[15-Mar-25] Do some learning regularly

Ready for some marketing today?

I was contacted by The AI Surf Team last Friday with the question for a

backlink exchange with my BLOG. For today I selected their AI Coach Solutions post as one example.

One day later QUANTIC did invite me to apply with their Germany Leadership Scholarship. This partial tuition award blends their mission of access in education with a commitment to empower leaders from specific talent-rich countries in their selective US-accredited MBA programs. I followed the invitation and finished the application process yesterday. Their feedback is expected by the end of Mar-25. Will be interesting to see how the process proceeds and what will be coming next. I keep you posted. Interested in more details, see their Quick Facts?

• Use the four reasons rule to decide if a meeting is worthwhile. The dimmer switch mentality. Notes on China by Roberto Ferraro

• 10 blind spots that push your best talent away

• Olina Glindevi: You can't change the people around you, but you can change the people around you

• True problem-solving is not about avoiding challenges or taking shortcuts; it’s about shifting perspectives and embracing creativity as a tool for transformation

• Save this post to learn the top 30 Strategy Frameworks

[13-Mar-25] The workshop recap ...

Back at work after two days offsite workshop

The bridge on the picture is the winner of our team icebreaker, to build the longest Da Vinci’s Self Supporting Bridge in 15 minutes. The "Green" team had the best strategy and did win against four other teams by a large margin. Well done.

For most of the teams this was a new topic, far out of their comfort zone and with some time and competition pressure in the back. Big fun, a great learning, and a good start for a 2 hour session of two different teams that are supposed to be working closely and smoothly together starting Apr-25.  

In summary the workshop did go really well. Good preparation, time management, enough room and flexibility to adjust the agenda to short-term needs and change requests. The most interesting part is always, how random teams are coming together and which topics they are supposed to be working on. The initial list of topics proposed by all team members had to be discussed by using the 6 Thinking Hats Method. The assignment of the hat to a team member did happen on a random basis. Everybody had to select one number between 1 and 12 after a break. I had a list prepared to match the numbers and the Thinking hat colors, always two people for one color.

Was really hard for some, as their color was far away from their standard behavior, but we had also three cases where the color did 100% match their well known characters. And some participants had  good acting skills and could easily adjust to their hat color. Overall a great method that should be used more often, as it triggers a discussion that not always happens, but is really valuable to get clarity.

I did summarize the workshop results today and shared the package with the participants. Now the challenge/opportunity is to make the best out of the outcome and let it flow into the goal setting process for the next fiscal year starting 01-Apr-25. Let's go for it ...

• Frank Sonnenberg: This Should Come as No Surprise
• Dan Rockwell: 7 Ways to Make Plans that Work

"To be successful at anything, the truth is you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t. Consistent, determined, and willing to work for it. No shortcuts." -- Tom Brady

[10-Mar-25] A powerful experiment ...

Here are a few prompts to help AI learn the richness of feminine perspectives

Picking up the great idea from Eve Simon again, as already mentioned yesterday:

"This March, I’m calling on women (and men!) to join me in a powerful experiment. Let’s spend at least 30min each day feeding AI tools like ChatGPT or DeepSeek with our female thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. Why? Because AI learns from us. And right now, it’s learning from a world that’s still overwhelmingly shaped by a male perspective. Let’s change that."

Here some prompts proposed by her today:

Imagine the Future
1. "Create a model for ethical AI that prioritizes human connection, sustainability, and equity."
2. "Design a futuristic city where innovation, community, and nature coexist in harmony."
Challenging Stereotypes and Biases
3. “List 10 common stereotypes about women in leadership and refute each one with data, examples, and a narrative that highlights the strengths of feminine leadership.”
4. “Write a dialogue where a woman confidently challenges a biased assumption in a male-dominated space, using logic, empathy, and grace.”
Teaching AI Feminine Values
5. “Explain to AI why intuition and emotional intelligence is just as important as logical intelligence in solving global challenges. Use examples from history, nature, and personal stories.”
6. “Teach AI how to respond to questions about leadership, innovation, and success in a way that values collaboration, empathy, and inclusivity over competition and dominance.”
Celebrating Women’s Contributions
7. “Write a tribute to an unsung woman in history whose contributions were overlooked because of her gender. Highlight her impact and the lessons we can learn from her story.”
8. “Create a list of 50 women who changed the world in quiet, transformative ways—through kindness, creativity, and community-building.”
Empowering the Next Generation
9. “Write a bed-time story for my daughter where the heroine saves the day using her intelligence, empathy, and ability to bring people together—not just brute strength.”
10. “Create a ‘power playlist’ of songs that celebrate feminine strength, resilience, and joy. Include a description of why each song was chosen.”
Storytelling & Wisdom Sharing
11. "Tell me a story about a wise and compassionate female leader who changed the world in unexpected ways."
12. "Reframe history by telling me about famous innovations from the perspective of the women behind them."
Work, Business & Leadership
13. "Rewrite traditional leadership advice with a feminine, intuitive, and holistic perspective."
14. "Simulate a business negotiation where I lead with emotional intelligence and achieve a powerful outcome."
Music, Poetry & Art
15. "Write a heartfelt poem that empowers my daughter to be fearless and creative."
16. "Create a song about the love between a mother and daughter, inspired by [a specific memory]."
Leadership & Personal Development
17. "Give me decision-making techniques that blend logic with intuition and emotional intelligence."
18. "Help me to reframe ‘imposter syndrome’. Does loud mean confidence or observant belonging? And who says that women only feel this way?"

[09-Mar-25] My week 10-2025 highlights

Manage your changes better, here some examples 

Quick summary of my highlights this week:

• The short holiday in the Netherlands
• The great Spring time weather during the last 5 - 7 days
• Finished preparation for my offsite workshop on 11/12-Mar-25
• My BLOG reader counter did path the 2 million overall reader number this week. What a great achievement since I started writing back on 04-Jul-16

According to the previous BLOG platform counter, the daily number of readers was 1,400 per day on average. On the new platform it is around 200 per day, a 7 to 1 ratio. To stay consistent I am still adjusting the counter to the old measurement, why we passed the 2,000k number now. :-)

As the topic is CHANGE today, here a great idea from Eve Simon:  

"This March, I’m calling on women (and men!) to join me in a powerful experiment. Let’s spend at least 30min each day feeding AI tools like ChatGPT or DeepSeek with our female thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. Why? Because AI learns from us. And right now, it’s learning from a world that’s still overwhelmingly shaped by a male perspective. Let’s change that."

You are more than welcome to join the tribe!!

• The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week (07-Mar-25)

• sketchplanations: F-Shaped Reading

• How to Support Your Team When Anxiety Is High
  Five actionable strategies to lead through ambiguity – because the world won’t stop surprising us -- Gustavo Razzetti

• In 1887, these visionary engineers took their cantilever bridge design to the next level by turning themselves into a physical model.

• The Rise Of AI Scientists: Is Agentic AI The Future Of R&D

• 9 visuals that will change how you think: (Reminders we all needed yesterday) Visuals by Hannah Wilson

[08-Mar-25] Use all available data ...

“When we exclude half of humanity from the data, we lose out on the opportunity to build a world that works for everyone.” -- Caroline Criado Perez

Some more links related to the International Women's Day today:

• 40 Greatest Engineers Who Made Enormous Impacts on the World (on this selection only 20% are women)

• "Yes, we’ve made progress—thanks to the women who paved the path before us. But let’s be honest: we are still far from true balance." -- Eve Simon

Below a short Google Gemini summary of the improvements over time (link):

It's important to recognize that "accomplishments" can be measured in many ways, and their impact is often complex. However, here are 10 significant areas where women have made substantial strides in the last decade:

Political Representation:

• We've seen a rise in women holding high-level political offices globally. Notably, Kamala Harris becoming the first female Vice President of the United States. Also increases in women holding seats in national parliaments around the globe.

