y2k paranoia 24 years out...

There has to be something quite admirable about the CEO of Crowdstrike plodding on stage last week after July's massive IT outage to "own" the mistake and accept a Pwnie cybersecurity humiliation award for the "most epic fail."

But, as we all still continue to reel from the Y2K bug hitting 24 years later, we are rudely reminded of our dependence on the strength of the weakest link.

But is it all bad? Poor security decisions and risky actions help designers create more robust systems. Bill Gates famously endorsed hiring lazy people to do hard jobs. And a weak link on the team makes everyone else look good in comparison. So don't scowl at the first person in your team to be out the door on a Friday, to the sound of the opening of a canned margarita.

I'm not going to pretend it's not a challenge though. There are always going to be backseat loafers in any group project; but what I'm saying is, that's ok. Ant colonies have them and they are vital to their long term survival. When the hard workers need a rest, they carry the load for a bit. In an interview doing the rounds online, Rory Sutherland talks about creative minds and how they work, and how frustrating they can be; they seemingly faff about for ages till the inspiration comes, only then are they all systems go.

This relates to what I've seen highlighted in this season of The Curious Mindset, which is adaptive capacity. I've learned about storytelling as an effective tool for communicating with others who may not be on your page. I've learned about the effects of culture on all of us, the Five Pillars and the need for psychological safety to encourage all voices to speak up. In a VUCA world, it can be those quieter voices that provide the out-of-the-box innovations.

Looking forward, our sessions are having a summer recess and we return with Andy McMenemy Clin.Hyp. D.ThHyp. (Dist)MHS (Accred) enemy at the helm, steering us through an autumn season of guest speakers on the topic of "Leading With Humans".

If you are a technology leader and you want to get on board, email me at rachel@thecuriousmindset.co.uk to book your spot.

No sales, just community.

To wrap up, I'll leave the final sign off with our resident Tech Leader, Steve Maxwell .

Well, that’s a wrap on our VUCA series, and what a journey it’s been!

We’ve explored leading in our volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world of Tech Leadership and are now better able to inspire, make decisions, empower, adapt to change and rebel (intelligently!).

For now, we say goodbye to Jonathan Bowder with heartfelt thanks for guiding us through this tricky topic.

If you’re a tech leader looking to grow and develop your own leadership skills, come and join The Curious Mindset when we regroup in September. Follow our LinkedIn page for updates on our next series of sessions.

See you in September!