Hi
This week finds me a little less active that normal. I'm experiencing pain in my right leg which has all the hallmarks of sciatica (don't worry, I'm getting a professional to look at it tomorrow - rather than just rely on Dr Google).
Its more of an annoyance than anything else - disturbed sleep, hobbling around and putting me off running.
And its surprising how much I'm missing the running.
Pre-lock down I was getting in 3 four mile runs a week - a great way to decompress at lunchtime.
And what I really appreciated was its ability to help me do my work better.
About a year ago, I had a large integration project that needed to be architected and developed at short notice. I really don't think I would have completed the project anywhere near as well without having my exercise routine.
So many inspirations came while running.
I could be battling with a specific problem for hours with no progress - but sometimes all it needed was a run along the canal to unlock the solution.
We often think of developers doing their best work at the keyboard - fingers flying across the keyboard using a myriad of hard learnt shortcuts.
Or deep in thought at the whiteboard drawing out the solution.
Yet sometimes, the best thing a developer can do is step away from the problem and give their subconscious the time to work.
And for me that has always been exercise. For others it maybe playing Table Tennis or Mario Karts.
So the moral of the story ... lets not forget that those decompression activities maybe some of the most valuable time spent for our organisations.
In this week's episode I've talked about how dangerous it can be to assume another persons intent purely from their actions. While we may believe we should judge someone by their actions, attributing intent is causing expensive misunderstandings in our organisations.
I've always worried that we as leaders struggle to understand our staff and their motivations correctly.
But it came as quite a shock to me to think that it works the other way too.
We make wild assumptions about those above us. We assign intent to the "powers that be" without really understanding them.
I guess its human nature to an extent - but the damage it must be doing is immense.
This is likely a topic I will return to.
Thank you for reading and stay safe Mark