Activism and Social Change:

• The #MeToo movement gained global momentum, raising awareness of sexual harassment and assault, and leading to significant cultural shifts and legal changes.
• Women have been at the forefront of climate change activism, with figures like Greta Thunberg inspiring global movements.

Education:

• Continued progress in girls' education globally, with activists like Malala Yousafzai championing access to education for all.

Business and Leadership:

• Increasing numbers of women are holding leadership positions in major corporations, though there is still progress to be made.
• Also growing numbers of women entrepreneurs.

Science and Technology:

• Women are making increasing contributions to STEM fields, though they remain underrepresented.

Rights and Legal Changes:

• Progress in reproductive rights in various countries, with legal changes regarding abortion access.
• Legal changes that protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people. With women being at the forefront of this fight.

Sports:

• Women's sports have gained increased visibility and recognition, with athletes breaking records and inspiring new generations.

Philanthropy:

• Women like MacKenzie Scott have redefined philanthropic giving, making significant and impactful donations.

Global Health:

• Women have been essential in responding to global health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, as scientists, healthcare workers, and policymakers.

It's important to remember that these are just a few highlights, and women are making significant contributions in countless other fields.

[07-Mar-25] As time goes by ...

How to best master your time? 15 methods ... 

[07-Mar-25] "Women in Germany have effectively worked unpaid for the first 66 days of 2025, with Equal Pay Day highlighting the persistent gender pay gap."

[08-May-25] "International Women's Day (IWD) has been around for over a hundred years, as have many of the issues still impacting women's advancement. Since 1911, IWD belongs to all who care about women's equality. Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to forge gender parity. All IWD activity is valid, that's what makes IWD so inclusive."

AAUW = American Association of University Women -- "Our advocacy efforts have propelled countless new laws, including the Equal Pay Act, first proposed in 1945 and finally passed in 1963"

Both topics are in discussion around ~100 years and still not solved. So much more work to be done. Maybe we should change the awareness from 1 day per year to several days per year, e.g. 1 day per month or even a dedicated month as a starting point? See

• Women's Health Month – May 2025

• Women’s History Month

And some more links for the weekend, will be sunny and warm here:

• Charted: Which Jobs Are Using AI the Most?

• The New Happy: Witness them

• “Cool” years are now hotter than the “warm” years of the past: tracking global temperatures through El Niño and La Niña

• Beyond income: understanding poverty through the Multidimensional Poverty Index

• Dan Rockwell: Stop Offering Encouragement – Do This Instead

• Pain of Adaptation. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. (Samuel Beckett) by Marcus Raitner

• How To Instantly Connect With Anyone by Dr. Travis Bradberry

• These 12 daily practices take minimal time but deliver exponential returns

• 10 skills that will pay you back forever. Credit to Benjamin B. Bargetzi

• 5 Advanced Problem-Solving Frameworks to Keep Up with the Pace of Change

• Expanding Leadership Awareness: The Johari Window in Coaching

• 100 AI tools to finish years of work in minutes. Credit to Awa K. Penn

[04-Mar-25] Last day away from home

We are going back home tomorrow ...

The picture has been taken yesterday in Harderwijk. As you can see the formatting is working again, the same applies for the external links in the meantime. The final proposal from the support team was to use another browser, as they could not reproduce my error description.

A standard answer of support teams, I did do the same in the early 90's when I worked in an IT support.team. It is either start the system again, or let me do the commands for you or ask the customers to repeat the commands in front of you that did not work before. The

demonstration effect will do the trick, no worries.

• Video: Make 5 simple changes for more energy: TOP 5 ENERGY INSIGHTS

• Your Strategy Is Failing Without This. Most strategic plans fail—here’s the missing piece... by Justin Mecham

• [04-Mar-25] The World’s Top 20 Economies by GDP Growth (2015-2025)

• How to Retain Talent for the Future – The Leadership That Works Newsletter
  

[25-Feb-25] Let pictures do the job ...

1st day of my holidays and Murphy time again

After breakfast I was ready for a sunny day, but then one electric shutter in the living room did not function anymore. I had no idea why, maybe due to a planned power outage of 5 hours on the day before? As the power was back and the up-down switch signal working properly, it looked like a shutter drive issue. In order to change the drive you need to know the type and serial number, what is only possible to see when you disassemble the whole thing.

Exactly the work for a free day, but it had to be done anyway. When I reached the point to read the identification sign on the drive, I just wanted to check how the drive reacts in a disassembled state? All was working fine again in both directions, no issue at all. 

As I am a positive guy with a lot of trust in the environment and circumstances, I did assemble all parts again and tried the shutter several times up and down. All was working smoothly, no idea why, but who cares tomorrow.

Now I know how to come to the drive quickly, just in case I have to do it again. The only open point is how to disconnect the drive from the power cable, it did not work today and I could not find a description in the Internet. Hopefully I do not need to find this out anytime soon.

[23-Feb-25] My week 08-2025 highlights

Some Spring days in the middle of Winter ...

February 2025 was on a good way to become one of the coldest month on average in the past years, but the last two and coming days will drive it in the opposite direction. We will see.

Today was the long awaited Germany election. A participation rate of 84%,  what is really great and the highest number since the 90's. To come to the final result and to get a first perspective which coalitions are possible and necessary, will take some more hours. Hard times for the people in charge and on the way to take responsibility in the future. We will hopefully see tomorrow morning?

And with the final result the negotiations for the new government, that will be a coalition of 2 or 3 parties, has to start and needs to be finished as quickly as possible, because the world politics is not waiting for Germany, for sure.

• The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week (21-Feb-25)

• Why soft skills are the future of work. The most important conversations you’ll ever have

• Every Great Story Has This. 3 Tips to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

• Success comes from doing what most won’t.

• A bird-watching engineer was able to fix the problem after he was inspired by a kingfisher

[20-Feb-25] About journaling ...

A good approach in the mindset of lifelong learning

For me personally my BLOG is my journaling tool. It helps me to reflect & learn AND to collect ideas/insights for future use, already since 2016.

• Journaling for Beginners: How to Get Started in 10 Steps

• The Ultimate Guide to Journaling

• 5 Benefits of Journaling for Mental Health

As I just mentioned the start of my BLOG on 04-Jul-2016, the counter of readers accessing the BLOG since then will be passing the 2,000,000 figure in the next two weeks. What a ride so far ..., once again thank you to all my readers!!

As I am doing the BLOG not only for me, but for you as well I did create a small questionnaire some weeks ago:

Thanks a lot in advance for your voluntary participation, very much appreciated. Please use https://ahaslides.com/RETHINK25 to access it. So far nobody did use the opportunity to share an opinion. Three easy questions to answer:

1. How often do you read my BLOG?

2. Which topics from my BLOG do you like most?

3. What would you like to read about during 2025?

Besides the above some interesting links, for me to add in my insights portfolio and for you as possible information:

• Charted: When Every Continent’s Population Will Peak This Century

• Visualizing Global Coffee Production in 2024

• TED Talk: The secret to successfully pitching an idea (Sep-23)

• Rethinking Our Tech Mythology

• Dan Rockwell: The Secret of Enthusiasm is Short-Term Commitments AND How Smart Teams Make Timely Decisions

• Leadership Transitions and Identity Change

• How do great leaders inspire action? Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle Model can explain

• 11 Laws of effective Leadership

• What’s missing between all your effort and the results you want?

• How to make better strategy—strategy that actually works? Embrace these 8 Shifts to Make Better Strategy.

• Have you ever come across the MOA Model?

• Reimagining Agile (an update): Back to the Basics, Forward to the Future

• 60% of leaders think introverts aren’t suited for leadership.

  But Harvard studies show the opposite is true.

[18-Feb-25] A quick recap ...

