Essay

Apr 18, 2024 ∞

The Law Of Triviality and the joys of plodding

The Law Of Triviality or “Bikeshedding” was in full effect at work today.

I had permission to put a message on a system about upcoming changes. When it went live, a bunch of more senior staff thought my message was not quite right and levied their opinions on what should replace it. Eventually, after everyone had spoken, no one could decide on precisely what the message should say and they all just stopped talking about it without making a decision.

🤫 The original message I wrote still remains on the system 🤭🤷‍♂️

An old friend of mine who very recently passed away,¹ once told me

“The rarest technical skill you can cultivate is common sense. And it’s often in short supply”

I think there is a lot of truth to that. People tend to chase flash or want to get involved in whatever the zeitgeist of the day is vs just slogging away at the fundamental bricks that complete projects. We’re easily distracted, turned and moved away from what we were doing not just 30 minutes ago. It’s part of the modern workplace with email, Teams/Slack…distractions can be everywhere… If you want them or not!

I’m often not the smartest technical asset in the room, but what I can do is make a structured list, update it and follow through on it.

If I can’t follow through I communicate why and I ask for help and advice. I send updates update calmly, descriptively and consistently. I feel like these fundamentals are key to collaboration and moving things forwards, but they can very often get lost in the storm for want of the thrill of starting another new project, looking at the shiny new thing or indeed bikeshedding over a two sentence paragraph for 30 minutes in what should be a 5 minute decision.

My wife jokingly refers to how we tackle work as being plodders. We’re At the coal face consistently smashing away and making the pile smaller whilst sometimes someone whifts past and may tell us they think we’re holding our picks wrong before they vanish again to the fresh air outside of the mine.

Someone this week came up to me whilst I was working and told me they were grateful for some work I’d done on a project and felt like I had kept them informed of what was happening and why throughout. At the end of the day, I think that’s what keeps me doing what I do. Providing that measurable consistent delivery that makes a difference to….someone out there.

So I’ll just keep plodding. I hope you keep plodding too.

Hence I’ve been thinking of them often over the past few days. I never did get to tell you how grateful I was for all your help when I was a stupid young thing. Rest in peace Brett. ↩︎

Mar 26, 2024 ∞

“I don’t feel like I’m getting anything done”

a friend forwarded this to me the other day.

This is definately how I felt when i stopped working at MSP’s and moved into public sector work. I had similar discussions with my family and friends at the time. A friend who also changed roles expressed similar sentiments along the line of

“I’ve been given 2 weeks to do something I’d have 2 days to do before…”

I’d say I still struggle with it on occasion. The line between doing good work you can feel proud of, overworking yourself and eventually that circling round to burnout is so easy to drive right past before you notice.

Mar 17, 2024 ∞

Manners Maketh Man

My son has a part time gig in a local coffee shop on the weekends and came home a bit disheartened yesterday as some guy got angry he wasn’t immediately served whilst my son was loading the dishwasher. This guy yelled at him for a few minutes then stormed out.

He loves this job, he loves coffee, loves engaging with the people. He’s made good friendships through this position, and it’s great to watch him flourish in this role. But as well as the good, you’re always gonna get the bad like this.

Having got over my initial reaction of wanting to go “Liam Neeson” on this man, I came to the quite sad conclusion that this is increasingly how people think they can act nowadays with people providing a service.

This bitter growing rumbling spiteful hosepiped rage directed towards these truly inconsequential matters. Imagine the multitude of ways this bitter buffon could channel his energy better within his day.

I did retail in my youth, and even now in my technology position I’m still providing and supporting a service. I still get ranty shouty people in my professional life, and I can track my experience over the decades in how I can recognise and deal with over aggressive people.

Having the ability to stay stoic, rational and process this sort of behaviour, then switch off from it is a skill you have to cultivate over time. Heck, I’m still teaching myself this skill with every interaction I have. I still don’t always get it right.

Some will say you never know what people are going through to make them act that way. Whilst that’s true, We all carry our particular brand of bullshit every day.

Welcome to the party pal! We’re all here!

Succinctly. Manners. Maketh. Man.

I’ve had some truly shitty days in my life (Who hasn’t) and I’ve never felt the urge to raise my voice as a random stranger who’s providing a service. Even if I must be forceful or if I’m in disagreement (on whichever side of the desk I’m on within that interaction), I am polite, respectful and will accept a decision¹ or an explanation.

I’m sure there’s a link to this behaviour with the way the political landscape is shifting. Tolerance is down, hatred and anger is sadly up. That’s why it’s even more important to stand tall, calm and rational against this sort of thing. Be who you want to be. Be better than that. Smell the flowers, be present and don’t react in kind.

Remember the 100 people who liked what you did ❤️

Forget the one asshole who didn’t… 😂

Even if I will take a subsequent, different action towards resolution later such as writing a letter. I won’t get ranty with the person serving me. I will just re-assess and re-plan. ↩︎

Mar 10, 2024 ∞

✈️ Japan Diaries : Day 9 Hiroshima

A cityscape view with densely packed houses and buildings set against a backdrop of green, rolling hills under a clear, blue sky.

We woke up to news reports of the incoming Typhoon Lan on the news and rumours of disruption to public transport. The Japan Rail website was being updated through the day so we were keeping an eye on the weather. For now however, blue skies and heat was persisting as we made our way to the train station to get to Hiroshima.

Essay

Applecare Warranties - £167.76/Year

Streaming/Storage - £697.17/Year

Game Services - £275.87/Year

Apps - £183.44/Year

Services - £384.90/Year

Total Costs

Breakfast at Smart Coffee