Keep the energy up *clap clap*

Talented chef and restaurateur Neil Perry has a number of fine eateries in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in Australia. And if you've flown on Qantas you will have tasted some of the great food that the team he advises has created for cruising altitude. 

Have you truly seen him at work? Yes, he's been on TV plenty of times and he's been interviewed and shared his recipes ... but have you seen him work?

He does work! And I love his style. 

In the kitchen at the Melbourne Rockpool restaurant (exposed to diners in that modern, transparent, 'look-at-what-we're-creating-for-you' style that is a big part of restaurants today) I've seen him leading his team on several occasions. 

He's not a loud, shouting and cranky chef as many of the stereotypes have us think. 

But he does make some noise. 

*clap clap*

Yep, he delivers a double clap to create and sustain some energy, pace and delivery among the team. It's probably his way of saying 'now come on, step it up, let's get that dish to the servery', 'where are those oysters' and 'what's happening with that Waygu?'

*clap clap*

It's a tool I've adopted in my own office to motivate the team that is me. It keeps the energy up. It can celebrate when a task or project is completed and it also tunes the ears into thinking, sounds and what's going on.

Too often people can drift off into their internal worlds when you'd prefer them to be focusing on the here and now.

I'm not suggesting you go around and clap in the face of people who aren't participating in a dull meeting, or who are quieter contributors in a workshop. No... just remember that you are able to shift and change the energy in an environment. And if that's an environment you're responsible for creating, then there are times when you will need to do something.

*clap clap* is Neil Perry's way of keeping the energy up, keeping the team focused.

What can you do to inject energy, maintain focus and creating stimulating environments for your team?

Change is easy if you use your brain

Got some habits that die hard? 

It's no wonder! Our brains are passive, but our minds are active. This causes lots of 'thinking errors'. And we've all had plenty of them today … already!

This week I share a quick video (above) plus my narration of 'Change is easy if you use your brain' from neuro researcher Jeffrey Schwartz. 

When you understand 'won't power' ... you'll be able to make better choices and change will be easier!

Is this the best use of your talents?

I heard the phrase 'impact judgement' recently... that is, you make a judgement about the impact you're having on people, things, places, the world.

Last week, many of the technical wizards I met at a technology conference were being encouraged to measure the value of the features they're building. 

In every app on your smart phone or software program on your computer or device, there are heaps of features, buttons and things that the program is capable of doing, but people simply don't use. 

"Oooohhh, I didn't know it could do that." 
"Pffft. Yeah, don't need it."
"I only use it for...."

It's a bit of a waste really! All that development time creating cool things that people don't need, don't know exist or don't add any significant value to what that product does.

So I wanted to get you to think about your impact this week (and beyond). 

• Is this the best use of the brilliant things you do and can do?
• Are the people you're working with, hanging around with, are they getting the best out of you?
• Are you giving the best you have?

I think it's vital that we check on the value of the things we provide; to not wait until it's performance review time to find out that 70% of the 'stuff' we did this year didn't have an impact! <Ouch!> Or that the products we're working hard to design and create aren't needed or won't be purchased. 

Ask yourself: 'is this the best use of my talents?'

Oh, and just as you might be wondering about the impact you are having, help out others around you by letting them know the positive impact they're having on you.

Some encouragement, feedback, responses and a 'thank you, that was brilliant' really do give us the pep up to keep creating, working, delivering and achieving a strong purpose, creating things people want, need and will use. 

Don't fight stupid - make more awesome

Ask any of the talented improvisers at Impro Melbourne and they'll tell you that 'yes' is an almost magic word. When they're on stage, making things up, for the entertainment of an audience, they live for hearing a 'yes' from their fellow performers.

'Yes...' allows them to build on, add to and develop a story line, an idea, a thought.

Whereas a 'no' hits them like a bat over the head! Thud! Momentum stopped.

It's harder to be creative, innovative or do your best work if you keep bumping into 'no'.

At the Agile India conference I attended and presented at this past week, keynote speaker Martin Fowler mentioned in his presentation on 'Software Design in the 21st Century' the sweet phrase of 'don't fight stupid; make more awesome'.

Looking into the phrase more, I found that Jesse Robbins, from the same sort of technology field said this and uses it as somewhat of a philosophy. 

Jesse said:
“If you keep bumping into ‘no,’ and the organization makes it hard to get to ‘yes,’ you are going to have a long, slow, painful death. Get out of there!

“Every time I tried to win over stupid, I regretted it. On the other hand, every time I’ve gotten people to swing around and build a movement, I remember all those moments and felt good every day, no matter how hard I worked.”

If you're battling against some no's where you are at the moment:

• Yield.
• Shift.
• Pivot.

Head off over there, in that direction and make awesome things happen, using your expertise, your capabilities and your knowing that you are on to something brilliant. 

Yes. Go for it. Make more awesome. We're waiting for it. 

Looking for creativity? What's your boarding music?

Next time you're about to fly in a plane, listen. No, not to the engines... listen as you're getting on board.

Over the past week I've flown Melbourne to Sydney, Brisbane, Singapore and I'm now Bangalore, India ... at the Agile and Lean Software Development Conference.

With some airlines, when you step on board, find your seat and settle in, there will be some music playing over the speakers.

These tunes helps set the mood, calm anxious or busy travellers and create an environment in the cabin.

I love Qantas' music selections so much that I've contacted them over the years to find out the names of the artists and songs.  

In their reply to me, they named these tunes 'boarding music' and sent me a list of the artists and songs.

Boarding music.

Here's what's special about boarding music:

• It's not the music that plays on the radio channels on the aircraft 
• The tunes are specially selected by the airline 
• It's not instrumental zzzzzzz 'muzak' like in a lift or elevator
• They're contemporary sounds from a range of genres, which people may not have heard before.

So it's often this music I choose to play in workshops, meetings, at team and board (Ha! No pun) events and whenever I'm facilitating in a group environment. Music gives people thinking time, breathing time, shifts the focus, fills the silence and helps make for a creative environment. I think it's even better if it's not instantly recognisable!

• How could you use music to make your - and your team's -environment productive, collaborative and creative?
• What sort of 'boarding music' could you use at the start of an event, conference or meeting?

Way too many events start to the sounds of silence! (Yawn!)

Think about what will inspire you and the people you work with to do your best work and choose tunes wisely. 

Even better... how's this: you can create your very own cafe sound effects (because that's one of the most creative and productive environments) using a mix of these great sounds from Coffitivityplus your own playlist.

It will drive creativity and build an awesome environment to get good work done, in a conference or event, in the office or in your headphones.

Now... press play.