We’re all guilty of stating “they should do something” at times in our lives.

“They should’ve known that might happen.” “They shouldn’t have let them get away with that”.

The awkward question is to figure out exactly who “they” are. “They” are people too.

And, honestly, there are many instances when “they” is actually, kind of, “us”.

Maybe “we” should’ve said something, or “we” should’ve known what might happen. Putting responsibility onto someone else, some amorphous “they”, absolves us of culpability. But it is disingenuous. Make sure you’re not indirectly or obliquely part of the “they” that you speak of.

One of the complexities with describing competency in knowledge workers or technical specialists is that we tend to have trouble explaining what we do.

More to the point, we have trouble establishing, and more importantly, proving, the value behind the work done.

To resolve this gap, I wonder if there might be something to the strategy of learning how to tell stories well. Not tall tales, but rather the story of what happened.

At the end of a project, or when we’ve resolved a particularly difficult technical problem, the act of capturing that outcome – what happened – is rarely done well.

It’s always difficult to know how to talk to someone who is experiencing grief or loss. I’ve recently learned that the most generous form of sympathy is to share a specific memory about the person.

This philosophy holds for general appreciation as well:

the most generous form of appreciation is sharing a specific memory.

The most effective way to describe – or appreciate – a person is to tell a specific story about them. This demonstrates that you know something specific about them.

It shows a level of connection and shared history, and that can’t help but touch the other person deeply.

There are two important phases to gaining knowledge:

1. Experience the world, and,

2. Process it.

I’ve mentioned the importance of experience before. This is about the importance of the second step.

The ‘processing’ of our experience is the act of looking for connections and realisations and links and relevance, to other parts of our experience and character.

The study of logic, the study of philosophers, and even the study of knowledge, often raises a concept of relevance and the possibilities of links between one topic and another.

This is where the magic is – this is where new knowledge thrives.

In the document control or quality management sense, a “document” is not the same as a “record”.

Successful businesses will have a set of policies, plans and procedures – these are all important documents, but these do not provide the record of them being followed.

When there is a necessity to prove that an activity, control, test, checklist or procedure has been completed, there should be a record of that. The record is the evidence.

A procedural document says “do”; a record says “done”.

Having a procedure is great; having a record that the procedure is being followed is even better.

I like the symmetry when the first of a month lands on a Monday. A new month, a new week, a new beginning.

Of course, calendars are a human construct, it’s made up and artificial.

But these artificial constructs can bring structure and reliability to our lives.

The repetition, the reliability, the “here it comes again” expectation help to give us a framework – scaffolding – to build our lives and our goals on.

The opposite is change, uncertainty, and confusion. And yet, with all of that, Monday still comes. So does a new month. This is a structure to hang onto.

We don’t notice what doesn’t matter. And we do notice what does matter. Like when we’re in the market for a car, the kind we want is on every corner.

It is a human condition, a pre-recorded response: we notice what matters. To be noticed, it has to matter.

So, if it doesn’t matter that you haven’t read the procedure, or filled out that form, or gotten that approval – then it’s absence won’t be noticed. Exactly.

Any process that has no consequences if it’s not followed, will not be adhered to.

Because if it doesn’t matter, it won’t be noticed.

There’s an abundance of inspirational quotes and memes available out there. That’s a tangible way of being inspired: find a quote, put it on the wall, and then gaze at it now and then.

There’s another way, perhaps it can be called intangible, to be inspired. Take a close look at those around you, and who you spend your time with.

The well-known phrase “you are the company you keep” is rather accurate.

When you have the opportunity to interact with, get to know, and connect with inspirational people, that is better than looking at a poster on the wall.

I like the idea of being focussed on outcomes. At the start of a project or task, we should know what the finish line looks like.

The unspoken struggle with that philosophy though, is the not so rare case of not knowing what the expected outcome is.

When the outcome is unknown or unclear, the trick is to figure out how to manage that anyway. The strategy might be to assume an expected outcome, or, to start down a path to help determine the best outcome.

Either way, it’s important to declare the expected outcome, so that there’s no doubt.

A search of the word “unique” provides lists about how to be unique as a person. There are several descriptions of how a person’s attitude, experiences, behaviour, creativity, perspective, and other attributes, are the things that make each and every one of us unique.

In our work world, it’s useful to every once in a while, take the unique route. Provide output unlike anything else. Present a new view, or, write about an alternative approach. Show an unexpected conclusion or describe how another stance applies.

