needs to be translated into disciplined execution to serve its intended outcome. As always I don't know and love hearing your thoughts on this. Below is an image intended to show that you always have your digital twin permanently everywhere and it's impossible to know or measure all it's being used for. Generated by leonardo.ai by some nudges by me

Dimensions, Dials and Dashboards

What actions and results are they intended to make likley outside of themselves and for whoms benefit?

Who matters to you and what do they care about? If you reflect on it you will quickly see results that matter to them. Results that open doors, eyes and opportunitites for them. What are you going to do now that you see it?

Are you making space for restorative hobbies? Someting just for you. It affects your professional behaviour more than you know. Also - are sometimes making your professional behaviour mixed up with your hobby, forgetting that as a professional its not about you. Its now about what you let OTHERS get from engaging with your work. Whenever I get into imposters syndrome I've mixed these two up. I've made it about me too much, whenever I remind myself of those I'm really doing this for (others) its suddenly easeir to do that hard work again. Let yourself have hobbies, and also let your hobby be part of you work. Just dont let it get in the way of actually leveling up in a way that serves your people better. And most importantly. Let yourself have space for hobbies that is just for you and friends without a "meaningful specific" with a deadline, ourcome, point...

Those around you dont need to "get" or understand your hobbie. This is something you do for just you. I believe we all need this. We all also need to put ourselves on the line for those we care. Thats the professional behaviour that yields results that matter. Its full of state of play, yet lets not mix this up with a hobbie just because we're having fun at work.

A small mental exercise to see who you want around you and what skills and behaviour you yourself want to bring to their table and thus yours.

if you dont have time to listen to this eposide the friendly autobot gave us this summary of whats within.

the idea of center points in our lives, visualizing these as circles we create around us, which are indicative of our balance and direction. In any situation, it's important to take responsibility for your center point; if you lose sight of it, you lose balance. Owning your center point means owning your decisions and actions, as well as the resulting effects and emotions.

always, we have multiple center points, representing the different roles and directions we project in life. By firmly embracing your core (visualized here as your left foot), you open up opportunities to help others, expanding your circles and deepening your impact. The right foot, on the other hand, symbolizes empathy for others, specifically the people we aim to assist or serve.

Feedback from others can help refine your center points. However, it's crucial to ensure the feedback is relevant to your context and doesn't disrupt your balance. Furthermore, recognizing the direction and curvature of your path can lead to better navigation of life's complexities.

Ultimately, this understanding and acceptance of your center points, combined with empathy, responsibility, and a willingness to play and adapt, allows for effective navigation through life's challenges. Embrace the intricate dance of life, remaining aware of your center points and your impacts on others. This approach helps build stronger relationships and fosters success, whether in personal or professional spheres.

the audio from this episode is autosummarized to the below in case you want to skip listening to this episode

Actionability, or the ability to take concrete steps based on information or insights, is crucial in all communication, whether it's writing a text message, an email, or a report. When you write something, it's not just about sharing data, but also about providing actionable insights, steps that the reader can take based on that data.

Also, it's essential to consider the potential consequences of your communication. Sometimes, communication is more about plausible deniability than genuine actionability, but being aware of this can help you communicate more effectively.

When dealing with data, it's not only about gathering it but about interpreting it and determining the next best actions. Whether the data suggests potential risks or rewards, it should guide informed decision-making.

Writing clear and concise emails or messages helps recipients understand the actions they need to take. It's also crucial to consider the perspective and needs of the person who will be acting on the information you're providing.

Data-driven decision-making is critical, but it's equally important to realize that not all data is equally valuable at all times. Some data might be outdated, while other data might be too recent to provide reliable trends. Therefore, we must be discerning about which data we use to guide our decisions.

Moreover, remember that the data we keep has potential actionability for others too, including malicious actors. That's why cybersecurity measures are vital. Regularly cleaning up data that isn't needed can improve performance and decrease risks.

Lastly, actionability isn't just about data and metrics, but also about learning and personal growth. When you read a book or learn something new, try to extract actionable insights. Aim to transform the knowledge you gain into steps you can take to better yourself or assist others. Input and metrics alone wont help long.

Reflect on timeless services, commodities, and respect solving hard relevant problems, improve skillsets, and reduce waste - easier said than done

thinking out loud on timeless services and commodities and how we each play a role in both.  Please reflect on the importance of respect for others and self, a cornerstone of enduring and valuable services, and an element of the 'infinite game' we're all part of. Punctuality and consideration for other people's time are among the timeless traits that reinforce respect and its something that doesnt require anything to embrace.

We also delve into the role of intentionality in our services, the delicate balance between effort and intention, and the critical follow-up on whether our actions benefited those we intended to help. We argue that these qualities, while often overlooked, don't require significant skill, but a change in attitude.

The podcast also explores the evolving landscape of commodities, those skills and services that anyone, or even a bot, can perform, which risk becoming obsolete with time. We emphasize the need for continual learning and adaptability to maintain relevance in a rapidly changing world.

By asking probing questions, we challenge you to identify the timeless qualities and skills that you consider essential and those that may become irrelevant in the future. As we navigate this tension between the timeless and the transient, we learn to value efficiency, minimize waste, and maximize our collective potential.

Remember, the work that truly matters is not always the work that looks important. Our challenge is to invest in work that genuinely matters, for people who genuinely care. As you consider your journey, reflect on the balance between the timeless and the transient, and never stop striving to solve the problems you genuinely care about for people who really benefit longterm from it. That work will keep being important.

