OKR addiction; Adaptive thinking; Meetings

I’m going to borrow steal a phrase from a colleague this week about feedback.

Classically, giving feedback is described as “feedback is a gift!”, but this doesn’t necessarily ring true because gifts are rare and they are often surprises which you didn’t ask for.

“Feedback is fuel” feels a lot more approachable, direct, and true. This is because we need fuel to survive, and without feedback we stagnate or become complacent.

So the next time you spot an opportunity to give constructive feedback (and the person is receptive), treat it as the fuel they need to progress.

This article eloquently describes something I struggle to describe myself – companies find it easy to rely on data. This can mean that we can end up in situations where we squeeze out creativity, or reject initiatives that don’t immediately seem like they could naturally fit into a data-driven model e.g. OKRs.

Described as “critical thinking on steroids”, this article runs us through how to approach decision making by looking for gaps or opportunities to optimise, rather than being reactive. It lines up nicely with my personal mantra of “being two steps ahead”.

I’m sure this is relatable. Most people spend most of their time sitting in meetings rather than doing focus work. I’m not sure, but it seems to have gotten worse over the past couple of years. This article runs through some advice on how to reduce them, and if you do need to run one, what you can do to make it most effective.

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The central message for me from this episode was that our attention can be hijacked, and that has incredible implications on our ability to make rational decisions and…think for ourselves. In an age of consumerism, you can quickly see how that taking over of our attention can lead us into all sorts of bad spots.

Listen to this podcast (29 minutes)

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