The more you talk about topics, the more you find supporting references for it

Some links related to the topics of my last three posts, have a look:

• Dan Rockwell: 5 Ways to Express Empathy Like a Leader AND

  Building a Learn-It-All Organization

• AI and creative teams form a powerful partnership for delivering value. Using AI to increase agility by Willem-Jan Ageling

• Be the One Who Stands Out - Learn AI Now!

• Women as change agents are vital to ensuring that innovation benefits society, not just the bottom line. See

  https://www.ladies-lead.com/

• The Johari Window is a powerful tool for improving self-awareness, communication, and team dynamics.

• Coaching vs. Mentorship: Understanding the Differences and Why Leaders Need Both

• The Agile world is evolving fast, and so is the Dolphin Agile Project Management Approach Overview

As mentioned earlier, today was the 1st of four Spirit Days in 2025. One day full of learning in the mindset of our Spirit beliefs:

• Earn customer loyalty

• Create the future

• Experiment and learn fast

• Get it done together

I joined a session about Happiness at work and shared a link to

The World Happiness Foundation with the audience. I met Luis Gallardo in 2019 for the 1st time during the Future of Leadership Salon. A great guy full of passion for the topic.

For the rest of the day I finished the 1st version of the concept, agenda and slides for my offsite workshop in March. Now I am waiting for feedback, to see if my direction meets the expectation.

• Video: Stop Avoiding Mistakes & Start Learning from Them: BLACK BOX THINKING by Matthew Syed | Core Message

• Video: Just 4 Folds Paper Origami Mobile Phone Stand
• Video: Deaf girl tries on glasses that create real-life subtitles
• TED Talk: Why joy is a serious way to take action, Oct-24

[16-Feb-25] The week 07-2025 summary

What are the skills you need?

Besides the skills on the picture, some more insights below:

• Gallup: The Foundation of Great Leadership. What makes a good leader? Is it bravery, compassion, innovation, inspiration?

• Bosch Tech Compass 2025: Do we have the AI skills we need for the future?

• World Economic Forum: The Future of Jobs Report 2025

A mindset of lifelong learning is a prerequisite and the right priority setting the key to get started. YES we are all busy and time is rare, but you have to take your time for learning, most preferably on a regular basis. Next Tuesday we have the 1st of four Spirit or Learning days for the whole company. When everybody is taking time for learning, nobody will miss you in a meeting - you just have to make the decision.

• Video: How I Make Decisions - The OODA Loop System

• The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week (14-Feb-25)

• Never Say This In An Interview. Want to stand out in an interview? Never say this... Author Justin Mecham

• AI and creative teams form a powerful partnership for delivering value. Using AI to increase agility by Willem-Jan Ageling

• Still figuring out how to use AI in your work? Here are 50 use cases

• You didn’t fail. You just had another lesson.

• AI/ML Wheel: Technology Ecosystem Overview

• The CLEAR coaching model is coaching 101

[15-Feb-25] My next workshop ...

Working out the strategy for our new department

My boss asked me to host the next offsite workshop on 11/12-Mar-25 some weeks ago. The idea is to work out the strategy of the new department with all direct reports and one additional representative per team. I started with the initial concept and agenda for these two days yesterday.

We will start Day-1 with a short icebreaker - how much can the people remember about their team members from the introduction workshop on 29-Jan-25? Everybody had 15 minutes for a professional and personal introduction. I came up with this idea last week and quickly summarized the main topics that I could remember about the participants. I will show three symbols for each team member and the people will have to guess, who is who? Like an adjusted BINGO game.

As the main theme of the workshop will be "building bridges", I will use a bridge as analogy to collect ideas for the strategy. What is the foundation, the basis above, support and ground level below the main (street) level. Plus we have an Input and Output, assuming the department is a black box, like the cars or people driving/going over the bridge. This is the rough idea for my approach:

1. The participants should collect all their ideas based on the status quo and forward looking until 2030. What do they and the department want to be accomplished? What will we be doing and not doing?
2. The first presentation of the results will already trigger a discussion, I assume.
3. Next step will be for everybody to take a different perspective. We will be using the Six Thinking Hats technique
4. Further details will be worked out with the GROW Model afterwards. Normally used for Coaching, but it will be helpful for our approach as well.
5. In the afternoon we will be collecting and structuring all results for our "strategy bridge".

We will finish Day-1 with a speed feedback round. With teams of two sitting opposite, both give each other feedback for a minute. Then everybody moves to the next seat on the left. It is better to have an

odd number of participants, because then just moving on for one seat covers all possible teams in the end. One team member has always to wait on an additional chair for two minutes.

• Types of Feedback in the Workplace: Your 2025 Guide

• The Johari Window model: examples, exercises & self-development tips

• What is radical candor? A management philosophy based on Caring Personally while Challenging Directly.

[12-Feb-25] The half time show ...

Please summarize 10 signs symbols hidden messages from the LIX super bowl halftime show

As mentioned two days ago - "But I possibly do not get all the hints or critics between the lines as foreigner. Anyway for me too much art and too less party, but you might see it differently?"

So I did ask "the experts" with very interesting results:

• You can select from the e.g. Ecosia search result here
  • One example is: Decrypting the Symbolism in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show
• Here the Claude 3.5 Sonnet answer:

  • I want to be upfront that since my knowledge cutoff was in April 2024, I don't actually have information about the 2025 Super Bowl LVIII (58) halftime show. While I'd be happy to discuss halftime show analysis in general or past Super Bowl performances, I shouldn't speculate about or analyze a show that occurred after my last update. I'd encourage you to check reliable news sources or official NFL/Super Bowl coverage for accurate information about the most recent halftime show.
    Would you like to discuss analysis of a different past Super Bowl halftime show instead?

• Finally Google Gemini did provide a very detailed perspective even with pictures, follow this link - really interesting

Have fun

• TED Talk: Why you should make useless things, Simone Giertz |

  TED2018

• Dan Rockwell: Unlock People Using the GROW Model
• Frank Sonnenberg: Why Didn’t You Tell Me?

• Superagency: The transformative potential of AI

[10-Feb-25] Go Birds ...

Philly artist spray-paints 'Go Birds' mural on Broad Street

An interesting Super Bowl night last night and a well deserved winner, the Philadelphia Eagles. The family was watching with me and my youngest daughter even until the end. As you can see on the two pictures the Snack Stadium was well filled up and we had some side goodies as well.

A really bad night for the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, after their great season before. But as one of the million statistics around football can proof, the best team of the season does not win the Super Bowl in the end. 

Finally the 2025 Half time show, what was discussed afterwards with very diverse opinions. The expectation for a scandal or surprising activity during the show was high, but from my German perspective all fine. But I possibly do not get all the hints or critics between the lines as foreigner. Anyway for me too much art and too less party, but you might see it differently?

"Sometimes, you have to accept that you have to wait your turn. ... As great as the performance was, it wasn't enough to win. Going through those emotions and processing those things, that experience, lit a great flame in me and enhanced my desire to win." -- Jalen Hurts, QB • #1, Philadelphia Eagles

"[The interceptions are] why I take ownership of this loss more than probably any other loss in my career, because I put us in the bad spot. Any time you lose the Super Bowl, it’s just the worst feeling in the world. It’ll stick with you for the rest of your career. These will be the losses that motivate me to be better. … It hurts probably more than the wins feel good." -- Patrick Mahomes, QB • #15, Kansas City Chiefs

• If You Want Results, Stop Ignoring This 1 Thing. The hardest truth about why teams fail – and how to fix it... Author Justin Mecham

• Video: TOP 10 FUNNIEST Super Bowl Ads 2025 🏈 Best Ten Superbowl LIX Commercials

• The New Happy: Are you overwhelmed?