As you prepare for your upcoming vacation, reward yourself with the selection of a captivating book. Forget the "to-do" list books that's been gathering dust; instead, let your choice be something purely for your pleasure. Your capacity to read and absorb not only enhances your personal life but also seeps into every aspect of your professional growth. As our world accelerates, the need to adapt and evolve with increasing speed becomes vital, and reading provides the perfect avenue for this evolution. Resist relying on the recommendations of algorithms; take charge of your own intellectual journey. Challenge yourself to elevate in the areas that truly matter, but remember to relish the pure, simple joy that comes from reading just for fun.

if you want to save time instead of listening. Here's a autosummary from the generous bot:

Most of us have better agency than we embrace in working to position ourselves for our favorite game for people who care about what we care about.

The speaker discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by the information age, driven by computer technology and machine learning. They argue that despite potential distractions from the digital world, it's essential to recognize and take control of our personal agency, emphasizing that external factors only account for a small part of our distractions. The speaker then addresses the importance of adaptability, empathy, and a growth mindset in this evolving digital landscape, while also cautioning against surrendering too much to technology. They argue that using machine learning tools effectively requires incorporating one's unique perspective and insights, and not relying solely on the machine’s outputs. Lastly, they stress the significance of clear specifications and understanding the people we serve in a world where tasks and roles are constantly changing.

The speaker discusses the increasing complexity and distractions of the digital age, emphasizing that only a small portion is external, while the majority comes from within.  It is highlighted that willpower is not finite, and we can exercise greater internal control to manage distractions. 

The speaker further stresses the importance of creating value for others to achieve personal success, and finding balance in serving multiple stakeholders.

In the context of "hive compute" and disinformation, the importance of adaptability, maintaining focus, and developing effective workflow systems is emphasized.  The speaker suggests that machine learning could help manage tools and information, yet warns against over-reliance on it, promoting personal input and understanding.

Join Seth Godin as we are talking about boardgames and how we can help kids, including that kid we all have inside us, by helping others level up in ways they want to repeat.

I really recommend you check out his newest book

The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams

https://seths.blog/Song

Transcription of our conversation to save you time if you don’t have time for a listen.

Ric

Thank you Seth for coming here. I'm humbled to have you with us.

Seth

Oh, you're a leader, you show up on the regular, you're so generous in the way you've coached and help people so its my pleasure.

Ric

Thank you, Seth. That’s mutual. I've learned from you and your books to just dare. Before I got older I was afraid of tension and the conflict there in and your way of leading helped me to realize that tension is actually helpful and the only path forward and I'd love to talk some about that.

Seth

Terrific, terrific. I mean, when we're talking about tension, people don't always understand. The simplest example I can give you if I […………]

I only paused for three seconds, maybe two, but it was still uncomfortable. That's a form of tension. It's not a physical thing. It's a way that we want completion to occur. We're wondering what's going to happen next. 

Industrialism has pushed us to want to relieve tension, and just get the memo done, meeting over with, the quarterly numbers in. But in fact, creativity always involves tension.

Ric

So right and again, now I fight daily embracing that instead of hiding from it because I want to fill that with the short term instead of reminding myself of the long term. And here, I struggle with figuring out how to help kids. I'm a board gamer and a computer gamer and I played a lot of role playing games. And I quite often sit as a leader of a meeting and realize - playing these games taught me so much to figure out what needs to happen here.

Why aren't they paying attention to what matters?

Whenever you talk about games, like Cosmic Encounter (a boardgame), or how you learn things from video games - its so good to hear. 

When did you start playing board games? Because you do talk about that every now and then

Seth

Well, I don't know if you know, but I'm friends with Peter co-creator of Cosmic Encounter. So yeah, so I know royalty. I probably started playing board games when I was five or six. 

I think it's very important to establish early on two things. One, like music, there's taste in board games. Just because you don't like some board games doesn't mean you don't like all board games. And number two, what goes to that is, forgive me, but there's good board games, and there's bad board games. And there are a lot of bad board games. You know, I grew up with Monopoly. Monopoly a bad board game. And there are a lot of ways that I explain why it's bad. Chutes and Ladders is a bad board game where you're just rolling dice and using luck to magnify it all the way around.

On the other hand, Rock Paper Scissors RoShamBo is an excellent game. The rules are super simple, you can play it at many levels of depth, etc.

I was a game designer in the early 1980s. I pride myself on doing game design still to this day. Not always on a board, not always with dice. Sometimes in the way of businesses designed, it's still a game. And for me, games are a set of rules. 

A way for individuals to bring intent to the table to see how their intent interacts with other people's intent when exposed to the rules.

Business is at its best when rules are clear and are about serving your constituents. But the play is not clear. Which is why we do business now totally differently than we did 20 years ago. Because people get better at playing the game.

Ric

Thinking absolut when we see the rules and understand the rules. One of the headlines for your current book is “Let's get real, or let's not play” and the earlier we can understand that you play around a rule set that I don't want to play around or that I nor you can succeed in when we play together the better both of us are.

Do you want to segway over to that?

Seth

Yes what does the phrase let's get real or let's not play mena and there is a great book with that title. That's not my book. That book is about selling. In that book, what they're arguing is that if you're doing a complicated multimillion dollar B2B sale, you're not going to make it by hustling people. You're going to make it by engaging with them to solve their problem. And if they don't want their problem solved, don't go on a sales call, right? Let's get real about why we're both here. I am not doing this to you. I'm doing this with you.

My book, The Song of significance takes us to a different level and says: look at work, we're here to make a change happen. If you just want an industrial job, where you take something from this box and put it in that box, go work over there. That's not what we do here. What we do here is we make a change happen. And there are a bunch of mutual commitments we need to make about how we will play that game with each other for each other, to get to where we're going. And what's happened at work, is we've enabled industrialism to creep in, and we pretend that's what we're doing. But what we're really doing is ordering people to do what we want. And I think we need to talk about it.

