Category: The Curious Will Inherit The World

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

My De Facto Facial Expression: Annoyed. Smile, Yo!

ThisMuchWeKnow

The subject of smiling is foremost at the moment. Yesterday, I talked of its life-saving properties. Today, something far more prosaic: inviting people in. Recently, I have attended 2-3 events where part of the attendance schtick is that you get a portrait photo from a professional photographer. Although I smile quite authentically(!), when asked to pose, I get my facial muscles in a knot. How much of a smile is good for a portrait? This much, that much? Reviewing the final content,  I realize I have no idea how I look! I also realize how grumpy my de facto expression … Continue reading My De Facto Facial Expression: Annoyed. Smile, Yo!

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Change Agents Are Peasants On A Hillside, Hearts Open, Mouths Shut

ThisMuchWeKnow

Undertaking some garage spring cleaning on Easter Sunday, I found some old picture frames, one of which is worth resurrecting from storage TODAY. Ripped from the intro page of a Paul Theroux book, if memory serves, it highlights perfectly my own #FutureOfWork point of view as an advocate of change. “A peasant must stand a long time on a hillside with his mouth open before a roast duck flies in.” I have been there, for years too long, alongside colleagues too many, a powerless peasant in a system I neither controlled nor understood. Yet… “The movements which work revolutions in the world … Continue reading Change Agents Are Peasants On A Hillside, Hearts Open, Mouths Shut

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Manage For Today, Lead Into The Future?

ThisMuchWeKnow

The wholly despressing stat of the day from LeadershipABC via Jon Husband: only about 2.4% of management time (40% x 30% x 20%) is focused on building a corporate view of the future. If management is the work of today, then is leadership the work of tomorrow? The description implies forward momentum. If so, who will lead us? Who will vest their time now for tomorrow’s benefit? Who is brave enough to commit their energy to this endeavor? ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading Manage For Today, Lead Into The Future?

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of Work2 Comments

#WOLyo! Close Out: Storify Reflections On Working Out Loud

ThisMuchWeKnow

Well, I put together a Storify of the #WOLyo! experiment from last week. Storify curates the social conversation around the topic – this is about me working out loud for a whole week under the stairs at work. Unfortunately, I cannot embed the Storify here on WordPress, so click through to the slightly weird but quite interesting little experiment…it looks a little bit like this. Enjoy. ←This Much We Know.→   Continue reading #WOLyo! Close Out: Storify Reflections On Working Out Loud

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

One Year Of Working Out Loud = 260 Posts + REAL Community. #WOLyo!

ThisMuchWeKnow

A good little reminder of the value of blogging from Dave Winer (“I developed the first blogging software…”) from this self-explanatory post (via @elsua) Why Blog?: “The mission of blogging is to empower all of us to go directly to each other with our expertise. So if you know something as well as anyone else, or you learn something or know something that should be shared, then you should share it on your blog.” Yes, working out loud #WOLyo! is about sharing your knowledge, and it is about building community. Having reached my TMWK blog first anniversary last week, it is a worthy reminder. From … Continue reading One Year Of Working Out Loud = 260 Posts + REAL Community. #WOLyo!

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

A Happy #WOLyo! Outcome? Finding A First Follower.

ThisMuchWeKnow

Some learning happens in the moment, some comes in reflection and debrief. Living through the working out loud experiment last week was powerful and dense. After, I felt tired yet optimistic – that new conversations might happen, new organizational and cultural opportunities emerge. This week, a few people have been ribbing me, why aren’t you still under the stairs? It’s just not the same Jonathan, without you peering out from the gloom… A few more missed it entirely (March break holidays) and sounded genuinely disappointed (in theory, of course). A contact made the connection between what I did – a willingness to … Continue reading A Happy #WOLyo! Outcome? Finding A First Follower.

Social Business, Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Pecha Kucha Squared = #WOLyo!

