I recently read a book about hygge and one of its chapters talks about the importance of fika. How both hygge and fika are about making the most of moments of downtime during the day.

While working in NY, my office had a custom to go for a cookie walk at around 3pm every day. It started as a coffee walk but very few in the office wanted to consume caffeine so late in the day. The cafe around the corner had very good chocolate chip cookies and so this ritual was renamed. But sometimes, people didn’t care about a hot drink or the cookies. They just cherished the opportunity to go for a walk around the block, stretch their legs, give their eyes and minds a fresh break from work, and reconnect with their teammates.

Our team in Sweden had a similar ritual called fika. Fika is a Swedish tradition that is more than just a coffee break. It is an integral part of everyday life. It is a designated time during the day to sit down and do fika. In its essence, it is about connecting with colleagues, friends, or loved ones over a coffee (or tea) and a slice of something sweet. Two Swedish authors wrote: “Fika is the time when everything else is put on hold”.

In the workplace, fika is a great way to exchange knowledge and opinions. It can be a time to discuss what’s going on in the company. But mainly, it is a time to bond with your colleagues. Practicing fika results in better productivity for the company and better team morale. In Ted Lasso, Ted starts a daily routine he calls biscuits with the boss. We already wrote about why belonging is crucial in team culture and organisational performance. Fika is one thing that can help you consciously grow a better culture. Will you try it?

The start of a new year is an excellent time to take stock of where you and your team are at. You can look at how your environment, systems, and processes are set up. You can re-evaluate business objectives. Consider where you stand and where you want to go this year. As a leader, don’t do this alone. Involve your team in the assessment and the planning.

One of the best tools for evaluation is a review of any long-term metrics you’ve been tracking. Some teams use DORA metrics to check their software delivery performance. Others use the SPACE framework for understanding developer productivity. Regardless of the framework, or the actual numbers, our advice is simple:

1. Decide what is important for you to track
2. Discover the relevant current conditions
3. Track those metrics over time
4. Pay attention to trends, not points-in-time

This last point is vital. Is deploy time getting longer or shorter? How about the time to consider work done? Or time spent on correcting failure demand? The trend can teach us where the team is at, how team morale is, and what we should focus our attention on.

G’day

We have a team lunch every couple of weeks and the last one we had for the year included a team retrospective. We had delicious savoury mazniks and our standard coffee of choice while we reflected on the year. We started off with listing the “happies” of 2022 from each team member followed by the “sads”. Then we had a third list where we jot down the “actions” to take for improvements. I walked away feeling great about what we have achieved throughout the year, how everybody felt with where we are at as a company as well as a team, and where we need to focus on next year.

Retrospectives (retros for short) are a common type of meeting held at the end of each sprint cycle. Retrospectives can also be run at the completion of a project or chunk of work. They can also be run periodically to review how the team or company operate. Does your team or company have a ritual like this?

Retrospectives facilitate communication and reflection as a team. Doing so on a regular basis can help create transparency and trust, boost morale, and empower team members. It can also help to identify issues and bottlenecks, improve learning and adapting to change, and save projects. If you don’t make the time to reflect, some things won’t come to the surface as soon as they could, and some may never come up at all.

In his latest book, Think Again, Adam Grant says:

“we think and talk with the mindsets of three different professions: preachers, prosecutors and politicians. “In each of these modes we take on a particular identity and use a distinct set of tools. We go into preacher mode when our sacred beliefs are in jeopardy - we deliver sermons to protect and promote our ideals. We enter prosecutor mode when we recognise flaws in other people’s reasoning - we marshal arguments to prove them wrong and win our case. We shift into politician mode when we are seeking to win over an audience - we campaign and lobby for the approval of our constituents. The risk is that we become so wrapped up in preaching that we are right; prosecuting others who are wrong; and politicking for support, that we don’t bother to rethink our own views.”

I enjoyed this book because of its science foundation. In science, the goal is to find the truth (without biases) through experimentation and data collection. Hypotheses are supported, or discounted, by research and factual information. Wouldn’t it be great if we all think like this when it comes to our views and opinions? Yet, it would certainly be boring to strip away the human emotions that drive us and make the world interesting.

In psychology, we often see issues through the prism of bias and there are two main biases that drive a way of thinking. One is confirmation bias — seeing what we expect to see. The other is desirability bias — seeing what we want to see. We arrive at conclusions before we have given sufficient thought to ideas with an enquiring mind. We haven’t allowed others to question us, challenge us, ask us “why”.

G'day,

This month, I hit my two year anniversary with Blackmill and I'm stoked about it! I have learnt so much in this space of time. From parenting during lockdowns, engineering culture, leadership styles, best practices, to technical debt and product sprints. I never thought that I would do marketing for a software engineering consultancy. I was never a tech person. Talking about it felt like my head would explode. But here I am, two years on and I'm enjoying it. So much so that I recently completed my first coding workshop!

