There’s a difference in concentration levels needed to glance at twitter posts versus the concentration (and time) needed to listen to a podcast or read a few pages in a book.

The time spent doing that newsfeed scrolling is generally too short of a time block for the (better) alternative of reading a few pages of a book, or listening to a podcast.

And it’s not just the time factor – it’s the concentration required.

Our ability to concentrate on one thing – one article, one podcast, one book, one subject – is being eroded. This is not good for solving complex problems.

Disruption is associated with uncertainty, but they are not the same state. You can be disrupted, with no external uncertainty about it at all. That happens with something outside your control (a snap short lockdown anyone?). That kind of disruption mostly causes internal uncertainty. It is very disrupting but there’s no uncertainty – not externally, anyway. The uncomfortable uncertainty felt is internal: how to cope, what does it mean, what will I do. These are fair questions, best handled with resilience. And with predictability: identify routines, patterns, and processes that have predictable outcomes. The disruption may remain, but the uncertainty doesn’t.

The most banal uses of predictions are, of course, weather forecasts. Or, perhaps fortune tellers. One or the other is more reliable, but both use skills to predict the future.

Being able to predict the future reduces uncertainty. Our brains like certainty, and so we leap to conclusions about the future as much and as often as possible.

So, make it easy on your overloaded brain by putting in place predictable outcomes wherever possible. It might be boring, but if you’re feeling uncertain, use your skills to make checklists or write procedures. That helps your future to be more predictable.

The human brain tends to look for patterns, in order to reduce uncertainty. Patterns mean familiarity, which means the ability to shortcut, for an overwhelmed brain. Any time we can shortcut, that’s what we tend to do.

This is why we have natural and normal biases, though they may devolve into stereotypes or, worse, incorrect assumptions. The human brain craves certainty, familiarity, and predictability.

This applies for dealing with people, or when dealing with projects. The people side of this discussion is behavioural and cognitive psychology. The project side of solving uncertainty delves into project controls, risk, documentation, and procedures.

The opposite of uncertainty is, of course, certainty. More useful, to get control of uncertainty, is using an antidote to uncertainty: predictability and reliability.

During 2021, the “Beyond 100 Words” webinar series will be held on the 10th of the month. Right there is some predictability for you to alleviate uncertainty: future episodes will be on the 10th of each month. There are 10 episodes planned in 2021.

This month’s topic is uncertainty itself. I’ll draw on examples and stories from my March 2020 100WAD posts (an uncertain time for sure) and provide some takeaway suggestions to deal with uncertainty.

Calendars and clocks are a human construct. Turning the calendar over to the new year is cathartic in some ways, and also meaningless in others. Of course, these measures of time are based on the phenomenon of the earth’s rotations, but besides that, it’s all made up.

But, the structure of days, months, and years should not be underestimated, and the new year can be a cathartic, cleansing and purifying time.

I’m taking the time to cull my email inboxes. Starting the new working year with empty inboxes means more brain space, which may allow more space for innovative work.

Last post of 2020 …I’m taking a break from #100wordsaday until January 4th.

In 2021, in addition to carrying on this daily caper, I’ll do a monthly webinar series, ‘Beyond 100 Words’.

I’ll choose a theme based on some of the published #100wordsaday, and on the 10th of each month, I’ll present background stories and inspirations, and provide some takeaways, to help with that theme.

The pilot episode will be on January 10th in the afternoon – I know that’s a Sunday, so it’ll be a soft launch for sure. January’s theme is ‘uncertainty’. More details after the break.

Happy holidays!

I was surprised to learn that a revered colleague closes his eyes during online meetings. Not only does he not use the video, but he actually sits there with eyes closed while the conversations are going on. I thought initially, how rude. That’s not fair to the speakers.

But maybe he is right to do that. He points out, so rightly, that so much human interaction is from nonverbal cues. In person, our eyes take in all of the body language and nuances. On video, all of that is gone. So, he concentrates on voice, tone, and pitch; eyes closed.

The phrase “love your work” can be positive (“it’s good to hear that you love your work”), or critical (apparently, it’s a particularly Australian slang to say it sarcastically). Adding a comma reverses it in the sense that the work loves you back (Love, your work).

We all strive to love our work. Life is better then. Perhaps there are fleeting moments, but it’s not often a sustained feeling. But when we’re in those moments, it’s worth remembering. Those are the times to be writing a ‘career episode report’, or a storyline, or just a ‘what happened’ list every day.

A hundred years ago, there were pure etiquette schools, and it was very clear what ‘good behaviour’ expectations were. Fifty years ago, it was post-1960s and the rebellion was on. The youth of the day (baby boomers in their teens) questioned all things etiquette. Ten years ago, social media arrived, and etiquette was possibly banished to history.

But perhaps not. Humans still function best together when expectations and rules are known. But in a multi-cultural, diverse, and inclusive society, we no longer know what the rules are. Sure, be kind, that’s obvious. At a gathering, clearly set other expectations too.

