weeknotes 5 - 13 October 2022

[weeknotes are my attempt to live into values of reflection and transparency in working and learning. They are a brief (and often incomplete) capture of things that I’ve been working and reflecting on this week - written mainly for myself, but shared in the open.]

It’s been several weeks (8?) since I last published a weeknotes. Illness, some leave and then just general life busyness (including a new puppy!) meant that it got pushed aside. Restarting these ‘what I’ve been doing/reading/thinking’ posts is always difficult when a large amount of time (and doing/reading/thinking) has elapsed. Remembering and capturing *all* (or at least most) of the things can feel overwhelming. But to get back on track, I need to let go of the need for it to be complete, or thorough, or 'good', and just publish something! So here is a very incomplete update…

I’m drafting most of?this update on the plane home from Canberra after spending a great day with colleagues doing some initial scoping for the APS Graduate Development Program (GDP) redesign project. Playing in the ideas space is always energizing for me and I left feeling really hopeful and excited about this next evolution for the GDP and what we might be able to apply to other Academy learning programs. And it's always a delight to meet colleagues in person for the first time (or to reconnect!).

[Getting to see sunrise and sunset from seat 19A ADL-CBR-ADL]

Last time I wrote (back in August), I was in the thick of designing?a team planning 'festival'?(which we’d affectionately named, “Splendour in the Miro” (full credit to my colleague Adrian)). This went really well (at least from my perspective!) and we had fun and engaged in productive discussion around our four themes/purposes - connection, celebration, clarity and communication.

Lots of Regulatory Practice Essentials happenings…. Our fifth and sixth cohorts wrapped up their final workshops, consideration of evaluation data and commencement of success case interviews, starting to consider post-pilot design and delivery options. (And on the topic of evaluation, I thought this table that Will Thalheimer shared on LinkedIn re: survey response rates was useful).

September was also regulatory practice ‘craft month’. My contribution has been quite small, but the team has done a great job to pull together articles, resources and events. One of the craft month initiatives was kicking off a 3-month APS Regulator Coffee Roulette (which randomly matches participants for coffee (usually virtual) catch-ups).??

I had a birthday in August and my kids made me a birthday crown which I wore on all my video calls. This is a little birthday tradition we’ve adopted in our family since getting the idea from Mo Willems’ lunchtime doodles series (which we enjoyed in March 2020 lockdown). I think rituals are super valuable - both at home and at work - so this is one I intend to continue.

Related to rituals…. a practice we’ve been using in our team for a while now is to start each team meeting with an icebreaker or check-in question (chosen and facilitated by that week’s host). This has most definitely made an impact on the connection within the team (and brings a bit of fun to work) especially as we've welcomed a number of new team members recently. I also really appreciated how we’ve integrated it into something we were already doing (weekly team meetings) rather than having to create a new dedicated time/event for ‘fun’. Related reading/listening....

• An episode of This Working Life on the power of fun at work.?
• Teams the play together stay together.
• Priya Parker’s newsletter on getting to know your team virtually

A few more graduate coaching sessions lately as grads move into their final rotations and start thinking about what comes next. One of the things that’s come up in several sessions is getting more meaningful feedback from managers (so I've been referencing this piece a bit?- Want better feedback? Start by asking better questions).?

Not specifically work related, but I’ve onboarded as a Run Director at my local parkrun which has provided a great opportunity to remember and reflect on what it’s like to be new in a role.

More reading/listening…

• Adam Grant and Simon Sinek in conversation with Brene on the Dare to Lead podcast talking about what's happening at work. All leaders (and anyone interested in how work works (or doesn’t)) should listen to this one.
• Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. I really enjoyed this book and it made me think a lot about how focus and attention is changing and the implications on our work in designing, promoting and supporting workplace learning. One of my own techniques for remembering more of the non-fiction I read is to listen to podcast interviews with the author so I listened to Johann Hari on the Ezra Klein show.
• Related, this interview about?memory with Wendy Suzuki on the Huberman Lab podcast was excellent. I love the visual of a big, fluffy, hippocampus! :-) Also really interesting stuff about the impact of exercise on cognitive performance and memory.
• David Rock on the Brave New Work podcast on how to think well at work. Interesting takeaway for me about asking for perspective rather than feedback.
• I’m a bit obsessed with trying to bring more intention to work gatherings (especially in a virtual/hybrid) world. This is a good HBR piece which clearly articulate 3 purposes for gatherings (and things to consider for each).
• Chris Corrigan's post on supporting learners with ADHD in online sessions.
• The Gallup research on the importance of having a best friend at work has come up a couple of times in conversation. I’d love to see a future APS Staff Census include this question.

Note: While this post may reference and reflect on work done in the course of my employment with the APS Academy, it is made in a personal capacity.