Week 16
First week back after the Easter break.
Work
Had the retro to close off what was a really fun client project on Monday. I spent quite a lot of time thinking about what the magic ingredient on that engagement was. I concluded there wasn’t just one but a number of factors. Certainly my team mates were amazing (incredibly capable, great communicators, creative, all working together and in sync despite very different schedules). The scope matched the intensity and duration of the work (not always a given). The client was great - quite relaxed, no significant shadow politics rumbling in the background, and they were open to working in different ways. Reflection: it’s not uncommon for clients to want an outcome that requires them to make changes they’re entirely unwilling to make - so it’s refreshing when the challenge is that they don’t know what or how to do differently but are up for giving it a shot. We often don’t know how willing they truly are until we‘re asking them to change something - so what might I do to find out as quickly as possible? How might we be more compelling when it comes to securing the will if it isn’t there? And what can I do with factors more directly under my control to make projects more fun irrespectively?
With that project closed, I was left with just one other live engagement this week (while we figure out what’s next for me in the client and internal project pipelines). This is the first time in my career where I’ve not worked full time in a role or on a project - at work we use a “fractional deployment” model and so I’m usually working across a handful of projects at any one point. Occasionally I’ll be underallocated then I can find myself swaying from feeling slightly overwhelmed to being slightly bored. Reflection: truth be told I still find it all a little odd. I don’t mind the context switching (most leadership roles are mostly context switching). But my thoughts aren’t so easily compartmentalised into allocated billable hours and days per week - my brain will continue to work on a knotty problem until it is solved.
With some time free, I helped a colleague prep for an exec board meeting we the team needed to land a big proposition. I really enjoyed thinking it through with him: who on the board knows about this already? Do they really know about it, or did they just receive a paper/email? What do we know or suspect about their disposition to it so far, and how can we check? Are they an ally or a potential threat? Could they advocate for this and win others round before or in the session? Are there peers more widely (in the department, in Whitehall) who might make a great evangelist for this ahead of the session? What hot buttons do we need to avoid? Where are the bear traps? What do we need pre-emptively reassure on? How do we get access to them ahead of time, to persuade them, to brief them? What do we need to negotiate with whom ahead of time? Reflection: it reminds me a lot of the work we had to do at the Treasury when we were prepping for negotiation changes to international laws - where we were expected to have completed most of the horsetrading before the politicians eventually sat down. Viewed through this lens, preparing for the exec board session is the work - and so it’s astonishing how often folks fail to include it in planning. The board papers - they’re not an arbitrary input, they’re not a deliverable, they’re evidence of conversations had.
I was out for two weeks and the project team did a fantastic job while I was out. I know we hire well at PD - but I’m always impressed at how effortlessly people step up and cover for each other given the mix of deep specialist and expert generalists we have. It’s also nice to come back and see that there are still distinctly Audree-shaped contributions to be made, and to be reminded of the value I bring. Reflection: it’s as if my absence highlights the counterfactual for me in the workplace - so if I’m intentional about doing so I should be able to learn a lot from observing what has and hasn’t happened while I’m out.
New boss asked me what I want. I’ve been told I spend a great deal of time and effort advocating for others, and really not that much time articulating or asking for what I need, and that perhaps I should address that gap. Reflection: I think that’s partly true. I don’t see my needs as particularly unmet - though when I do ask for things, I tend not to ask in a way that would be described as demanding. Things I’m not demanding (some not demandable): to host some podcast episodes for PD; to host events or moderate panels; more public speaking and writing opportunities; a Trustee or NED position; to work on engagements with the people in my list of people I want to learn from; to do a little travel with work (my kids are old enough now for me to escape for a week here and there); to get a pay rise. And for the office tea supply to be kept fully stocked.
Not work
Andy Dudfield came and spoke about Full Fact. Such incredibly meaningful work. Andy’s session shifted my sentiments about AI a little (I’m not longer quite the AI sceptic I was), though also left me more worried about the world than I already was. And I was worried a lot.
I did quite a lot of thinking about failure demand and system cost. I’m going to blog about it I think, rather than put it here.
I went to see Sarah Snook in A Picture of Dorian Gray. It was astonishing. So many layers. What an incredible talent she is, not just playing but embodying all 26 characters so compellingly. A spectacularly innovative production too - I found myself chuckling at how clever it was quite a few times throughout. Definitely recommend you go see if it you have the chance.