theexecutionerstoolkit

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

On Target

Of course it’s tempting. To keep your head down, to focus on this thing. The one in front of you. Just keep swimming. Attend the list. Add, Cross off, ignore, mull over, and when it gets too big, throw it away. Start again Plates, balls, actions, get dropped. Requirements, actions, updates, lost to the avalanche. Days later a query, a reminder will dredge those up again. It happens, when the day, the week, the month, is on fire. Signs and signals: Triple booked meetings. Lunch at 4. Lunch at 6. Now It’s 7 and you’ve been staring at your screen for the last 5 minutes. What was I doing? That’s OK, just for today keep going till 8. Maybe Thursday too. And, I’ll do a bit on Sunday. Start early, still arrive late. No breakfast and reaching for the vending machine. The multiple wrong choice machine. Salt, Sugar and Fat. Let’s get back to the basics. Then let's get back to our desk. And at the end of the day what’s been achieved? Have you done it yet? Because people are waiting.The project, the delivery, the next thing, is waiting. Is dependent. Here, do this. It’s urgent. Yes, that as well but this, you need to do this now. And tomorrow, something else.

Then at last through the fog here's Friday. Thanks be that’s over. “I love you Friday.” I love you too much. Smash it on the weekend. Message in a bottle. The answer is there. Will yourself to forget. And then, here it is again. Red Monday. Deep breath now. Then throw yourself in. March on.

The message comes down. Regroup, replan, re-engage. The collective groan. You are surrounded. Your colleagues, dependent, co-dependent, we’re all isolated in this together. Join us or leave. Sure, we all still believe. Yet, yet, still it moves to the right. Only. Always. Something is off but keep your head down. Just work your patch. Focus on this now-thing right here in front of you. Motion, the semblance of progress. Focus on that. No, It is me. I’m not reaching. I’m neither strong nor capable. What I did yesterday. That was yesterday, this is today. Chaos has a pattern. A blizzard of to-do not getting done. It’s all signal, it’s all noise. and I’m going snow blind. Life? Health? Work? Balance? No. The right way is not available here right now.

I exaggerate, we are not at the point where pragmatism must prevail. We’re not at the point where the brightest have slipped away. We’re not at the point where we need to sacrifice a lesser manager. But closing in. Steady and constant. We are on target.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

Channel of Vibe

The Luck you Makes

What if luck was a product of the quality of our relationships? All of them. The good and the bad? What if how well we did in life was a reflection on how well we were doing in our relationships? Or possibly even a result of how well we managed our relationships? Be nice to people and nice things happen to you? It sounds logical but is it a stretch? Is there correlation? Is there causation?

I have this very deluded belief that luck, or my luck, is in fact a mystical third force, something almost metaphysical in my life. Which while waxing and waning remains a constant underlying influence. It comes and goes, yet it remains. I believe it’s something that depletes but can also potentially grow to provide that smooth sailing through life I can only imagine. I believe it can be overused or over relied on. And I believe it’s something I have to be careful not to exhaust. I also believe it needs tending and maintenance. But how to do that is something I don’t really have any clear science for. I only know that if it seems my luck is a bit down then I need to give it a rest and to allow it to grow back again. What does that mean? I take less chances. I’m more careful when planning. I don’t rely so much on things just working out. So there you have it. Superstition.

What we all do know is that at the most basic level there is indeed a connection between the quality of our relationships with other people and the quality of our lives. As the cliche goes: we are the sum of the 5 people we spend the most time with. They also say we should cut any negative people out of our life completely and only surround ourselves with the super positive. That way we can drive our lives forward with a constant and incandescent circle of positivity. Creating a virtuous cycle of perpetual positive lift. The upper ups so loved by Schulz's Lucy.

I want that too. More luck, More upper ups. Yet, I live a very ordinary life, with its ups and downs, surrounded by people who, thank god, are mostly as ordinary as I am. Generally positive but occasionally having some negative moments. I wonder if that might be the same for you? Things do happen. Getting out of bed on the wrong side, meeting someone impatient on the way to work. That deadline you are under pressure to deliver to. Meeting one of those negative people you thought you were done with. But, for the most part it’s all good-ish.

It’s established that optimists generally do better in life than pessimists. Not due to any hypothetical secret ingredient or mythical third force fantasy (As much as I might wish that to be true), but rather that optimists, being of a more positive outlook, are more inclined to recognise and take opportunities when they find them. Whereas pessimists are the opposite. They try less, they get less. They're less disappointed? Actually, disappointment has already been baked in. Life meeting expectations? Yet neither the optimist nor the pessimist are inherently more or less lucky than the other. If that’s what you might be thinking. There it is though. A type of luck we can influence. What can we do to foster a more optimistic attitude? As we go through our day interacting with life? As we send out those varying responses of happiness, of gratitude, or resentment? But, being the selfish creatures we are, mostly of indifference, too wrapped up in the minutia of our own lives to realise we too are an influence on the lives around us. All those everyday variations of emotions and responses in turn creates the sea in which our optimism/luck swims. Possibly as that mythical third entity. We could take those interactions for granted and just carry on, but sticking to the same formula is not going to change things. The way we deal with, relate to, or work on our interactions with others will either improve or degrade the luck we are having. In both a direct and indirect manner. Maybe that's not something we should leave to chance? Maybe we shouldn’t just leave luck to luck? It’s all too easy to take those around us for granted, to make assumptions that progress to petty resentments, that in turn create a feedback loop that corrodes away at our positivity. In turn switching our awareness away from the good towards the negative. And that is a vicious cycle.

There is no stasis or equilibrium. If you do nothing differently, then things slowly fail. If we are not at least gently rising we are falling.

In the end, the practice of being just a bit more positive and encouraging to those around us means the world reflects back on us just a bit better. Which in turn lifts our levels of positivity and optimism. Upper ups? “Lucy, I have the answer!” Just as with the practice of gratitude and the fostering of a sense of abundance, this is an area that requires us to do the same with repeated acts of positive encouragement. Not just to those closest to us but to everyone we are in contact with. If we are to build a world, a path, a channel of vibe, to transport us to better places in our very ordinary lives then little things done repeatedly and constantly build the environment in which we live. So while it’s good to surround ourselves with positive people, it’s better for us to work on providing a positive experience for others.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

The Bed You Lie In

So the bed you lie in. the one you made. The one you will sleep in tonight. The on and on of it. The loop, the repeat. What you do for maybe 8 hours everyday. It’s a big part of the day, of your life, of you. How you sleep. 

Bad bed? Bad sleep. Bad bed? Bad back. Bad sleep? Bad back? Bad  day. A vicious cycle of sleep and decay.  

I know that with a good amount of sleep I function much better. I’m less inclined to be grumpy or weepy, those two ugly dwarves. Plus with a good sleep I occasionally get to be almost happy. That’s another dwarf there. All my dwarf emotions. Facets of the ego.  How does Snow White, that known associate of dwarves feature? I’m not sure.

The point though is that without a good sleep I am not the best of dwarves. (I might have taken that too far). Without an adequate amount of lying down I am not my best self. And when awake I’m not able to reach any form of mythical optimum. So there it is, a good bed is one of the best things you can do for your day.

Most of the rest of the time I’m at work and that means sitting down. In my chair at my desk. I sit most of the day. Hunched over and trying to make sense of the ordinary and extraordinary information that is present on that tiny screen. I see nothing else and I notice nothing else. My eyes are thus engaged and the rest of my senses and body are fairly disconnected. There's coffee and a bit of lunch but not very much else. Just like the bed the wrong chair is going to turn sitting into a health hazard. Sitting and as a result work becomes even worse for your health. Any pain and my mental health deteriorates. So it’s important to get the sitting right too. It’s eight hours of the same after all. And that’s us. Sleeping and sitting.

