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Struggling to the finish line

12 Days of Optimisation Campaign

Let’s talk heuristics for a minute. Now, I’ve spent my entire career anticipating crisis before they arrive, enabling response with less effort and time lag. A celebrated discipline of the ancient stoics, it wasn’t intentional learning on my behalf, just a product of early experience, curiosity, trial and effort and underlying risk aversion. A stint as an international tour leader, reinforced how critical ongoing risk analysis is. But you can’t foresee the crazy things the world throws at you. For a couple of years I was driving trucks and leading overland tours across Europe, Asia, Middle East, South-East Asia and Australia. Growing up in Australia I was subject to fairly consistent, repeatable patterns of behaviour and environmental conditions. I knew roughly the weather, the cultural norms dictating the actions of most people around me, the laws governing society, the fact that if I studied hard I could pass the test and the road rules. These consistencies create mental models called ‘heuristics’. Heuristics enable us to off-load cognitive effort by being able to predict reliable events. By example, we can relax driving 100kph down a road at night with two lights approaching in the opposite direction separated only by white marks on the road. It’s crazy really. Driving in the middle-east, Pakistan and India, that relaxed mental model could get you in a serious collision multiple times every day as a driver. In these countries, it’s a different logic, different understanding of the road traffic movement. My first experience driving in the middle-east, forced me to re-learn quickly, taking mental effort, and fast. At the end of a day driving I was exhausted. The mental fatigue of processing the new rules of the road, different obstacles, signs, behaviours… all different to the mental models I’d embedded, relied on. When you’re constantly vigilant toward threats in business and in life, you improve your chances of survival. It’s the exact characteristic we’ve capitalised on to advance our species forward. But… heuristics can shackle us to behaviours that no longer serve us well. Our mental models need to be challenged occasionally. Question your logic, be open, curious and prepared to adapt, change, relearn. The world’s changing fast at the moment, there’s a lot going on. Trying to understand and predict the impact of world events is exhausting, overwhelming and unhealthy. There will be many mental models we need to let go of, perhaps expectations of how life is and will be. In reality, there’s not much we’re in control of and trying to keep control will be hard. Relax a little, be curious rather than concerned. Despite the news hype, for 200,000+ years as a species we’ve been through some pretty significant events that make today’s turmoil seem almost frivolous. Tour leading, taught me that curiosity, re-learning and adapting were critical. Holding on to what I ‘knew’ was right… was wrong. You can’t control much, but you can control how you respond. Let go. With the right attitude… it will all be OK. Thanks for taking the time out to expand consciousness. Go well. TroyTroy Flower - Wellteam Founder

mindset

attitude

purpose

We all use heuristics to reduce the mental effort for simple, repeatable tasks. Do they serve you? 

How not to drive in the middle-east. 

Heuristics - for what? 

corporate wellbeing

Short history of the Satisfaction With Life Survey embedded in Wellteam's Scorecard Tool. 

How to live happier with positive psychology.

What is Life Satisfaction and why is knowing it important?

Today we process more irrelevant information than at anytime in human history. More sources of data, more data points, more misleading, false data. All requiring mental load to review and interpret. The brain consumes a lot of energy doing difficult cognitive tasks, and we have lots to process today. It's not surprising many of us feel the strain on the brain. During much of business evolution, we've measured employee output by hours on the job. This makes sense when employee output (value) could be directly mapped to machine output (production volume). More time at machine equals more volume and therefore more value. But what of knowledge workers? If cognitive load is related to value (problem solving, strategic thinking, risk analysis, creative thinking) then is 'time on job' an appropriate measure anymore? <h2>Clarity improves value</h2> Are we better to hit complex tasks with fresh, clear, switched on brains... not burnt out, exhausted, lethargic? Given much of the high-value created in business today is down to brain power, not machine power, should we rethink the validity of time at desk as a measure of value? As a well-tech start-up founder, much of my time is spent sitting at a desk, tapping away, staring at a data on a computer screen, solving complex problems. Often in excess of 8hrs a day. I know I'm not alone there. Some days I'm on fire, ideas flowing, creative, effortless cognitive output... other days, I'm neck deep in sludge. Yet, my industrial era management conditioning has me trapped in this pointless 'sit at the desk and crack on with it' mindset. Even when no-one is watching, my conditioning makes me feel guilty for not refreshing my brain. It's time to let go. <h2>Time for a new paradigm?</h2> The greatest value I can deliver is determined by my ability to solve complex human problems. Sometimes that's achieved in minutes. My value is not determined by my ability to work 10 hour days each day but to think clearly when I work. Clarity is where the value comes. The rest is busy work. What factors determine your ability to do your work well? What action do you/should you take to ensure you do your best work?

energy

Work today no longer fits into industrial era thinking. It's time to link clarity to value.

