Meaningful Work
52 posts
The Power Of Reflective Practice
My mother can practically bake a killer apple tart in her sleep. It’s a skill she’s learned over decades of trial and error. We hone any skill by doing. We get better by practising and observing, then reflecting and iterating. The doctor perfects her bedside manner by reflecting on how a consultatio
In Praise Of Incrementalism
One of my favourite TV programs, when I was young, was Columbo—which followed the sometimes scruffy, seemingly absentminded, always polite, homicide detective, who solved murder cases in Los Angeles. What struck me about Columbo was the stepwise way he made progress towards solving the case. He wasn
Giving Attention Vs. Getting Attention
The more people have to attend to, the harder it is to get their attention. Attention is a precious resource. And as with any resource, scarcity creates value. Our culture has taught us that those who can capture the most attention win—never more so than in the digital age. So, we devote a considera
Empathy Creates Value
A restaurant host has one job to do—meet and greet diners and show them to their table. It sounds easy enough, but the difference between a good host and a great host is underrated because where people are seated directly impacts their experience. Seating arrangements can influence how long diners s
The One Thing
What one thing are you willing to do today in service of tomorrow?
The Best Laid Plans
This day ten years ago you probably had plans in place for the year ahead. Maybe you achieved some of those goals in 2010. But I’m guessing that you could never have planned for some of the unexpected events, opportunities, twists and turns of the decade you’ve just lived. It turns out that it’s har
Needs And Wants
If we are to do our best work, we must also be intentional about the kind of business and life we want to build. We often default to prioritising our needs while neglecting our wants.
A Question Of Choices
Our choices not only determine our priorities, plans and results—they are also clues about what matters to us.
The Daily Opportunity
Meaningful progress doesn’t happen in a single, magical alignment of the stars. Opportunity can’t pass us by because it’s available to us in this moment and the next one.
By Heart Vs. With Heart
We have the opportunity every day to work by heart or to choose to do it with heart. The more often we choose the latter the better for all of us.
People Want Places, Not Platforms
Whatever you’re building, think beyond features, functionality and design and think first about how the person you serve wants to feel when she arrives at the place you’ve built.
Growing Small
I remember landing my first ‘real’ job like it was yesterday. One of the big British supermarket chains was opening a huge store not far from where I lived in Dublin. It was good news for the hundreds of people who would be employed there—more jobs, more choice for consumers—a win-win. At fifteen, I