What else do I do everyday that maybe I could do better?

Lounging.

After work I need to relax. Which is a bit more sitting or lying on the sofa. It’s a great piece of furniture, the sofa, because with this equipment you can do either or both at the same time. I do that a lot! In the evening after a night and a day of the deliberate practice of the two halves, sitting and lying, comes the lounging. If there wasn’t so much competition I could lounge for England.  But it’s  a national pastime. The road is long and the competition fierce. Everyone's trying to get there. It's something many of us can only achieve in our senior years. Just before that much longer lie-down.

The problem with all of this not moving is that slowly over time, the months and the years, poor health begins to creep in. The spectre of sickness and death begin to loom. My life's work of lounging will be cut short before I reach perfection. No MBE for me.

 I’ve got to add a bit of moving around into my day otherwise the basic muscles I need for a decent lounge are just not going to be strong enough. And as I said for most of us illness and poor health are a slow encroachment that stillness only allows to get closer. You have to move to keep ahead. The easiest way to do this is something called walking. I know it’s damn time consuming so if you want to get away with doing less I’d suggest running. Apparently this hideous form of exercise is efficient and means you can finish your walk that much faster. Plus you get further away from poor health and sickness. Think about it. Of course you might run into them coming the other way round. So running, for me, is too risky.

Recently I read this tale of a man who died in his 90’s who drank, smoked and ate exactly what he wanted. Those stories abound and I’m sure you have heard them too. In fact you might even know someone who has lived life like that. My aunt is a great example. She’s in her 90’s and until recently ate and drank as she pleased. The secret, apparently for both this man and my aunt, was in movement. Neither of them had cars and both of them walked to wherever they were going as much as possible. Block after block everyday. Miles and miles. And it worked. So walking, there may be something in it after all. It might be a secret to successful lounging. It does sound challenging though.

Therefore shoes are on the list.

Of course there are those other things, Healthy eating, mental stimulation, socialising etc but those are for professionals.

If you want to fix, improve, optimise your life, focus on the bed, the chair, the shoes. Get these right and you have a distinct advantage over everyone who doesn't..

I know it’s not the bed, the chair, or the shoes. It's sleeping, sitting, and walking.

If you are not sleeping, or lounging, then mainly you are about your work. It’s like the bed you lie in, it’s something you do for most of your life.

So maybe that's something to think about too?

Dream jobs, true callings.

If investing in a good bed seems to be sensible? And investing in a good chair seems like a good idea? Then maybe investing some time in good work might be equally sensible?

I’m not proposing you need to find your dream job. Or that you need to find your passion. True callings, that’s not me.

I won't wait. I don’t want to choose or be chosen. I’d rather not leave my fate and happiness to the obscure and ultimate, to external agents. That includes work. I won't leave things to the off chance that there is one true job.

Instead if I can take control of how I work then happiness and progress must follow. That may not be the progress of career heaven or an escape from drudgery. So, yes, there's a  sort of Zen here. Chop wood, carry water. But it does make the challenge much easier, finding what satisfies and stimulates in what I’m doing in the here and now.

And with work, when you can improve the commitment and effort you bring to the job then the job improves around you. And so does the quality of your lounging. Less residual stress, better satisfaction. Realisation.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

You Doing You

You might be able to get away with being good occasionally but people will notice when you’re being good all the time. Your strengths, your weaknesses. Your good practises, your slippyness. You can’t hide that. It’s less incidental and more in the weft and the weave. Over time, inescapable. Over time, obvious. If that is what you are then that’s what you are. Whatever you do, you end up doing you.

If you want to get better in your career then usually there’s a path of progression through qualifications, certification, your degree, your diploma, etc. So, it appears you can make progress through technical qualification. These are gate entry criteria only. They allow you the opportunity to start but if you want to advance then you need to look to your personal development.

That’s not to say that the demands and rigours of acquiring some qualifications and accreditations aren’t in themselves transformative. No doctor or lawyer is the same person at the end of their 7 years of study as they were when they started. Of course there might be some form of winnowing. A sorting of the wheat from the chaff, but some adaptation is definitely required. Not all qualifications provide that sort of transformative pressure. It’s interesting and it makes me wonder what other positively transformative processes I could commit to? What would improve who I am and as a result improve my progress in my chosen field? This commitment to writing an article a week. It might have some effect. Hopefully. I know endurance sports like Marathons, Iron mans, and Triathlons do push us past previously considered boundaries. Endurance and persistence can be learned. I’ve learned just a tiny bit more courage getting into the cold swimming pool in the mornings. (BTW, It’s heated). The good old beyond your comfort zone trope. Truisms.

It remains though, whatever you do, you end up doing you. And the way to get better at doing is to become a better you. That’s it really. Without some work on myself there will be no advancement. And why wouldn’t I want to? Become a better me? Why wouldn’t I want to get better at getting things done? To live a better life? To achieve more of my dreams and ambitions? Why wouldn’t you?

Whatever that is. Whether it’s better at listening, attention or awareness? Better at engagement, commitment or detachment? Better at understanding or focusing? Better at starting or finishing? Better at courage, or caution or boundary control? Better at those things I haven't mentioned. Because I haven't thought about them. Because here I am, doing me.

"Work hard at your job and you can make a living. Work hard on yourself and you can make a fortune." Jim Rohn

That’s inspiring, but actually I’m not looking for a fortune. If that happens that’s good but I’m more looking for a better me living and enjoying a better life. I’m far too short sighted. I don’t want to have to wait a year or twenty before realising my dreams and ambitions. I’m lazy and greedy. I want change now. I want to see small improvements every day, rather than some sudden change in some eventual future. There’s not much time. I’m getting on. I could die. I want my pudding now. Jam everyday!

But I have thought about it. What would I do with a Brazilian bucks? I’m sure you have too? Winning the lottery. Maybe, just buy the ticket. Perhaps I’m sad, or dumb, or lacking in imagination but what I want is whatever I’ve got now. Sure, I’d like that mortgage gone, but it’s going. It just needs to go faster. I’d like a better car, but it does the job. I live in a great neighbourhood. Sure, it could be better. I’m close to great facilities and yeah, blah, blah, blah.

The point is I already have almost everything I could want in this life and much more than I ever expected. And I’m even happy despite myself. Well actually, there is the Riva. On the river. Or, on Lake Como. But I’d take that boat out maybe ten times and in between leave it to moulder on the mooring. All shiny toys get old. If I had a Brazilian bucks, that wouldn’t improve things in the way I want. The only way to do that is to make me a better me. And that is something in my control. Something I can actually do something about today.

And I can do that everyday. It doesn’t need to be a lot. It’s not too challenging. It doesn’t need others. It needs me. A little everyday. I can choose something small and I can work on it. What to start with? Maybe something that will help with all the other things? I’d say being better at understanding, attention and focus will provide the lever element that will help me with all and any of the others. Maybe better appreciation of what I have too? I’m going to start with understanding for now.

Well, The first thing I’ve done on this mission is to run to Quora and check what everyone else says about the How of Understanding. Here's the answer, collated into a list with the stuff I don’t like left out. Because I’m here, doing me.

Ask questions. That’s a Duh, but I like this, the steady digging down into the detail

Read. Then read again. No matter how hard it is to grasp the first time. The second, third and fourth visit will add to the clarity. Don’t give up. Yes, good. Read actively. Make notes. Fuck that book up. Doodles, exclamation marks, underline, highlights. Cross stuff out because you don’t agree with it. Own it.

Recall. Try remember what it is you were trying to understand underneath the doodles

Teach others. What you don’t know yourself!