Where and when is the value created in knowledge work.

Clarity beats grunt

<h1>How to be a modern man</h1> We live in challenging times for gender identity. When I grew up there was a clear code for how men should behave. Separate social rules for men and women. There was a strong narrative around being a man. The term "Go on, be a man" didn't carry a question mark. Gender roles in life were clear. It was simple but not easy. It didn't cater for different interpretations of being a man, or for those who were questioning their identity as a man. It had no place for softness, weakness, vulnerability. Today, we live in times of greater choice, greater freedom, a definite relaxing on the virtues of manhood. Perhaps for many however a feeling of confusion, uncertainty, disbelief, disconnect and discontent. Change is hard and especially so when it challenges such ingrained, trained beliefs from our earliest years. Well, rather than dwell on it, as a 52 year old, white, middle class, male, I thought I'd put down my reflections on what I think it important in being a man in modern life. <h3>My top tips for being a modern man. </h3>(Please add your tips in the comments down the bottom). 1. Graciously accept changing social norms while remaining true to who you are, your values and standards, for you, not others. You can open the door for someone out of respect, it's their choice to appreciate it. 2. Train your mind. Flip the focus from physical strength to mental fitness. A modern man spends a lot of time working their brain, absorbing and interpreting information. Mental fitness is critical to thrive in modern life. 4. Honour your ancestors sacrifices by not being a slave to the system. Don't get sucked into marketing. Play your own game, not someone else's. Do your research, make choices for YOUR mind and body that are in your best interest. Make conscious choices for a healthier, happier life. 8. Lend a hand. Our male ancestors were providers and protectors of families, mates and communities. Give back to others, help, support, defend those in need. 6. Show kindness and compassion. In a selfish world, this is the only way to have peace in our lives. 2. Challenge yourself. You are worth far more than the easy path has to offer. You are capable of amazing things, push yourself, explore the limits of your capability. 3. Stop a while. Breathe. Look around. Smell. Taste. Feel. Hear. A rich life is one where your senses fully engage with your surroundings. Reconnect your senses, all of them. Experience life through all five senses and you'll have much greater richness in everything you do. 9. Connect with nature. For 300,000+ years your ancestors were born into nature, grew up in nature, matured in, studied, reproduced in, lived, thrived and died in nature. Get outdoors. Embrace the natural elements. Wind down your windows, breathe it in, smell it, feel it, taste it. Look after it. 11. Move more. A modern man recognises that his body works better when it moves, just as our ancestors did. Move in as many ways as you can. Free up your joints, your muscles, your limbs, your organs, move more. 21. Don't expect order. Life changes quickly, it doesn't care for your structured plan, your sequenced events, your perfect pattern of things. Embrace chaos, uncertainty, irregularity. Train your mind and body, it will cope with whatever life throws at it, just as your ancestors have done. 13. Embrace. Adapt. Let go. Move on. Don't dwell on the past for you can't change it anymore than your ancestors could. 14 Love someone or something. Don't hold back, don't be scared, don't push people away through fear of being hurt. Have courage. Throw yourself into love, boots and all. It doesn't need to be romantic love, it just needs to be that unconditional care and concern for someone else. Chose the right person and what you give, you will receive. You may get it wrong and be with the wrong person. If so, move on quickly. If not, dig in. Embrace it. Let go of fear. Cherish it, for it, like everything in life, will not last forever. Love for today. Be strong, be true to yourself, build confidence in self and others. Live with kindness and compassion for all living things. While the world may feel uncertain right now, the only thing we can do is be our best. Some days that's easy and some days that's hard. We will succeed and fail in equal measure and it's the contrast between the two that gives life meaning. We should strive for success but be mindful and deliberate about our understanding of what success is. For me success changed over the years. From an early quest for adventure when I was younger, to money and status, family, security in my 30's and 40's to more social change and meaning now. Who knows what the next decade will bring for me and for you. I wish you only the very best. Remember that whatever is behind you does not define who you are and who you will be. Aim to be the best version of yourself and life a meaningful life. Go well. TroyWellteam Founder.

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nature

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exercise

Modern life is tough, confusing and ever-changing. Here's my tips to how to be a modern man. 

12 Days of Optimisation Campaign

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