There’s a paradigm difference between schooling-based credentials (i.e. engineering degree) and creative-based expertise (artistic or sporting pursuits).

With artistic or sporting endeavours, there’s an understanding, almost an expectation, that there will be coaching throughout the career, in order to improve and learn. Voice coaches, acting coaches, obviously sports coaches: ongoing learning guidance.

With schooling-based credentials, particularly procedural degrees like engineering, you’re on your own for ongoing self-learning through your career. Just figure it out, right?

This is a flaw in the development of our procedural/technical experts. The ‘figure it out’ approach should rather be by targeted coaching and/or group learning.

In a recent Work/Life podcast, Adam Grant interviewed a free climber about how he faces the fear of such a risky hobby. But I think he missed the mark.

The answer to, “how do you face the fear?”, was too simple: “Do your best, take a deep breath and go for it”.

What he didn’t say is things like: learn your craft, practise, study the experts, research what you don’t know, admit when you’re outside your comfort zone, put in the time to get good.

Deep breathing doesn’t help if you don’t know enough about it in the first place.

Achievement is somewhat is ‘scientific’, or measurable. We kind of know if we’ve achieved something.

Fulfillment is more of an art. Defining living a ‘fulfilled’ life is less exact.

It’s also true that many with significant achievements, may not be all that fulfilled.

I’m borrowing from several people with this one. Variously Tony Robbins, Matt Church and Marie Forleo have addressed the difference between “achievement” and “fulfillment”.

Consider your position on the science of achievement and the art of fulfillment. Noting, though, it’s hard to be fulfilled if you haven’t achieved. But recognise that achieving doesn’t always equate to fulfilled.

The other day, I walked past a house where the security alarm was ringing.

There was a car in the driveway, and I could see movement in the house. I walked past without stopping. And even now I’m still now wondering if I did the right thing.

I justified walking past because there were neighbouring houses with lights on, better equipped to help. I’d probably be no help, and worse, might even put myself in a dangerous situation.

But that’s exactly the thing with alarms: we collectively, mostly, ignore them. But I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.

It is Epictetus who said there are two states to consider every day: persist and resist.

Every day, all the time, we are either persisting at something, or resisting something else.

Persist at writing or providing feedback on that report. Resist checking social media, again.

Persist at allocating enough time to work deeply on something. Resist working very long hours.

We should alternatively exhort and restrain ourselves.

Get out there and socialise, but get home early enough for a good night’s sleep.

I guess the challenge is knowing when to persist, and when to resist. That’s where success is found.

There’s a plethora of announcements out there, advising the enormous amount of money being committed to be “spent on” …something. My interest is of course the amount of “investment” being “spent on” the energy transition.

It brings to mind some logical questions next: what exactly is the money being spent on; who gets all that money; where does it all go?

I’d like to see a pie chart showing the distribution of all that money. I guess I’m hoping it’s not mostly going to studies, reports, and advisors. I’d rather it mostly be going to tradespeople, labourers, makers, and repairers.

I spent the weekend in a reverie of memories. It was on October 1st, twenty-five years ago that I arrived in Brisbane, to be a pipeline engineer on the PNG-to-QLD pipeline. Remember that failed project, anyone?

Memories: Jimmy’s on the Mall, Story Bridge Hotel, my apartment block on Thorn Street.

Whenever I look back into the past, I also force myself to look ahead the same timescale.

Interestingly, these places aren’t that different 25 years later.

It’s possible the locals we now go today will be mostly similar in 2047. Maybe places don’t change that much, but people really do?

Anyone with a uniquely spelled name will commiserate with me here. I’ve just had the experience where the communications department of a large organisation proudly let me know that they’d posted an amazing article about me, and that I should start sharing it around.

As often happens, my surname in the article was spelled the more popular way of Jacques not Jaques.

It’s tricky to handle this situation. Because I’m quick to correct, that probably makes me seem intense, sensitive, or even rude.

But I don’t mean to be rude, and I’m not actually angry; it’s just important to me.

“Your work matters. Build your schedule accordingly”.

That’s yet another clever comment by one of my favourite productivity experts, Cal Newport.

In other words, schedule time to do your knowledge work. You have a job based on the using of your knowledge, skills and experience. Set aside time to use those competencies.

And yet, we spend so much time writing emails and ‘trying to keep up’, and responding reactively to all the emails coming in.

It does require some selfishness. It means proactively scheduling blocks of time to do one thing at a time. That’s how good work gets done.

There’s a lovely buzz in the air these days reflecting this particular moment in time that we are re-gathering in.

I’m trying to identify what motivates a team, group, or gathering of people who choose to (and pay to) spend time with each other. (Through to the early hours of the morning no less, ahem, colleagues out there you know who you are).

I’ll go with camaraderie. The definition is “mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.” The synonyms are inspiring: companionship, togetherness, conviviality. I wonder if we could work in permanent conference mode.

