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Head & Heart #26

August 21, 2017 By Clare Leave a Comment

Three things that have me thinking and feeling this week….

1. The New Work Smarts Report
The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) have released The New Work Smarts report which forecasts the type of activities and requisite skills/knowledge that will be involved in work in 2030. In 2030, Ella will be 17 and probably embarking on first jobs and navigating the minefield of post-school career/education choices. Of particular interest was the fact that work in the future will be much more self-directed – with less management and training. This is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the future of work and what their job/career may look like in 10-15 years, but I think it’s especially relevant for parents and educators to consider what kind of skills and experiences we should be supporting children to develop.

2. Lessons of Labor: One Woman’s Self-Discovery through Birth and Motherhood

As I work on letting go of the pressure to be self-sufficient, I see that accepting help allows others true entrance into my life, creating the stronger community that I always longed to have.

Being back in the thick of newborn life I’ve found myself doing a lot of reading and thinking about birth and motherhood and reflecting on the ways that these experiences have shaped me. This week I read Lessons of Labor – a fairly short book in which the author, Julia Aziz, uses the stories of her three births (and miscarriage) to distill a number of life lessons. Although the birth stories are the framework for the book, I found it to be more a book about parenting and it reminded me a lot of ‘Buddhism for Parents on the Go‘. There were some particularly timely insights for me about asking for and accepting help, and about accepting rather than resisting some of the daily frustrations and challenges of life with little humans!

3. ‘Kids are gross’: On feminism and agency
Consent, respect, and bodily autonomy are at the core of feminism, but this piece reminded me that even when we’re loudly banging on about these things in our own lives it’s so easy to overlook them in our interactions with children. While I try to be mindful of these values in my parenting, I often find myself underestimating the perceptiveness and capabilities of my 4-year old (and her friends). This post definitely made me want to do better – and to expect the same of the other adults in my kids’ lives.

Head & Heart – 10 July 2016

July 11, 2016 By Clare 2 Comments

Once again I’ve found myself several months behind on my regular Head & Heart posts so I’ve decided to try something different. While I enjoy the practice of doing some reflection and documenting what I’ve been doing and thinking, I’m not sure the monthly timeframe is working for me. I feel like there is so much swirling around in my head that it’s hard to remember a month’s worth of content for each post and I feel some pressure (self-imposed) to make the post interesting, comprehensive and mostly coherent. It feels a bit counter intuitive that if I’m struggling to fulfil a commitment to post monthly then weekly might be easier, but I’m going to give it a go. I’ll also give myself permission to make these posts scrappier and less ‘complete’. The goal is here is building a regular practice rather than perfecting a writing craft.

Habit tracking 4/7 – 10/7 (Not a great week – only 7/21 habits completed)

So, in no particular order, here are some of the things I’ve been doing, reading, listening to and thinking about this week…

My daughter Ella turned 3 on Monday. Birthdays are a significant reflection point, and I’ve found her birthdays to be quite emotional as I reflect on how becoming a mum has changed my life and how I see myself and the world.
Not enough exercise, meditation or sleep had me in a funk on Wednesday morning. One of those (thankfully rare) mornings where I’m feeling sad and unable to get out of bed. Staying in bed never helps though. Once I did eventually get up I spent some time clearing my head by mind-mapping (using MindNode – a recent purchase that I’m enjoying using) how I was feeling and why, the things that I know impact my mental health, the barriers to me doing the things that I know make me healthier, and ways to overcome those barriers. Getting it out of your head makes it seem less significant and more able to be actioned. I felt much better afterwards.
Jason and I went on a rare date to see the documentary Minimalism. It was good, but as I’ve been thinking and reading about minimalism for the past year or so, there wasn’t anything particularly new. But one of the most powerful things in it was a statement from author Patrick Rhode which was something like ‘the easiest way to deal with the overwhelm is just simply to turn it off’. This really struck me, particularly because I have been feeling quite stressed and overwhelmed lately. It made me think of a sink that’s full of water and about to overflow. Instead of trying to find ways to manage the water in the sink and keep it from overflowing, perhaps it’s easier (essential?) to first turn off the tap.
I finished reading The Coaching Habit. If you’re new to coaching or you’re a manager wanting to have better quality interactions it’s a good read.
Emi Kolawole’s post on learning how not to be angry was good and her thoughts and advice about how to look after one’s mental health resonated with me.
I did session 1 of the C25K program (using the Run5K app). Feeling excited to get back into running which I know is good for my mental and physical health.
I listened to Mia Freedman’s conversation with Natasha Stott Despoja on the No Filter podcast. Natasha made an interesting comment about multi-faceted women (specifically how difficult she thought the media/public/established political players found it to respond to a multi-faceted woman – someone who could be on the cover of a magazine AND have a serious policy debate on Lateline).
I’ll also include in these posts a screenshot from Way of Life of how I’ve gone with my 3 priority habits (bed before 10.30pm, meditate, 30 active minutes). This week wasn’t great. Only 1/3 completed. I reckon that it’s about 2/3+ that I need to be hitting to be functioning well and maintaining good energy and mental resilience.