It is these forays into the uniqueness that raise profiles and help us to get noticed.

Being thorough means showing attention to detail, there is great care and completeness in the work, and there is depth and meaning to it as well.

A thorough job is not superficial, nor is it partially done. Nothing is forgotten nor overlooked.

It is easy, though, to skim over required tasks, getting just the bare minimum done in order to move on to the next task. Most of us are probably partially guilty of not being entirely thorough.

There is context here though: keeping your house clean perhaps doesn’t need to be as thorough as keeping your finances in order.

We participate in a conversation more readily when the topic is relevant to us.

Naturally, when a subject is related to something we’re already interested in, we’re more likely to pay attention than if the topic is completely irrelevant.

While listening to a conversation, a presentation, or a training session, we’ll hear it in our own context and relevance.

And, each listener will have their own unique context.

So, when applying for a new job, a promotion, or just wanting to build confidence in our own knowledge, remember to be relevant. Be relevant by making connections with the audience context.

It’s not something we think of often: words per minute.

Yet we go through our days taking in words constantly, in a multitude of forms.

Words on a page, words heard, or words in our heads.

Data is available estimating words per minute:

• Reading: 200–250

• Speaking: 120-200

• Listening: 275-300

• Thinking: 10-1000x

• Typing: 40–60

Thinking speed isn’t actually documented, I just made that up.

All of the forms need a wide range, perhaps even wider than what is found by that quick search. They can all be done either slowly and with purpose, or lightning quick, depending on circumstances.

There’s plenty of advice online on how to build self-confidence, but there is not much advice available on developing our confidence in others.

Having confidence in a person, company, or process allows us to believe that we can rely on them or it. That confidence allows us to put our scarce cognitive availability onto other problems or, even better, innovation.

The feeling of confidence usually develops over time, from a combination of consistent results, trustworthy outcomes, and reliable behaviour.

Quickly developing confidence in others is challenging when we’re about to hire a person, or, they get assigned to our project.

The expected career progression is to move up. That means eventual leadership in some sense of the word.

Amongst the excellent leaders out there, are those who are ‘thinker leaders’: those with a tendency towards technical solutions rather than team performance.

A thinker leader mostly thinks in facts, systems, and project outputs. Thinker leaders tend to focus on project reliability and innovation, rather than the output of the team or an individual.

Counselling a thinker leader to consider the team beyond the facts is like pushing water uphill: it can be done but it takes an awful lot of energy.

To document technical information well, you do need to sweat the small stuff. It almost goes without saying that details are extra important for technical, design, or even construction information.

As the world automates, detail gets hidden behind ‘black boxes’ of programming, coding, and screens.

But: the details are where the problems are.

The details require a thorough review and validation; however, the summary report or output need not belabour the details.

So it is a tricky dance to know – and sweat - the small stuff, but also to know – and not sweat - what’s left out of the summary.

Following on from yesterday’s post (which I rarely do): off days should still result in doing one fulfilling thing. Doing that one thing, even if it is small or unrelated to work, is a triumph.

The other benefit of doing that one thing applies best if that one thing includes knowledge.

Because if you are acquiring knowledge or skills, even when the lights are off and motivation is low, remember that no one can take that knowledge away from you.

Your job may change, your boss may change, your income may change: but you still have that knowledge.

It’s yours.

Some days the lights are just … off. Some days the words don’t come, the solutions aren’t there, the motivation wanes, the writing to be read, blurs.

The day in, day out of producing, solving, achieving, is unrealistic.

At some of the lowest points, of a day, of a year, of a career, that’s when it is helpful to do one thing that makes you proud.

It can be a little thing – filing a few papers, tweaking a spreadsheet, creating a drawing, folding the laundry. Doing one thing that makes you proud, can be the one thing that maintains self-worth.

It’s been said that mastering a skill requires 10,000 hours. It’s also been observed that the studies which purported that theory have been skewed, or mis-quoted. Regardless of the petty details, it seems that 10,000 hours makes a person really good at repetitive tasks like playing an instrument or perfecting a golf swing.

The alternate approach that appeals to me is recognising it’s the first 20 hours where all the improvements are gained for a skill or task. A dedicated effort for 20 hours on something you want to learn (a language, public speaking, tennis) is more palatable than 10,000.