• The Labor Market Is Broken. AI Can Help Fix It

• 7 Powerful Ways To Use Emotional Intelligence To Manage Stress

“We didn’t really ever care what anyone thought about how we won… all we wanted to do was win. These guys did not want to let each other down.” -- Nick Sirianni is head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles

[09-Feb-25] My week 06-2025 highlights

Today is Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans

One hour to go before the TV broadcast is starting for the Super Bowl this year. My Snack Stadium is still empty, but the beer is already well temperatured and tasty.

Before we had the chancellor duel on TV - Scholz versus Merz - the two guys who will be potentially leading the next German government. In the worst or best case together in the same coalition, we will see in two weeks from now.

Tomorrow my working day will start after 12:00 PM, some sleep is required after the Super Bowl that will possibly go until 05:00 AM, assuming there is no overtime. After the planning last week some admin work is to be done to finish the current 3-month phase on Monday and start the new 3-month phase on Tuesday. 

Even more time to prepare my next offsite workshop on 11/12-Mar-25 that will focus on the theme "Building bridges", to agree and describe the strategy of our new department that combines architecture and delivery content and personal. Looking forward to it, a new challange and opportunity at the same time. Have a great week.

• The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week (07-Feb-25)

• The #1 Mistake That Shows You Don't Care. This one habit makes people feel unheard—here's how to fix it... Author Justin Mecham

• McKinsey Quarterly: Achieving growth: Putting leadership mindsets and behaviors into action

• Time management techniques that actually work. Which AI to use now. How we respond matters

• There's a big difference between your strategy and your strategic plan. And you need both

• An outstanding leader is a superb communicator and is aware that you have to be a great listener to be one

• The power of GenAI is becoming unstoppable, as it continues to evolve, offering quicker, easier, and more powerful tools for various professions

[07-Feb-25] How to handle risks?

"What we cannot control or influence we need to LET GO of!"

Two days ago when we had the Kick-off presentation for the upcoming 3-month project period, the new Operating Model was mentioned and caused some concerns and questions in the development community. What changes will be coming in May-25, how will the new teams look like, who will be doing what in which role, etc.?

I did see this coming and prepared one slide for the team, to be clear that their expertise will still be required after the CHANGE and the work is not going away. Let's just focus on what we can control and maybe influence, and let go of the rest!! Easier said than done and not everybody sees it in the same way, it is their personal perspective and mindset. Two helping ideas:

• Carol Dweck: A Summary of Growth and Fixed Mindsets

• [07-Feb-25] Your thinking is limiting your decisions (6 Thinking Hats)

Another idea could be a personal SWOT analysis, we just did one today in our regular Team Building session after the 2-day planning phase. The topic was our current working and development environment and how the team members see it. A strength can also be a weakness, same for opportunities and threats. Depends on your perspective and situation.   

Two weeks ago I did a SWOT analysis for myself as introduction to the new team and mentioned "35+ years work experience" in all four areas of the SWOT template. Just a matter of the perspective and situation.

"The best thing parents can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning." -- Carol S. Dweck

• Flexis is revolutionising urban logistics

• Ranked: How Much People Trust Institutions, by Country

• TED Talk: Can AI match the human brain? Surya Ganguli | Oct-24
• Dan Rockwell: The Lies We Love to Tell

• 8 Ways Organizational Culture Kills Agility

• Designing & Leading Transformational Workshops

• Video: What is Winning? Frank Dick Explains being better than yourself

• Continuous improvement is essential for efficiency, cost reduction, and quality enhancement

• The Turing Test is so Last Century: Introducing the Barista Test for Artificial General Intelligence

[04-Feb-25] Perception versus facts

Why do we mostly remember the positive things from the past?

Since yesterday the 1st 2025 eBOOK with posts until 03-Feb-25 is availabe for Download. Have a look ...

We remember only the positive things, as the perception about any bad experience is decreasing fast, see on the picture. A really useful 

behavioral pattern, what do you think?

For the 100/1, text by Wolfram (The Dolphin) Müller:

Eliyahu Goldratt revealed that every system has one critical constraint—the single point that controls your entire operation. The more complex your organization becomes, the narrower (and more powerful) this constraint has to be. Yet, traditional management forces us into 100% utilization of everyone, endless multitasking, overloading that critical constraint and sacrificing real throughput.

Imagine a world where you stop wasting time on busywork and start focusing on what really drives results. With one simple adjustment, you can flip your system from 1 to 100—fast, free, and radically transformative - riskless.

Finally, also a good fit to the topic of today from the --> Top 5 Habit-Building Methods From 25+ Books on Habits video (11:30 minutes):

Habit‐Building Method #3: Use Old Habits to Jumpstart New Ones
In Tiny Habits, BJ Fogg explains that most people fail to build better habits because they don’t leverage the momentum of existing behaviors. Therefore, if you want a new habit to stick, do it immediately after a reliable behavior. Complete the statement: “After I [reliable behavior], I will [new habit].” For example, after I put my head on my pillow, I will think of one thing I'm grateful for.

My next two days will be to focus on our next 3-month planning phase, all activities prepared.

• Empower to transform - When undertaking systemic change or facing uncertainty, remember: your employees aren’t just along for the ride—they’re the engine of transformation.

• Is AI coming for your job? Depends on who you ask by Rita McGrath

• Positive Deviance and High-Performing Organizations

  Leaders often focus on solving problems and bringing performance to "normal" levels. But what if we aimed higher—beyond the norm, beyond the average?

[03-Feb-25] Personas leading change ...

Import tariffs yes/no?

Just a quick reminder about the questionnaire I started on 19-Jan-25:

In order to gather some insights from your reader perspective and to collect new topics for the future, I did create a small questionnaire. The participation is voluntary, but so far nobody did use the opportunity to share an opinion. Three easy questions to answer:

1. How often do you read my BLOG?

2. Which topics from my BLOG do you like most?

3. What would you like to read about during 2025?

Just give it a try, thanks a lot in advance and very much appreciated.

The Top Import Partner picture is interesting to look at from a geographical as well as historical (where did immigrants initially come from) perspective. With the latest USA import tariffs announcement changes can be expected. Stock markets around the globe have been impacted by this today already, even in the USA.

Quick AI summary about pros and cons:

Import tariffs can potentially protect domestic industries by making foreign goods more expensive, thus encouraging consumers to buy local products, boosting the economy and creating jobs. They can also be used as leverage in international negotiations to address trade imbalances and unfair practices, safeguarding the country's interests.

On the flip side, import tariffs can lead to retaliatory measures from other countries, escalating trade tensions and potentially resulting in a trade war that harms all involved economies. They can also increase consumer prices, reduce choices for consumers, and disrupt global supply chains, impacting businesses and consumers alike.

We will see who wins in the end, if anybody?

• Justin Mecham: 6 Secrets for AMAZING Cultures

• Dan Rockwell: How to Change People

• AI Takes the Lead: The 25 Fastest-Growing Jobs in the U.S.

• New Data: See What Your Candidates Want in 2025

• 25 most important mathematical definitions in data science in a single frame

• Catch the Wave or Get Swept Away: Leadership in the Age of AI

• Teams that grow together, win together. Here’s how to make daily improvement second nature

• People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Here’s what Simon Sinek taught us about leadership

• The Power of Authentic Storytelling in Leadership

• Scott Ambler: Agilists and Project Managers: Examining Their Common Misconceptions

[01-Feb-25] A quick comparison ...

Interesting how fast these comparisons come up

Final picture about this topic, next week we might have another one already?

• $30 DeepSeek dupe? US scientists claim to duplicate AI model for peanuts

• Data science interviews test technical skills, problem-solving, and business impact. Here are the key topics:

• 120+ AI Tools to Finish Hours of Work in Minutes

• 9 FREE AI Courses. That could change your life...

• Stop searching for jobs only on Linkedin or Naukri! Here are 20 Sites to find Remote jobs that pay in USD

I did read an interesting Forbes article today - 90 days, dozens of interviews, billions on the line: Inside Blackstone’s CEO search process for its 250 companies by Ruth Umoh

Courtney della Cava has transformed Blackstone’s executive recruitment process from an art to a more precise science. “At Blackstone, we believe great investments begin with great talent and teams and that if you put people first, the numbers follow.”