I’m very keen to help develop knowledge transfer culture and structures within businesses, and between groups. This particularly applies between generations. The senior expert members of an industry obviously need to transfer their knowledge to the up-and-coming experts of the future.

Knowledge transfer is, fundamentally, a way to contribute to the success of others.

So, a knowledge transfer effort is not about the ‘knower’. It is about helping someone else succeed. Perhaps, deep down, that is harder for experts to understand than we think – someone else’s success.

An effective knowledge transfer effort means that someone else succeeds because of it.

We don’t often focus on the moments when we’re learning (unless we’re in a paid training session). Of course, we should be learning all the time, and we also should be teaching at every opportunity as well.

Through our days, there is passive and active reading (differentiated by note taking effort) which are low learning efforts. Better engagement occurs with constructive learning which includes reflection, querying, and re-wording. Most effective is teaching it to others – that is when deep learning takes place.

This is known as the ICAP Framework (Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive), oddly listed backwards in terms of effectiveness.

Projects can be complicated; they are rarely simple. It’s counter-intuitive, but small projects sometimes unexpectedly need as much planning, organisation, time and attention as the large ones.

An important understanding for any size of project is the expected objectives, and the required deliverables. It’s common to conflate the two.

Objectives are changes, like improved business processes or reduced amount of rework. Objectives are harder to measure, but when they are achieved, the project is a success.

Deliverables are things, like design drawings, or a whole house. Sometimes the deliverable is the output, sometimes deliverables are inputs to achieving the objective.

Millions of workers are now facing a logistics issue that I have grappled with for several years – and not yet solved. The WFH conversation is mostly about fatigue and mindset and burnout – all relatable and real.

But the fatigue not talked about is the figuring out of where the stuff is. When you can work from two locations (say, a home office or business district office), you almost need two complete set ups. Two cameras, two headsets, two laptops and screens. Two notebooks! Either that or carry your entire office with you on your commute. Try that on a bicycle.

A colleague friend of mine doesn’t like the either/or scenario of two. When creating new idea or considering possible solutions, he always encourages thinking beyond not just the first one, but the second one as well, aiming for three.

It’s a strategy that has helped bring out the best idea or solution, being that third one. Two just isn’t enough. A third breaks the tie, breaking open something completely new.

That third thing is usually a stretch. It’s like the last few reps with a heavier weight. Pushing through past the two and into threes is where the results are.

Projects in organisations differ from operations or service departments because of a couple of characteristics: they have a start and a finish; and there is a scope, budget and schedule attached to them.

The field of project management is rife with expertise, advice, theories and terminology. And it’s almost impossible to do knowledge work without managing projects, large or small, at some point in a career.

Most of us face small projects, with a scope, budget and schedule attached to them, every day. Approaching some of the everyday tasks like a project will build skills that transfer to larger projects.

The minutiae (the trivial details) of a day can fill quite a bit of cognitive space. One kind of minutiae is, shall we call it, ‘hygiene’, which is the daily grind of keeping ourselves healthy and presentable with clean clothes and clean teeth.

The minutiae of a job is another kind of cognitive load, sometimes called “admin”. I have a time block for “admin” most days, but it seems it’s never enough. It has helped, though, to corral that minutiae into its own block, rather than tackling it randomly throughout the day. Differentiating minutiae from essentials is an ongoing challenge.

#100wordsaday

People involved in executing large, complex projects know that feeling in the middle of it. It’s a feeling of constant overwhelm, while we’re facing impossible deadlines, cost overruns, inevitable cost cuts, questionable quality, and uncertain outcomes. There’s a point when we wonder if it will ever be finished.

But in the end, most projects do finish. After a while, most of the stress and drama that went before is forgotten. So perhaps the value of dwelling on it now is diminished, thinking ahead to when the job is done. Today will be in the ‘before’, and won’t matter so much.

#100wordsaday

I have a set strategy to tackle document reviews efficiently.

First, I confirm the number of pages. With that, I can estimate a realistic timeslot. For typical technical documents, 30 pages takes me about an hour. In my calendar, that time is blocked.

I read the table of contents to understand the structure. I remind myself of the purpose of the review (comment, approval, initial draft) – this has an impact on the approach.

The final trick is to also allow enough additional time to actually write the comments or editorials. I’ve been caught by how much time that step takes.

#100wordsaday

If you understand something, it’s a synonym to say you comprehend it. There are many ways to gain knowledge (comprehension): by reading, listening, observing, and practising.

Reading is probably one of the most common and most important methods of gaining comprehension.

Reading for comprehension for long periods of time isn’t easy. It uses a lot of energy, surprisingly, the way it taxes your brain. Longform reading also sharpens your ability to take information in, process it and reason with it. Reading is like running – you can’t run 5km on day one; similarly, reading for a long time needs practise too.

#100wordsaday