Please tell me you've dialed in your sleeptime and you're still AIMING for 8 hours or more a night. I hope so. If you are, it will be starting to bring you the reward of more energy when you wake up.

machine

Mind

Please tell me you've dialed in you

Day 05 - Rest now, party later.

<h3>In the corporate world, wellbeing programs typically don’t align with corporate strategy, they sit in HR, but don't hit the broad culture where they drive productivity. </h3> Significant cash is spent subsiding yoga, meditation and fruit bowls for the already well, while those in need slip off the radar, into burnout or worse. I've sat at boardroom tables questioning the value of meditation, yoga, mindfulness, gym memberships and other short-term 'wellness' initiatives. I don't question the intent or need. What I question is the strategic purpose, how they’re measured and who the true target audience is. You won't improve productivity by gifting yoga classes to yogi's, you burn cash while those in need cash out. There are a lot of very well-meaning, skilled and passionate HR and Wellbeing leaders today. I don’t question their intent for a second, I question the strategic intent set by the leadership team. If there's no alignment at the top, the practices will often fail. <h2>Don't approach wellbeing from a 'wellbeing' perspective. </h2> Wellness is not a company strategic imperative, a sustainable productive workforce is. WE need employees operating with clarity, energy and productivity. That won’t come from a meditation class, that comes from good leadership. Free yoga classes can't compensate for confused messages, cognitive dissonance and tired leaders rushing around focused on every fire. In times of uncertainty, do not panic. What leaders must display (and have) is clarity, direction, storytelling ability and energy. Get that from leaders/board and productivity will flow on. <h2>A case study</h2>Recently I worked with a high profile national group facing significant head winds: Productivity declining, trust lacking, uncertainty and a 'not good enough' message from above. They drafted everyone into the Wellteam Global Challenge (10 inclusive healthy habits each month, rewards and healthy competition). Goals: Bring the team together, simple, inclusive, daily actions, shift the culture, build camaraderie. Leadership endorsed it, all green lights. It started well, but quickly stories came back about leadership dissent and almost instantly, engagement dropped. Key leaders were telling teams "If you've got time to do that, you should be working harder". Work harder is not a strategy, it's a threat. It's often frustration by well-meaning leaders under pressure, not knowing how to lift energy through clarity, grasping at straws, hoping the answer will show up by doing more. I’ve been there, multiple times; longer days, punching keys, first-in, last-out, desperately ‘busy’, always looking stressed. I would joke with friends: The way to survive in business is walk fast, carry a clip board and shake your head a lot. Busy does not equal productive. What often hides behind ‘busy’ is bored, overwhelmed, confused, frustrated, seeking distraction to fill the day up and rarely productive. No-one shows up to work wanting to fail - we all want to feel good about contributing. A yoga class won’t do that, good leadership will. <h2>Measuring wellbeing performance</h2>Wellbeing programs typically measure participation metrics but miss the critical insight, the key strategic output. Your real target is productivity. Productivity can be hard to measure in a changing environment. Here’s a simple way to think about productivity. CLARITY + ENERGY = PRODUCTIVITY Think about a time when you felt really productive and see if that formula rings true for you. <h2>Unlocking productivity through leadership</h2> So how do we measure productivity at work in a knowledge based world? How can you measure clarity and energy? Realistically, we should only focus on elements within the control of the workplace. You can't measure your employees diet, sleep habits, exercise levels or what's happening in their home life. You can however use a simple monthly check-in (see below) to see if your leaders/or you, are helping your employees do their best work. It sounds so simple but knowing you’re doing meaningful work, toward a worthy goal and supported by leaders to do that will bring energy. Good leadership is the productivity lever, not employee behaviour. <h3>Ask your team monthly:</h3> On a scale of 0 (disagree strongly) to 5 (strongly agree) respond to these statements: 1. I have confidence in the future direction of the company (0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5)2. I believe my work is making a meaningful difference (0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5)3. My leader is supporting me to do my best work (0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5) If you're scoring less than 3.5 here then workplace wellbeing activities are unlikely to have a meaningful difference. They'll be seen as token efforts to 'buy off' employees who are feeling undervalued. Average over 3.5? Let’s start a serious conversation about how the Wellteam Global Challenge and other activities can create a strategic productivity lever and take your team to the next level. True leadership has never been more important than in a world where it is lacking. Today, it's one of the most critical components to global wellbeing. Take care out there, and go well. Troy Wellteam Founder, CEO.

corporate wellbeing

optimisation

purpose

Too often wellbeing programs are measured poorly, focused on participation not productivity. 

Productivity, not wellbeing is what matters in business today and what to do about it. 

Wellbeing programs are not corporate strategy

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

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? 

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.

challenge

goals

nature

strong

exercise

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

Day 05 - Rest now, party later.

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