Get some rest. All that. It’s exhausting.

It makes sense and it’s all good stuff, but how do I improve my skill of understanding so that it can be applied to whatever I choose to focus on?

Lying.

It’s a horrible thing to say but we all lie. And we tend to lie to ourselves most of all. One good thing about goodish people is that all too often they are compelled to confess. Even in the moment of the lie. If I hear that, the inferred confession, it’s a Tell. Beside hesitation, weasley words and those other things. (No, I’m not telling you). I hear that and suddenly, you have my attention! I’m not good at it but it’s one of those background things that gets triggered. I almost never call anyone out on their lie though. If it’s done as a means to soothe or satisfy then I accept that. And if it is done for nefarious or self serving reasons then calling it out only helps the liar to improve on their game.

“You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.” Napoleon Bonaparte

Help them get better? I won’t. Oh don’t worry, if you are a sociopath I will never catch you in your lie. It’s your life that gives that away.

Understanding.

It’s the same thing. If I can pay attention to my own understanding and identify that thing I’m trying to gloss over or mumble through, then that is the place to focus. If I have a bit of fuzziness when others are trying to explain, then that’s the place to focus. That grey zone. If I’m really going to be a better me then I need to turn up the volume on understanding just a little.

Next, Attention.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

Domesticated by Goldfish

I get that concern. We've been domesticated by Goldfish, Chickens, Corn. Now AI? What hope do we have? This is the big one.

These things will be writing our schedule and making sure we keep on it. These things will be filling our day and getting the most from us. It’s almost as if freedom is over. Not domesticated. Enslaved.

Really concerning.

What hope do we have?

AI trading systems are making more money in seconds than I can imagine making in my lifetime. For years automatic pilots have been flying us from New York to London, from London to Dheli and from Dubai to Australia. All over the world. Sure there are a few humans sitting in the front of the plane but I think those humans would find it hard to do without that help. AI systems are testing our medicines quicker and with more volume than we can. Robots are picking and packing your shopping. They're watching your house as you sleep. And they are trying to get into your car.You know this. How soon before they are jumping the queue at the coffee shop? Stealing our jobs, and satisfying our partners? How soon before we stop needing to tell these damn things what to do? How soon before they start telling us? We have a right to be concerned. Art and Leisure. Perhaps you thought this means a new freedom to pursue our creative and artistic side? At last to get paid for your ideas? Right now AI is being used to generate art that mimics the work of human artists. In Graphic Design, CG art, and now in Fine Art. And sometimes it’s impossible to distinguish between the art of machine or man. AI is winning art competitions, and not at a junior school level either. AI is at work in the commercial art industry right now. So sorry, no happy playtime. They've moved into this neighbourhood too.

A call to arms.

Maybe it’s not too late? Maybe going back to the trees is still an option? Pitchforks and flaming torches are in the back of the van. We’ll be targeting micro-services hosted in cloud castles across the distributed network. Entrance is through the Experience Layer. OK? Can we do it? I don't think so.

We need help.

There is a place 2 hours from where I am writing this where it’s still 1823, where mules are a form of transport and we are out there on the mountain collecting firewood. There is a place 7.5 hours from here where half the population is being forbidden an education. And within half an hour of you and me, there are people being kept in conditions defined as modern slavery. Right now we are using toxic and destructive methods of sustainment. We are still progressing in food security, and world education. World health has a huge way to go before anyone can even suggest it’s a done deal. We need help

There is so much to do. And freeing ourselves from the mundane and the repetitive is critical if we are to continue and achieve Life's ultimate goal of getting off this planet and spread across the stars. If we can’t do that then we fail. Some other sentience will be assigned the task.

I used to work in a small team where we managed to automate a previously manual software packaging process. I know, way back when. Not that revolutionary but the message from management at the time was, “Oh good, now we can get rid of some people.” not, “Oh good, now we can do more with our time,” Fortunately that didn’t happen and we used our time to make things even more automated. Enabling even faster times to market than ever before. And the people they were planning on getting rid of went on with those skills and knowledge to even better process and system enhancement work. That first step gave us the freedom to achieve that. And these days, continuous build and integration is the industry standard, Not the exception.

The fear of AI, of automation, of systems enhancing delivery seems to me to be a concern only for those that are looking back.

We are not at the end. We have barely begun.

We are standing here at the dawn of human endeavour and there is much to do. Getting some help would be good. Especially the sort of help that allows us to free our minds and bodies to focus on what's important.

That's the future, but what about now? Is AI going to replace your copywriter? Or are we going to write more copy? Better copy? Is AI going to build our new roads? Or are we going to build better roads? Is AI going to drive your car? I’m certain of it. And better than you ever could. Is AI going to take over the Insurance Industry, replace your underwriters? Claims handlers? Application developers? I don’t think so. Are we going to be able to provide better, more targeted services in all industries as a result? I am certain of it.

That ChatGPT and its siblings are all over LinkedIn and other social media platforms seems to suggest it’s been in the boardrooms as a coming thing for a few years now. So what to do?

If you are an engineer then you’re going to have to get on it. Because I can tell you middle management aren’t going to be doing that thing. No. But think, new toys, new skills. Shiny, exclusive, in demand skills. If you are in middle management then for you it’s the same story as last time. Progress through terminology. Learn the Speak. Do the course work. Certify. Get on the team. Senior Management? Set up a team. Give them something to play with. Wait and see what Industry breakout there is from the early adopters. Then drive that.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

Shower Appreciation Society

We know the practice of gratitude opens our minds to abundance.

It makes our lives better. This focus helps us recognise the good that surrounds us. It improves our present happiness and our sense of optimism. And with that optimism comes the ability to recognise opportunity. If there's anything that will improve our lives then it's that.

I practise that. I practise gratitude. Every night I make a note of 5 things I’m grateful for about that day. There's a bit more to it than that but that’s the basics. I am shallow though. All too often the item that makes it onto my list is my shower. I have a fantastic shower. If I was a brazillionaire then that is one of those things I would definitely have. A brilliant shower. Oh wait, I already have that.

It’s just this type of gratitude doesn’t really build any sense of awareness for the support and contribution of others. It’s insular. I’m happy with my little life but not acknowleging the effort everyone else makes to support the life I am living. Those whose make my life so good.

Recently work ended and we had a big farewell party. It was goodbye forevever. We are never going to see each other again. That’s life. It happens far more than we'd like to acknowleege. Just this time it was all at once.

That's over and I've gone back to the indifferent South but that party was revelatory. (Although being me I only got the vibe later.) Almost everyone I sat and spoke with that evening expressed their appreciation. It was so gratifying to hear all of that. My ego, my god! Most of the time I was well you know, “Thanks. That’s great.” Did I reciprocate? Hardly ever. Hardly ever did I express my own appreciation for the hard work, commitment, support and just plain engagement I experienced. And in my role I am almost completely dependent on the work of others.

So What's that all about? Why am I like that?

Now I’m on to looking for a new role. Head first into the great silence. Only not. Those that have responded have been incredible. Amazing. They go over and above. They reach out, they support, they refer. Everyone that gets in contact gives more than they need to.

What is that?

Last year my Aunt was very ill. Death’s door ill. Pay attention, my oldest, closest living relative. My partner, not me, dropped everything and spent all her time making sure my Aunt got into the NHS system, got the right attention, and got the right treatment. She pulled her back from the brink and got her onto the road to recovery. She saved my Aunt’s life. That’s no small thing.

But forget about that.

That was an exception. What about the ordinary? What about the humdrum? The every day existence that woman has to put up with? Me, the grump, the curmudgeon. My favourite word? My universal response? “Eh!” Surely love requires a better level of acknowledgement? All this talk about being open to opportunity, Is this how I want to respond to the future? With an “Eh!”?