After 15 years of working in the Dermal Science and Marketing industry, whilst becoming a mum and running the family life, the itch for coding began over a year ago. I wanted to understand the engineering culture, its problems, and the challenges that engineering managers would face day to day, (and I also wanted to tweak the website). But along the way, lockdowns interrupted the work and life balance, a potential opportunity to start up my own marketing consultancy presented itself, and the desire to complete a mini MBA in marketing meant that coding was put on the back burner.

After contemplating my options for over a year, I decided to give coding a red hot go and did my first coding three-week workshop. I now know the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and VS Code. The decision to do this wasn't straightforward for me. Most of 2022 felt like I was "drifting" along. I wasn't 100% sure about my current career path. But this "drifting" was necessary. It enabled me to question my values, reflect on my learnings, explore new possibilities and solidify my plan. It also allowed me to make sure that the decisions I make are for the right reasons, at the right time, and ultimately right for me. I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work at Blackmill and where it has taken me. My plan is to take on a course next year to eventually become a software engineer one day.

G'day

With the rise of remote work due to COVID-19, organisations have been forced to figure out how to drive engagement, retain talent, and keep things light hearted and fun, all while working remotely. Having fun at work helps to build relationships and thus increases trust, team bonding, and job satisfaction. Many have tried different things to see what sticks, but in the quest to create a fun environment for their teams forced fun can backfire. One of the great joys of adulthood is the ability to choose who you hang out with, and how you spend your time. The pandemic has seen people re-align their priorities to spend more time with their family and on things that they want to do. Orchestrating forced fun at work can create an inauthentic culture where everyone is obliged to turn up and get along.

In Catherine Price's Ted Talk, she defines fun as the secret to feeling alive. It is pure joy and radiates within like sunshine. According to Price, the three elements for fun are playfulness, flow, and connection. When we have fun, we feel light hearted and let go of perfection. We feel connected to others or with ourselves, and we are often in a state of flow. It energises us and fills us up.

G'day,

Self-confidence and success can be a catch-22 problem: "I would be confident if I succeed but I need to be confident to succeed". The more confident we feel, the harder we try, the better we perform, which in return contributes to feeling more confident.

On the other hand, self-doubt is feeling like an imposter and thinking I am not as good as people think I am. Self-doubt can keep us from seeing ourselves clearly. Instead of acknowledging our accomplishments, we tend to downplay them and underestimate our skills. It can affect our mental health and how comfortable we are taking on new challenges. Feelings of self-doubt are notably more common in working women, BIPOC individuals, and people from under-represented groups (Hidden Brain)

Both self-confidence and self-doubt can be aided with frequent feedback. Regardless of if we are feeling over-confidence or higher levels of self-doubt, if we never receive feedback on our performance, we are stuck with an internal image of ourselves that is not grounded in reality. Even worse, we might perpetuate and persist those negative thoughts. Feedback can help to correct those doubting voices in our heads.

G'day!

Company culture refers to the attitudes and behaviours of a company and its employees. It is evident in the way an organisation’s people interact with each other, the values they hold, and the decisions they make. Every workplace has the potential to become unhealthy, including remote offices. The development of bad work culture doesn’t happen overnight. Everyone who works for a given organisation contributes to company culture. It can take only one person to spread dysfunction throughout your company regardless of its size.

Adam Grant talks about the four deadly sins of work culture. The first happens when leaders prioritise results over relationships — getting things done at the cost of treating people right. In this case, a toxic culture can be characterised disrespectful, non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat, and abusive. The second can happen when a company values saving face rather than getting things done. In this case, we have a false sense of harmony, dishonesty is prevalent, and there is no accountability. The third happens when a culture is all about the rules and a lack of trust and psychological safety prevents new ideas from being explored, and instead, are seen as threats to the status quo. And lastly, the case when there are no rules or established company core values, which means anyone can do whatever they want.

A bad work culture can have profound negative impacts on individuals as well as the business. Employees won't go the extra mile, and rather do the minimum required to get by. Leaders get pushed out and employees get sick more often, which costs your company major time and money. Your organisation can loose reputation and the negative word of mouth can kill your ability to recruit the best talent.

G'day!

The other day I saw a tweet by Susan Bond that asked the question: "How important is it that your friends hold the same values as you? Is it very important? a little? or not important at all?" I was contemplating what my answer would be when the next day I saw this quote by Kevin Kelly: "Your growth as a conscious being is measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have". To be precise, values refer to principles or standards of behaviour that are not contextual, and shape our character and behaviour. For example authenticity, freedom, kindness, perseverance, pragmatism, or respect.

