Originally published on Linkedin 18/12/2023
I've been thinking about work habits and how they continues to shape how I work.
Funnily, I can remember where I worked when I picked up what habit, even if the habit isn't specifically to that particular company. Maybe it is because when you start a new job, you make some considerations on how to land in the best manner possible.
Here's my list of habits that has stuck with me over the years.
1. An open door to support an open door policy
When I started at H&M, I blocked my calendar each Friday so I would always have time to talk to the designers in my function.
No point having an open door policy if you don't have an open door, right?
2. Bullet Journaling to keep priorities straight
I picked up Bullet Journaling at Sage as a simple, yet effective way of organising my schedule.
Here's my modified bullet journal template.
3. Meditation and two mobile phones
I actually picked up two habits at Salesforce, both related to giving your mind a break: Meditation and separate work– and personal phones.
4. If too busy, focus on what you want to do
At IBM I realised that if you focus time and effort on this you would be proud of putting on your CV, it is also almost always the right thing for the company.
I don't know if this works across other crafts, but it definitely work for design.
5. That quirky thing that is important for the company
At Capgemini I realised that all companies have something quirky that is important to them. It may not make sense from the outside, but it makes sense to everybody who works at the company. It is is core.
What is that quirky thing that's important at your company?
6. Data is great, but not everything
At the marketing agency Vivid Lime, we worked a lot with data and it was at the time when both social and A/B testing emerged. But I realised that data is just that: Data. It's a useful input, but it is not everything.
Trust your professional gut. It's almost always right regardless of what the data says.
7. You did great today, be even better tomorrow
At Fortune Cookie I realised there's no point in trying to improve what didn't go well because:
- A) that situation won't come again.
- B) that thinking leads only to incremental improvements. Just go for great to begin with. (Late on, I realised this is the problem with MVP thinking).
8. Flashy work and good craftsmanship
When I joined London Web Communication in 1999 it was the era of fast, flashy agencies, but there were also agencies focusing on good solid craft.
Neither are wrong or better than the other, but it is important to find out what do you want to do and what will you be happy to work with.
This lead me to be part of the Web Standards and Accessibility movement that emerged around the time of Macromedia Flash taking over the world.