Delays and Changes

Wednesday last week proved being a turning point in my life.

Tait announced a restructure and as part of it my role got disestablished. Now this has 2 consequences

(1) unfortunately our land purchase is delayed as without an income stream the bank doesn’t lend us the necessary funds. Understandable. I talked with the vendor letting him know. He was very understandable and happy to hold the purchase until we are in better shape again. Good on you Jeff!

(2)  I have a fantastic opportunity to review what I want to do in the future

Purchase!

Good News on the land purchase front. On Sunday we agreed with the vendors on purchasing the lot at 40 Loburn Kowai Road, North Loburn. There are still a few legal and administrative hoops to go through but by June 1st we shall have that completed!

On the left you can see a quick sketch of land, the proposed driveway and building site.

Building – a thought process

In parallel to our land hunt we had some big discussions about the house itself. Susani and I have the same principal ideas but a lot of different opinions in the detail.

(1) The house must be environmentally friendly, cosy, have a character, warm, and beautiful.

(2) It can’t cost an arm and a leg.

(3) we want to use solar hot water and power.

and now something different

For the past 2 months Susani and I have been searching for a new place to live. After 10 years at the beautiful Waikuku Beach.

The Liability of Complex Communication

Yesterday I found a study published by the University of St. Gallen “Complex to Clear – Managing Clarity in Corporate Communication“.

The authors Martin J Eppler and Nicole Bischof argue convincingly a business case for clarity in all types of corporate communications. They address reports, emails, and even Twitter. That fascinating study can be downloaded from the University’s website and there’s also a presentation on Slideshare.

I was so fascinated by the clarity of the report – it follows to a great extent the recommended principles very closely – that I decided to blog about it straight away. It took me just half an hour to read through the 67 pages.

Data’ism

A new word turned up in my weekly read of random pages. David Brooks wrote in the NY Times about “The Philosophy of Data“. Instead of the buzz word “Big Data” he used “Data’ism”.

“We now have the ability to gather huge amounts of data. This ability seems to carry with it certain cultural assumptions — that everything that can be measured should be measured; that data is a transparent and reliable lens that allows us to filter out emotionalism and ideology; that data will help us do remarkable things — like foretell the future.”

Doing just enough …

I just read a blog post by Seth D. Cohen “The cost of doing just enough“.

When I saw the title I mental picture in mind of a certain person. I struggle to get that person stepping up. And here comes a promise that may help.

Disappointment

I really am disappointed by that post it states the obvious and doesn’t address how to create the change of mind. A few days earlier John Stepper wrote about “the Influencer’s checklist“. Now that was much more practical. Thanks John.

Doing just enough is an attitude statement. It tells a story. It says something about not being engaged, not being in tune with the organisation, the team, the project, or the task. As a leader I have an obligation to understand “why”. This is my team and my project. Success doesn’t come by sitting on my hands. High performance teams don’t emerge if I don’t plant the seed, nurture it and get the environment right.

Doing just enough is a statement that something is wrong. It could be a personal thing, it could be a cultural things, it could be a change that doesn’t sit well, and it could be a change in the person itself. People grow and change. A job that is perfectly fine today may not be tomorrow. I, as a leader, need to understand. That’s the only way to decide what to do about.