More Than Tech

I took up martial arts when I was 19 and had some early success in competitions, but I put none of my success down to natural ability, it was a function of determination, willingness to learn and the fact that I was fortunate enough to have some wonderful teachers and role models. One of my best friends competed in the Seoul Olympics and he infected me with his endless determination, positivity and humility. Perseverance Fixes Everything! Martial arts require the practitioner to learn new movements and techniques, some of which are complex and in even un-natural. The idea of getting your foot above your head isn’t something most people think about let alone practice! These techniques are mastered through repetition and perseverance. If you work hard and keep at it, you will improve. It’s such a cliché but its at the core of my belief system. There is nothing that cannot be improved with hard work and perseverance. My favorite technique in TaeKwonDo competitions was my trust...

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs...Rudyard Kipling Most people do not perform well under pressure but I believe its a skill that can be learned and developed. In the 80's and 90's I was a competitive full contact martial artist. I learned about pressure by getting in the ring with other highly trained martial artists who were completely focused on hurting me and trying to knock me out! I was fascinated to see how some competitors performed better under pressure and others crumbled. I wanted to learn how I could get the best out of myself at the most important time, something I always admired in others. All of my sporting heroes were always capable of digging deep and finding something inside themselves when they most needed it. We can all learn to perform under pressure. How Pressure Affects Our Brains The cerebral cortex is the area of the brain responsible for the higher functions such as reasoning and logic but an evolutionary older pa...

If you’ve read the EI books then I’m probably preaching to the choir. If you haven’t, then I’d like to recommend that you do! Many tech people are much better at problem solving and working with numbers than working with people. Business Applications - All about People People implement systems! Rightly, we put a great deal of emphasis on the technology but we really must guard against neglecting the people. The most significant factor in implementing business systems, is how well you engage with the business owners and deeply understand their needs and issues. Its important to have a structured and rigorous methodology but more important are the way the people operate. How well do they listen and understand. How good are the people ate listening and digging deeply to get to the requirements. How good are they at recognizing and challenging legacy thinking? (thinking constrained by the legacy system and the "way we have always done it"). How good are the implementation ...

This is a fantastic book. Its concept is that we spend too much time addressing our weaknesses and we should instead, spend more time developing our strengths. There is a brief introduction, which you should read first, then take the test. The book comes with a code and a website, take the test and it will tell you your top 5 skills! The rest of the book explains what each skill means so that you can better understand you’re your strengths and what they mean. Its fun and it will help you get to know yourself better! You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/StrengthsFinder-2-0-Tom-Rath/dp/159562015X