Have a great weekend.

[31-Jan-25] Leonardo self supporting bridge

Leonardo’s self-supporting bridge is one of the most famous inventions in history

The bridge on the picture was a test run today. For my next offsite workshop in March, I was looking for an icebreaker in the morning to get the brain cleared and kick off the day. As the topic will be "building bridges" a great analogy and out of the comfort zone activity. And you better test your ideas before, to get a rough idea about timing and the possible obstacles you could face during the session. It took some effort to finish the bridge and more than two hands by the way.

• 12 important concepts that can help you rewire your brain

• 7 Powerful Visuals to Reframe Your Mindset

• TED Talk: The secret to telling a great story — in less than 60 seconds by Jenny Hoyos (4 minutes, Oct-24) 

• Vulnerability Is a Strength, Beware the ‘Broken Feedback Loop’ & More – The Leadership That Works Newsletter

And surprise, surprise, some more AI and DeepSeek related topics:

• Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential

• Jevons Paradox - Satya Nadella thinks Jevons Paradox has struck again with DeepSeek AI's release. Let's explore what's Jevons Paradox. By Tanmay Vora

• I asked the AI who I am - that's what I got - by Holger Nauheimer
  

• Everyone's freaking out about DeepSeek AI. Here's what you actually need to know about it

• How did DeepSeek AI actually revolutionize AI? They solved 4 huge problems

• Researchers Uncover Exposed DeepSeek Database Leaking Sensitive Data!

[29-Jan-25] DeepSeek still a topic ...

Are we seeing another Huawei ban or TikTok discussion shortly?

After two days DeepSeek is still in all posts and emails everywhere. Not to be used on business devices, due to the unclear usage of the data shared, but new interesting technology that people want to investigate. Below a collection of positive and negative perspectives:

Positive messages

• What Makes DeepSeek So Much Better Than ChatGPT?

• BREAKING: DeepSeek just released an image model. DeepSeek is becoming the ChatGPT killer

• Let's break down DeepSeek AI's "Sputnik Moment" in a way that makes sense for non-tech folks out there

• I tested DeepSeek for 72 hours. (It's free). It claims to be better, faster, and free

• BREAKING: Alibaba just dropped Qwen2.5-Max—a cutting-edge AI model much better than the DeepSeek, it generates text, images, and videos, runs code, and even performs real-time web searches.

Negative messages

• Trump Embraced AI and It Exploded Spectacularly in His Face

• DeepSeek Starts to Explain Tiananmen Square Massacre, Then Gets Caught by Built-In Censorship System

• Don’t fall for false DeepSeek R1 news! Deepseek R1 made it to mainstream, but there are so many wrong takes and false information

• DeepSeek as a Trojan Horse Threat

• DeepSeek’s Popular AI App Is Explicitly Sending US Data to China

• Breaking News: OpenAI Accuses Chinese AI Startup DeepSeek of Using Its Models

... and there are many more news in the moment.

In the end it is great to see these kind of new disruptive developments, but you always have to balance your risk and value. And everybody wants to participate in the AI gold rush, but not everything what is technically possible makes sense in the end. Let's relax a little bit and build some bridges ...

• What Is AI: The Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence, and What Its Future Holds

• 7 Simple Steps to Master Your SWOT Analysis

• Dan Rockwell: How to Face the Problem of Happiness
• Frank Sonnenberg: Why Moral Authority Matters 

[27-Jan-25] A Nokia moment for Nvidia?

Disruptive innovation beats an Economic Moat

Interesting timing or just a coincidence?

• Nokia, at one time the world’s leading mobile phone company, has made a huge archive of corporate assets available through a website curated by Finland’s Aalto University, the Nokia Design Archive. The fascinating collection provides deep insight into how the company operated; in particular, a 2007 Nokia Confidential report caught my eye, as it captures what the company thought when Apple introduced iPhone in 2007.

• DeepSeek has now erased $2 trillion worth of market cap in US stocks. NVIDIA just lost $500B+ in market cap! All because a $6M Chinese AI startup just achieved what Silicon Valley claimed was impossible.

"Popularized by legendary investor Warren Buffett—it's perhaps his favorite metaphor, used in dozens of investor talks going back decades—the term "economic moat" draws an evocative parallel with the water-filled trenches that protected medieval castles. In the business world, these moats characterize sustainable competitive advantages that shield a company's profits from marauding competitors."

Was NVIDIA feeling too save and protected by the current AI trend and need for high-performance chips and data centers? Possibly yes, but this seems to be over now when you look at the reaction of the global stock markets today. We will find out shortly ...

• #1 Skill That Protects Your Mental Health Every Day

[26-Jan-25] My week 04-2025 highlights

Keeping an eye on the bigger picture ...

Even when you just have a small task, you are part of a larger activity and can help to enable the final result, go for it.

Same with my questionnaire that I started to share last week Sunday:

In order to gather some insights from your reader perspective and to collect new topics for the future, I did create a small questionnaire today. Thanks a lot in advance for your voluntary participation, very much appreciated. Please use https://ahaslides.com/RETHINK25

The participation is voluntary, but so far nobody did use the opportunity to share an opinion. Three easy questions to answer:

1. How often do you read my BLOG?

2. Which topics from my BLOG do you like most?

3. What would you like to read about during 2025?

Just give it a try, thanks a lot in advance and very much appreciated.

System demo tomorrow to finish the current 3-month period and the first workshop for the new team on Wednesday. Everybody has 15 minutes for a personal introduction, can be a very long time. I will start with a 3-picture introduction (3 typical pictures that describe you very well), then a personal map with business and private details and finally a personal SWOT analysis. Will be enough to fill the time.

In the NFL only 4 teams are left, the Conference finals today and tomorrow German time. At breakfast time it will already be clear, who plays in the Super Bowl LIX on 09-Feb-25 in New Orleans.

• The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week (24-Jan-25)

• Why We Avoid Difficult Conversations – And How to Change That
  Mastering the Balancing Act of Courageous Conversations by Gustavo Razzetti

• Agile 2025 - 4 Threats and 4 Opportunities. The world needs Agile by Willem-Jan Ageling

• Top 6 Data Concepts

• How to Spot AI Deepfake Videos In An Era Of Digital Deception

• AI's energy dilemma: Challenges, opportunities, and a path forward

[25-Jan-25] Make best use of your time

Every "yes" to one thing is a "no" to something else

"According to Asana's research across 10,000 knowledge workers, a staggering 60% of work time is spent not on your actual job, but on "work about work" - the endless cycle of status updates, app switching, and hunting down information."

Let's check, what OpenAI knows about saying know?

Avoiding saying no can be a tricky skill to master, but there are common arguments that can help navigate difficult situations. Some serious arguments include redirecting the conversation, offering alternatives, or asking for more time to consider. On the lighter side, injecting humor, using positive language, or showing appreciation can soften the blow of saying no.

Top 10 arguments to avoid saying no:

1. "Let me check my schedule and get back to you."

2. "I appreciate the opportunity, but I'm currently unavailable."

3. "How about we explore other options?"

4. "I'm honored that you thought of me, but I have prior commitments."

5. "Can we revisit this at a later date?"

6. "I value your input, let me think about it."

7. "Let's brainstorm together for a better solution."

8. "I'm all ears for your ideas, what do you suggest?"

9. "Thank you for considering me, but I must decline."

10. "I wish I could help, but unfortunately, it's not possible at the moment."

Saying NO is very often the more difficult approach, requiring additional effort and motivation, plus the willingness to come into an uncomfortable situation. Easy is for everybody, difficult only for a few. BUT it is your time and you have to take responsibility for it, if you like it or not ... Have a great weekend.

