Following my last post on my PKMS (Personal Knowledge Management System), where I covered the use of Podcasts as one of my inputs into the information I consume, here are my top 10 Podcast recommendations for 2023. These are mostly technology based podcasts, although some have a wider scope.
1. The Digital Human (BBC)
In The Digital Human podcast Aleks Krotoski (Broadcaster and Journalist) explores the digital world and the topics that affect, grow and change it.
2. a16z Podcast
The a16z Podcast discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future with regular multiple podcasts. The a16Z podcast is produced by Andreessen Horowitz a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm.
3. TED Radio Hour
The TED Radio Hour podcast brings together some of the best TED talk topics across a wide range of topics. This is a great way to get to hear about the latest information about TED talks.
4. WB-40 Podcast
In the WB-40 podcast hosted by Matt Ballantine and Chris Weston they hold conversations on how technology is changing how we work.
5. Tech Tent (BBC)
In the Tech Tent podcast broadcaster and journalist Rory Cellan-Jones talks about the latest stories in the tech world.
6. FT Tech Tonic
In the Tech Tonic podcast by the FT (Financial Times) it investigates the promises and perils of this new technological age – the digital revolution.
7. The Vergecast Podcast
The Vergecast podcast is hosted by Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz, where they present a weekly view of tech news, whats happing now and in the future.
8. Tech Swamp Podcast
The Tech Swamp podcast covers global tech policy and business headlines, tidbits of tech history, and topical policy deep-dives on legislation and regulation in the U.S., EU, UK, and around the globe.
9. Tech Stuff Podcast
The Tech Stuff podcast hosted by Jonathan Strickland explores the people behind the tech, the companies that market it and how technology affects our lives and culture.
10. Back to Work Podcast
In the Back to Work podcast Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discuss productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints and tools.
It has been a couple of years since I have updated my PKMS (Personal Knowledge Management System), so time to publish an updated system. Lots have changed over the past few years including a move to working from home more which has reduced my time in the car and catching up on podcasts, however it has allowed me more time to read. Some of the systems I was previously using I have removed from use and added in new ones.
I still believe strongly in separating my personal social and business social, although there is the occasional need for the two to cross.
Personal Life
Personal Journal
My go to notebook of choice for Journaling is still the Moleskine plain pocket book and I have just started journal number 35. Its quality and paper is good enough for my needs and archival quality. I still favour the Pilot ball ink pens (0.5 or 0.7) as they flow nicely on the page. See my blog post No batteries required for further details.
Social Media
In keeping my work life separate from my personal life, I use platforms such as Instagram and Facebook for friends and family with appropriate two factory and security settings in place. Even with those settings you still need to consider that once something is online, it could be public in the future.
Professional Life
Research
This is split into several areas and these are a few of the inputs that I use to grab information, feeds, data from:
Streaming Services
RSS Feeds
Podcasts
TED Talks
Web Searches
Blog Posts
Courses
This is a high level list of the types of content that I am consuming in my research and knowledge growth. It is important to have Growth Mindset by taking every opportunity to experiment, embrace failure, learn, change and seek challenges will enable yourself and business to realise potential and success. The term Growth Mindset comes from the study and theory of Dr Carol Dweck that intelligence can be developed. This can be applied to every person young and old to reach higher levels of achievement.
Streaming Services covers platforms such as YouTube. The availability of cameras and online streaming platforms, more content is being made available and recorded by people to pass on their knowledge.
RSS Feeds low my to pull updates from sites into Feedly where I can view them on my daily viewing of my feed.
Podcasts cover both Audio and Video casts that I watch/stream online or download to my Phone / Media Player (Audio and Videos) to listen to when I am on journeys in the car or other transportation methods or out walking the dog. I have spent a lot of time out walking as my family got a dog back in April 2022 and this has also improved my level of fitness as well as the ability to catch up on podcasts.
The amount of online learning available today is huge from free MOOC’s (Massive Open Online Courses) to paid for course such as Udemy. Lots of vendors now provide a good level of free training for their products and solutions. This category also covers courses that I can take through work.