Ric

Yes and the better we become a talking about it and having empathy that it's hard to be a middle manager right now being told to play by one rule set yet being followed up on another rule set.

It goes back to board games. If you can realize that some people at this table want to play Monopoly, but you don't. The earlier you can have that conversation, the better off you all are.

I'm always, as a grown up who is often in conversations with kids asking myself -  What am I teaching whom right now here?

For example, what happens when we remove the dice from the game, suddenly, it's a very different game, and different skill sets being taught that is still play that are also very beneficial when we're talking to people reading people, understanding people, but also, everyone needs to have fun.

So if we're forcing someone to play a game that they find too complicated, or too scary, or whatever, they're not going to come back next time we invite them to play. Right? This is exactly the same for work outcomes.

Seth

Brilliant, and the key word you just said his invite, right?

That part of the mindset of capitalism is you got to work or you're going to starve to death. So there's not an invitation there. Part of the mindset of compulsory education is you got to go to school, or your parents go to jail. So those are not enrolled activities. Great work, great learning comes where people are enrolled in the journey.

We have to figure out how to create the conditions for people to decide that that's what they want.

Ric

Yes, and continuing with role playing, for example, as a Game Master. The stories my childhood friends still tell others about today (we are all still very close friends) is where they were part of the story, of making the story, of creating the story. They weren't necessarily the heroes of the story.

But it wasn't my story. I was just giving them a direction and creating a collaborate space for them and thus they turned it into their story. And support for the work, we do emotional work we need to do

Seth

Exactly, and you know, so it's interesting when we think about role playing games, how badly they've been pigeonholed for a certain group of nerdy kids when in fact our life is a role playing game.

The people who seem to get the most out of our lives are the ones who are the authors of that journey, as opposed to simply characters in it.

Ric

Yes and goes back to my previous fear of tension where I was reacting versus daring to proactively help people. Another lesson I learned from you, maybe 30 years ago was meaningful specific and small data. When I began my consulting career, 30 years ago, before buzzwords like big data, and stuff like that everyone was hungry for more data. And then I read a post from you realizing how could I not see this for myself? You need to be intentionally meningsfull  specific, embracing small data

Do you want to share some thoughts on that?

Seth

No, you please. You read it more recently than I did. Go ahead and riff.

Ric

it is about what's the purpose? What's the intention? What's the small action to commit to here instead of having too big targets, big actions that are too vague. I've also been coaching in your Akimbo workshops where it's like we ask ourselves: “Did it work?” where it's “you don't write a long thing and then think you can plaster it everywhere” you write a small thing for a specific funnel that buys permission to invite those you aim to help read another small thing that eventually will help them get to where they want to go.

Seth

Right.  So I think what they all adds up to is choosing to be on the hook. This goes back to the board game thing. Which is when you are playing certain kinds of board games, there is no doubt who is in charge of your pieces. It's you. It's not a group of people where you're just doing what you're told. You moved that piece. Well, if you write a piece of copy, and people didn't respond, you wrote the copy, and people didn't respond. That is really useful information. Whereas if 14 people are in a room for six months and come up with some crafted statement, that means nothing. And it doesn't do anything. We don't know who rolled those dice. We don't know who's on the hook, and therefore it won't improve. Because we need to understand that we're getting real, we're playing this game, we have a change we seek to make, are we going to do it or not?

Ric

Yeah, totally. And also, on the big data thing, it's always easier to go looking for more things to add versus going small and asking ourselves ”did it work?” putting ourselves on the hook, as you say. 

We're also living in a very fast-moving world. Something that piqued my interest that you talked about just now is learning from the edges, being willing to go to the edges, and learn and then teach others.

Seth

Well, so I'm struggling for a boardgame analogy, I'm not sure I have one here. So let's put that aside for a minute. The frontier, the edges, the places where the nerds, the people with problems, the folks who are seeking to make change happen is the juiciest most interesting place.

Because I have no doubt that it is vitally important that the people in the water department at my town get fresh, clean water to my house. But that's a Six Sigma problem. And the only way to succeed is to make it a little tiny bit cheaper than you did yesterday. And that work needs to be done. I am not minimizing it. We can't live without it. But it doesn't have to be done by you.

The problem with industrial work, where the only way to win is to be a little faster and a little cheaper, is you spend your day running on a treadmill. It's hard to feel truly significant. When you're not making change happen when you're not feeling like you're on the hook. It's harder to be respected is harder to find the thrill of looking forward to tomorrow.

As we enter this post-industrial age what we're hearing from people who have enough to eat who have a roof over their head is that what they miss in their life is significance is knowing that they did something that they alone could contribute to. The only place to find that work is on the edges.

Now they don't have to be the giant edges of launching a mission to Jupiter, it could be the edge of here's this patient, she just found out she has high blood pressure, she has never had this problem before. In the next five minutes, the tone of her future is going to be set. What is that interaction like? If you're just going to read it from a card, you're probably not showing up as a human.

But if you can see the pain in that person's eyes, and you can figure out how to offer that person solace. Well, then you've done something significant.

Ric

Yeah, and that is something we all can choose to do.

Seth

Right

Ric

But it is scary. But putting yourself on the line there to actually invite having that conversation or fighting to have the margin for five minutes for listening.

Seth

Right. Exactly.

Ric

I feel bad for bringing us back to boardgames after such an important topic.

Seth

Please do.

Ric

One example there is our garage is full of board games that I bought that didn't become ”something our friends play for 20 years”. But I also I am the one in in my friends group that come with something new. Let's try this. And one out of 20 is something we keep playing for that long that yet most aren't.  I enjoy trying those rules playing out and experimenting with them but with the intent that most of them won't get used. Anyone listening to this. This is the same thing for a software and automation, making time for having conversations. Not all of them was going to work out. And but it's exactly the same with board games.

