Tag: finest hour

Forget the sh!t sandwich – hand out Praise Cake instead

They say feedback is a gift. They also say gift vouchers are particularly thoughtful…

Last-minute Christmas shopping jibes aside, high-quality feedback is truly one of the greatest gifts we can give (and receive) throughout our professional careers.

Meaningful, timely, and structured feedback can offer incredible opportunities to grow and improve. Many of us, however, have experienced the process as an exercise in de-constructing, used only to shine a spotlight on our failings.

Continue reading Forget the sh!t sandwich – hand out Praise Cake instead

Forest for the trees

Pre-COVID, on the mornings when I walked from my car to the office, I passed an electronic sign showing the number of available spaces in three nearby car parks.  As a simple exercise to kickstart my brain of a morning, I tried to add up the total number of spaces in my head.  Not Newtonian physics I admit, but better than nothing.

What I noticed was on Monday’s and Friday’s, the number of available spaces would be 15-20% higher than Tuesday to Thursday.  I have my thoughts on why, but this isn’t a post about the parking habits of people who work in Parramatta.

What started out as a quick little brain exercise got me thinking about how we use (or more so don’t use) data to understand why things are the way they are, and more importantly – what then to do about it.

Continue reading Forest for the trees