Captain it’s imperative you listen
The captain (boss) gets the final say. It’s important there is clarity about who is in charge. However being the boss doesn’t mean every decision is the right one. You (first officer) need a way you can convey your point of view if the decision(s) being made could have a very bad outcome. At work we follow the sociocracy workflow that has a principle of raising “critical concerns”. In aviation they say “captain, it’s imperative you listen” which is their code trigger to ensure the captain pays specific attention. Everyone needs ways to raise important questions. The boss may still choose an alternative course of action but at least both parties know how to raise their concerns.
Having a clear procedure for this type of communication may save time/money/ avoid a significant risk to you or others.
Snakes and ladders
Every interaction is like a roll of the dice. You aim to move forward. Yet in the game Snakes and ladders a roll of the dice can move you forward but then suddenly back down the rung of a ladder. A little way down or nearly back to square one. Every time your boss changes, your contact leaves at the place you had influence or the world around you changes it can feel like your tumbling back to the beginning. Better to know that and know the conditions of the rules than to keep focusing on changing the game just because you don’t want to play. Expect to tumble and go again and again.
Take 5
Featuring yours truly:
At a time when the creative industries are being revolutionised by digital transformation, shifting audience dynamics, and evolving funding landscapes, we’ve captured a powerful snapshot of leadership thinking that cuts through the noise.
Being heard
One of the key things for improving over the long term is ensuring people are heard. In https://www.sociocracyforall.org/ there are a number of ways this is done. You can read those yourself. Being heard isn’t the same though as having to do whatever you are told in that feedback. It is too simplistic to assume having every voice heard means everyone gets a say. It is ok to say “I hear you but on this occasion I’m going in a different direction but thanks for your feedback it did help me make a decision.”
Walk and talk 2025
This week I attended a walk and talk facilitated group in the Yorkshire Dales. Time to unpick challenges and work through the next 12 months.
My word of the trip in relation to work was “frustrated”. Time to take action.
Dreaming of a single customer view
We want to be successful. One of the aims to achieve success is to know our individual fans/users/customers better. Knowing their needs allows us to design and run better services. A good service is an effective service. From the many anonymous interactions we have every day, we want to shine light on those touchpoints to know as many of them as we can.
Instead of just using generic terms like “total visitors to site (online and in-person), website visits per quarter, google review score, Spend per head etc there is an opportunity to be better informed. With better insights we can make data-informed decisions that don’t treat everyone identically the same. Kevin Kelly wrote about the benefits of having 1000 true fans which in summary says within any large group of people are die hard fans who give you momentum (MVP adjacent).
Find them by building services that allow you to identify who they are across your services (opt-in of course). Use their data test assumptions about how our worldviews collide. Spot something that doesn’t work and fix it. Fix it for the fans and you’ll probably be fixing it for everyone.
Basecamp free returns for managing a project
I’ve used Basecamp since at least 2013. Basecamp is an online tool for managing projects. I’ve personally used it for both enterprise organisation wide usage and freelance/consultancy. New for 2025 is the return of a free tier for managing one project at a time. This is good because it helps you try it without any cost.
Charles Handy obituary: corporate philosopher and author
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/charles-handy-obituary-corporate-philosopher-and-author-mczk5gm06
Maverick management guru whose strategy was to spend 100 days a year earning, 100 days writing and 100 days on fun, with the rest spent on volunteering
Good enough for now, safe enough to try
A principle to live by.