Seth

Yes. Well said and you know, the people who are passionate about a hobby go into it knowing they're not going to be right every time. Same thing is true with music and with music, we solve the problem by inventing the radio station. We haven't figured out how to make a radio station for board games.

Ric

I would love that.

We do have something for our computer game players. There it's a lot easier because there you have it on STEAM that you can buy something as an early developer or a complete game  and then you can refund it.

So there it's starting to move, it's easy to try things early on the edges.

And you Seth for example, with Carbon Almanac -  you have a board game there. And you have the PDFs on line, so you can taste it, chew a bit, and then I want more, or you can say no, not me, not right now.

Seth

Exactly

Ric

And with 3d printing and board games moddig as well, soon that might be easy outside the edges there too.

But again, when you're talking about real life problems, and having that emotional work, it feels so bad bringing up board games. But if we can invite the kids to dare to experiment, to learn new rules. To reposition fast and easy when they realized what worked well for a previous game didn't work here.

Seth

Yeah. And you know, a couple of times, you've mentioned kids, kids is a chronological thing, but it's also a choice. And I act like a kid on a good day. That's my goal, act like a kid. And why wouldn't we want to do that?

Ric

I'm with you. I think we all have that inner child. And when we see it, accept it and encourage it,  good things follow. Both when my kid connects to your kid Seth good things follow. But also, if we can learn to see things 20 years before we need to show up for work, for fun, because we get enrolment with our friends having fun. Why not?  That is making life better for people I believe.

Seth

Yeah

Ric

I love to play a lot of board games with kids today, but I also play Minecraft and those kinds of games too. And something you also talk a lot about is coming together as a community to solve system problems. And kids do this today in Minecraft. I remember being a computer player meeting other computer game player. When I was a teenager and starting to work. We were kind of nerds and a bit ashamed of it. And then 10 years later. It was something something you put it put on your resume to illustrate that you helped elevate, teach work, automate stuff.  I'm so curious to see what happens with the kids growing up having that experience from Minecraft. 

Seth

Yeah. And a shout out to Cory Doctorow and his book Makers. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. It's about communities of nerds coming together to play a game in real life that transforms the whole world.

Ric

Yes! I like that book and the book Walkaway and I pre-ordered his Red Team Blues

Seth

Yes. exactly

Ric

I want to read that and look forward to it. We can take what we get and make it better this modding that goes on in both board games and in cyber game. That mindset for works. It's awesome.

Seth

Yes, exactly. Well said.

Ric

But it can also be a bit much I know you've said a few times that you are mildly distracted. And I'm asking for myself now. 

Because I am like that and you have spoken for the need to put on blinders. So what is your advice, to stay on course and to dare to do the work?

Seth

Well back to the idea of the let's get real. People who are easily distracted don't seem that easily distracted when they're middle of a game they really are enjoying. So pick the game properly. And that is the discipline of my career is if I am in a game that I keep finding myself distracted from I'm probably in a game that is not ideal for me.

Part of the work of me being a professional is to pick a game that I can inhabit in a way that makes me feel more alive, not less. And I think that anyone who has the technological and economic privilege to be listening to this is in a similar situation. Pick a game. A real life game, a professional game, a game where you get paid. That's the right game for you.

Ric

Yeah, and if I can add to that also learning from you is also what do you want to become better at quite recently, that you could have chosen to become great at writing Twitter posts. Instead  you choose to become a long form writer or something like that? And I think having that insight that, what am I building here? What am I training myself in here? Is something we must darr Ask ourselves recurringly. Any thoughts on that?

Seth

Well, I mean, it, it turned out in retrospect that that was a really good choice on my part. But the purpose of that blog post was to point out that most people didn't bother to make the choice. Most people thought, oh, I can be really good at Twitter, and really good at medium and really good at having a blog, and Facebook and LinkedIn. So I'll just do everything because that's what these companies want me to do. And I said, it's extremely unlikely that in the time I have available for these tasks, I can get really good at all five of them. So I'm just going to put up a wall and not even do three of them, not even at all. And by doing that, I forced myself to spend the time playing a few games as opposed to be mediocre to a lot. And it's so easy to succumb to social pressure. And to say, Nope, I'm on Facebook, because I have to be, well, actually, you don't

Ric

Im totally with you that it was a great choice. And I'm grateful for that because I learned so much from your blog. But I think most are missing another important point.

And that is that the platform's control so much, but if you create something that's yours, you can learn, you can change, you can adapt. Versus if you're creating something following that tension of the plattforms nurges. that thing you should be, you need to be everywhere you need to be here. Then someone else controls what happens if they change or they decommission or upgrade or install or do premium, or whatever.

Seth

Yes

Ric

So having something that's yours, I think that is really powerful and really important.

Seth

Yes!

Ric

And speaking of which, I love your books. I wholeheartedly remember, I think I read audiobooks. You were really there for me when I started work in the early 90s. And now you have something new coming out that I want everyone to check out. Do you have any words before we wrap this up?

Seth

Well, the book is called The Song of significance. And it's personal, not just personal to me, but personal to each person who I've written it for. And what I'm arguing is that work isn't working. And then when we think about the best job we ever had, the way it made us feel alive the way we were able to bring more to it the way we felt a sense of meaning and importance. I want to understand why we aren't building more jobs like that. I want to understand what kind of commitment do we need to make to each other to our co workers, to our bosses to our employees, to permit us to get beyond being a cog in the system. And I learned a lot from honeybees in researching this book, honey bees are basically a human brain inside out. Each bee is a neuron. And when we watch how honey bees make choices, when we watch the lifecycle of the hive, we learned an enormous amount. And on the back cover, the bucket says the purpose of a hive isn't to make honey. Honey is the byproduct of a healthy hive. And I think when we think about our work, the same thing is true.

Ric

What comes to me when you say that it's also instead of looking at a goal, look at a habit that might produce the goal. Because you need to show up for the habits that might produce the goal. You need to practice, and you need to learn by real feedback.

Seth

exactly, and the last story in the book, is something I know you and I share.

It's about the Wizard of Oz. And basically one of the lessons we can learn there are a bunch but one of the lessons we learned is that the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly lion, were not compelled to go on the journey with Dorothy, they volunteered to go on the journey.

They went on the journey, because helping each other to get to where each wanted to go was a choice. It was in enrolment, it was a game they wanted to play.

When we say to people, you have to show up at the Zoom meeting, we're taking attendance or you're fired. When we say to people, you have to do this, you have to do this, you have to do this because I need to control you. Suddenly the voluntary nature of the game goes away.

The goal of significant work is to have a goal is to say we are all seeking to do this together. These are the rules. How do we bring a certain sort of energy with us to do it? So the goal of the song of significance itself the book is to give people who give me the benefit of the doubt a tool that they can bring to work that they can bring to their co-workers and say let's all read this So that's gonna take us two hours, and then decide if we want to get real. Because if we can rewire the rules of work, we can make magic happen.

Ric

And a better culture a better workplace a more fun way to help as well

Seth

exactly

Ric

A meaningful way to help. And, I read in your draft of this book that you talked about, what if we didn't have meetings for a week instead you did things you're proud of? Would you want to repeat that?

That is again putting yourself on the hook.

Seth

Right

Ric

We need to  create that because people who just comply and do what they're told will never be able to reach their potential for how good they could be in service for what they care about.

Seth

Exactly right. Well said,

Ric

I would love to hear you talk about the broomstick and how myself I've fallen prey to that mistake so many times in my life.

Seth

Oh me too.

That's why it resonates with me. So the key turning point in the movie is and I actually did the computer game version based on Frank Baum's original books.

I have studied the Wizard of Oz in great detail. The movie is very different from the books in really interesting ways. In the movie the key moment is when Dorothy shows up for the first time. And the wizard says “if you bring me the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West I will send you home”. What we know is that the wizard didn't need a broomstick. He said it so that Dorothy would go away and not come back. And often in our lives, people send us out for a broomstick. We're making a B2B sales call. And someone says, Yeah, but do you have a spreadsheet showing baba, baba, baba?

We go get that thinking that if we bring it back, they'll say yes. No, they just wanted us to go away.

So what we need to understand is, is this a broomstick problem? Or is this real? Is this something that we're doing because people have a checklist and they're just trying to move on or is it because it matters? When I was busy helping to invent the first generation of internet media, people sent me out for broomsticks all the time. And I really felt like if I just collected enough broomsticks, we would be fine. And in fact, what I learned from the let's get real or let's not playbook is you can turn right back to the wizard and say “do you really need a broomstick? Because if you really need a broomstick, help me understand why. if not, let's get to work.”

Ric

Yeah, and I still get goosebumps hearing that story and for those of you who don't know. With Akimbo workshops I think I've been in 100 or so zoom calls with Seth.

And EVERY time he talks about that with our students, I get goosebumps.

But also, that we receive it for what it is, because it doesn't have to be that they just want you to go away consciously. It might also be that that's their excuse. Unconsciously, they're asking you for things. So we need to have empathy with them, but also help ourselves see, this is a detour that isn't serving either of us.

Seth

Yes, brilliant.

Ric

The earlier we can do that the better conversations we can have, right? I want to be mindful of your time though. Thank you again for joining us today talking about boardgames, play and creating significance together.

Seth

Ric, these are great questions and your contributions as coach, as student, as a leader, just such a privilege to know you. Thank you.

Ric

Thank you. Likewise, sir. I'm honoured.

 its still about doing work that you and those you serve wants repeated

* In healthy organizations, leaders take responsibility for the system and people take responsibility for their actions. * In unhealthy organizations, leaders blame the people, and the people blame the system

above quote is helping me take ownership of making this better for those around me.  Helping give others pre-requirements they need to succeed on whats important for them AND those our we together serve.

Below was generated by an helpful autobot for those who want to save time with a quick read instead of listening

* The speaker talked about that work is a pivotal aspect of our lives and greatly influences our emotions. If we engage in work that we take pride in, tasks that we willingly do for the people we serve, and jobs that allow us to see the significance of our contributions to the larger organization, optimism comes naturally. This perspective can be a potent antidote to professional burnout.

* Today, it's simpler than ever be part of someone's work output firsthand. You can engage someone for a short, well-defined project, paying them in full. This gives them tangible experience that they can apply to their next job - it's not a tactic to exploit free labor from interns.

After you've collaborated with someone, you'll have a clear idea if they're someone you'd like to work with long-term. Conversations about work don't equate to actual work. An interview, for example, is an artificial construct that doesn't capture the reality of doing a job like programming.

Collaborating on tasks is a different ballgame compared to merely discussing work. Just as you may love your friends, it doesn't necessarily mean you'd want to engage them in a substantial professional commitment.

Once they AND you have fulfilled the commitment you both agreed upon, if they performed well, invite them to take on more tasks. If not, you can assign them different tasks that promote learning while still contributing to your projects.

Adopting Peter Drucker's philosophy of treating everyone you meet as a volunteer can foster a positive mindset. Remember to always pay fairly - avoid requesting free samples, as this might deter the talented individuals you wish to collaborate with. It's crucial to uphold ethical practices and not exploit those who are eager to learn, earn, and grow.

* By clearly understanding our unique contributions, we can better prioritize our work tasks. We also learn to let go of those tasks that may not get done, acknowledging that it's okay not to complete everything.

Positive stress arises when we're dealing with important issues that we are capable of and eager to change. On the other hand, negative stress surfaces when we feel powerless or when we're handling inconsequential tasks - tasks that might merely serve to declutter someone else's mind rather than add real value.

The speaker believes that work is an essential part of life and the way we view our contributions to the organization can significantly impact our optimism and reduce burnout. It is important to prioritize tasks that matter for those we serve and having the insights why it also matter to our own skillset development. its often thee biggest difference between positive stress (when a task is important and changeable) and negative stress (when a task is unchangeable or insignificant).

The speaker emphasizes that it's not the individual's fault if they struggle with setting boundaries or prioritizing tasks correctly. As a leader, it's crucial to provide the necessary support for individuals to thrive. If an individual fails, the organization should bear the responsibility rather than blaming the individual.

* The speaker provides practical advice about the benefits of distributed work. These include the ability to evaluate someone's work through short projects and making hiring decisions based on real experience rather than just interviews. The speaker also advocates for fair pay and ensuring that the team's average output doesn't decrease with increased hiring.

* The speaker mentions potential dangers of distributed work, like facing global competition and the risk of fraudulent candidates. He suggests that asynchronous ways of working are beneficial in distributed setups, implying that traditional methods with a boss dictating meeting schedules might become obsolete.

* The speaker mentioning the environmental benefits of distributed work, such as reduced commuting and fewer flights for meetings. He also notes the importance of listening, knowledge management, and improving onboarding speed in this work arrangement.

* We can only accommodate new clients if we let go of old ones.  Present your best ideas to your boss/client; if they don't support them, consider invest more effort for some who will. Those who aren't adaptable will eventually be replaced by those who are.

Remember Horstman's Law: You're not as clever as you think, and others aren't as foolish. Always validate your ideas and keep track of your achievements.

For me, protecting your team looks like this:

* Encourage regular updates to their LinkedIn profiles. * Stay at a job only if it's the best place to work. * Help them keep their doors open for new opportunities. * If I'm not fostering an environment where people want to stay, I need to take responsibility and act quickly. * Don't stay in a job just because you can't find a better one; stay because the work itself is rewarding. * Value knowledge management, recurringly on your calendar and prio. * Listen to your team. * Make onboarding processes more efficient. * Encourage experimentation. * Retain staff over the long term only because they genuinely want to stay. * And remember, we owe it to our planet to reduce commuting and unnecessary air travel for meetings and presentations. Let's make the most of our digital connections.

* In today's digital age, when you're merely a thumbnail on someone's Skype, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom call, global hiring becomes effortless. As a result, you inevitably find yourself competing with a worldwide pool of talent, not just the local ones. For certain types of jobs, this global competition has been a reality for quite some time.

As remote work becomes prevalent, so does the risk of encountering imposters. With the increasing importance of a robust body of work, it's easier for individuals to masquerade as your ideal candidate, perhaps by displaying a highly proficient GitHub account with the intent of securing internal access to your system. Similarly, fake recruiters can exploit those who are desperately seeking employment. The remote landscape calls for extra caution and stringent verification processes.

Flow before filter. Since out previous episode was on "flow and distractions and position yourself for your favorite game" It felt like a natural follow up with this and some notes on the importance of your "Inbetween worlds" and the Hive Computer.

Those who see and those who dont. Right know you are living in so many paralell worlds you are unaware of.

Do you see?

Take some time to reflect about the things you create, who you create them for, and the reasons behind your creations. Pay attention to your focus, effort, and recurring patterns.

What kind of work would your coworker identify as having your touch on it? What improvements would they recognize as being made by you? On the other hand, what kind of work would your coworker instinctively know that you did not write or contribute to? Including what parts of their work, feelings and results would they miss your contributions in? In a simplified way. Whats your manifesto? You dont need to write it down but thinking about it helps you see your own postion clearer. I credit these three for creating my methods teaching me what I see in 2022 the Agile Manifesto discussion forums, in 2005 The Manager-Tools podcast and Hostmans Law together with also in 2005 the Security Now podcast Who do you credit for helping you see what matters? And what did you add to that mix for those you serve?

Some thoughts on your Decisions and Experiments from a duration perspective. You decide what bus to get on, and not and for how long and when its no longer a time for waiting. You decide where to wait for the bus, and not.

Where experiments go to die or fly. When it should no longer be an experiement, instead honored as should be in production. where its helping your people regularly. Some thoughts on AB+J testing and especially duration... Dont run to many at one time then you dont know which can claim credit. Dont run to few at any one time either though.

You dont get time back, neither do they. Help those who give anyway at the edge of their skillset learning while giving it to others.

You dont get to do "now" or "tomorrow" all over again. So where and with whom do you want to invest your time and effort? Where do you want to be position yourself and others skillswise for the benefit of whom in a future Now?

Whats Next? An Intention and its Experiment of course with Inside out Career Design

I just had a great conversation with Nicola and Peter at Inside Out Career Design

its never to early or to late to start an experiment Inside Out Career Design can be found here http://whatsnext.com/17 Passphrase Manager https://bitwarden.com Multifactor App Authenticators https://www.microsoft.com/security/mobile-authenticator-app

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1066447 

Understand what game you are playing and dont go for fancy tactical moves sacrificing effort and learning serving people here and now. Here and now is the better way to learn what works and what doesnt for the people who care. Often the fancy tactics is just a form of hiding, and often you loose time to the alternatice cost of showing up today, in the precent for those who already care.

And some business and chess talk just to illustrate the point in how little can give so much for someone you care about.

