links for 2007-02-10
February 10, 2007-
This podcast is ‘oldie’ BUT a goodie! I’m a bit late off the mark linking to this, but wanted to do so for prosterity!
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An essay by Paul Graham based on his talk at OSCON 2005
Time To Think
February 9, 2007Dave Pollard is musing about our lack of time to think: to think deeply …
Not only are too many of us becoming too unpracticed at thinking, I believe many of us no longer have the breadth of useful information, or the generalist experiences and competencies of our ancestors, or the diversity of experiences, or the introspective, meditative, peaceful, uneventful moments, or the unhurried and pensive conversations to draw on, all of which comprise the raw material that effective thinking depends on.
There are a couple of reasons why this post piqued my interest:
- It calls for us (the royal we) to become more generalist. Now clearly here is a voice of reason!
- I’ve also advocated for a long time, the move towards business models that are more open and cooperative and for organisations to treat their staff more like adults than angst-ridden teenagers (inspired by Ricardo Semler).
- I’ve recently been implementing GTD (more on that later). There is some real synchronicity here. From my reading of the book, what David Allen advocates is a method for dealing with the ‘firefights’ and everyday issues SO that we DO have time to think. Is that not the whole point of GTD? From my own experience facilitating strategy and planning sessions, this bottom-up approach to planning is essential. You are never going to achieve the required level of introspective thinking or any productive thought unless the day-to-day is under some level of control.
I agree with Dave’s postulation that the solution lies in approaching management with a completely different mindset–one that empowers individuals to take responsibility, encourages them to act and most importantly, treats them like human beings.
Sponsor my ride
February 6, 2007I just registered to take part in the 2007 Melbourne Summer Cycle — a 30km 0r 45km jaunt around the inner city, and over the westgate bridge. If any melbourne bloggers want to join me that’d be great … perhaps we could enter a team? Let me know and I’ll hook it up.
I have committed to raise $200.00 in support of those affected by Multiple Sclerosis, so I am asking for the blogging community’s help!
Check out my online fundraising page and help me reach my goal. It is easy and will take no time at all, just donate online via your credit card by clicking on the link above.
All information is secure and all donations will be sent electronically to Multiple Sclerosis NSW/VIC. A tax deductible receipt will be sent to your Inbox once the donation is verified.
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system affecting more young adult Australians than any other neurological condition. Your donation will go towards providing a wide range of equipment, support and services to those people affected by this horrible disease.
Thanks in advance for your support … it’s greatly appreciated.
links for 2007-02-06
February 6, 2007-
Ted Mitchell sticks up for Generalists! Whoot! via http://www.creativegeneralist.com/
What’s going on here?
February 6, 2007A change of face for a while … just upgrade to WP2.1 and my theme didn’t cope too well :(   I’m just going to stick to Kubrick for time being, otherwise its just more distractions from the task of actually writing something here.