Feedly
Feedly provides an aggregation tool which I use to collect the stories from blogs and web sites. This provides a list of stories that can be scanned tin a few minutes on a single screen without going via multiple sites. Clicking on a story will bring up a snippet from the source site and provide the link to read the source article if required. Using a series of key strokes you can read the headlines, then move down the articles at a reasonable speed, stopping and opening when needed.
Sources can be categorised to allow an all view or just whats new in a category.
Thinking Time
Thinking Time covers the time that I spend absorbing the PKMS information coming in from the different sources and then also process and apply in different ways. It is also good to spend time reflecting on what I have learnt and think of different and new way to use the information and learnings.
Blogging and Being Social
Following my Thinking Time I gather my thoughts and research and write these down through my blogs and podcasts and publish these on Social Media, WordPress and GitHub.
Part of my morning routine is to have a skim over the stories showing up in my Feedly list and have a look at anything that seems of interest whilst munching on some cereal or toast and washing it down with a cup of coffee. A couple of articles peek my interest from sites that I have used before but now want more information from me as a payment to view the content.
These are not sites that have a pay wall as such where you subscribe to read content, butcookie and consent walls. Whilst cookie walls are not new, the uptake of them has increased with more and more sites wanting to get hold of your data in exchange for reading an article. Cookies days are numbered and there are ways to protect yourself, but to the majority of internet users being presented with an option to accept or reject cookies can present complexity to those who don’t understand what is actually happening. This is the hidden cost that you are paying to read that article or visit that site.
First off though I want to thank the websites and companies out there that have made the choice of accept or reject really simple with two buttons and clear options and information. There are a lot out there who do however add complexity with all the options and legal jargon that can catch people out.
Here is an example:
I have removed the name of the site from the picture above. There are many ways that these walls are presented to the user and you are not presented with the easy way to optout other than close the page and say no thanks. I wonder how many people press the “Consent” button without actually looking at what they are consenting to?
Clicking the “Manage options” the screen on this particular site presents 30 or so options to select from. Some sites have even more and there is no standard – everyone is asking for different things and information.
This is at least one of the better set of options and it does allow you to unselect or turn off all of the options. There are sites I have seen that you cannot select on and off and you have no choice if you want to read the site. One site I visited recently the UI was badly or cleverly made so that when you deselected all the options you don’t want to expose to a company that the save on continue button was behind a Chat to Us now button with a large on focus area that you could not go any further forward.
Visiting some sites you are presented with the option to either accept the cookies or leave. If its a site you want to visit or purchase something from you are left with only one choice to accept not knowing exactly what is going on behind the scenes.
How does legitimate interest work?
Sites asking for legitimate interests are using your personal data on the basis of their legitimate interest and are basically asking you for permission to process this data under GDPR. I have found that this differs between sites and not every site explains what they are actually looking at or wanting to use the data for. Some sites are being generic about this area and not been really clear as to what they are collecting, rather saying cookies that allow our website to function without error.
The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) have a good article on what are Legitimate Interests.
The Future
The future of cookies has been previously announced by Google with chrome browsers as in Jan 2020 it was announced that they would eliminate third-party cookies in the browser, but this is now delayed until the second half of 2024.
2023/24 will be the year for companies who rely on cookies to look at how they can make advertising relevant for a cookie less future. API’s and API’s with context will be available for companies to use which will protect users better and also provide context based relevant advertising.
How to protect yourself
In the first instance make sure you have Anti-Virus protection. Most packages do include an amount of protection to your devices around this topic, however you should check what is available through your chosen vendor.
To help users keep their privacy companies led by Google have introduced and initiative that is currently in development called Privacy Sandboxes which replace functionality of cross-site tracking and removing third-party cookies. The Privacy Sandboxes also help in mitigating the risk of device fingerprinting. The link to Googles Privacy Sandbox initiative site is below.
For now there options available that can block certain trackers through browser addons that can protect you and stop tracking cookies. As an example Privacy Badger is available for a number of browsers. Its good and protects you well and you do have the option to turn off and on cookies.