I know that I can't be friends with people who have the opposite values than me. It would require too much energy and the interactions will not be pleasant. On the other hand, hanging out with people who are very much like me, who think like me, and have the same values as me is very pleasant but ultimately means we stay in our own little happy bubble and never change or grow. So I think the best option is to be friends with people with similar values to me, who think like me on some things but challenge me on others.

The same principle applies at work. People used to say we should hire for culture fit but that resulted in a monoculture where everyone in the organisation is the same as the other person. The problem is we usually end up with a homogeneity of privileged people that reject qualified candidates who don't match the pattern. It masks employment discrimination and social biases since the rejection is not about skills and capabilities. Instead, consider hiring for culture add. Culture is not a static state but continuously keeps evolving and changing. Instead of focusing on cultural sameness, consider how candidates can contribute to your organisational culture. Hire a diverse team of talented people that share your organisational values and can help your company and culture develop and grow.

G’day!

Our interview with Nick Spragg in last month’s newsletter hit a chord with me. Nick said, “I wish we were more accepting of failure at our leadership level”. In general, people don’t react to failure the same way as they do to success. Many of us enjoy credit for our successes but also look for something (or someone!) else to blame when we fail.

Perfectionism is a symptom of fear of failure. Because perfectionists have such high expectations for how they expect things to turn out, they may experience a nagging fear that they won’t live up to those often unrealistically high standards. The thing is, no one or no thing is perfect and if we try to make something perfect, we will not succeed and just be disappointed.

Failure, mistakes, and mishaps play a vital role in helping us learn and grow. When we fail, it helps us get a deeper understanding of the issue. When we consciously consider a failure, it not only improves information recall but also improves critical thinking. According to a report published in Scientific American, when you make a mistake, your brain creates new neural connections by taking in new information and compiling the key takeaways from trial and error, resulting in more efficient neuronal pathways. We learn from our mistakes so that we don’t make them again in the future and become more resilient.

G'day!

We recently finished reading Make it Stick at the Blackmill book club. The book talks about the science of learning and teaches how to become better at retaining what we learn using techniques such as spaced interleaved retrieval practice, elaboration, reflection, and more.

Throughout the book, it covers the topic of learning, not education. It says that the responsibility for learning rests with the individual, whereas the responsibility for education and training rests with the institution. The book starts with debunking the idea that teaching should be tailored to different learning styles of the individual students. Instead of trying to make learning easier for the student, we should make the process more deliberate, interactive, and effortful.

Retention of knowledge actually happens when we exert more deliberate effort to interact with the materials. Reading, highlighting, and re-reading materials feels like progress, giving us the illusion of knowledge, and may only help with short-term absorption (for example cramming before an exam). To retain information in a meaningful way, we need to continuously work at it, with small steps over a longer period of time. It reminds me of the concept in engineering practices of: in order to go fast, we need to go slow. It seems counter-intuitive, unproductive, and slow, but research and real world examples do support this approach.

G’day

With school commencing last month across Australia, most of us are back at the nine till five, five days per week grind. It doesn't take long forget about our last holiday and make plans for the next one. I often hear friends and old colleagues say "weekends are never long enough" or "wouldn't it be great to have a three-day weekend all the time." Well, a four-day work week is slowly becoming a reality for some.

The Four-Day Week Global campaign announced a new international pilot program where companies are invited to give their workers a four-day week with no loss of pay for six months, to see if their business reaps the benefits of increased productivity from happier and healthier employees. The trials will begin in the UK in June, with Australian and New Zealand trials kicking off in August. Victorian unions are looking at how Iceland secured a shorter workweek. Whilst in the US, there is a bill in Congress for a shorter week as well. So why should organisations and governments adopt the four-day work week model?

We're working too much

G’day

One of many things the pandemic has taught us is that it is ok to stop, take a breath, reflect, and simply do nothing. I turned to mindfulness meditation as a way of coping in the last Melbourne lockdown and it has helped in many areas of my life, personally and professionally. Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment in an accepting, nonjudgmental way. It is a way of training yourself to focus your attention in a certain way to calm your mind. It originated in Buddhist teachings and has become increasingly popular with numerous meditation and breathing apps. More and more people and organisations are realising the benefits of being mindful. I noticed the shift in myself with increased patience, focus, calm, and joyful moments.