The power of your pleases and thank yous? Is it that mystical? Is it the force of the universe being attuned to? Is it a channel of determination I can immerse myself in? I know it changes things. I know it makes life better. I know it offers me the opportunity to reach and attain a better life and living. So, yes it is a sort of magic. It atunes me to better choices. Where I find myself in the future is going to be determined by the way I both project and respond in the present. By tuning into the good in life those opportunities naturally become more apparent.

By now it's obvious I’m too dull to pick up on those signals when they’re presented. With me that vibe is always later. I can't wait for the signal to reciprocate because with me realisation is always going to be after. Post Positve Realisation. Instead I need an up setting of my appreciation that is consistent and constant. I need to move from the shallow lip service of the Shower Appreciation Society to actually expressing proper thanks and appreciation to everyone who makes my life better. Before I'm prompted

I need to practise that everyday.

What about you?

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

Games to play at work.

I mean it can be a long day. Time is passing and what to do?

Is it about looking good in the office? Well, that’s a fail. Is it planning for lunch? I’m seriously down for that. Is it The Chat?  “Today, I will mostly be practising being socially awkward?” I guess not. At last at the end of the day I get to go home. I've made it through another day. And that is a prize in itself. Achievement unlocked!

But I know that a life spent in petty distraction, watching the clock, and planning my escape, is a life wasted. So no, not that then. 

So, what to do? What to do? All those hours? All those seconds? The clock, clunk, clunk, clunking along?

Do you face this challenge?

Well here are three games you can play while you are at work.

Three should be more than enough. After all, how much fun can you pack into the working day? It’s 8 hours, and that's with a lunch break. Any more and it gets to be too much fun.

They're not hard to play. Allegedly. And I play them all, I mean if it's that sort of day.

Game one. Moral High Ground.

Now this is a great game. Let me try to explain the goal or objective.  To claim and hold the moral high ground in any engagement. Now, I know what you might be thinking but, no not that. It's to be a better person. And if you play this game properly then all too often things turn out right. Better outcomes, others feeling good about themselves and sometimes you might even end up feeling better about yourself. It’s tricky though, since should your ego triumph then you lose by default. That’s one way to play the game, but that is what can only be described as the Kingdom sacrifice. Perhaps not quite the same as throwing God for a stone but it’s the same principle.

To sacrifice doing the right thing for your own ego, to score petty points, to manoeuvre, to take a position of obvious moral superiority and then really rub it in. That's how to lose.

The real win in this game is to ensure the right outcome for the engagement despite the demands of your own ego. Ultimately it’s a further extension of being fair and playing fair. At work though there is the drive to get things done rather than just play a good game. That adds an element of direction that sometimes just being fair doesn't have.  So, it’s harder. Getting things done but done right. This and the third game together can ensure a very entertaining day and one that ensures objectives are achieved. 

There is no doubt that I can and do play this game for much lower stakes, sometimes to purely score points. I lose of course. Getting down in the gutter only gets me as mucky as everyone else working that elevation. So yes, it’s another one of those games best played against yourself rather than in competition with others. Any public claim of victory undermines your position so it's really the secret satisfaction of better outcomes

Game 2, Through the Mirror

Well, this is a harder one. Honestly, this is one of those games I just don’t play well at all. Even though the win, the payoff, is so fantastic.

It’s one of those games that has the power to transform the world around me. It’s a type of magic, a way to make things better. But let’s start way back at the beginning.

Way back before Carl Jung or Anais Nin or Chuck Palahniuk or Steven Covey. Yes, they all said this.

 “We see the world as we are. Not as it is''

The first time I read that quote I was like “Aha! Of course” It was revelatory at the time. Up until then my perspective was more of an “I am me, the world is the world and life happens.”  

So the world as a mirror? Isn't it rather that we focus on those aspects of the world that validate and reflect back our own beliefs and values? Going further and being even more extreme isn’t it that we project our beliefs, values and prejudices onto the world? Beyond that projection is a world both very real and very different to whatever we choose to see it as. And because of that sometimes surprising and shocking things happen. Things that we just don’t expect and cannot anticipate. 

Further to that logic, if that’s how I view the world then others must be doing the same thing? All of us proceeding within our own self constructed illusion interspersed with occasional bouts of realism?

Sure I knew all this but nothing changed. It was just knowledge.

Then a few years ago I read a truly fantastic book, “Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman” By Richard Feynman. the Nobel Prize winning Physicist who worked on the Manhattan project. This book is a recording of conversations he had with his friend and drumming partner, Ralph Leighton. 

One of the stories he told was when he was lecturing in Brazil he realised that he understood his students' broken English better than he understood their fluent Portuguese. So even though he could speak only intermediate Portuguese he began to give his lectures in Portuguese rather than in English. That is the basic premise of this game.

We know that others project  their hopes, dreams, perceptions, prejudices, and fears onto us and that they seek reflection as validation.  I think being able to respond in a way that enhances the positive traits being projected is one of the keys to getting things done. To find and appeal to the value inherent within each person. Each and everyone contains within us our own multiverse of existences and possibilities. We can either merely reflect back what  others are projecting or we can go further and choose to project back what is positive and life affirming.

There are people who are almost entirely negative and people that are also almost entirely positive. It’s popular to say discard the former and seek closer association with the latter. But these are a minority. Most of us are composite. Seeking out and projecting back the positive puts both the responsibility and the power into my control. That’s by being a little more than empathic, by being selective in response, by seeking out and reflecting back what’s good. And it’s affirming in itself.

To understand that is to realise the opportunity to reach through the mirror. To recognise that in the same way we are, others are seeking validation, and to take that opportunity to provide something deliberately positive instead of merely reflective.

Am I any good at this game? It’s challenging. To maintain awareness of others. To reach through my own projection. And all too often my focus is on the target instead of the process..

Although a focus on the prize can be a good thing, that's the end state. This is a means for achieving that.

Which brings us to;

Game 3. Eye on the Prize

Ask yourself what is it that we are supposed to be achieving? Beside the competition of ego? Besides office politics? Beside hacking through the troubles of today? What am I supposed to be getting done? What are we all supposed to be focused on? What's the target we're all working towards?

So here’s that other game I play, Eye On the Prize. And what a great game it is.

It’s basic but satisfying in the way it provides focus and meaning.. 

Knowing what the prize is and frequently revisiting that helps me keep things on track. It quickly highlights where and when things might be going wrong.

I know, often the love we set out for is not the love we arrive at. Things change. We change. What we thought we could see clearly from a distance is not the same thing close up. Keeping the direction and clarity of the payoff constant makes it so much easier to discern what is dross and what is essential.

So the questions, What’s our objective? What are we trying to achieve? These are critical in helping work out whether what I’m doing right now is moving us in the right direction. If I don’t know, if no one knows, then that needs to be called out and found out. It’s either that or Chaos. A paddle here, a paddle there, the canoe goes nowhere.

Sure you can relate this back to the business aim and vision. You know, that statement written large and in plain English on the wall behind reception as you walk into the office? Sometimes it’s difficult to relate everyday activities back to that but the very least I can do is ensure I know why we are doing what we are doing. 

If I consider the eye on the prize as my main game at work it pretty much annihilates all my other petty motivations. Its purpose. In a box. A purpose that is always there even if obscured by confusing messages, my ego and my own special brand of dullness.

So I try to ask myself what are we about right now? How does this all fit together to bring us to the place we want to be?  And if I can keep everyone, mainly myself, focused on that objective, that prize, then I can even stop my mind from wandering off. (Well no, that’s impossible. For me it’s mainly drive-by focus.)

