Happy Friday!
If I had to pluck a theme out of this working week, it would be one related to the huge importance of adult to adult relationships as a foundational basis for doing anything worthwhile.
The optimist in me believes that most of us want to leave the world a bit better than we found it*[1]. That all goes rather swimmingly until we encounter someone who seemingly is acting in a way that inhibits our progress or is trying to undo it.
I used to think of myself as a conflict avoider. But perhaps time and experience has taught me that you can only avoid conflict through 1) not doing anything to upset anyone, which may also equate to doing anything and 2) ignoring dissent and steam rollering your way over or around people. Neither approach is sustainable in the long run.
Some conflict or dissent is actually healthy as long as it’s constructive. It’s an opportunity to listen to someone else and understand their point of view, even if you don’t agree with it. It’s also an opportunity to put forth your own thoughts and feelings and help someone understand where you’re coming from.
This is how we move forward together. Avoiding the trap of falling into the roles of parent & sulky teenagers. Talking to each other like actual grown ups, working hard to find the common ground. There is often more that unites us than divides us if we can stop looking at *only* the things we deeply disagree on.
In other news, I may also have been watching a lot of BBC Parliament this week.
*[1] — I know this isn’t always true, but dammit I want it to be so!
I’ve been reading…
- An engineering solution to a design problem.
https://medium.com/@davidcarboni/an-engineering-solution-to-a-design-problem-46122b986bf6 - Agile’s ethical dilemma, decision distribution, and the Trojan War.
https://medium.com/columbus-egg/agiles-ethical-dilemma-decision-distribution-and-the-trojan-war-36306b178fee - Do the Agile principles still hold up?
https://medium.com/columbus-egg/do-the-agile-principles-hold-up-a1b95071e6f1 - You want AI’s with that? McDonald’s buys into machine learning.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47722259 - Pioneers, Settlers, Town Planners [Wardley]
https://medium.com/org-hacking/pioneers-settlers-town-planners-wardley-9dcd3709cde7 - Onboarding as a team sport.
https://medium.com/homes-england-digital/onboarding-as-a-team-sport-392381f1b210 - Being generous in reflection and interpretation.
https://medium.com/doing-better-things/being-generous-in-reflection-and-interpretation-2466d9e84fc6 - Nvidia AI turns sketches into photorealistic landscapes in seconds.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/18/nvidia-ai-turns-sketches-into-photorealistic-landscapes-in-seconds/ - The right way to lead design thinking.
https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-right-way-to-lead-design-thinking - Local Digital Project: Chatbots and AI
https://localdigitalchatbots.github.io/planning/2019/03/15/sprint-1-show-and-tell/ - Redesigning Bromford Lab: 1,500 seconds of reflection.
https://medium.com/@BromfordLab/redesigning-bromford-lab-1-500-seconds-of-reflection-7c85e385467c