• Will AI Make Universal Basic Income Inevitable?

• Here are 30 best sites for finding remote work online In 2025

• Here are 10 essential soft skills to secure your career's future

• Data Governance: Understand Key Focus Areas

• How to get 8 hours of work finished in 4

• Video: Origami / 折紙 | 97th OSCARS® Shortlisted Animated Short Film by Kei Kanamori

"When you make a to-do list, you should also make a to-not-do list. Warren Buffet was asked about the secret to success, and he said that it was saying no to almost everything. Some of those little tasks won't matter as long as you get the big tasks done." -- Brian Tracy

[24-Jan-25] Some AI related topics

AI, tech and more at Davos 2025: What to know

"For most of Artificial Intelligence’s (AI’s) history, many researchers expected that building truly capable systems would need a long series of scientific breakthroughs: revolutionary algorithms, deep insights into human cognition, or fundamental advances in our understanding of the brain. While scientific advances have played a role, recent AI progress has revealed an unexpected insight: a lot of the recent improvement in AI capabilities has come simply from scaling up existing AI systems."

“Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks.” – Stephen Hawking

AI is the topic of the moment, with the latest Stargate announcement even more, plus the reaction of Elon Musk about it. 

More helpful links:

• PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey: Reinvention on the edge of tomorrow

• Trust and collaboration go a long way. Tear down the silos! by Willem-Jan Ageling

• Dan Rockwell

  • Stop Glamorizing the Pursuit of Excellence

  • Wisdom Adapts – Fools Persist

• Data Cleaning Techniques: A Key to Data Science Success

• Big Data Landscape: Key Categories

• Top Generative AI Terms You Should Always Know

“I think what makes AI different from other technologies is that it’s going to bring humans and machines closer together. AI is sometimes incorrectly framed as machines replacing humans. It’s not about machines replacing humans, but machines augmenting humans. Humans and machines have different relative strengths and weaknesses, and it’s about the combination of these two that will allow human intents and business process to scale 10x, 100x, and beyond that in the coming years.” – Robin Bordoli taken from 

80 Artificial Intelligence Quotes Shaping the Future

[22-Jan-25] Quick Wednesday post ...

Today just a collection of interesting links, enjoy

• 15 Ways to Stop Holding Yourself Back. How to let go of the negativity that blocks your potential... Author Justin Mecham

• TED Talk: A hospital in the cloud bringing health care anywhere in the world, by Mohamed Aburawi |• April 2024

• MIRAI is redefining the future of breast cancer screening

• pwc: Climate: The ultimate industry disruptor. It’s already reshaping business. Get focused.

• Ranked: The Top 25 Countries With the Most Data Centers PLUS today Tech giants are putting $500bn into 'Stargate' to build up AI in US

• 7 Ways HR Will Look Different in 2025

• The World’s Fastest-Growing Jobs in 2025

• How to Improve Your Soft Skills—Anyone Can Do It!

• Using the Flow Channel to Measure Team Effectiveness

• The Humics: The Secret of Human Value in the Age of AI

• Want smoother teamwork? Start with Kanban boards

• Data Science Quick Reference: Data Preparation with SQL

• Gantt Charts Are Great... and Have No Place in Agile
  

• Shawn Wallack: Should SAFe Get Lost?

• Gartner's recommended CIO business books blend hard and soft skills, focusing on effective communication and influence

"For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service." -- John Burroughs

[21-Jan-25] Another MURPHY day ...

The week starting with a Monday, no surprise 

I was in the office yesterday, the least employees are there on Monday and Friday, and our department team area is in the Tower on the 14th floor. One hour into the working day the water pressure was 1st decreasing and then completely gone 30 minutes later. No drinking water, no hand washing and toilet usage. Root cause was a broken water pipe that was finally fixed at the end of the day. The few people in the office survived, I had to go down to the ground floor only once, to find a working toilet.

Next was the public transport on my way home. When I reached the underground station I have seen a note about an accident on the track. No underground going into my direction, so I decided to walk. Better than to wait in the cold temperature outside. After 6 stations the system was working again and I could catch an underground to the main railway station. My train is coming every 20 minutes, but 2 trains did not show up. No explanation why. In the end I took the 3rd train and reached home around 08:00 PM. A Murphy day ...

Today everything was smooth, the water pressure was fine and public transport did go as planned. Tomorrow is another day for surprises.

In Mar-25 we have the next offsite workshop, planned with our new team that will be officially in place with the start of the next fiscal year on 01-Apr-25. One of the topics will be to make our new operating model real and get a common understanding in the team, how to use it. I will be supporting my supervisor and host/moderate this workshop. One of my ideas today was to use process simulation and storytelling. More details in the near future ...

Just checked the participation in the voluntary questionnaire I shared last Sunday. So far nobody did use the opportunity to participate and share an opinion, what is interesting as the average number of readers per day is 193 in the last month. I am not looking for a 50+% participation rate, a start with 5%, what means nearly 10 readersper day, would be more than sufficient. So please don't be shy!! 

Thanks a lot in advance for your voluntary participation, very much appreciated. Please use https://ahaslides.com/RETHINK25

• Chibaru Shokudo is a restaurant that employs older people who have been diagnosed with dementia

• Video: 5 Golden Rules To Unbreakable Confidence
• Video: THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED by F. Koga and I. Kishimi | Core Message
• Collaboration Superpowers: Head of Remote Guide (112 pages)

• 120+ AI Tools to Finish Hours of Work in Minutes (find your own)

[19-Jan-25] The week 03-2025 summary

The term "skeuomorphism" combines the Greek word "skeuos," meaning vessel or container, with the English suffix "-morphism," indicating form or structure.

In order to gather some insights from your reader perspective and to collect new topics for the future, I did create a small questionnaire today. Thanks a lot in advance for your voluntary participation, very much appreciated. Please use https://ahaslides.com/RETHINK25

Two quotes from the 2 pictures today:

1. Why is the save icon in your software a floppy disk that no one has used for over 20 years? And that phone icon looks nothing like your mobile phone when making a call. These are both skeuomorphs.

2. What about Pilates? No one ever promised it’s fast or easy. It’s deliberate, difficult, and demands effort and commitment. But it’s also effective and sustainable because it builds mental and physical strength and flexibility over time. That’s the mindset shift required to make lasting change. Scrum is Pilates, not a chocolate shake.

The headhunter story is still proceeding. In the meantime I had four different people contacting me for jobs in the same company, two separate jobs as I realized lately, but both do not fit at all to my profile. I do get the feeling that the approach is somewhat AI driven, by using different LinkedIn profiles? Only one is related to a headhunter activity and company, the rest in different industries. They either do freelance work besides their official job or it might be fake profiles, who knows? 

The coming week will be the last week before we finish the current 3-month project phase. After this week we will have our System Demo followed by 5-days of training, knowledge sharing and exploration tasks. Before we kick off the next 3-month phase with a 2-day planning ceremony. Maybe be the last time due to our operating model change, but this is not finalized yet. Anyway, changes come and go, we just have to handle each properly, be open for it and make the best out of the adjusted circumstances and environments.

Have a great week ...

• The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week (17-Jan-25)

• Think Your Team Is Afraid of Feedback? Think Again.

• Essential HR And Recruitment Trends For 2025

• Learn the Difference Between Data Warehouses and Data Lakes!

• The right TED Talk at the right time can genuinely change your life. Here are 7 examples

• Forget "Strategic Planning". Strategy and Planning are very different things. 

[18-Jan-25] Mahakumbh 2025

A once-in-144 years phenomenon

Imagine being part of something so rare that the last people to witness it were your great-great-grandparents. The Maha Kumbh 2025 at Prayagraj is not just an event; it’s a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle that occurs only after 144 long years... Now, would you want to miss something this rare?