It's also a really useful way of dealing with my tendency to regard every question as a personal challenge. It helps me acknowledge that weakness and avoid it. Otherwise whole meetings can and do descend into attrition. The game is lost.

Sometimes if I get really bored I’ll even try playing these games in real life.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

The Lesser Road Travelled.

'Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.' M Scott Peck, the Road Less Travelled”

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference” The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Was it a better choice? How to tell after the fact, since the choice taken and the distance already travelled means no returning. Is there any way to compare after the fact?

Follow me now. See if I can convince you.

But first, some thoughts on time travel.

Since everything is moving on all the time, how do you return to an exact time and place without an address and how is that even possible when we are talking about an exactitude at subatomic levels. Even if we got the address wrong by a single particle the result would be a different time and a different place. It’s navigation without a map to destinations requiring impossible degrees of alignment.

Perhaps Stephen Hawking's time travellers did go to his party but they got the address wrong? By one atom to the left? And nobody was there? (Stephen Hawking: Time travellers party) Unless place can be an approximate? And if that is possible then there must be myriad permutations of approximates. That suggests to me there's an even greater possibility of parallel timelines, parallel universes. Maybe the time travellers did get to the party? Maybe, as the article suggests, the party took place just not the one on this timeline? And if that’s the case then could there be better or worse timelines than this one? Timelines with better parties? Timelines with Time Traveller parties?

I delight in conjecture, but what evidence is there? What proof that there might be parallel universes or that alternate realities may well exist? What evidence that some choice taken in the past has led to an obviously different outcome? Think about it. If the best possible choice taken means the best possible outcome, then would that really be where we are today? What if Cain never slew Abel? What if the serpent never entered the garden?

If that were the case then there wouldn’t be much to see, question or debate. Everything would be the best it could be. And what we are experiencing now would be the best of all possible outcomes. There’d be nothing further to consider as everything would be exactly as it should be.

But Eve ate the apple because the apple was sweet.

From then till now

Since that representative starting point there have been a lot of choices, a lot of decisions, a lot of twists and turns and a lot of changes in direction: All those choices, no matter how slightly less than ideal, have led us to this, the less than ideal present. You don’t have to look too far to see that parts of our world are on fire.

Two world wars? Over a century of unbroken warfare? Since at least 1914 Those seem to me to be the very definition of bad choices. Sure, progress and development have been forced out of those conflicts but on balance has it put us in a better place than if there were no global conflicts?

Curious to see this playing out again with the choice we have made on Brexit.

And then this. Covid 19. The Coronavirus. The directive during the lockdown was clear. Stay inside. Protect the NHS, Save lives. The directive now is less clear. What's worse, it’s now evident that the delay in taking action meant the consequences were extreme and far more serious than if we’d reacted sooner. The outcome. Division, protest and conspiracy theories? Lives lost, A new way of life post lockdown. A global economy that doesn’t seem quite healthy. A lot of people still out of work. A lot of households with less. With struggle. With hunger. That’s not speculation. Right now we are living through the consequences of these choices. Choices that have led to a lesser alternate reality.

The Lesser Road

It is difficult in the moment to know, care or even be aware of the long term consequences of the choices we are making. Especially when driven by emotion and immediate pressing needs. It’s also clear that the consequences of these choices have a long lasting influence on the future. Sometimes it’s not so much the road less travelled but the lesser road travelled.

I can point to one that is obvious to me and the one that triggered this realisation. That’s a band called The Stone Roses. The wrangle around their music contract and how that frustrated any musical expression for years. Given the early brilliance of the music and promise that came with that, the years that followed without realisation is to me a clear example of how a bad choice forced them and us into a lesser alternate reality. We are poorer for it. Music itself has taken a different path due to this obstruction. An obstruction by choice and a common story in the music business.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2.681/wars-of-the-roses-1.1069549

Let me take it further. Take my own heritage. The music and artistic expression before apartheid as compared to the music and artistic expression once the laws of apartheid were in force. The effect on cultural development in South Africa was one of arrest.

To say that there were no great musicians during apartheid is not true, but the cross pollination of cultural expression was suppressed, divided and destroyed. Something was lost. Almost the only good music or art that came out of South Africa during that period was where the artist ignored the law or left the country. More to the point, political circumstance meant talent became less important than the political message that needed expression. It might seem shallow to call out the consequences on art due to apartheid since damage was far worse across all other spheres of life but as a link and progression from the Stone Roses to a national culture seems natural. That is, the lesser alternate reality at a national level.

We’ve taken some awful choices for both selfish, lazy and desperate reasons.

The personal.

For me all those choices or not-choices have led me to this point and while I may not have the most toys I would not change a thing if it meant losing the richness in my life right now. Yet, it’s also clear that there have been choices or more particularly non-choices that have led me to a less than ideal outcome and that means some things in my life could have been a lot better. More importantly, a lot better for the people I love and care for.

So, for me, the evidence is clear. Lesser choices have led to lesser outcomes. Sure, for the most part it’s been where I’ve been lazy, fearful, non-committal, short sighted or greedy. But it’s my ease or self satisfaction, my remaining in the comfort zone, my staying too long at the fair that I believe have been some of my biggest mistakes. It’s turned the course of my life from less of a high road to more of a middling muddle.

Not continuing to write means I now live the life of a worker bee. Not continuing to travel means I am poorer in both experience and perspective. Not seizing the day, not taking things at the flood, not reaching out, not connecting, not choosing that has meant opportunities have been lost. Yet, for all that I am blessed.

Maybe that’s just me but I suspect that bittersweet combination of joy and regret is both universal and mundane when compared to the extreme joys and regrets some people live with.

Now, it’s possible that there are some of us who actually do the right thing everytime: Exercising free choice but perfectly aligned to the will of the divine. God's perfect little toys? That they live here, amongst us in this mess makes me sceptical. Evidence would suggest these are rare beings. An almost non existent minority.

The Multiverse

That’s me and maybe you, but what about us? Living here in the same approximate time and place but each experiencing things slightly differently? Alternate perspectives of reality. Us, a collection of our associates and joint associations combining to make up the joint but slightly kaleidoscope reality we share. So a collective of associates making up a universal reality within multiple such realities. The multiverse. All very esoteric but perfectly clear.

So, what to do?

When choice is driven by fear rather than intent then the probability is a lesser reality will manifest. Fear, laziness, indifference, greed; All propagate less than optimal outcomes. Detriment is only realised over time but with a longer lasting impact. To the point that inevitably our future position ends up being worse and more limiting than the one we are in at the point of choice. Again when repeated the path must turn down and toward a lesser alternate reality.

So what to do? Run to the fire? Maybe. Maybe face more of our fears instead of avoiding them. Acknowledge that delay, and avoidance ultimately makes things worse in the long run. Perhaps just push the mean of our choices toward the positive?

Where intent is clear, inherent choice on aggregate turns upwards and into better ways. It’s true that sometimes choices of intent, of clear direction are hard and have obvious and immediately unpleasant consequences. Yet over time result in better outcomes

And we have the capability to take better choices.

The organisation I work for and within a lot of organisations across this Island the response to Covid was incredibly quick. The switch to home working, the focus on ensuring key workers and functions were able to continue to operate has been incredible. There is an untold story of heroics across this land. A very clear demonstration of our ability to face and adapt to the challenge. We have people with creativity, drive and ability. The quality and strength is there. Demonstrated. Are we making decisions and choosing direction based on clear and intended outcomes or are we working to avoid immediate consequences? Are we choosing people who make the right choices? Are we letting them?

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

Your period of Destiny

Why it’s so right and why it’s also just a little bit wrong.