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Book Review: Orbiting the Giant Hairball

March 10, 2012 By Clare Leave a Comment

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first heard one of the stories from this book when listening to Tom Kelley’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture on how to be an innovator for life. I didn’t really know what to expect from the book, but I loved it! The author uses a series of often humorous, short, personal stories to reflect on and illustrate the problems with most organisational cultures and how to avoid losing one’s sanity and individuality when working in one.

My notes from Orbiting the Giant Hairball

[Disclaimer: The notes below are rough, and may be a mixture of direct quotes, paraphrasing, and my own thoughts/ideas/reminders. They’re written here primarily for me (so they may not make much sense out of context, especially for those who haven’t read the book)].

(17) Disruption with purpose.

(33) Orbiting is responsible creativity. Vigorously exploring and operating beyond the Hairball of the corporate mind set, beyond “accepted models, patterns or standards” – all the while remaining connected to the spirit of the corporate mission. [Read more…]

Book Review: Leading with Questions

February 11, 2012 By Clare Leave a Comment

Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask by Michael J. Marquardt, Ed.D.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It starts by building the case for questions (‘The Power of Questions’) and examines the common thread between the disasters of the Titanic, the Challenger and the Bay of Pigs – the inability or unwillingness of key participants to raise questions about their concerns. The later parts of the book provide useful practical advice and examples for leaders to make better use of questions in managing people, building teams and enabling change. As I made my way through the book I was able to identify many opportunities/situations that I could imagine using (or wish I’d used) the suggested questions.

My notes from Leading with Questions

(28) When we ask questions of others and invite them to search for answers with us, we are not just sharing information, we are sharing responsibility. A questioning culture is a culture in which responsibility is shared, ideas are shared, problems are shared, and ownership of results is shared.

(29) 6 hallmarks of a questioning culture. People in it:

are willing to admit, “I don’t know”
go beyond allowing questions, they encourage questions
help to develop the skills needed to ask questions in a positive way
focus on asking empowering questions and avoiding disempowering questions
emphasis the process of asking questions and searching for answers rather than finding the ‘right’ answers
accept and reward risk-taking

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Book Review: Why Work Sucks

January 22, 2012 By Clare Leave a Comment

Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke–the Big Idea That’s Already Transforming the Way We Work by Cali Ressler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but ended up wanting a bit more from it…

The book provides a very compelling argument as to why the current system of work/performance (largely based on time) is broken and the advantages of ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment). But for me, this was really preaching to the converted… I first read about ROWE on Tim Ferris’ blog (I think) and was attracted to the concept right away. I completely agree that work (and associated remuneration and performance measurement) should be based on value created rather than hours spent in an office.

But where I thought the book fell short (and where I personally wanted more) was in relation to helping managers and their staff manage solely on the basis of results. The book (pg 129-130) suggests that ‘ultimately a ROWE is not a test of the employees, it is a test of the manager’ and asks ‘Can they [managers] do their jobs communicating expectations and holding people accountable? Can they develop systems to get the information they need without doing it through drive-bys or fire drills?’. As a new-ish manager seeking to implement a more results-based performance culture in my team (a full ROWE is not something within my control) I would have appreciated some more guidance/ideas/tips on setting, communicating and measuring performance expectations, and providing feedback.

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Book Review: The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working

July 9, 2011 By Clare Leave a Comment

The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance by Tony Schwartz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My notes from The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working

(8-9) Four primary energy needs: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

(11) Physical level – sustainability. Four factors are key: nutrition, fitness, sleep and rest.

(14) Perhaps no human need is more neglected in the workplace than to feel valued. Noticing what is wrong and what’s not working in our lives is a hardwired survival instinct. Expressing appreciation requires more conscious intention.

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