Mindfulness can make a big difference when it comes to sleep. Often, the reason people have trouble falling sleep or stay asleep is stress or racing thoughts. By practicing mindfulness as part of your nighttime routine, you can go to bed focused only on the present. This requires you to practice deep breathing, which eases your body into a more relaxed state. Deep breathing also helps your body produce more melatonin, a natural hormone that can improve your overall sleep quality. Research has found that practicing mindfulness is also effective in reducing stress, anxiety and depression. In addition, it contributes to well-being at work and leads to happier, healthier, and more productive employees. Studies show that mindfulness slows down heart rate and brain-wave patterns, boosts the immune system and cardiac functioning, and that people who meditate experience less stress, fewer health problems, improved relationships, and longer lives. Mindful employees present higher awareness of their thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. They can turn off work to pay attention to their surroundings, and they are as emotionally present in off-work times as they are during work hours.

In February 2021, I wrote a blog article about focussing our attention and why it is important to avoid switching tasks and reduce distractions. When we constantly flit from one task to another, we are not in a state of flow, and the quality of our work suffers. By practicing mindfulness, simply coming back to the present moment, we can train ourselves to become more focused, to get into a ‘flow” state, and avoid distractions, resulting in increased productivity and better quality of work.

G’day

I recently replied to a group email in a way that confused everyone. It wasn’t my usual work day and due to overseas time zones, I thought I would respond promptly to this enquiry. Turns out that multi-tasking by trying to get the kids out the door and responding to a work email is a recipe for disaster. No one in the group email seemed to mind but I kicked myself for days for making that mistake. But if my child or teammate makes a mistake, I would say to them it is “ok to make mistakes, we’re all human and are not perfect, try to learn from it”. Easier said than done when it’s my own mistake. Most people say they are significantly more compassionate, understanding, and kinder to other people than they are to themselves. Especially when they make a mistake or fail in some way. Self criticism is often seen as heroic, maybe even noble. Many people think it is the shortest path to self-improvement. But is it?

Being compassionate to others involves being open and empathetic to their suffering and wanting to ease their distress. It also involves offering patience, kindness and non-judgmental understanding to others. It is recognising that we are not perfect and we make mistakes. Self-compassion is the same, just turned inward.

Lack of self-compassion has been linked with poorer health and a weaker immune system. The main blocker to self-compassion is the belief we need to hard on ourselves. We might be concerned that if we are kind to ourselves, we won’t get anything done. We can often get stuck in a self-critical cycle, resulting in anxiety, anger or depression. We can counteract this emotional suffering with self-compassion.

G’day

I recently took up a mini MBA in Marketing course because I wanted to be better at what I do, and stay up to date with any new developments and trends in the marketing space. It took me quite some time to even consider embarking on further studies. Adults are challenged with balancing the responsibilities of everyday life against the barriers to learning. Lack of money, time, and opportunities are only some of these barriers, making corporate learning a challenge for many of us. In my case, juggling life, work, a young family, and finding the time for self-care can sometimes be a struggle.

Some believe learning becomes harder as you age as opposed to children who are better learners. It might be that adults' brains are clogged up (like an old computer with a lumbering hard drive) with past experiences, muscle memories, and old habits to cut through in order to process and store new information. However, our brains have the ability to change in structure or function in response to experience, which is called neuroplasticity and thus learning can be effective in all stages of life . Most importantly, a continuous learning activity contributes to increasing neuronal regeneration and avoiding the effects of ageing.

Andragogy are methods or techniques used in adult education since the '60s and are now commonly known as Adult Learning Theory. The principles behind this theory believe that adults must want to learn, they will learn only what is necessary, adults learn by doing while focusing on problem solving, experiences (good and bad) affect learning outcomes, learning is best in informal situations, and adults want guidance but also to be considered partners in the learning process.

G’day

Employee engagement is becoming the leadership challenge for the early 21st Century. In a world pressured by constant change, agility, and digital transformation, how leaders connect, communicate and inspire their people in organisations will matter more than how work is done. Last month, we attended a panel discussing revolutionising leadership - the power of inclusivity. The leadership trinity of Head, Heart, and Hands methodology is effective and valuable to leaders and organisations today. It is a holistic and human-centric approach that incorporates the what (head), why (heart), and how (hands) into leadership practices.

represents the concern for vision, direction, and guidance. How do we create our vision for the future and identify the priorities to get there? Leaders need to reflect on the organisation's purpose and values. Reflection can lead to awareness which is necessary for change. Without it, organisations cannot identify, question, and reframe underlying values and beliefs, acknowledge and challenge assumptions, recognise bias, identify fears, and understand strengths and weaknesses. Making time for reflection is something we often advise clients, and strive to implement for ourselves. This inward retrospection is part of an identity formation for the business and underlies the values and beliefs that support the views and strategies they develop.

G’day

With lockdowns, closed schools and daycare centres, homeschooling, full time work, and doing all this for a long period of time, people are experiencing burnout more than ever, whether it is at work, parental burnout, or lockdown fatigue.

G’day!

As a parent of two young girls, I often see the parallels between good parenting and transformational leadership, because parents are leaders, and they lead their families.

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