David Nyeste

This Post could have been a Meeting  The reason for bad meetings is not a lack of knowledge or discipline, but a lack of honesty and excess of tolerance for unproductive behaviour. This loss of productivity results in costs to any organization. Being bold about bad meetings helps to improve productivity. Recently we discussed meeting culture and discipline in one of our team off-sites. Participants unanimously agreed that there's significant potential in our organization to improve the efficiency of meetings. Start and finish on time, define a specific outcome, stay on track throughout the duration of the meeting and others were mentioned as key guardrails for efficiency. We're all familiar with them, yet we often neglect them. Improving meeting quality is one of the most effective ways to ensure people's time and resources are not wasted. Imagine you and I worked for the same organization and I would send you an arbitrary invitation for this topic with the following suffix...

Note to My Future Me If you're steering your organization with just one KPI, you're not managing. You're hoping. Before you read on, a quick warning: What follows might shift your perspective on organizations—maybe even radically. Turn back. Take the blue pill. Keep your beliefs unchanged - about your team, your department, your business unit, your company, your industry. Or keep reading…and risk taking off the frog goggles. And s ee things differently. You’ve been warned :-) Crash Course in Controlling When people hear the word “controlling,” they often think of numbers, spreadsheets, maybe men in gray suits with ties, horn-rimmed glasses, and little sense of humor—or the latest cost-cutting initiative (#travelpolicy). Others associate management and control with something more exciting: a Formula 1 car, the cockpit of a jumbo jet, or a conductor leading an orchestra. All of these associations are valid (although the “no humor in controlling” cliché has been tho...

Note to My Future Me A Matter of Perspective A while ago I was confronted with a huge dilemma in a project, which led to a significant delay and a serious budget overrun, that nearly killed the entire project. When I was on the verge of frustration, I remembered an important lesson from my time as an soldier: Whenever I’m confronted with a problem, I start with one decisive question: Which perspective do I choose? Often, you can’t fully control how personally affected you are or how deeply involved you become. Let me explain what I mean more clearly: Air Force, Navy, Army This question always reminds me of a comic I once saw at an army facility. It showed three scenes—each with a soldier from a different branch of the military: In the first, a fighter pilot sits calmly in his jet, looking down from a safe distance at a raging battle below. His thought: “What a mess.” In the second, a patrol boat commander is in the middle of combat, visibly tense, thinking: “I hope we make ...

Note to My Future Me Lifelong Learning – Work and Improve Learning efficiently  is probably one of the most underrated superpowers of our time. In an age of artificial intelligence, mobile internet, and constant acceleration, knowledge itself has lost value for many people. And that’s understandable: Why invest effort in learning something that may soon be outdated—and that you can access anytime with a click (or a swipe)? A strong reason to continuously improve your knowledge and skills is this: You’re training a critical muscle—the brain. Or more precisely: your ability to think. Brain Training Thinking is hard work. The human brain consumes around 20% of our total energy. Maybe that’s why it’s wired by default to prefer “energy-saving mode.” My own brain is a true professional at that. Yesterday, I planned to read a book before bed… and ended up watching a series instead. :-p Take beginner pianists as an example: Even playing a simple scale can be exhausting. After a short...

Notes to my future me Crabs and Climbers This week I adressed an 'inconvenient truth' at work. Disclaimer: I have a huge part in it. I give the blame for all to the fact that I easily subscribe to 'Crab-Mentality'. That one is quickly explained: Imagine a bucket full of living crabs. Cooperative crabs could easily escape their captivity: They would help each other to overcome their bucket-prison - piece of cake. Lots of resourceful crabs would create a climbing-crew and release each and every one into freedom - no one is left behind. Crabs Instead something different happens. The crabs pull each other down and hinder any crab to escape successfully. "If I can't have it, nobody can." is the motto. The result is well known: everyone is worse off, or more specifically: in the end all crabs end up as a yummy dish. Climbers The -more constructive- opposite of the crab mentality is the climbers' mindset. It is pro cooperation and its purpose is to improve sy...

Notes to my future me Receiving Feedback After having given feedbacks to some colleagues in the past weeks and months I regularly felt a strong urge to give some feedback to the feedback recepients on receiving feedback (read that again more slowly if you like :-) ). Here's what I would have given them as a tip for the future: 1. Listen and understand - active listening means laser-focus on the things being said. Taking some notes can be helpful. 2. Never (never EVER) explain, downplay, justify, comment, etc.. Feedback is never exclusively about you - your FB-giver is always part of the story. 3. Ask for clarity - in case you feel you're still in the woods, seek clarity. To understand means to understand without ambiguity and to understand all that was said. Let this claim be the only source of your questions. 4. Pick the cherries - Only you know your journey. Only you can know what helps you reach your harbour. Take what you consider useful, leave the rest and move on. 5. Say ...