I have been a leader of teams many different times in my life. I have repeatedly found myself gravitating towards and assuming roles of leadership even when I wasn’t specifically seeking the position. Leadership is something that I have both been automatically pulled to and intentionally ran towards with full gusto. I have run my own business, served as President of a non-profit, and I am now in an executive role as a senior leader in my current organisation. Even as a young lad, I was Senior Patrol Leader in the Boy Scouts, Junior High School Student President, and Captain of the Varsity soccer team. Why is this? What is it about being a leader that some people are more compelled to…
Read More“Don’t let perfect get in the way of good” Or so the saying goes. And while this may be a good tenant for many things (including writing these posts), there are some finer things in this life that are worth going the extra distance and chasing after perfection. It is in the subtle nuances where perfect stands out from good, and it is in those nuances where there can be found delightful magic, excellence in expression, and blissful joy. While the perfect end result is obviously a goal, sometimes it is just in the pursuit of perfect where all the payoff is actually realised. It is in the commitment to the cause, the dedication to the discipline, the patience of trial and error and laser focus on attention to detail and above all the will and perseverance to overcome mediocrity. Chasing perfection in the crafting itself is as much the reason for doing something as anything else. Yes, I am talking about making a cup of coffee.…
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Ah startup life. It can be chaotic at the best of times, and for many of us, this is part of the appeal. Through no act of specific intention, we recently found ourselves in an unprecedented moment of multiple major initiatives having a "go-live" date all with in the same month. A series of delays, user feedback related pivots, some team restructuring, and a (un)-serendipitous confluence of schedules meant that we were to truly learn the meaning of "flat-out." Unfortunately, we weren't able to offset delivery dates and stagger the releases for various reasons, including satisfying the never end sense of urgency to strive for rocket ship type growth. In the end, we got there. We are a team of high performers, after all, but not without some easily avoidable stress and anxiety. Here are my take always from the experience. Here are…
Read MoreWe saved a life at Wamberal yesterday. First thing on the Saturday afternoon patrol Dave and I went out for a swim to feel the currents and the strength of the water moving around. It wasn’t the biggest swell for Wamberal, and the waves were not dumping but rather gently spilling. We swam far out the back and after several minutes recognised that we weren’t moving around much. Beautiful clear water and great temp, and coming back in was a snap as the waves seemed to be naturally pushing toward the shore. Back on the beach we agreed that it was one of the safer days at Wambie.…
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During my MBA study, we learned basic frameworks of business thought designed to help organise concepts and demonstrate the “best practice” methods for managing a business. We learned the theory of a particular framework and then looked at a case study, often times about a famous company like GE or Apple and applied the concepts to analyse and diagnose the problems and then offer solutions. In these academic thought exercises, the answers were so obvious and clear, and I constantly wondered to myself that if these concepts were being taught to us in an MBA, the basis of business thought, why were there so many examples of companies not following these basic best practices? How do managers and leaders of even mature organisations stray from the fundamental playbooks being presented to us in business management 101?
Read MoreSo I met the blockchain guys yesterday. I work at a pretty hip company, in a hot industry, but nothing seems to be as hot and flashy as blockchain these days. I actually found myself a bit drunk on hype and intrigued to get behind the buzzword and meet face to face with the real deal. Like straight out of an episode of Silicon Valley, my life working at an energy tech start up is just as interesting, quirky and surreal as any HBO scriptwriter could dream up.…
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