Our brain is an amazing organ of that learns, remembers, controls, moves, repairs a complex body. It is in control of lots of functions and as part of that it is also responsible for our Logical and Creative Thinking. There are lots of articles that talk about the left side of the brain being responsible for Logical and the right side for Creativity. This was first researched by Roger Wolcott Sperry with his work on the split brain.
Either way the brain is still an amazing thing and you can learn to use both Logical and Creative Thinking techniques, you just need to apply a growth mindset.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
Logical Thinking
Logical thinking helps us to make “sense” of things, coming up with solutions and in decision making.
The five W’s and 1 H are commonly used as questioning to help form logical thinking. These are
Who
When
Why
What
Where
How
Some add another H – How Much to the list as cost can play an important factor in decisions.
Creative Thinking
Creative thinking helps us approach things with an out of the box approach and an ability to look at things through different lenses to discover new solutions.
Balanced View
Taking a balanced view across Logical and Creative thinking, the Six Thinking Hats written by Dr. Edward de Bono starts to provide a balanced view by using the idea of parallel thinking to plan and use thinking more effectively. This can include logical and creative thinking.
Blue Hat – Process
manage process
action plans
next steps
reviewing thinking
summary
White Hat – Facts
data
facts
information needed
information available
Red Hat – Feelings
feelings
hunches
instinct
intuition
Green Hat – Creativity
creativity
solutions
ideas
alternatives
possibilities
Yellow Hat – Benefits
positives
brightness and optimism
value
benefits
Black Hat – Cautions
difficulties
potential problems
weaknesses
Build on the Skills
Learn different ways of thinking
Learn some new ways of thinking that you have not used before.
Practice and mix it up
As the phrase goes “Practice makes perfect”. Using different methods of thinking can bring different views and possibly different solutions to the problem/challenge.
Personally I have created my own set of cards based on several ways and methods of thinking that I use when I am looking at a problem. See my blog post Playing a Game with Innovation and Thinking.
Work with others
There is nothing better than working with others to bring in different views and ways of thinking that you may not have thought of previously. This is a great way of seeing how other people approach the problem/challenge and help identify if there are areas you can improve/learn on.
Be creative
Spend some time on creative hobbies that will help you build you creative thinking.
Learning a new skill
Learning a new skill will help you develop your thinking.
I am now nearing the completion of another Personal Journal (Number 30). I was at number 13 when I last wrote about my journalling (No Batteries Required: My Personal Journal) and I am still going strong on writing daily.
My normal journal of choice is a Moleskine Plain Pocket Notebook and all of my journals have followed this type so far. I have found them to be robust enough for my needs and use.
My journal normally has a mix between a Journal and a Scrapbook with inserts/stick in’s of tickets, pictures etc where I think its journal worthy. Journal worthy is mainly things that will help anyone reading the journal to get a feeling what we did and as reminders to us.
“The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
― Chuck Palahniuk
Although in recent times the amount of inserts has reduced with the stay at home messages.
My pen is normally a pilot V7 Hi-Techpoint which I find flows well over the pages in the journals. I have tried other pens and inks (fountain, ball point, etc) and found these to be the best.
Why do I keep a personal journal:
Daily routine of writing – keeps my mind fresh in writing skills
Keeping my writing skills up in an age of keyboards and touchscreens
Memories so the family can reflect on events
Keeping notes and remembering events
Not everything you do has to be online
My journal doesn’t need a battery
My pen doesn’t need to be cabled or wifi’d to print with it
My journal doesn’t crack when I drop it (although it can get wet)
Downsides of keeping a journal:
No Delete Key – just cross out a word/sentence
Physical Storage of journals rather than virtual
So what does a collection of 30 Journals(2007-2021) look like………
Two reused large shoeboxes full containing around 13 years of journaling ove 4,888 pages.
I would encourage anyone to start journalling – A great view of what you have achieved during a lifetime.
There has been a lot of change in the world and the way that we work is changing and won’t necessarily be the same going forward. With the changes in our lifestyles and work our Mindset is also changing to cope with everything we have to deal with.