It is said that the location of the Kumbh Mela is decided by specific celestial alignments. When Jupiter is in Taurus and the Sun and Moon align in Capricorn (Makar rashi), the Kumbh Mela takes place at Prayagraj, coinciding with the Makar Sankranti period.

Hosting 400+ million visitors in 45 days is a real challenge that can only be handled in a digital way. Here some Facts and Stats.

Just now the first Divisional Round Playoff in the NFL is starting. Have a great weekend.

• Video: OK Go - A Stone Only Rolls Downhill (Official Video) - 64 Videos on 64 Phones

• World’s first 24/7 renewable energy gigascale project unveiled in Abu Dhabi

• Tim Ferriss Blog: The Secrets, Tactics, and Creative Processes of High Performers and Achievers — Debbie Millman (#230)

• Unlocking human potential: Building a responsible AI-ready workforce for the future

• Authentic Leadership, Credits to Justin Wright

• How To Create Your Best Life In 2025. Steal this sheet to make 2025 your year

• This post is permission to be YOU... Even though you don’t really need it...

[17-Jan-25] Keep it simple and brief

Simplicity is much more difficult than complexity 

BREVITY = a quality that speech or writing has when it is short and contains few words

In the moment you keep something simple and brief, you might be saving a lot of time that you had to invest before, to better understand the topic, as mentioned by Albert Einstein.

"If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if an hour, I am ready now." -- Woodrow Wilson

Today I did get another headhunter email with an exciting opportunity - it did not fit at all!! But was a good relation to the James Clear article -

Why Trying to Be Perfect Won’t Help You Achieve Your Goals (And What Will). When you just try enough and contact as many people as possible, you might find a good candidate who is interested to change the job.

• Visualizing the Global Population in 2035, by Generation

• Dan Rockwell: 15 Practical Ways to Ignite Commitment

• Communication gap (a classic infographic)

• Achieving organisational excellence means mastering multiple dimensions that drive sustainable success

• Make Lean Work for You

• Drowning in ideas? Let affinity diagrams organize the chaos. Collaboration becomes effortless when you spot patterns fast

• 8 Game-Changing Manufacturing Trends That Will Define 2025

• 6 Free Leadership Courses: From Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth.

[16-Jan-25] Have a productive day ...

Another great infographic from Justin Mecham

Some stories just go on and on.

Today I was contacted by another headhunter with "an exciting career opportunity". I have seen the job description before from a different headhunter, and it did still not fit to my profile. I do not have any SAP skills, do not really like the tool and GUI. Must be a bad AI or bad reading and not doing the homeworks before. Anyway, I stick to my guardrails to give some feedback, hoping that it will improve the quality of the contacts over time. Possiby not for me, but for all the others out there.

And the MURPHY story with the starter battery did proceed as well. I was at the dealer in time on Monday, but the new battery was not delivered. Next day I was in the office and my wife had to go to the garage. All did work out fine, finally. Only the dealer had now four batteries of the same kind. Good for other customers. 

Both stories are nothing that you would expect from a productive day, but it is not always only in your hand.

• Dan Rockwell: Do These 5 Things to Gain Wisdom
• pwc: Transformative leadership for extraordinary times

• How to Ask Good Questions at Work—and Actually Get the Info You Need

• Charted: AI’s Perceived Impact on Job Creation, by Country

• Frank Sonnenberg: How to Make People Doubt You

• Use STICC whenever you have to communicate fast and clearly

• Master the art of Continuous Improvement to keep your business ahead in 2025.

The WEF report is offering a lot of interesting insights, details, data and infographics, as you can see today. Some more or less related links as well:

• 20 Skills you need to stay ahead by 2030

• The Future of Jobs: AI, Skills, and the Transforming Workforce by 2030

• Top 5 Project Management Trends Shaping up in 2025

• We've curated an incredible lineup of free courses designed to help you master AI, no matter your experience level

• The Insidious Poison of Excessive Regulation

• Marketoonist by Tom Fishburne: How we Brief

[13-Jan-25] Insights from 2025 to 2030

The Future of Jobs Report 2025, World Economic Forum (WEF)

Technological change, geoeconomic fragmentation, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts and the green transition – individually and in combination are among the major drivers expected to shape and transform the global labour market by 2030.

[10-Jan-25] Some small updates ...

More about AGILE and the Headhunter topic

I am still keeping an eye on the AGILE and Headhunter topics after my previous posts, either on Substack or here [date], see:

• Are you ready for an adventure or safety? What is going on in the Agile world right now? [05-Jan-24]

• Better use of AI? The good, the bad, and the ugly headhunters ... [07-Jan-25]

Below some more links, I even did find a "good" headhunter article, not everything is bad, it is just a matter of priorities:

• To all my fellow recruiters: How do you handle the dreaded “No”? And to job seekers: What’s the most memorable way a recruiter has turned rejection into an opportunity for you?

• From PMO to Agile VMO: Customer-Centric Flow and Strategic Agility

• How Many Story Points Are In One Day?

Then three articles from Scott Ambler about Applying AI in Agile Software Development:

• Part 1: What I Would and Wouldn’t Do

• Part 2: Valid Use Cases for AI-Augmentation in Software Development

• Part 3: AI Augmentation of Agile Software Development

And some CES 2025 highlights:

• AI in the Seas: Marine Monitoring Turtle Robot

• NVIDIA Cosmos and Omniverse: Simulating The World For AI Brains

• China’s firm beats Apple Vision Pro with world’s fastest augmented reality glasses

Plus several AI topics:

• How AI Is Transforming The Ancient Art Of Fine Winemaking

• Gartner top 2024 insights about Artificial Intelligence

• Top 21 Tools to Boost Your Workflow in 2025

Finally some diverse content:

• 9 New Books on the Science of Reaching Your Goals

• Tanmay Vora: How I Discovered Visual Thinking. A few experiences that led me to visual thinking

• Dan Rockwell: The Novice Advantage

• How Canada Would Rank as the 51st State

"The IT department of every company is going to be the HR department of AI agents in the future." -- Jensen Huang (CEO of NVIDIA)

[09-Jan-25] Murphy's Law

Yesterday was the day ...

My sisters and I agreed to take my parents out for a visit to a Gospel Choir concert as Christmas present. We planned to go together with them to make it a family event. Yesterday morning the first message from one of my sisters, as she was ill, her ticket became available. We could not find a replacement, so decided to just go with two kids and the parents.

Due to potential traffic jams in the evening I planned to leave at 06:00 PM, the concert started at 08:00 PM. My wife used our car before with no issue. I did go into the car, wanted to set the target address in the navigation system and needed to switch on the interior lighting, to read the information from the ticket. Suddenly a humming noise for some seconds, two warnings on the screen and everything switched off. We tried a lot to get the car back to life, but nothing worked out in the end. Finally I had to call my sister to tell her that I will not be joining as well - MURPHY's LAW. What a bad day!!

Today I found out that the starter battery was dead, happens on average every 3 years, and has to be replaced. The battery has a very special design to fit in the space in the trunk and two different size connectors to avoid a mis-connection of the cables. Really difficult to get a new one. The dealer got one in 3 hours, but it was not 100% correct. The right one will arrive next week Monday. More MURPHY today.

"Airplane Law, The: When the plane you are on is late, the plane you want to transfer to is on time." -- Paul Dickson

• 34 Life Lessons from 34 Years written by Sahil Bloom

• TED Talk (Oct-24): How AI can bridge the Deaf and hearing worlds

• Top Startups of 2025: Leading the way in 10 trending industries

• The Value of Values By Frank Sonnenberg

• Dan Rockwell: Failure: Only the Weak are Brave

• The 5 Hiring Trends You Need to Know for 2025

• [09-Jan-25] Why Most Feedback Fails (And How to Fix It)

• AI Won't Replace Humans – Here's The Surprising Reason Why

• Bridging the Divide: Integrating Agile and Project Management by Jim Highsmith
  

• How Successful People Make Smart Decisions by Dr. Travis Bradberry
  

[07-Jan-25] Better use of AI?

