By the book - Weeknote WC 4th March 2024

This weeks title is inspired by world book day. Harry Potter was the character of choice in our household. This did get me thinking...what are the "must read" books colleagues would recommend that have been helpful with work? I'll drop my top three later on! I'd love to hear ideas from you!

Who did I speak with?

Lots more collaboration this week, I met colleagues from across CSUs and another NHS Partner to discuss a new piece of work we're looking to deliver together. It was interesting to reflect on the difference between what your would ask for as a customer when working within constraints vs how you would respond as the service provider. Maybe I'll write something about how to get the most from partnerships soon!

I enjoyed having the opportunity to join a Tech Ops Team Meeting and talk about some of the aspects of the change process outcome that they were unsure about. There was a great question about whether a change in structure should change informal meetings that have been useful to help teams get things done. As far as I'm concerned, who you work for shouldn't impact how you work - keep on being open and collaborative.

We also had a CSU CTO catch up again today, where we ran back through our proposals that we'll be discussing with Executive Colleagues next week. It was good to reflect on the proportion of work we are doing that takes us in the same direction. I think by collaborating that we will be able to go both further and faster with most of the shared ambitions we have. I'm quite looking forward to the outcome of the CSU operating model review, as this will help us focus from broad themes into something much more specific.

What did I enjoy?

This week has been a little less "back to back" diary wise. This has generally meant that I've been able to carve time out for some of the things that have been on the to do list for a little longer than I had hoped.

I've also had quite a few long days in the last couple of weeks, so was very grateful to be able to work a little flexibly on Wednesday. This meant I could go to a school event for my son, which I normally struggle to participate in.

Three for world book day!

1. Mindset by Dr Carol DweckThis was a book that I read through incredibly quickly. This led on to quite a few positive "growth mindset" driven activities, which inevitably led to personal growth. I might actually read this one again soon and see where it takes me.
2. The five dysfunctions of a team by Patrick LencioniThis book formed part of the pre-reading for some leadership development work that we did a year or so back. It was an easy read, that led to some good lessons about the need for constructive challenge.
3. Thinking, fast and slow by Daniel KahnemanI am naturally a person that thinks fast, this book helped me to think about the ways of working I need to put in place so that I can give myself the opportunity to think slow at the right times.

What are the favourites that you would recommend?