I have written before about mindset and how to look at change “Having the Right Digital Mindset“. Going into 2021 its time to revisit these areas and look at how the world today have changed these.
In my blog I said – The Digital Era is enabling “A Growth Mindset in the Age of Abundance”. This is still true, however its more that just a Digital Era. The past 10 or so months has helped to show how we can deal with change on a daily basis and make adjustments. Its more the era of dealing with Daily Ambugity and Change. That said I still believe that going forward my statement holds true.
In my previous post “Having the Right Digital Mindset: Business (Change, Agility and a Growth Mindset)“, I cover the areas of Change, Agility and Growth Mindsets from a Business point of view. The world has had one of the most poinent lessons in dealing with ambiguity in modern times from everything that has happened from a pandemic point of view and the change and turmoil that it has caused. This has meant that everyone has had to deal with the same messages and ambiguity at the same time and factor in our own personal circumstances as well.
Learning to understand and cope with change yourself and your own personal circumstances helps you grow and in work enables any business/organisational changes that are happening. This can also be helped by also learning to work with and deal with ambiguity and help us to cope with the unknown, and act with out knowing what the overall looks like, whilst also breaking our habits to form new ones that allow us to accept and work with change.
I will end by saying that we have all been through a lot. Everyone has had different and similar experiences and its okay not to be okay. Talking to someone helps. It doesnt have to be anyone you know and there are some great services in the world that can help you. Please talk to someone.
Knock on the door from a person with a delivery said “Took ages to find your house, is your postcode correct?”. Not quite what I expected to hear. Having lived in the house for a number years and the post office delivering to my house with the same postcode I have had since moving in nothing has changed on my side.
So what’s happened. After some simple checks it appears Google Maps have somehow shifted my postcode over a few roads. That does explain a lot as to why some people have found it hard to find my location in the past such as taxi drivers, takeaways and delivery drivers etc.
I have raised a case on Google Maps to have this corrected
It does raise the question though about how reliant we are becoming on technology to find our way and give locations. Following a map on your phones and devices and not refering back to a map or even looking at the street names (Are you on the right road!).
How much trust do you put into your device and gps to advise your location? There are some great and fairly accurate (GPS dependant) tools/apps such as What 3 Words to find a location, but when relying on a postcode, how much trust do you put in it? For me a SatNav or Online Map will get you to the general location. Now you need to use some detective work to find the place your meant to be.
When finding places there is nothing like carrying map. I still have and use an A-Z Street Map when going to some new places and an OS Map. A road atlas in the car to help plan my route and gain my sense of direction for where I am about to travel to (when not in lockdown of course).
I teach navigation as part of my Scouting and Bushcraft activities in my spare time and always start with the basics of maps and compasses. These navigation methods are very relevant and needed, however the reliance on technology to find a way is still the instinctive urge. Using devices to find your way on an online mapping tool will only be as good as your signal and battery life. Saying that, it is always useful to help with traffic information and other things that could delay your journey. As long as someone with a hand cart full of mobiles isnt ruining your journey.
Online maps do have a place and are useful. Backing that up with a paper based map is always a good option. You may find places you didnt know existed locally!
Recently I attended Map Camp for my first time, which this year was being run online due to the pandemic. Around 1600 participants had signed up to Map Camp due to it being online.
If you are not familiar with Map Camp, its an event (series of events) and workshops/talks around mapping techniques that are being used in businesses and organisations.
The two main frameworks that were discussed on the sessions I attended were Wardley Maps and Cynefin.
There were a number of sessions held across the day that consisted of 3 presentations 15 mins each and a Q&A after each presentation. The format worked very well and kept the interest of the audience well.