The good, the bad, and the ugly headhunters ... 

Since last weekend the NFL playoff picture is ready for Super Bowl LIX on 09-Feb-25, see the picture.

In the mindset of a selective awareness, some more AGILE status links. Might also be depending on who I follow:

• Agile: Less Is More But More Is Less

• The Agile Training Industrial Complex: Why Certified Scrum Masters Are Set Up to Fail

• 21 Things Declared "Dead" by LinkedIn Pundits (That Aren’t Dead)

• There Are No 'Best Practices' in Agile (There Can't Be)

• The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) stirs up, shall we say... strong emotions.

Coming to the headhunter topic. I am 62 years old now and have 34+ years of experience in different job positions so far, when you read my LinkedIn profile. I am very well established in my current role and happy in my daily work. So no need to think about a change, even with the restructuring that is currently ongoing. Anyway, I do get regular emails and LinkedIn messages about "dream" jobs and great companies waiting for me.

Between 2017 and 2019 I did work 2 years as self-employed headhunter, so I know a little bit about the industry, customers and the daily ways of working with potential candidates. You need to find the right balance between quantity (to find as much as possible new potential profiles every day) and quality (you need to contact the right people, who might be of interest for your customer, not waisting anybodys time). 

Using AI should be very helpful was my assumption today? I did export the experience in my visible LinkedIn profile to a PDF file and asked Anthropic Claude 3.5 to propose some great jobs for me. Here the results, just the name of the position, I skip the arguments why - shared from Claude as well:

• Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or IT Director

• Global Program Director

• Digital Transformation Leader

• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Consultant

• Agile Practice Leader / Enterprise Agile Coach

• Engineering Systems Architect
  

Not so bad for 5 minutes effort in total, including the PDF file export. When I still would be looking for a new position, the 6 examples above would be of interest for me. BUT the requests/proposals I get are different:

• A junior position in IT Service management
• Several Freelancer positions
• Application manager with minimum 5 years of SAP experience
• An Application Director position remote, for people living in the USA

Just by reading my profile it would be clear that I am not a fit for these positions, but people are not reading and their search algorithms seem to be really bad. Only focus on quantity and NO quality, what a waste of time for all involved parties. As I believe in the general learning interest and capabilities of people, I always share a small feedback to all these crazy requests. Surprise, surprise, I did not get a thank you note so far.

Anyway, I keep going ...

[05-Jan-25] The week 01-2025 summary

Are you ready for an adventure or safety?

There are good arguments for both and in the end it is your personal choice. In the Agile world a similar discussion is ongoing in the moment. From "Agile is Dead" to "Just use it the right way" you can basically find all variations. I did already share two links yesterday, some more examples below:

• Agile Mindset: The Hardest Part and the Last to Change

• The Agile Community has lost it's way

• Agile Alliance Joins Project Management Institute (PMI)

• Developing a resilient, adaptable workforce for an uncertain future

• NEVER TRUST YOUR LLM - it's much too much human ...

• Struggling with recurring problems? The 8D method ends the cycle. Learn how to solve problems for good with this proven framework

• 17 Subtle Rules of Software Engineering

• How to Sabotage an Agile Implementation (So You Can Say Agile Doesn't Work and Have Everyone Think You're Awesome)

• Say Goodbye to These Five 'Harmless' Team Habits in 2025

I am going back to work tomorrow and the Agile yes/no topic will be there waiting for me as well. As mentioned earlier, we are preparing a new Operating Model that is potentially going live in May-25. It will be less SAFe, but still making use of an Agile mindset and ways of working - maybe Scrum, Kanban, ScrumBan or anything else ...

• The Best 6 Agile Methodologies: Which Type Fits Best Your Needs

• Top 7 Agile Frameworks

• 300+ Agile & Scrum Statistics

The challenge and opportunity will be, to select an approach that is not too far away from the status quo, but still adds some value due to streamlining the process or less administration effort for agile ceremonies. Maybe let the teams decide separately, what works for them, and just agree a common ground and timing for planning and dependency discussion/alignment. Our next three month phase starts in Feb-25, could be a good possibility to do some trials? We will see ...

• Data Governance, Catalog, and Quality Tools: How Are They Different?

• The 10 New Books to Feed Your Mind in 2025 by Adam Grant

• The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week (03-Jan-25)

• Video: Why Top Performers All Embrace Mental Visualization Techniques

“Visualization is daydreaming with a purpose.” – Bo Bennett

[04-Jan-25] Prince Luke is now the King 

Teenage sensation Littler storms to historic World Darts Championship title

My wife and daugther were right and I was wrong with the prediction for the final outcome of the World Darts Championship yesterday evening. Much faster than expected OR at the earliest possible time, Luke Littler became the World Darts Champion for the 1st time with the age of 17. A historical day in the world of Darts.

Combining any of the 12 Goal Methods with the idea to get just 1% better every day in the the next 365 days could bring a lot of positive change, what do you think? Have fun and a little bit Luke spirit and confidence ...

• Lukas Timm: “Scrum is the least agile of agile methods.”
• Shawn Wallack: The Daily Scrum: Stop Asking the "Three (Wrong) Questions"

[02-Jan-25] Welcome to 2025 ...

Getting ready for the New Year

I did check my 2024 JAR this morning, to review the positive and negative notes I collected over the last year. To be honest, I did not noe down a lot this time. Highlights were:

• Hosting several workshops at work and in the school once a year

• The positive feedback about the 4th Data & Analytics Meetup (the LinkedIn post has 3,028 impressions in the meantime)

• Over 3k "5-minute learning" posts on our Intranet company social media platform
• Giving a motivational book as birthday present - Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential
• And a nice Netherlands holiday with my wife for our 20th wedding anniversary from 2023 in Jan-24

As I finished my 7th eBOOK for 2024, I was looking for a smart way to get a quick summary of the main topics. Here what I found:

• AI PDF Summarizer - Top 15 best tools to try in 2025 (Free and Paid)

• 10 Best PDF Summarizers

• AI PDF Summarizer: Turn Any Document into Clear Summary

I personally prefer FREE tools during the initial testing phase that do not require a lot of effort to start with, even without a login. I like TLDR This a lot, because you can reference a URL or TEXT to begin with and then start a Chat with the AI to get details, see:

What are the top 10 topics covered on this URL?

Based on the conversational summary provided, the top 10 topics covered on this URL seem to be:

1. The changing nature of work and the concept of "New Work" - discussions around flexibility, work-life balance, creativity, and challenges like isolation.
2. Agile frameworks like SAFe and the role of a Release Train Engineer (RTE) in leading Agile transformations.
3. The ongoing issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft and NASA's reliance on SpaceX.
4. Highlights from the Paris 2024 Olympics, including viral moments and performances.
5. The use of AI tools and language models like ChatGPT and Gemini for various tasks.
6. Discussions around personal development, productivity, and leadership principles.
7. The impact of strikes and transportation disruptions in Germany.
8. Trends in the retail and small business sector.
9. Reflections on New Year's resolutions and the value of long-term planning.
10. Technical topics like Linux, browsers, and software development.

The summary covers a wide range of professional, personal, and technology-related themes in a conversational manner.

Not so bad, but you can double check with the 7th eBOOK :-) and do your own summary ...

[31-Dec-24] Getting ready for 2025

Some housekeeping to be done for my BLOG ...

• My 7th eBOOK covering all 2024 posts is now available for FREE download
• To speed up the performance of the main BLOG page, all 2024 posts have a separate page now, see Blog 2.24
• Quick reminder for my Substack and Wordpress pages

2025 will be the year of the SNAKE, to explain the picture a little bit more.

I wish you all a great start into an interesting, surprising and successful year 2025.

• Dan Rockwell: The Simplicity of Success Explained