The Blog is a collection of experiences, told in narrative form.
They’re a little long so feel free to check out the 'TLDR’ version if you’re not sure whether to commit to a read or not.
TLDR, or ‘Too long, didn’t read’ is a summary for those looking for one (click here for a history of the expression).
Cleaning up at the end of 2020
While taking a break over the new year, there was a perfect opportunity to reflect on the year gone by with my Fiancé and our friends. We talked about the year past, our achievements, disappointments and our hopes for the following year. I thought I’d take a moment to share the outcome of those conversations and the thinking that followed up to set myself up for 2021. This is also a commitment device for myself, splitting it out in to three segments as a framework you might want to use too.
Surprise at the AMPs Awards
I got to architect how we might connect >800 people, remote and in-person to the biggest event of the Synergy events calendar to make it more inclusive. At the event, I got an awesome surprise when I was announced as the winner of the 2020 Annual award for Innovation!
Setting a personal mission
We set corporate strategy but how often do we set our own personal strategies or purpose statements?
Mining electrification workshop
I worked with State of Play to devise three workshops for 40+ participants over 3 weeks to unpick how industry could lead electrification of mines in Australia and beyond. We rapidly tested platforms and iterated on the agenda to find the sweet spot where participants could effortlessly share insights and focus on aligning on priority areas for industry action. Read more to find out how.
Closing down an online innovation platform
I wrote a post, some communications to the business some months ago announcing the closure of an innovation platform I helped to birth. It was a baby that had a challenging persona in it’s teens and was often neglected by it’s relatives but it was my baby and I loved it all the same. Like any loving parent, it was sad, after plenty of trips to the hospital, to go see the doctor and to choose for it to be put to sleep for the last time. I’m thankful I had the opportunity at the end to voluntarily pull the plug on it’s life support in the recognition that it was best for all involved, acknowledging the good times, the learnings and in the knowledge that there would be another time, later on, where the business would benefit from it’s investment if those learnings were retained.
A last-minute psychological safety workshop
Have you ever felt like asking a question or sharing a contrarian point of view but then you didn’t for fear of how that might have been perceived by your peers? This is a pretty common feeling and it’s fine a lot of the time but when facing complex and challenging problems, a diverse range of views is just what we all need. See how one approach to devising a remote workshop to unpick an organisation’s feel for psychological safety deals with a group that struggles with psychological safety from the start.