#Weeknotes 64 (1 Mar) — Research love, Vancouver, and the friendship dilemma
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Work wise:
Coming back to work after a couple of weeks of holiday isn’t always easy, especially if it’s right at the beginning of running research. Luckily, the timing worked out that the first sessions don’t start until Wednesday, so I had some time to reorient myself back into the work and get prepared for the facilitator role.
I love doing qualitative research where I get to hear and learn from various individuals with a range of experiences to share their knowledge and perspectives around a certain topic. I love the richness of conversations that organically surface and noticing the commonality of needs, desires, challenges and aspirations that so many people hold. We’re all more similar to each other than we often like to believe once we let go of our appearances and the circumstances that we’re tied to.
The research we’re running is trying to solve a critical problem that many, especially large, organisations face. Which is how to join up work across an organisation that is structured to encourage siloed working. The research aims to create a view that can showcase the extent of work teams are doing across the organisation so that at the organisation level, we can identify which areas are being invested in and if they’re the right areas. Though we haven’t quite finished the research, it was quite clear early on that while everyone sees the value in joint-up work, it’s just not possible without a framework or process in place to enable it. If teams all have individual priorities they must adhere to, then who is responsible and accountable for the overall business priority that the teams are ultimately meant to address? While an organisation restructure can be a solution to create a more horizontal and agile working, it’s often unrealistic to achieve within a short time. There needs to be an incentive, in lieu of a joint-up working framework, for teams to collaborate on shared issues and business priorities.
This is where conducting research with internal stakeholders really shines. The mere exercise of having team representatives chime in and provide input into something that needs to sit more centrally is effectively in a sense, cross-team collaboration. As we’re gathering input, we’re taking members of the organisation along on a journey. They have already taken the time to engage with this research. They are already invested and therefore are great allies to further push the agenda for a more coherent organisation, one that can be structured in a way that is consistent and unified towards shared business priorities.
To get more buy-in and allies. Do more research and have the right conversations.
Life wise:
My highlight over the last few weeks is visiting my family in Vancouver. The trip went very well considering we have with us a 2-year-old who doesn’t yet understand the concept of time zones and appropriate airplane etiquette.
We managed a good balance of catching up with my family and friends while also trying to soak up the place by being true tourists: touring the hotspots and eating the local delights. It was nice actually. The place I used to call home looks a bit less familiar with each visit and with it, my fondness and appreciation grew. Funny how things work right?
This is Layton’s third trip to Vancouver. It amazes my family each time they see him in person, from 6 months old, to a year old and now 2. They grow too fast. It’s also a big reason why I’m keen for my grandparents to see him as much as they can. It breaks my heart to see my grandparents looking shorter, weaker, and older year after year. Relatively speaking they are in good health for someone in their 90s. How incredible is it to be alive for so many decades, witnessing the changes the world has gone through? I’m grateful to still have them in my life so I’m going to focus on that.
In other news, I made a personal achievement this week and that’s getting to a 2000-day streak on Duolingo. It may sound impressive but it only takes one lesson to maintain the streak. It really doesn’t take much. (And no I don’t get paid by Duolingo to say this!) I’ve been using Duolingo to learn German and to refresh my Japanese and Chinese. It’s a great way to passively learn a language without too much commitment. I probably average about 15 minutes a day on Duolingo over the years. While it doesn’t sound like a lot, the fact that I practice learning German daily means I don’t easily forget it. I don’t encounter German in my day-to-day and sadly my partner Sven prefers to speak to me in English instead of his mother tongue. You’d think he’d be encouraging me more as it’s all so that I can connect better with his family when we visit them in Berlin where he grew up!
Next target: 3000?
Things I came across:
I came across this article which resonated with me a lot. It talked about the modern friendship problem. How technology over the years has in some effect made us socially incompetent. Much of the technology is about removing friction in our lives, and part of that includes friction with other human beings in our daily lives: remote working, door delivery services, pay-by-tap, and online banking to just name a few. While the aim might be for efficiency, I can’t help but ponder on the costs. There’s something about the need for friction that’s healthy, friction that makes us more connected and sociable. We’re working harder than ever now to stay connected and to maintain our relationships. I also struggle trying to keep in touch with friends whom I hold dear. Finding a time that works for a coffee chat or even just a call can feel like diary ping pong. It is exhausting.
The desire to stay better connected is universal. How can technology better support that? And should technology be the solution? Because Instagram and TikTok are just not cutting it.
Best quote of the week:
