When do you make time to think?
In the busy, ever changing environments that we work in, it can feel like there is a constant pressure to act and react. When I am caught in this constant cycle of reaction I become overwhelmed and, however hard I am working, feel like I am constantly behind.
And we are in roles where there is limitless work that we could do. We are never done and so it is very easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you are not doing enough. But, as Lena Reinhard says, "Great leaders aren't great because they get everything done, but because they choose what they do not do."
I find that what shifts things is creating space to step back and think. When do you make time to think? What do you do to give yourself this space? What do you do to keep distractions at bay when you are doing this?
If this is something that you are struggling with, please reach out. I would love to talk.
☕ Coffee with CTOs
2pm (UK time) on Friday 22nd May
This online session is a chance to bring along an uncertainty, challenge or question (and a coffee or tea), make connections with a small group of your peers and get some support and new perspectives.
→ Register here — places are limited.
🗓️ LDX3
I'll be running Reclaim your time, reclaim your leadership workshops at LDX3 in London on the 2nd and 3rd of June. If you are there, please say hello.
🔗 Other interesting links
Some of the things that I have read and watched recently include:
- GitHub Actions is the weakest link: Andrew Nesbitt outlines the multitude of ways that GitHub Actions is insecure by default and gives examples of the compromises in software supply chains that this has resulted in
- How to use one of the most valuable management tools: Active listening: Johanna Rothman on the power of listening
- Contracting and recontracting: 'In coaching we used to say that most problems could be solved by recontracting, and this is likely true of many, if not most, "people problems" too.' — Jade Garratt
- AI 'aha' team meetings: Lara Hogan's suggested format of a regular show and tells for your team to share learnings and aha moments about how they are using AI sounds worth a try.
- Every engineer is a manager now 🤖: "Writing the code is only a tiny part of software production. Most of it is deciding what to build, working with other humans. AI takes the friction and the microaggressions out of large-scale refactoring — it’s fantastic for automatable, verifiable tasks. But you still have to make decisions." — Chris Lattner
- They built Stepford AI and called It "agentic": Abi Awomosu on the gendered narratives of AI
Take care,
J.