Engineering an Interesting Life
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Q4 2025
I like the idea of doing a quarterly review of my annual theme, as a way to reset, re-evaluate, figure out what I want to change and celebrate what I did actually accomplish. I set my intention for the year as “health”, and in Q4 I returned to myself as a creative being. I read…
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From Chaotic Learning to Intentional Growth
Before the pandemic I was always on the move, and I would have told you always learning. I found myself at various events, talked to many different people, was always reading something, and my job changed frequently, even within the organisation I was in. I also wrote a lot, which helped me consolidate and clarify…
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Book: Life in Three Dimensions
I learned about the book Life in Three Dimensions on the Happiness Lab podcast. I was fascinated by the idea of psychological richness. A psychologically rich life is one with interesting, varied and perspective changing experiences. Oishi argues this is the missing dimension of what it means to live a good life. Distinct from happiness…
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Resisting Capitalism’s Shoulds
I’ve been feeling pretty mad about capitalism lately. One of the core things I’ve been angry about is realizing that capitalism is a huge source of “shoulds” and fake productivity. The goal of capitalism is to keep us running, keep us consuming, and to distract us from what is actually meaningful to us as human…
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Announcing: DRI Your Career
When I wrote part 1 of The Engineering Leader, about what it means to be the DRI (Directly Responsible Individual) of your career, it was a product of some hard won lessons of my own, conversations with friends, and an arc I saw repeatedly with my 1:1 coaching clients. Talking with my long time friend…
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Book: The Fax Club Experiment
The Fax Club Experiment is an interesting book. 100 people signed up to receive a weekly prompt, via fax (!) and responded only under their assigned number. 32 people made it to the end, and the book is a selection of their responses. I enjoyed people’s deeper thoughts, separated from any knowledge of their identity.…
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Q3 2025
I like the idea of doing a quarterly review of my annual theme, as a way to reset, re-evaluate, figure out what I want to change and celebrate what I did actually accomplish. I set my intention for the year as “health”, and in Q3 I tried to keep up momentum from Q2 whilst also…
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Book: The Next Day
I was listening to the first episode of the “Welcome to the Party” podcast, when Melinda French Gates was mentioned, and all three sports icons (Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, and Billie Jean King) took the opportunity to gush about her and her work. So I bought the new book – The Next Day: Transitions, Change,…
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Getting More Strategic
Strategy – how to be strategic, and how to be seen as strategic – is one of my ongoing obsessions. Years ago, I read Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, and it’s guided my thinking ever since. One of the things that book helps clarify is that being strategic and being seen as strategic can work against each…