Our brains learn to filter the potential stimuli that is bombarding us at any moment. Over time we are able to develop the ability to effectively block the unessential noise, light, pressure, or irritations that come our way. Similarly, we are also always having to filter abstract inputs such as information, emotions, instincts, and feelings. Physical and abstract inputs are filtered differently by different people: this is part of a culture.

The evidence that filters work is highlighted when they aren’t effective. It’s like having a bad back: you don’t realise how important it is, until it’s not working right.

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The ability to be visionary is one thing, while the ability to deliver is another.

Coming up with achievable long range big audacious goals is one skill, while the ability to deliver results repeatedly, reliably, and without fanfare depends on a different type of skill.

We imagine that we, or our leaders, can easily do both. The study of successful entrepreneurs shows it’s difficult for a visionary to also reliably deliver. Like many skills, one is often easier than the other for each person.

The expectation to deliver a vision along with the ability to deliver is a tall one.

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Some people have the ability to take information and spin it into something else. They easily and craftily spin information for the benefit of them or their stakeholders.

Information should just be provided in a factual, sensible, and straight manner.

Don’t forget the fable of the Emperor with No Clothes. The ‘spin-masters’ convinced him that the clothes were made from threads that stupid people couldn’t see. So, no one wanted to admit they couldn’t see it.

We get blind to information that doesn’t fit our preference, bias, or wishes. Sometimes those who spin it are masters. Sometimes, think for yourself.

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Being organised invokes visions of clean desks and surfaces, tidy filing systems, and the ability to find what you’re looking for in no time at all. Being disorganised is probably more often the norm, with clutter, disarray, and uncertainty around where anything is.

Being organised is an ongoing state - like developing habits: it’s a way of life. An organised desk, filing system or email inbox is not something you achieve, and you’re done. There’s more to it than that.

Even a little bit of structure can help enormously. Keeping it simple helps to make it a way of life.

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There was a little white dog on a leash waiting patiently at the crossing, looking around excitedly and expectantly. As I admired its cuteness (and hardly noticed the human holder of the leash) it occurred to me that at that height, all that dog is seeing is shins and shoes. A very different experience to mine.

In a conversation, or a disagreement, recognising the other perspectives is useful. It helps to understand where they are coming from, or what they are currently seeing. A bare ankle doesn’t seem like much, but if that’s all they know, it might be plenty.

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There’s a line in the 2004 movie “Shall we dance”: “We need a witness to our lives. (In a marriage) you’re saying, ‘your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it. I will be your witness’ ”. The line is in answer to the question ‘why get married’, which is a whole other topic.

The concept of needing a witness also applies to our work life. There are hundreds or thousands of people doing similar work as you, and work life is so much better when your work is appreciated. When work is witnessed, it just feels good.

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I do quite a bit of work around developing Australian Standards, and also by extension in the quality arena, I help develop processes, procedures, and guidelines.

What I don’t do (currently) is any work on textbooks.  You know, those things we used to refer to when we wanted to (or had to) learn something. 

Standards are not textbooks.  The principle of performance-based Standards is to apply existing knowledge to achieve the best outcome. And yet, the dependence on Standards seems to be creeping into the textbook realm.  Standards are getting longer and more complicated. Maybe because the textbooks are not.

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I wonder how envelope makers are faring now that we don’t send as many letters anymore. When I moved to Australia in 1997, email was only just taking off, and I still wrote weekly letters and postcards back to friends and family in Calgary for several years.

But this is about email at the moment. I heard a good analogy for emails: they are the envelope. Take the contents out, do something with that - put it on a calendar or to-do list - and then discard (or file) the envelope. Don’t make space for the envelope, it’s just clutter.

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I’ve been contemplating a move from analogue notebooks onto online systems. But the thought only usually gets about that far, and then it’s all too hard and I stick with my multiple notebooks system.

I’ve kept a journal on-and-off since I was 12, so that’s one notebook. Then there’s my exercise tracking one. And one for work topics. Another is used as an idea generator and for capturing thoughts. And another is a straight-up analogue pocket calendar to check availability quickly.

That’s a long list. Really, one does not need to handwrite so much!

Well maybe, I do need to.

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The field of knowledge management brings up thoughts of databases, electronic libraries, and lessons learnt sessions. While all of these are tangible, useful ways to manage knowledge, it is the context of that knowledge which is most important. And context is lost in those sterile databases.

Knowledge management is more than databases. Some of my work involves training and coaching around the development of knowledge plans for people, not for the storage unit.

The transfer of knowledge depends entirely on people.

That means people talking to each other, teaching, training, exchanging, debating, discussing, listening, thinking, disagreeing, agreeing, and so on.