Some people choose to stand on a stage and speak. And some would never do that.

When I moved to Australia in 1997, I heard about my industry’s amazing conference. I wanted to go. My manager said: the way to go is volunteer to present a paper.

So I did. My first was in 1999. And I’ve presented many times since.

Speaking publicly is a skill that requires practise.

I like it when inexperienced speakers give it a go., especially when it’s clear they’ve put a lot of effort into it.

Key advice? Less is more. And, keep to time.

I wrote this here in October 2019. And hooray, it’s true again.

Industry conferences are a well-known way to interact with colleagues, make new connections, and get known. Sometimes they can be hard work, and sometimes they can be mostly fun. Networking is a skill, which some find easy, and some find exhausting. Regardless of your view on networking, it is a key part of any business.

Networking is not about showing off or doing all the talking. Share stories, but listen, too. Listen to what is going on in other people’s lives, so that you can understand them better.

We can define competency as having the right knowledge, skills and experience, particular to a task or topic.

Then there are numerous attempts at “competency systems”, describing in great detail “what” is needed to be competent.

For all the good and detailed work going into these competency frameworks, they seem to fall short of telling a person who wants to get competent what to do ‘next’.

We need to get better at defining expectations of how to attain that knowledge, and how to get the skills, and how to define the experience.

I like helping the “what next” for competency.

I grew up in the post baby-boomer, pre-millennial, pure GenX era of big hair, and, big cost cuts.

I saw the downsizing, outsourcing and re-organising of all kinds of businesses. I’ve seen the growth of executive compensation packages and the “de-growth” of worker pride and employee loyalty.

This is to say, there’s a cost of doing business. That includes paying for training, or for time on committees, or for community memberships.

It’s a cost of doing business, whether you’re a company of one, or a company of thousands.

Get over the angst of paying for things that are a benefit.

Here’s one to ponder: “success is family, failure is an orphan”.

It’s a good metaphor, and it’s true.

Success is always welcome, we always invite success into the conversation, and success shows up everywhere. Meanwhile, the failures along the way are put to the side, abandoned, not talked about, and rarely talked to. Failures are awkward, lonely and, at worst, disowned.

Success gets most of the attention, while failure sits alone forgotten in the background

Take the time to get to know the failures as well as the successes. Invite failure into your conversation in order to understand it better.

The act of trademarking a generic term is covered in a recent Planet Money podcast. It shows trademarking is a regional thing (and such a legal thing).

I didn’t know that in Australia, “ugg” boots referred to generic sheepskin footwear. Apparently, to Australians, ugg boots are generic; to Americans, it’s a brand. (And I guess transplanted Canadians in Australia just go with the flow).

I was sorry to hear the Australian in the story who fell into the legal trademarking quagmire wasn’t successful.

I understand brand name protection, and ugg is just kind of fun. These David/Goliath stories are thought-provoking.

With a return to some normality of the work world, I’ve re-discovered the commute.

Pre-pandemic, I commuted for two years after we moved from inner-city to suburban living, but I can’t remember in what format. And then, for the next 2 years, there was either no commute, or it was really optional. And in that time, I forgot my commuting habits.

I’ve re-instated the commute, including sometimes doing the 8km on foot (getting that run in somehow!).

It’s allowed me a 30-45min ‘separation’ between work and home. And, it’s allowed some dedicated time to listen to podcasts. I like it.

There are many platform options to post opinions or intellectual property.

I learned about a key difference in platform types this week on the Ditching Hourly podcast with Jonathan Stark.

On type is the ubiquitous “feed” platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram). These push information onto you via algorithm.

A growing type of platform is a search platform (Reddit, private communities, and, interestingly, Pinterest). These are ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’ platforms that you find by searching for them.

I’m pretty over feed/push platforms. But finding the pull platforms I want to be on is hard work… because it’s not fed to me.

The podcast “99% Invisible” explores places and things we’ve perhaps stopped noticing, particularly in architecture and everyday designs. It’s been around since 2010, but I’ve only listened to a few episodes.

This week’s podcast had the potential to be fascinating but didn’t go that deep into the topic of “search”.

I did learn about how the linking concepts helps us remember things. Also, the categorisation of the three types of search: transactional (for buying things), informational (for research and learning), and navigational (where to go). And interestingly, they promoted Reddit as a valid information source, which I’d not considered before.

Adam Grant’s podcast “Re:Thinking” (via Work/Life) recently featured an interview with Mark Cuban. I agree with Grant that the best insight was that the advice to ‘follow your passion’ is flawed. Instead, we should follow our “effort”, in order to achieve success and stick-to-it-ness.

This is what another writer, Cal Newport, has been saying for years: don’t follow your passion, instead, get good and see where it takes you. Be so good they can’t ignore you.

We put effort into getting good at things that matter to us. So, it’s insightful to pay attention to what you spend time on.