Look at this illustration:

This comes from a very forgotten book, Personal Efficiency by James Samuel Knox, 1919. You can get that book here, Forgotten Books, or here, 

Internet Archive

Now it’s all about efficiency but it seems those self help “gurus” have been at it since way back when.

The illustration though is floating around on various social media sites to this day. That’s where I found it years ago. Like a revelation it shows where opportunity is. If you are bright then of course you know this, but for me lost in drudgery, this resonated, 

And the illustration is so clear and so obvious it really needs no explanation. It’s a simple picture you can draw with crayons. So I understand it.

This shows there is time. Time for the pursuit of your own personal growth and development. Time to work at the things that you hold dear. Time not completely subsumed by the undertow of the daily grind. There is a space for you.

But it’s wrong. But, also it’s right. And yet where it’s right, it’s still a little bit wrong.

Why is it wrong?

It’s wrong for most of you. Because most of you are already spending your day, that big chunk of 8 hours, fulfilling your destiny. You are doing what you want and you are spending all your work time pursuing your chosen path. And doing fantastically if I may say so. I’m just standing here on the sidelines in awe at how well you are getting along.

So, if that’s you then you don’t need this. You’ve got it under control. And if you are living the life of your dreams stop reading now. Really, stop.  You’re just wasting your time. Those 4 hours of Recreation and Study? Those are there for you to unwind. To relax and take your ease. Recharge the battery.

Why is it right?

4 hours of your time working towards your dreams and goals. How can that be any clearer? Here is the way to get moving toward what you want. If you did this every day of the working week how far could you get if you just focused on the objective you hold dear? No vision, no affirmations, no wishing. Just steady and clear work. Put the time in and just grind it out. Less about the goal and more about the process. Small real steps everyday. What did Gretchen Ruben say? “What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”

And it’s there, available without having to give up on work or income. And this time next year, how much closer will you be? Yes, some sacrifice of your time. But what would you have done with that time? Television? The internet? Social Media, the infinite scroll? And what would you have to show? Regret?

Times not short, only wasted

Even when it’s right, why is a little bit wrong?

Well for me, whose more fallible than most, it’s the last thing I’m going to be doing after another long day of adding shareholder value. I’m getting off work and I’m sitting down. I want to empty my mind, I want to get that space back up in there. Space to recover and to relax. It’s the last thing at the end of a long day that I’m going to be doing before I go to bed. 

There at the end of the long day? When you’ve done everything else? When there’s nothing left in the tank? Now it’s time to get on with building your own dreams?  That’s failure right there, waiting to happen. That's why it’s wrong.

If you are like me then the most energy I have, the freshest I feel, the most ready I am is first thing when I get up. Before the day and it’s distractions. So, at least for me the morning is optimum. Not the evening at the end of another long day.

And there’s more to it than that. If it is your dream then do that first. Commit.

Pay. Yourself. First.

Getting up and doing your thing first changes things. No obstacle course to first negotiate before getting to do what’s yours. No longer an afterthought, now the primary thought. Suddenly you are the reason to get up in the morning. It turns from you being driven by the day to you driving the day.

And it’s easier too.

Four hours though? What time would you have to get up to do that? Eat breakfast, get ready and be in work before 9 am? Sounds like 4 am. What time would you have to go to bed to get a decent night's sleep? 9pm? That isn't going to work for most of us. But putting in 90 minutes at the start of the day? That’s doable. And an hour in the evening? That puts you in charge and it changes your whole life. The parenthesis of determination. First do yours then go do the work that keeps things going. Then even work serves the larger  purpose. Now it’s part of what you’re doing, part of where you’re going.

It’s your life, make it your time.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

Through the phone darkly?

There’s been a lot of it lately. The Voices. In my head. Well, in my ear. And it seems to be on the increase. Over the last year really. Am I going mad? My sense of the world seems to have moved a great deal from being in front of my face to now coming at me up sideways of my head.

It’s the same for you? Perhaps I’m not going mad. Perhaps it’s just you, projecting your voice down the telephone line?

You know it’s not a real telephone though. It’s just a pretend one?

It's not even a real voice, only an electronic facsimile of the real thing. So not a real telephone and not a real voice.  Separated now by the technology designed to bring us together. And funny now how each day I am more and more dependent on that engagement via the ether. Further evidence of our ongoing domestication? The thing is, it’s so hard to hear you when I can’t even see what it is you are saying.

I know some organisations tend to have a stronger culture of turning the camera on and perhaps that is part of the answer. But to me it’s just a bunch of heads inside a computer monitor looking at me looking at a computer monitor. It’s clear our eyes aren't quite meeting. They don’t meet and we can’t make them. Even if we wanted to. It’s either look at the camera or look at the screen? But we can’t get the eyes to meet. We just don’t have the science.

So the weight of our communication these days has to come down to the voice and the giving and the getting of meaning from audible vibration instead of visual wavelength. Nuanced, this shift in sense domination to the realm of sound.

You know how at the end of the call you get that pop up asking for feedback on call quality? I wonder, is there a robot somewhere collating all our feedback and steadily working to improve the facsimile? That would be nice if disturbing.

And how was the call quality? It seems almost every call has someone who is experiencing technical challenges during the call. Crackly, on mute, off mute, drop outs, echos. It’s not all human error. That’s progress. A few years ago we couldn't even do this.

All beside the point. Lets change this and consider the quality of the communication rather than the quality of the technology. How was the discussion and its outcome? Did I get all the ideas that others were sharing. Did I understand what they were saying? Did I capture the next steps and get clarity on  the objectives? Are we really all on the same page and going in the same direction? Or am I adrift alone in a sea of aural static?

If anything this has laid bare my fallibility and made even more aware of my shortcomings. Now I hear me. I interrupt without prompt. I stop listening. I’m just waiting for you to finish. Sometimes you would think I knew everything and I’ve only assembled this latest meeting to generously let everyone bask in the glory of my wisdom. I am that kind.

And if you’ve ever worked with me then you will have had the opportunity to observe my monkey mind up close. The doodles, the distraction, the flight of weird attention. Now it’s even worse. Because my bedevilled eyes are not arraigned to this new order, they are commanding my hands to extra nefarious purposes.

if I’m not talking, I’m writing an email. If I’m not doing that then I’m filling in a spreadsheet. I’m updating the plan. I’m reading a document. It’s a multitaskers paradise. Until the eyes and the hands have stolen away a part of my brain and I’m caught out. So crap at this new game.

Good listening requires focus and concentration. I know I have to listen carefully without interruption and without anticipation. Even when I think I just know what you are going to say. I know that I need to hear you out. I know I need to let you think things through and I know that my listening without interruption gives you the freedom to come to the right conclusions.  Listening needs to be attentive, participant and supporting without intruding,

That’s the discipline, the etiquette, the necessity that I must bring to this way of working.

Delivery depends on it.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

Blurred Lines

I’m not on about the latest announcements by our so-called leaders. Nor about the ongoing state of confusion and excuses, and it’s not about whatever is happening over there across the water; that fascinating train wreck that just keeps on giving.

I’m talking about us, working in our home offices, out of our sheds, or from the kitchen table. Sometimes even the sofa. Just us and the umbilical connection of voice, video conference and the screen before us. At it, 8 to 6. With a quick stop for coffee, or to check the fridge again for updates. Work? life? Blurred lines.

Actually, if I’m counting my blessings or practicing gratitude then I’m OK. It’s been good. No long commute, no crush of strangers, no listening to someone not blow their nose all the way from Brixton to Waterloo. No leaving in the dark and no getting back in the dark. Here I’ve got a warm place to sit, the WiFi is good-ish and the laptop kind of works. And I’ve got my people around me. I’m getting my cuddles. I’ve got someone to have a giggle and a niggle with. Really, it’s all been bumping along nicely. And hey, what a summer!? Glorious. I’ve even got to know the neighbors better. Well at least the birds in our garden. So many of them, all the time. It’s been like a bird party!

