Great managers get better outcomes from their team. Trust, feedback, delegation, self-awareness and building the right team and areas for managers to focus.
Book - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
Your time and effort is limited. Instead of seeking happiness and a solution to all problems, find meaning in values that you can control and a better set of problems.
Book - The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier
To help someone work through a problem, bring out all the details, how it affects them, what outcome and help they want, and what they will give up to succeed. Ask what has been learnt from this process to support future self resolution.
Book - Four Stages of Physiological Safety by Timothy R. Clark
For individuals to comfortably challenge others in a group, they must also feel included, able to learn and contribute. One can encourage these traits by acknowledging people, sharing one's own mistakes, praising other's achievements and providing cover for candour.
Book - Atomic Habits by James Clear
The easier and more immediately rewarding an action, the more likely one is to subconsciously repeat it. Whatever your goal, develop a system that promotes aligning actions and deters contradicting actions.
Roundabout
Almost exactly a year ago, I bought a bike. It was second hand, heavy and highly reminiscent of a classic Netherlands style bike. It was also inexpensive and met the specifications I gave to the shop owner; "the biggest one you've got".
At that point, it had been years since I'd ridden a bike, but unsurprisingly it was just like riding a bike, I remembered everything from when I cycled as a child; essentially nothing.
Living in a traffic rich area and having the same natural balance as an upright banana, it didn't see much use on the road. Many months later, the world was in lock-down and I had an opportunity! An opportunity that wouldn't dawn on me for a few months of course, but "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today." With that I went out for a bike ride.
Now, I've steadily gained proficiency in cycling and can list the following achievements:
Cycling into the city centre to catch a train, where I've almost been hit once
Making the rare commute into work, where I've almost been hit more than once.
Cycling in the wind and rain during rush hour, where I've almost been hit, frequently.
Parking in a multi-storey bike park, where I've almost been hit (those pull out stands at head height can be tricky if you're not paying attention).
Cycled around a Dutch-style roundabout, where I've almost been hit; or rather, if I hadn't of applied the brakes I would technically have hit the card crossing the cycle lane.
Replaced brake pads, adjusted all the parts I could adjust and pumped up the tyres on my new-old bike, where I did in fact get hit (don't stand up while under a bike shelter).
Coin
There's a project I've been wanting to try for a while now; making my own coin. The way I've been thinking about doing it breaks down to four stages; design, print, mold and mint. I've been working on the first two stages and have revisited the design quite a bit to make up for oversights relating to the new techniques I've learnt, but what took me hours to do originally, now takes a few minutes.
The first design went well. I learnt how to make simple 3D models and came up with what you see below.
The first print, well, that didn't work out so well. I thought that printing slowly and with fine detail would provide the best outcome but it just meant that the incredibly hot nozzle spent too much time on and around the plastic, melting it terribly. It also turns out that lots of dots, don't come out very well in 3D prints, which makes a good deal of sense.
The second major design was better. Splitting the coin into three sections would help conceal the joins too.
The end result was fine. With a little tiding up, it might look pretty good. But I don't think it'll be suitable for molding. I'll have to come up with a way of getting more depth and definition without making the coin too thick.
Muddier
Of the twenty five obstacles at Tough Mudder, four really stood out to me. Hero Wall set the tone for the day and is probably what I associate most with Tough Mudder now, but that's been covered already.
Block Ness Monster. The first water obstacle. Water that comes up to your shoulder and two large rotating blocks to clamber over in the middle. I think that jumping into the water while fully dressed was such a disconnect from the norm that I ignored the British convention of moderating your voice in public to start barking encouragement to people to get the block rotating.
Cage Crawl. A long channel of water with chicken wire draped an inch over the top. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the sense of being trapped, but on this obstacle I found myself breathing quite heavily, and with that I sucked down a mouthful of filthy brown water. It wasn't until the next day that the sensation of it hitting the back of my throat disappeared. Pretty gnarly really.
Pyramid Scheme. Just a tall, inclined sheet of plastic that you need to climb up. It's surprising how much weight you can support when you're helping people up a slope. There was this one guy, must have weighed twice as much as me, and getting them up the slope wasn't a challenge. Admittedly, if people weren't careful they could easily kick you in the head, but I only saw that happen once, and quite importantly not to me.
Electroshock Therapy. A generator from an electric fence hooked up to a spread out beaded curtain. I got shocked quite a few times on my way through and each time I could “see” my calves light up. It was like a translucent overlay on an image. Wild.