ThisMuchWeKnow

Last week, I presented 10 (count ‘em!) pecha kucha, every day at 1130 and 1330. Topics ranged from my (fairly uneducated) take on Microsoft Office/Oslo roadmap and shipping finance for beginners, to perspectives on the company and the CEO, and then more meta content about working out loud and the value and practice of pecha kucha itself. At the end of the pecha kucha on pecha kucha, I suggested it as a good option for people to practice their presentation craft, and finished with a Challenge Accepted image. Someone asked, does this mean you want us to ‘pecha kucha’? Well, no … Continue reading Pecha Kucha Squared = #WOLyo!

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

What Does #WorkOutLoud Leadership Look Like? #WOLyo!

ThisMuchWeKnow

I like sceptics. I am not one generally. Used to be. Used to be a harrumphing bore, cynical to the gills. Got over it, myself. Now, I think much more about potential and what if…? Still, sceptics keep you grounded, prevent some of the plain excess of grandiloquent ideas. I encourage the engagement of sceptics, they make me better, raise the bar. And they come out of the woodwork when they smell the fresh scent of new ideas, innovation, change. This week, working out loud under the stairs, I have had several good, honest, hardworking conversations on matters of substance. … Continue reading What Does #WorkOutLoud Leadership Look Like? #WOLyo!

Social Business, Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World1 Comment

Still Working, Still Loud. #WorkOutLoud Day 3 #WOLyo!

ThisMuchWeKnow

I am experimenting working out loud quite physically. I moved my desk to be under the stairs with a sofa and a projector for company. I am hosting pecha kucha unEvents, chats about business topics, introducing some stim and some tension, seeing what happens, without expectation or longing. I keep returning to this idea of asking: How can I help? The social journey is a shared one, meandering and bumpy, but every time you ask that question, the flow returns. Every time. Am I to help 150 people in the office? No. Can I make a difference to a handful, … Continue reading Still Working, Still Loud. #WorkOutLoud Day 3 #WOLyo!

Social Business, Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

#WorkOutLoud Week: Day 2 #WOLyo! The Place That Adults Whisper About And Children Cross The Street To Avoid

ThisMuchWeKnow

So, word reaches me, working out loud (#WOLyo!) under the stairs at work, from two separate sources within minutes of each other – surely a meaning to this then – that Wes Craven has been here years before me, in the 1991 movie The People Under The Stairs. According to IMDb, “Two adults and a juvenile burglar break into a house occupied by a brother and sister and their stolen children and can’t escape.” Well, here I am, and there are escape routes left and right, but I’m hanging in there. Day one was very tiring because the spot light … Continue reading #WorkOutLoud Week: Day 2 #WOLyo! The Place That Adults Whisper About And Children Cross The Street To Avoid

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of Work3 Comments

It’s Time To #WOLyo!

ThisMuchWeKnow

Here is my current applied learning process: I connect with those who are further ahead, some who are behind or abreast but who are seekers also; I watch, listen, read. I let the knowledge wash over me. I pause for thought. I create space for insight at several points through the day. I reach out, respond, enter the flow, deepen my awareness. I articulate my own connected thoughts on my blog, for my own challenge first. I work out loud. As ideas eddy and still and amplify, I bring new learning to work (day job). I share new ideas, new … Continue reading It’s Time To #WOLyo!

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

Asking “What If?” Can Raise your IQ

ThisMuchWeKnow

In yesterday’s post I evidenced the growing requirement to ask questions if one is to survive and thrive in this mad, mad, mad world of ours. No sooner had I hit Publish, another piece of evidence crossed the wires from Warren Berger in this Fast Co. article. Asking big questions is where innovation comes from, and is associated with overcoming fear. John Seely Brown suggests starting with simply asking: what if? Yes, what if? Could there be a more beautiful question? Berger has other beauties to ask in his new book, and a quiz to take too, so you can … Continue reading Asking “What If?” Can Raise your IQ