And without all that rain and car and train and people I’ve even managed to reduce my misanthropy from the usual “Level Five” (High and Rising) to “Level Two” (Low or Minimal).

It’s all good. Just this mask.

Mainly it’s been interesting. An amusing interlude up till now.

But, it’s not over. And looking forward, I can’t really see the end of it.

At least another 6 months they say. With the season turning now, it’s a real journey into night.

Personally, I think there’s no going back. Wherever we arrive at it’s not going to be back in the good old office at the good old hot desk. The point is being proved, economies being realised and the paradigm’s now been shifted.

But again, I’m not on about that. I’m on about this.

That when this all started we took time to check on each other. We were very aware of what might happen. Checking at the start of the meeting if everyone was OK. A random phone call and a bit of a chat. I’ve reached out to and heard from friends I haven’t spoken with in years. That was good and right. Now, not so much. I’ve settled into this new normal and it’s too easy to forget. Focus is back on delivery. And as I said, I’m alright. So I’m sure you must be too.

Well that’s the way I’ve been thinking or rather not even thinking. Assuming. It’s easy to forget, especially for me. That’s the danger. Not everyone is part of a joint household and not everyone has the luxury of living this life of comfortable nesting squalor I do. For a lot of us it’s days alone with the only contact via an electronic intermediary that just proves our separation. A lot of us are living and working alone without much contact from our teams. Only getting to speak to a few people a day and then not even directly but via voice or video conference. Speaking to colleagues that are mostly strangers about topics that are mostly work related. And some of us aren’t even speaking to colleagues, only strangers. That's not good

I think we are all aware of it unconsciously. We know that this isolation puts us as all at risk. We all know that if we forget the people around us, those that are vulnerable, not because they have a history, or a predisposition, or that they are weak, but because of the present circumstance, then we know we are also putting ourselves in harm's way. As a people, as organisations and as individuals. I know I am equally vulnerable, just currently more fortunate. And I know how quickly that can change. So forgetting about the people we work with at this point would just be crazy and short sighted.

Without being invasive, or overbearing or shallow, I, you, we, need to change the way we work together. We need to reach out by default. We need to engage more.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

How to Agile

Your 4 Steps to Career Success

This article will show you how to use the latest in IT trends to further your career. In 4 easy steps

Is this a trick? I assure you, mostly not.

We’ll look at this current-ish IT trend, Agile, as an example. Firstly looking at the foundation or origins that it is built from and then how to use this to achieve career progress. If you don’t have the time or the inclination then just skip right on to the 4 steps detailed in the How to Agile section at the end.

What is Agile?

Agile is a management and delivery system for IT projects. Originating from, among other things, the Kanban process originating in 1950’s Japan, It’s the current iteration of just-in-time management systems originally brought to prominence by Henry Ford who used it to streamline his manufacturing process. I haven’t looked back further than that but who knows?

There really is no new thing in this world. As per definition, Agile is an iterative development methodology. That, in turn, has been transformed into an Ideology. There’s no doubt about that. It wears its heart on its sleeve. It has a Manifesto and 12 founding Principles. It’s an ideology. Agile itself is often completely misunderstood, misrepresented, obfuscated and abused to provide a perception of value to the IT change delivery process.

It’s not that malformation that we are interested in.

Does it work?

I think that with some reflection we can agree it works as well as many other well executed systems. Sometimes better. It’s not the ideology itself but the value derived from the execution of that ideology that we should measure. This is the same measure that can and should be applied to all ideologies. To add to this, it’s the way any ideology interfaces with the people adopting it that will show its value. It’s very much down to how well people are able to implement that ideology.

Unfortunately, as Ivy Rorscach and Lux Interior said, “People ain't no good. They never do what you want em to” Possibly an exaggeration, but we’re no angels. “God made man from mud.” Ezra Furman. It’s sad but it’s true; we’re human. With the dreams, aspirations and foibles that come together as a job lot.

That we’re human means that any ideology or system that’s been designed by angels is going to be less than perfectly executed by us, the mud men. It’s one of the prime arguments of capitalism’s acolytes. That capitalism works because it appeals to our baser instincts. This is quite damning in a way and it makes me wonder whether excuses are being championed as a virtue?

But that’s the point really, Man’s baser qualities when allowed expression, not even to extremes, can and do undermine the virtues inherent in any system. Be those collective or individualistic; In the political or merely the IT arena.

So, Agile? Is it any better than other delivery system equally well executed? And the real question here. When badly executed is it any better than any other delivery systems equally badly executed? Is it good enough when badly done? Or are there other delivery systems that work better when implemented in a below average way?

Fortunately for us none of this matters.

Focus on What Matters

What matters is getting things done. Ultimately you and I have to deliver whatever the circumstance. No ideology will be taken as an excuse. No tool can bear the blame, especially where it’s mooted as the enabler.

Delivery systems, manifestos, principles, all that is not our challenge. Our challenge is how to continue to deliver value within whatever popular trend our organisation is in thrall to. We, the mud men, must continue to work with whatever tools we have to hand. And, as ever, must continue to muddle through.

Those masters of execution and delivery amongst us are less concerned with the ideology of delivery systems than with actual delivery and execution. They regard systems less as core philosophy and more as a means to an end. Sure there are champions of delivery ideologies, but the only thing Executioners care about is getting things done. It’s the only thing that counts.

Those champions of particular ideologies are without question in the Angel camp. And those Angels, those religious zealots, those fanatics, they have convictions so strong they’d make anything work.

The Here and the Now. Taking it at the flood

This is where we are. What’s going on is going on. Time is short and our chances are limited. We know this is the trend and we know that it’s best for us and our careers. We are not revolutionaries. We don’t have the time. We know our best approach for getting on is to align ourselves with what's on trend. It’s not about the ideology, it’s about providing perceivable value within whatever system is incumbent here and now, And in the meantime continue to deliver, with, or without whatever means has been provided. I don’t have to tell you to be agreeable and I don’t have to tell you your boss is right.

What you need to do is deliver.

Finally, How to Agile

Talk the walk. Yes, really. The words you choose and the words you use, matter. Terminology equals Ideology. See below.

Here are some of my favourites:

Backlog Grooming

Big Visible Charts

Chicken and Pigs

Definition of Done (Done-Done-Done)

Epic Stories

Fibonacci sequence

Planning Poker

Scrum of Scrums

Really. See here for more: Ultimate Agile Dictionary

2. Learn the rituals and ceremonies

Scrum

Daily Stand Up

Sprint Planning Meeting

3. Get qualified

Scrum Master

Professional Scrum Master

Agile Certified Practitioner

Certified Agile Project Manager

4. Bonus Feature

Every few years a new trend sweeps through our organisations. I know because I’ve been here that long:

PMP

Prince 2.

ITIL.

Six sigma. Waterfall,

Agile, outsourcing virtualisation cloudcomputingSaaS……….

Be ready and when the opportunity comes: Take it at the flood. Repeat Steps 1 to 3.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

End Effector: Or How Better to Serve our Robot Masters

Please note none of the links listed in this article are affiliated. I.e. I do not make money when you click on any of the links

Robot Music: A deeper ditch.

I have a friend who won’t listen to Spotify discover weekly or the Release Radar playlists because these are machine-generated suggestions based on our listening behaviour. “It analyzes that person’s listening history, focusing on the music he or she has played recently. It then compares that insight to the playlisting behaviour of others. Scanning millions of playlists, the system finds tracks that are commonly listed alongside music with which a user is already familiar, and then groups those tracks together into a new, personalized playlist.”

