In June of 2018, a volcano destroyed my home and place of businesses and vaporise all of my possessions. To say I was left in a state of shock would be a vast understatement. Thankfully I had many friends and acquaintances reach out to me with offers of help, support, and thoughts about what I … Continue reading Wonky is Not Just One Thing
Changing a flat while still driving the car sounds utterly bonkers, doesn’t it? And yet it is something many of us are doing right now. Let me explain by way of a story.
Thanks to your help I have discovered that commenting was not enabled for my recent posts. I have rectified that. It seems the default setting is commenting off and I had assumed it was on. Apologies for that as some of you have contacted me and shared some amazingly resonant stories i hope you will share with others on wonky.com by entering your story or comment in the comment at the bottom of the relevant page. If you are still having difficulties let me know and I shall help.
question for me to answer since most of the examples I can remember were not life changing at that moment due to my lack of self awareness. In most cases it was years before I could connect the dots and trace a change back to one of these early moments. The story I am about to tell is one such moment.
still remnants of that era lying about such as slowly decaying vehicles above ground, and countless mines below. East to west the Qattara depression is about 400 km wide and far enough from any regularly trafficked road as to be dangerous. There is no water there. There are no plants there. There is salt, soil, sand and rocks baked hard by the relentless sun. Flip a rock over and see how the top is burnt black and the underside is sable. The sun transforms everything here -- some faster than others.
Ever since I was old enough to hold my own passport I’ve been of the mind that the best way to travel was solo. No compromising, no catering to the desires of someone else. Travel was a rare, treasured use of time and resources so it was best enjoyed greedily, selfishly. This particular form of self indulgence was deep in my blood by the time I was 18, having already driven solo to and across Death Valley, backpacked solo across Rannoch Moor, and many more places few people have ever heard of.
I 'm quite confident I am not alone when I report that it is becoming difficult to get up to running temperature these days. I am going to blame it on my middling attempts to transition towards an effective, lockdown working rhythm. Like that old car that needs nursing every morning to coax it to life, so too is it with my working life. And from what I hear from friends and clients, I am certainly not alone.
Seeking and executing solutions to problems seems an admirable leadership trait. Now imagine if you are such a leader. So why, despite all our skills and admirable intentions, do we so often end up not with admirable solutions, but unintentionally unhelpful consequences? And what if I were to tell you that it is likely that at least 80% of your employees suffer the same consequences in their pursuit of solutions? Yep, the odds are highly likely you are running an organisation teeming with people who are being handsomely paid to frequently fail. And why, when you spot unhelpful results, the changes you and your colleagues invoke also fail to deliver the results you seek?
Anyone who knows me, knows that there is little I like more than a good TLA, (Three-Letter Acronym). Today's candidate is C.O.B., or Chain of Behaviour. The COB is a simple framework for better understanding why we do the things we do. The COB, is made up of three links -- Cognition, emOtion, and Behaviour. Let's dive into this simple, yet powerful way of examining why we do the things we do.
Irreplaceable is an unspoken attribute we all wish to possess. We want to be so respected in our work role that we feel not only respected or cherished, but we also feel safe. There is something reassuring in knowing that no one on your team could possibly fill your shoes. It is a kind of job security leverage. But this situation can also be an anchor. You cannot possess the security of having no succession plan and be seen by those above you as an attractive candidate for a new role. You cannot have it both ways. Why? Because the upwardly mobile leader always prepares those who could follow him in his or her rise. Having a quality succession plan is one of the signs of a good leader.
Wonky 