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The field of quality management has developed and matured in the last 20 years. Originating in the manufacturing sector, where quality control is easily measured by testing production (usually being a tangible thing), it has now grown into better management of systems and procedures.

Measuring the quality of service providers requires different measurement tools. Some of my work includes reviewing quality of service providers, which is often impressive.

I like the recent moves towards recognising how risk also fits in the efforts of quality.

It makes business sense to identify areas of high business risk, then focussing quality efforts there.

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The field of risk management, also sometimes referred to as safety management, includes asset safety: working so that the bridge doesn’t fall down, or the pipeline doesn’t rupture. 

It’s possibly more common to think of ‘safety’ as OHS or WHS, related to workplace safety; oversimplified to hardhats or steel-toed boots.  WHS keeps workers safe; very important. 

I think there are (at least) four types of “safety”: workplace, process, public and personal.  Some of my work is in public safety: preventing asset failure where failure could impact on an innocent bystander (the public).

Each type has differing requirements and particular solutions.

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The ability to take a complex topic and simplify it should be the goal of every person who works in complex roles. But simplifying is a classic case of ‘easier said than done’.

The reports, articles, and emails with enormous amounts of content but for which the intent or purpose is not clear, have not been simplified. The writers probably have felt that they need to fill the page to prove knowledge. Though in many cases, less is more.

James Clear wrote: “To simplify before you understand the details is ignorance. To simplify after you understand the details is genius.”

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There’s plenty of guidance and advice on how to be a leader.

There is another skill, less known and less discussed, but probably just as important, if not moreso. And that’s the skill and behaviour of being a first follower.

As Derek Sivers says in the YouTube/TedTalk video: “the first follower turns a lone nut into a leader.” So, a leader is alone until a first follow joins in; now the rest of the crowd sees the benefits and makes it a party.

The same happens with business innovations, social movements, and group activities. Every leader needs a first follower.

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There’s a nostalgia to looking back in time, to be reminiscent about how far we’ve come, or how things used to be.

It’s a good exercise to then take that same lament and look ahead the same timeframe.

So when a statement is made like “has it been 10 years since…”, or “I can’t believe that was 20 years ago”, we should also think, can you imagine that far into the future?

Smartphones and social media only really took hold of our lives 15 years ago. Try to imagine what our conveniences (and irritations) will be 15 years from now.

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I don’t usually do these 100words in series; rarely even is one related to the last one. But this one I thought needed a ‘part 2’.

Last post mused about the importance of asking questions. Asking relevant questions is a useful skill that needs to be developed and nurtured.

But the second part is, we need to have access to someone to ask the question in the first place. And we need somewhere to ask the question without fear of being judged. Finally, we should definitely be able to expect a useful answer.

Answers are as important as the question.

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As noted to me recently by esteemed industry member Ted M, the hardest way to learn is through bitter experience.

While it’s true the best way to learn, in conjunction with gaining expertise and seeking feedback, is through experience, there are sometimes cases where the experience should actually be avoided, if it might be seen as a bad experience coming out of it.

So, if the hard way to learn is through a bad experience, maybe an easier way to learn, and to avoid repeating mistakes made by others, is to develop the ability to ask insightful and relevant questions.

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There’s always a danger when making assumptions: we all know that.  Assumptions can simplify our complicated tasks; we take shortcuts like assuming things, to avoid cognitive load.  Assumptions are based on past experience, and maybe some hopeful thinking, too.

There seems to be an ongoing assumption that ‘technical skills can be taught’, like as if it’s just easy to do that.  Or, there’s a view to “hire the person with the better personality; they’ll be able to figure out what they need to know”.  Those assumptions may be costly. Perhaps there’s a link between failed projects and assumptions like those. 

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When there is a decision to be made, it is almost impossible to separate individual motivational biases from that decision. We like to think we’re impartial, fair, and logical, but the research shows that we are usually not. There is often tussles between what we want to do, and what we should do.

The motivations associated with decisions include: what we individually want or need; wanting to be seen in a positive light or be liked; wanting a positive outcome (of which the perspective is a factor); and wanting to avoid regret.

Humans are predictably unpredictable and yet surprisingly consistent.

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Humans have a propensity to work together. We seem to drift towards cooperation rather than drifting towards isolation. Even in the current “stay apart’ modality, we are still working together in creative ways. It’s built into our DNA, the need to co-exist and cohabitate. Humans cooperate so that we can achieve bigger things. And by cooperating, we learn from each other. We share ideas and information, for the bigger potential and the better outcome.

Knowledge is best spread around by cooperation and teamwork. It is the sharing of ideas, knowledge, and space, that leads to improvements, innovation, and remarkable achievements.

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