We live in the physical world no matter how digital our work is.
They tried so hard but we still have to eat food physically, sit on a physical chair, and scratch our head with our hand when thinking.

Thinking remains physical.
It requires the space that immediately surrounds our head to help us focus, imagine, debate, wonder, and connect the dots.

What if you designed your workspace to help you do just that?

Depending on the type of work you do, amplify your senses in the space. Let the music work for you: slow and classic if u need to focus and draw details, loud and fast if you need to imagine and dream big. Lavender smell to help relax the team, lemon to boost alertness and increase energy.

Document the progress of work physically: with imagines that moves along the process, textures to take you from rough drafts to smooth finals, and prototypes that clarifies the progress you’re making. Let those artefacts create the conversation with others. Let them describe how the idea is developing and progressing, so that when people want to comment and modify, they do so to an object, and not to the owner of the idea.

If your progress is physically aligned with your thought process, this will make it easier to re-visit, schedule, and follow up on concepts and activities instantly. Let the room work for you, and not you for her.

Cheers,
Randah

You are the expert on your intentions.

People around you only see your impact.

How can you make sure that what you intended is what is showing up?

This question can be applied to an immediate situation or one that is more long term.

The immediate one is easy. We dress and walk and ask our friends, “Do I look confident to you?”

The long term one is a bit harder. How can you manifest caring during the ups and downs of a project? How can you walk with poise to every meeting you have planned for a this campaign?

Here’s a quick exercise to help you uncover some insights.

Send this request to 5 people who you work with.

Ask them: what are 3 words that you think about when you think about me? 

These are not strength or weaknesses. These are just 3 words to describe you. 

A lot of words will come back.

See if the words coming in are similar to the words you use to describe yourself. See if your brand is out there, and not just in your head. They observe you and your action.

This is your first step bring out more of how you want others to describe you.

Organizations pay heavily for a big desk and a washed wall paint, yet little attention is paid for hallway interaction. How many ideas have sprung from the corner where the water cooler existed to host so many conversations with hidden opportunities of intra-departments idea collaboration? This is where creative ideas from different corners of the office floor emerge.

The situation of intra-disciplinary (or intra-departmentally) collaboration worsened is when we moved our work remotely and didn’t design for such interaction. Those non-essential conversations that don’t usually fall nicely into our over-crowded meeting schedules are the essence of creative ideas.

Some of us moved back into offices after long months of silo survival work. Others chose a hybrid situation, and some decided to move entirely online. Yet the question remains: How to design spaces that promote inter-department impromptu conversations? How to have more chance encounters and welcome serendipity into our manicured meeting schedules?

There are many ideas on this subject. Some with proven track record and others that don’t fit every situation. Back to you:

What have you done to design randomness into your daily work life?
How are you creating chance encounters with your team members?
What norms are you building to nurture a culture of innovation?
What have you done to create such spaces of loosely fit connections?

I faced a life-changing situation in the past 2 months that demanded new ways of seeing the world.

In recovering, I had to reflect on ways to stay positive and grounded. I’m sharing this list with you in case you needed a gentle reminder to take care of yourself while taking care of business.

When I felt like I couldn’t function anymore,

• I surround myself with positive people and limited my access to negative ones. This has made a big shift. I gave no chance to naysayers and I opened no doors to the judgmental type.

• I tried to indulge in small things. I gave myself permission to nap when needed and take extended coffee/tea breaks to think.  
• I don’t eat on the go or walk/drive while grabbing a snack. I sit down and enjoy the meal. Preferably with family.
• When I had no access to my brain, I took the time off entirely. Asking for an extended deadline or cancelling an event altogether was better than providing mediocre results that would affect my professional reputation in the long run.  
• I used music to create energy in different ways. Louder and faster rhythms help get started with a job. Slow, classical or instruments music help with completing complex focused tasks.
• Being more spiritual comes in different ways; prayers, meditation, or stillness to reflect. It clears the clutter in the mind and reminds me of what’s important in the now.
• I reminded myself that grief comes in so many faces. Sometimes it’s recovering from a loss of life, other times it’s feeling hurt, wronged, or the ending of a relationship. “Moving with”, rather than “moving on”, might be the fastest way to find meaning again.

These are a few of my favorite things.

I’m curious to learn your ways of enjoying daily positivity  

~ Imagine happiness,

Randah

p.s. On a special note, the Mavericks Masterclass is back by popular demand. One week to closing. Apply today.