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Weeknote 7

Weeknote 7
Sheringham Park

This week i've been doing/pondering/thinking about:

  • Specific, timely, quality feedback can be an absolute gift. but like any gift, just because it has been bestowed doesn't mean you have to receive it, keep it, or use it. I'm also mindful of a phrase a colleague has used recently, 'a data point is not insight'
  • I talked about clarity and acceptance of ambiguity in last week's weeknote. Some things this week have made me reflect on the fact that even when you are able to communicate with clarity, there is still a responsibility on the listener to actually listen, and if they don't want to, for whatever reason, theres not much you can do about it, other than consistently communicate with clarity.
  • I've also been reflecting on giving bad news. Sometimes there is no upside, or the possible upside is unknown, in those situations I try to stick the facts, and call out the unknowns. Sometimes a situation is a bit shit, and trying to weasel-word a way around it is probably just an attempt to make ourselves feel better, and not what the other person/people need.
  • The latest 'How to IT Strategy' newsletter landed in people's mailboxes on Wednesday, talking half-jokingly about types of IT Strategy stakeholders. Progress on the course has been zero this week, for a bunch of reasons, one of which is this:
  • Whelm.club As is often the way, instead of making progress on one idea, this week i got distracted by a new one. I don't intend to do any work on this yet, i want to focus on how to IT strategy for now, but in my mind, once i've got working on it, it'll be a newsletter and community focused on helping technologists and tech leaders better cope with the challenges they face, with a combination of articles/research/interviews/group coaching. Feel free to sign up if that sounds interesting, (it would be nice if the concept resonates with people) but don't be surprised if you don't hear anything for at least 6 months :)
  • This week i completed my 4th ParkRun at Sheringham Park the terrain was pretty rough, and the end 1.5kish of uphill was pretty hardgoing, but i enjoyed myself, and as ever am amazed by the dedication of the brilliant volunteers. I'm now 4/22 on my mission to completed all Norfolk ParkRuns in 2025.