Seth Godin, Boardgames, Showing up on the regular & leading together Are you showing up on the regular for those you serve? Choose a game that you are not often distracted from.

Whats worth being sticky to you and for what and whom? Whats sticky around you that you dont think enough on right now? On some small level most uf us understand that the internet never forgets and that algorithms can push us to extremes. Yet we dont embrace how powerful a force this is for both greatness and levelup AND pulling us back into the rabithole again and again.

What am I stalling because Im afraid?

Whats the promise to make now, to whom

Welcome to Results and Relationships 

Today some thoughts on data-driven illusions and how they can impact our lives.

With my 29 years of experience as a consultant in the data information analytics & cyber protection industry, I'm often been asked questions about data-driven decisions.

What I think isn't being said often enough is that we should dare to discuss our vulnerabilities. We should talk about what we don't know and what controls us, as it's often the case that we don't fully understand our metrics or the connection between business outcome vulnerabilities.

Additionally, I'm very interested in cybersecurity, but we often don't have a strategy for how to best work with it.  Decisions are made on a daily basis with legacy systems that we don't fully understand, thus the full implications of these decisions. As a result, we make compromises that can have long-lasting repercussions.

Whether you are building something right now or not, it's important to consider the data-driven illusions that are impacting your decisions. Likewise dont let your hunger for more data stop you from shipping right now.

What's not being said is that we have to dare to bring up our vulnerabilities and what we don't know. We don't fully understand our metrics and the connections between them and business outcomes. 

We also need to talk about cybersecurity and how to strategize around it. We often have to make decisions on outdated systems, which can be a challenge. This leads to a lot of compromises. 

Even if you're starting a new project, you need to be mindful of the data-driven illusions and vulnerabilities involved. Dare to talk about what you don't know and take steps to protect your business outcomes.

Today I share an answer I did for a friend’s question on our Voxer group earlier today. Another friend suggested I should give you my esteemed listener into this part of me.

The “real-life part of me” so to say – where I don’t have the tension of the microphone, thinking out out loud and slow answering a friend’s prompt.

Whats my source of great results & healthy relationships and some answers on my thoughts on religious belief

before attaching it though, here is a summary of my audio that a third friend made for us, very slightly edited by myself for this podcast

* BELIEVE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU, work hard on letting go what doesn’t

* Stories are powerful, but Truth is never pure and easy.

* In our "narrative", we tend to simplify things to remove the more painful parts.  We then choose our stories over Truth.

* YOU ARE THE SOURCE OF YOUR TIME, EFFORT, ENERGY, and your relationships.

Those around you dont get you angry. You choose you who surround yourself with after seeing their pattern. Then you made yourself angry all on your own.

* I don't see the world as it is, I see the world as I interpret it.

* "stories are my source."

* Anti – Thesis. Dare to explore both, without it it’s not really a choice, you're just blindsiding yourself fooling yourself you made a choice.

Big credits to this great book for much of the thoughts in this episode

https://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Leap-Gay-Hendricks-audiobook/dp/B00282MRQI

Probability & Meaningful Specific

Are you questioning how the three core components of probability, meaning, and specificity can be applied to the work you do?

Are you looking at how these three aspects drive your decisions, both intentionally and unintentionally? Are you taking the time to consider what the biggest impact of your work is, and how the probability, meaning, and specificity of your decisions will affect the outcome? Are you willing to put in the extra effort to ensure that you have the right focus and clarity to make the best decisions possible and accept the consequences - both good and bad - of those decisions?

Are you asking questions about above three in what you to those around you?

Are you asking yourself what goes into the heart or mind into whatever action, intentional or not from those around you based on this trio?

Take a minute and ask yourself on the biggest thing in your work right now. 

* Focusing on Probability - what shifts?

* in the meaning beyond the work you do - or asked to do?

* The specific - do you dare to make it small and specific enough so you can take credit if it works, or responsibility if it doesnt?

Quite often its scary to put ourselves on the line like this, but if we do dare, we learn faster and thus help others better

books mentioned:

Annie Duke - Thinking in bets https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-in-Bets-Annie-Duke-audiobook/dp/B078SBSBW3

machines are talking - are you listening?

I try to have these cast mostly timeless, and less timely but I’ve gotten so much machine-learning & AI questions lately and I thought I should share a perspective I don’t hear that often. Surely we’ve on a journey where each version have more and more data and being trained on the previous version. Making it very fast and scaringly biased.

The thing I believe we underestimate is the “Explain like talking to a five year old” combined with the relentlessness of machines and scripts.

For example with DISC we already tools like https://crystalknows.com that helps you adapt your message to the individual to make it easier for the recipient to understand what you’re trying to say. We have already since long trusted https://grammarly.com that there is a better way of saying this than what we wrote.

Now we can have our email to ten people be automatically rewritten in transport to the sugsegment of those groups. Perhaps this time it created three copies and sent the one most maching the communication profile of the recipient. This will be so effective since it can also help you follow-up “did it work” making each interaction more effective for both of you.

It can help you stay in tune with the workculture. Perhaps help you with your priorities for better effect and outcome at work by not letting you send late night messages, or if you believe you have to let them arrive at your co-workers desk in the morning. Again these tools exist, however machinelearning make you never forget to match whats effective and appreciated by each recipient.

Likewise if you go into Red Alert mode a la Star Trek, the machinelearning mod can temporarily overwrite that to instant say before a launch or similar, following up on the costs of doing so for you. Or ensuring its automatically turned on again after the launch etc. Us humans take a long time forming new habits and can break them instantly. Tools like this can help us stay focused on what matter if we temporarily need a detour from our priorities by reminding us. OR forcing us to face that we’ve changed our mind and instead embrace another goal in mind with our habits etc.

