Planting Trees

The house is quiet this morning.

My wife and the kids are down at the lake somewhere, dodging rain showers the same way children have always dodged raindrops.

Running.

Laughing.

Looking at the sky.

Then deciding to jump in anyway.

The coffee is hot.

The mind is full.

And, somehow...

All is well.

Yesterday had other ideas.

Work kept knocking on my virtual door.

Doctor's appointments found their way into the schedule.

The boys needed attention.

School still expected to be finished.

Somehow...

It all fit.

Mostly.

I still didn't get enough done to justify streaming.

At least not by my own rules.

Those rules matter.

They're the promises I make to myself when life gets busy.

I don't always like them.

But I trust them.

The good news is that school continues to surprise me.

The next milestone in sociology is finally here.

The podcast.

I'm genuinely looking forward to recording it.

Not because it's required.

Because it's fun.

Somewhere along the way, this stopped feeling like homework and started feeling like creating something.

That's a pretty good place to be.

Anthropology has done something similar.

I've spent weeks looking deeply into a culture I knew very little about.

Learning to see the world through an anthropological lens has been one of the unexpected gifts of this degree.

It's amazing how often understanding begins when we stop asking whether something is right or wrong and start asking why it matters to the people living it.

Today is another catch-up day.

Which means another opportunity to prepare for our bi-weekly staff meeting.

Over the last several weeks, I've handed my managers a lot to think about.

Not because they need more work.

Because I think they deserve more ownership.

As we've continued moving into Agile, one of my biggest goals has been protecting analyst time.

Development doesn't happen by accident.

Innovation doesn't happen between interruptions.

If we're serious about getting better, we have to create space for people to actually think.

That probably won't make everyone happy.

I'm okay with that.

I've also noticed something over the past couple of weeks.

We have a gap in how we handle escalations.

I could write a new policy.

Declare that's how we'll do things.

Move on.

That isn't really my style.

Instead, we're going to grow our playbook together.

I'll ask the questions.

My managers will help build the answers.

I think solutions last longer when the people doing the work have a hand in creating them.

There are also a few projects quietly waiting just beyond the horizon.

The kind that make me excited to come to work.

Innovation has always been the part of leadership that pulls me forward.

Yes...

Leaders fight fires.

We put up shields.

We make hard decisions.

That's part of the job.

But I don't think it should be the whole job.

I want to build things.

I want to leave systems better than I found them.

I want my staff to challenge my ideas.

I want customers to change the way I think.

I want our analysts to have enough room to surprise all of us.

If we're not continually becoming something better than we were yesterday...

We're probably standing still.

By the time my managers walk into Friday's meeting, they'll find another stack of ideas waiting for them.

PowerPoints.

Plans.

Questions.

Conversations.

Hopefully...

Opportunities.

I honestly hope they enjoy digging through them as much as I enjoy putting them together.

If they don't...

I know they'll tell me.

That's one of the many reasons I enjoy working with them.

As for tonight...

Maybe I'll finally push the button.

Maybe the podcast wins.

Maybe both.

Either way...

Thursday is looking pretty good.

I've noticed that the older I get, the less interested I become in simply finishing today's work. More and more, I find myself asking what today's work makes possible tomorrow. A protected afternoon for an analyst. A manager who learns to solve a problem instead of waiting for permission. A student who starts seeing the world through someone else's eyes. Those things don't show up on a dashboard, but they quietly shape everything that comes after.

Maybe that's what leadership really is. Not getting through the day, but leaving behind something that makes tomorrow just a little better for the people walking beside you.

Much love.

Stay safe.

Wash your damn hands.

And I will see you, next time.