The hidden taxes on peoples time that projects might be obliviously paying. — Seneca said “it’s not that we have a short time to live, it’s that we waste of a lot of it”. In any software development project, the gap between where you are today and your goal is peoples time directed in the right way. A strong, experienced, modern project manager…

2023 advice to new grads I’m a bit late this year, but each year typically I write a LinkedIn post of advice for new grads, then update it each year. This year I started with a blank page and went significantly deeper than previously. 1. Relax! Nobody is expecting you to be anything other…

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or more commonly known as BJJ, is a recently popular grappling martial art with a trove of celebrities like Russell Brand, Tom Hardy, Guy Ritchie, Jonah Hill, Anthony Bourdain (RIP), Ashton Kutcher, as well as on the podcast circuit with Joe Rogan, Jocko Willink and Lex Friedman (all…

What is ‘Skin in the game’? It means that you have personal consequences for risk you create. It’s being held to account for the execution of a contract you’ve created. It’s being responsible for the delivery of something you’ve sold. It’s having less in your bank account for poor execution. Hammurabi’s code …

If there aren’t tough decisions being made on a regular basis where people feel some discomfort, it’s probable that at some point things will move from being ‘great’ to ‘not great’ seemingly overnight. We call this a ‘watermelon’, it’s green for a short period, then red for a long one…

It’s advice we all know, doing things one at a time is the path to focus, mindfulness, productivity, creativity and fulfilment. It also completely absolves anxiety in those moments, there is no room to be anxious when you’re wholly occupied by one thing. There is no such thing as multitasking…

This is a story that may resonate with productivity geeks. Those of you who have dabbled, even successfully pulled off activities such as Inbox Zero, Getting Things Done and Pomodoro Technique. Those who have multiple lists, often incomplete, who journal and goal set, and are ‘hustling’ or ‘getting after it’. …

Eddie Jones is one of the modern super coaches of Rugby Union. His accolades are exceptional and he’s built championship teams at club and international test level for Australia, South Africa, Japan and now England. In an excellent podcast interview accompanying his new book “Leadership: Lessons From My Life…

I’m currently reading “The Courage to Be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga It’s a beautiful book written as a conversation between a student and a philosopher over the course of a few evenings. The philosopher presses that the all problems in life are interpersonal relationship problems. …