I believe this will help but it’s a twosided sword. Not all is great with it. For example it will make it even easier to tailormake timely, relevant messages with ill intent that isn’t as easily caught by the systems trying to protect you, including your own perhaps because the message is referencing something timely your co-worker or supplier said that is related to you but you wouldn’t say that out but you’re already connected and profiled out there on the web. Next time you’re using tools like this. 

Be mindful of your use of them. Listen for what you are training them ON – its not just that you’re getting help, it’s a win-win-win where you don’t see the third party ever.

sunc costs is nothing more than gifts from your former you to yourself in the present.

if you recieved it fresh today would you pick it up? Are you making your choice about today and tomorrow for those you serve, including yourself or are you making it about your history or ego?

Try the road less beaten

Books recommended in this cast in case you dont have time to listen.

The Midnight Library

https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Library-Novel-Matt-Haig/dp/0525559477

How to decide https://www.amazon.com/How-Decide-Simple-Making-Choices/dp/B088P4XLVB

Embracing constraints can be a powerful tool to help us create better solutions. It is not the same as arguing for their limitations, which can be counterproductive and lead to stagnation. Instead, by understanding and accepting the boundaries of a situation, we are able to find creative and innovative solutions that can help us move forward. By accepting and understanding the limitations of a situation, we can challenge ourselves to come up with solutions that work within those limits, while still achieving the desired outcome.

As a computer person, you may find yourself using the command prompt and notepad often, because you appreciate the power of arguments and patterns to achieve certain outcomes. And you adapt quickly when a parameter is nerfed, removed or changed. When it comes to people, however, it is important to recognize that the same argument may not work each time. Instead of getting stuck in a loop of trying the same argument, or the same person try speaking out loud what might work, or why you might be wrong. By embracing constraints, you can find new and better ways to connect with people, rather than continuing to arguing in loops without connecting, or without finding other people to help that appreciate AND act on the help you provide.

The Spiral of Results & Relationships: What have you done and how well have you done it & and who cares deeply about it?

Great work is rewarded by more work. Who do you want to service so they're getting what?

Thank you everyone for letting me know I missed last week. This this short one

Minding your relationships is a given. But have you given any thought to how much they affect your habits, your greenstreaks your levelups?

You have way more minutes in your day to day life available to you that you thing. They are just easily given to distractions or just not thinking about it and thus not thinking about how much such minutes we all have every year.

Train a habit of start writing or adding to a project of your chose when you find yourself waiting for a meeting to start, or things are delayed and you have to wait. Instead of just "see what's new", give yourself the gift of having written a few sentence, made a notes on the next design etc or whatever you are creating.

Once you have a bigger block of time you have something to start from helping momentum alot.

Reminding us of that we will eventually runt short of minutes often helps see who and what accomplishments you will remember when you are 150 years old. And yes, I believe you are living in the age where those you take care of themselves will live longer than those who don't.

just mere hundred years ago the average lifespan was 32 or something similar. Thinking of your future self will make you step up for what matters, and let go what doesn't.

But also in the short run. Thinking about a deadline this week, and in case you need to reprioritize a day or two before that. Where would you rather leave them if so? Often reminding ourself of that we might run short of time preparing or doing what we should helps us see our accomplishments in a new light. often it also helps us see the one we are helping in another light as well. Mind your minutes, its the most finite resource you have to give, and you will never get any wasted back (but perhaps a lesson learned but thats for another cast?)

Dont fool yourself. Describe to both yourself AND those you care about what you observe. You might not be as aware as you want to believe. Embrace your passion but dont let that get in the way of embracing a smarter prediction

Who do you know that you can teach something right now?

Self doubt? Depression? Afraid of rejection?

Listen to those parts inside yourself - then please remind yourself about the alternative cost of the individual who might have benefitted if you did ship this today.

Perhaps asking yourself this helps? How can you

Make the steps smaller Make the steps different Make the who different

Stop listening to this podcast right now and call someone with a tip or just a listening caring ear.

You are more needed than you know, yet you might need to try something else to help.

The power of I dont know and default models around uncertainty & risk   We need to teach It's OK to say, "I don't know but I could look into it for you before friday" but also teach to separate uncertainty and risk. likewise teach those around you that dubt and uncertainty is welcome. Its not to be feared but then as a leader we need to reward the effort and the bet in a decision, not just the outcome.

What is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth.

accepting and clearly stating I dont know when we dont, lend us credibility when we say we do and we will.

We also need to accept the really strong power of defaults for when its uncertain and risky. Dont just reward the positive choices.   For example in computing:  The power of default. if there is no specified models for for THIS server we just found on the network we make it a member of model X.   Dont build your I dont know on positive choices for all X we do A for all Y we do B that will leave you with servers same with following up incidents same with following up leads

Only then can we ask ourselvese: "Did it work for its intended?"  or what happened? Scope creep? lack of courage? to much courage and to little data? or whats the lesson for next your next bet on the outcome that matters for the process you're working on?   embracing reality, theoriy, antithesis, experiments and data   It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, You need to re-learn what you think you know. Please work hard to surround yourself with people who live that mindset instead of behaving in other ways.

Makers Dance and rhythm of Real Feedback of those you help

You’re living and working in a circle; your work is never the end station. What you make is the steppingstone for other creations. Just like yours depend on those who’s created before you.

Learn to work with automations, machine learning models and other people in a healthy generous circle.

Book mentioned in this episode

Kevin-Kelly - The Inevitable - what technology wants

https://www.amazon.com/The-Inevitable-Kevin-Kelly-audiobook/dp/B01EB3OR32

Annie Duke - Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away

https://www.amazon.com/Quit-Power-Knowing-When-Walk/dp/B09PVR6YK5