This is music suggested for you by automated analytic code within the Spotify software. In other words, as suggested by robots. This is your robot music.

I identify with that sentiment. There’s something slightly disturbing and slightly alien about the idea. But I do listen to my discover weekly playlist and I think it’s a great way to discover new music. Not the only way but a great way. I’ve been introduced to so much new music I would never have found myself. And, granted, it’s often more of the same. It’s always going to be in the arena of what I’m already listening to. The algorithm's help me in the direction I’m going. In the end, it’s a deeper ditch. Actual new music, the strange, unusual and exciting gets to me via different routes: chance hearing, human recommendation, reading, radio.

But the thought of the machine mind guiding us, telling us, governing our daily existence is interesting.

2. The Robots are coming. Oh.

I know it’s not really a surprise and everyone else has already “got it” but curiously public debate seems to be very focused on AI in the future being a threat to mankind. Mainly by non-arena experts sounding off? Hawkins, Musk. “Ware! The robots are coming!” Actually, they are on about AI but we know that’s just an acronym for “Robots!”

Since I don’t think about it too deeply then AI Robotics means:

Warehouse automation. Mesmeric

Lawnmowers. AWD lawn mowers

Vacuum cleaners. Roomba

Self-driving cars that might actually work

Writing music and writing creative prose. Well, prose. Turns out it’s a machine and not a monkey. Iterate, Objective: Shakespeare

Iron Man's Third Hand, DUM-E The one I love the most,

So, without much real knowledge or understanding, I think of a thing like a dumb animal. For instance that lawn mower. I can have it in my garden, doing the drudgery so I don’t have to. And yes, it’s a thing, a pet, a mechanical gopher. Tangible/ One day I’ll have that. The perfect lawn. the invisible yardman, the gimp in the garden. Maybe even a clean floor?

But it’s not that. These are only the end-effectors. ”the last link (or end) of the robot. That part that interacts with the work environment “ Wikipedia What is an End Effector? And to misquote whatis.techtarget “the part of the robot where the hand would be that interacts with the environment”. The intelligence and code that drives and manages these are sometimes not even present in the hardware. The hardware is only the visible presence, the actor and enabler of the automatons programming. The mind in the machine? The mind of the machine.

Think about it. Robotics and AI now keep your home warm (Nest), schedule your milk and eggs delivery, even try tell you when to have sex. (When to have sex) They even listening to you when you don’t think they are. (Google is secretly recording you through your mobile) And, believe it or not, they are now pushing out total accountability. Wirelessly linked average speed cameras will catch you as you speed your way to and from work, automatically generate, then send you a fixed penalty notice. No, I’m not bitter.

It really is too late. The rise of the machines is over and it happened while we were sleeping. It’s not the tomorrow you are waiting for, it was yesterday. And it’s only going to become more so as further systems integrate and exchange information with ever-increasing ubiquity.

3. What to do?

Well, you can’t uninvent a thing that’s for sure.

You can try hide. Go off grid. Cancel your social network subscriptions. Get rid of your smartphone. Sell your car, don’t use public transport, get a bicycle. Use cash. Get a cow, get some chickens, grow leeks. Don’t get a job. Don’t go to the doctor. Some will try.

You can get inoculated. You have the right to be forgotten. Become the shape of something missing? I just don't think it’s possible. That law may have intent but do we have the science? I don’t think even the curators of all those data warehouses know what they’ve got hiding in there? The cure for cancer? Or just 500 pictures of little Timmy’s 8th birthday party.

You can negotiate. Accept what you have to and reject what you can. Take some, leave some. Unfortunately, I think this isn’t going to work as well as you might hope. Sure minimise social media. Even get rid of that smartphone. That's a big step where living in modern society means ever-increasing integration.

You can ignore it. Yes, and that’s what most of us are doing. Going about our lives, enjoying this new way of living and of course tut, tut, tutting as I’m doing here. But getting on with it.

We know there is no equilibrium. Nothing remains static and as this new way of life accelerates those not integrated or engaged are going to diminish. There’s more than a few articles about what we are going to do with our time now mechanical beasties will be doing all the heavy lifting. Honestly, I feel the looming of the Axiom and it’s about time I get served my lunch in liquid form. Less tonic and more Gin. It helps with the softening of the bones.

You can deal with it. You must. This new reality that’s both endemic and integral to our way life is soon to become the dominating market for our palfrey skills.

4. Serve now. The robots are waiting.

I’ve already started. I serve a machine that keeps me perfectly occupied. A machine that constantly prompts me to serve its needs. I am its own personal End Effector. “Change the water”, “Add more beans”, “descaling needed”. The directions are constant, endless. I can only aspire to one day serve as mighty barista’s do. Yes, I am become an End Effector. And you too can become an End Effector

This new system has needs that cannot be met by clunky bits of metal or plastic. With our soft hands, limited interpretive abilities, perambulatory mobility and the capability to execute multiple tasks badly, we’re perfect. Whether serving a coffee machine or driving to direction. Well, maybe not driving so much since the robots are now building cars they can drive themselves. The world is turning into a Philip K Dick Short Story. Still, the primary interface between machine and man during this transitionary period. That’s us. This is it, This opportunity, this is the new frontier for us the humans.

Here, where machine needs man. It’s a match made in Metropolis.

[theexecutionerstoolkit]

The Secret Ingredient

So, fish to fish.

What’s the secret ingredient? What’s that thing that you do that gets things done? What’s that thing they do that gets things done? What’s the Magic in the potion that makes the motion? On time. To quality. In budget.

There are deadlines approaching. There are issues. There’s a silence to your requests for updates. There’s a process ambush to battle through. Here, use this butter knife as a machete. This fish seems dumber than me. How the hell could that even be? What? Why must I wait 12 days for someone else so you can unlock the door? Here’s a match. Why don’t we use it as a key?

Support? Yes! Loads! The beatings continue and morale is not improved.

So what’s the answer? I don’t have it. No, not special. Just another soul in the shoal. Swimming, swimming, swimming.

But, I’m lying. I do know some things. Not a lot. Not all. Not nearly enough.

Here's what I know.

Extreme ownership works. If you haven’t already then read this book. Extreme Ownership on Good Reads: It says it much better than I can.

Engage. Oversight is not engagement. And it’s only through engagement that progress is made. I need to know how to do some of the things if anything is going to happen. Increasingly I suspect the better my engagement the more extraordinary the progress. So unless I have some technical expertise in some part of the delivery process I cannot provide the engagement necessary to ensure progress. I need to know something; Build, Test, Network, Interfaces, Whatever. Something that puts me on the inside. And if I don’t know I need to learn. It’s something I forget and have to relearn again and again.

Progress is made in the box. Large time boxes with the right people involved without interruption lead to more progress during that period than other times.

Find an owner, win a prize. Throughout all organisations, there are people who have an extra level of commitment to the overall system. Often these people are a type of renaissance man or woman, with multi-discipline technical ability and a clear understanding of system interfaces. Although under appreciated and extremely overworked if you can tempt them, their can-do attitude gets things done.

Being wrong helps. Even if I don’t understand. Even if I’m wrong. If I can get people talking, things move along. I don’t know how that works but it does.

Theirs is the plan that works. The people that are going to do the work need to write the plan, not the managers. What I need to do is ensure sure there’s enough detail in that plan and this sometimes means I have to ask for more information. While getting that information I can challenge through dialogue. I don’t always do that.

Still not enough. Still not special. Still muddling through fields of treacle in viscous waders.

You know things. What do you know that's tried and tested, that helps to get things done?

Special thanks to Dan Stockwell for the loan of above trousers.