Some key comments stuck with me from the sessions I have watched so far:
“Wardley maps are useful because they are broadly right but precisely wrong” – @MrsDHW
“The key is not the map but the sense making” – Kim Ballestrin
“Maps give us permission to ask questions” – Kim Ballestrin
The sessions covered were:
It’s Not the Map, It’s the Mapping Activity Danielle H-Wilson, Kim Ballestrin, Mark Craddock
Cybersecurity: Why Context is your Crown Jewels Petra Vukmirovic, Dinis Cruz, Sarah Clarke
Can Maps Do Good? Matthew Adams, Andra Sonea, Liz Keogh
Why Didn’t I Learn This at Business School? Marcus Guest, Roser Pujadas, Alastair Moore
Can You Build a Business With Maps? Really? Does it Matter? Torill Iversen, Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Rachel Murphy & Daniel Leakey
Making Sense of Meaning Marc Burgauer, Julius Gamanyi, Sonja Blignaut
Maps and Government Dr Jacqui Taylor, Tracey Green, Simon Clifford
What do Wardley Maps Mean to a Government Minister, Business Executive and a Research Artist? Kaimar Karu, Steve Purkis, Sue Borchardt
Can Maps Help in This Topsy Turvy World? Holger Gelhausen, James Duncan, Jennifer Carlston
You Can’t ‘Organize’ Your Way to a Future. Principles Matter Farrah Campbell, Cat Swetel, Ben Mosier
Maps, Games, and Morality Liz Fong-Jones, Adrian Cockcroft, Andie Nordgren
Maps and Stories, Friend or Foe? Who Has the Power? Andrew Clay Shafer, Tiani Jones, Tal Klein
I am republishing this blog again as it may be relevent for others, so here is the blog:
This is a phrase that I use a lot and I first came across many, many years ago from someone I previously worked with. Since then it has stuck with me.
When writing documents how often do we assume that the reader will know what we mean or understand that just because we know something is there that they do. I have seen many occasions and have fallen into the trap occasionally myself where you write about something in the manner that you know all the facts but don’t convey them.
An example of this could be a proposal or technical document;
The device has two power supplies;
To a technical mind the instant reaction might be that this will probably be connected to two separate power supplies and backed up by generators and UPS.
To a financial mind the instant reaction might be that this is extra cost not justified.
To the engineer who checks the proposal – I wonder how thats going to be configured?
Where in fact the writer forgot to mention that the device was a chassis that needed two power supplies to provide enough power to all the devices placed into that chassis and is fed from one power supply.
OK – in reality you should always look for redundancy and in this example that could equal four power supplies, but this example shows how easy one statement can be misinterpreted because it was obvious to the writer and not the reader.
Just food for thought… Try running that phrase against the next document, email, CV, Application, etc that you write and put yourself in the readers place.
Furthering my Personal Journalling I have decided that for 2020 I would give the “Daily Stoic” book and journal a go.
I am doing this along side my normal daily journaling and keeping the two separate for now at least.
I’m up to Journal number 28 with 4380 pages written so far and still going strong.
A couple of colleagues have tried the Daily Stoic before and gave it good reviews. The books basically take passages and quotes from Philosophers/Stoics Epictetus 55 – 135 AD, Seneca 54 BC- 39 AD and Marcus Aurelius 121-180 AD and provide translations into modern life.
Stoicism is a philosophy of personal ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world – Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism
3 Days in and its going well so far starting my day with the relevant dated page in the book, followed by writing down some Morning and Evening reflections into the Journal. It will take all year to complete the book so will need some habit forming to do this morning and evening. I can see times where this is not practical and would need some planning as carrying the books around is not something I really want to be doing too much. This is where some of it may end up as a digital entry added in at some point in the future.
The advice so far has been on self reflection on choices, learning and saying no to get to those things that matter. You could say it is common sense, but for me its getting the right mindset using some guidance.
Is it worth doing this? At the moment I would say its a bit early in the journey and writing to decide, however so far I have found the advice to be good and the use of the reflection time to be worth while. Writing down notes on what I have read/learnt is a great method of remembering and does reinforce my thoughts. It will be interesting to see if I am still doing this in a few months time and look back against what I have written.
I would like to hear if you have used these books and your thoughts.
Furthering my Personal Journalling I have decided that for 2020 I would give the “Daily Stoic” book and journal a go.
Max Hemingway 