Hi I’m Ian and I’m referred to by ‘he/him’ pronouns
Here is my user manual, as first discovered in Cassie Robinson.‘s blog post and written about in my new years resolutions for 2020. Everything is work in progress and I may move this to a page instead of a blog entry.
Last updated on 31/12/2019
Conditions I like to work in
I like a medium busy working environment. I find it hard to work in dead silence.
I like having my own desk space but pretty flexible as I can work in coffee shops or on my sofa.
I like to wear headphones and listen to music mixes, podcasts or audio books while working if its too quiet.
I like flexible spaces, with adjustable seating
The Times/Hours I like to work
I am trying to start my work day at 10am, I am not a early riser at all.
I work best in the afternoon and evenings
Think better at night
I don’t mind being contacted at most times but I will likely only respond when not busy or have the time. I expect people to respect my decisions when I decline calls.
My calendar is private but I prefer if things are set in my calendar so I don’t double book myself.
The best ways to communicate with me
Text or instant messenger (signal & text) is the quickest way to get a response from me, but you will get a quick and short reply.
Twitter Direct message isn’t the best due to the changes Twitter made to their APIs making my Android & Linux clients slower to get direct messages.
Mastodon is better than twitter for communication
I will answer my phone and prefer to talk over more complex issues
I deal with emails all week and usually respond within a week, unless I’m busy
Narratives are generally better than raw data
The ways I like to receive feedback
I’d rather have conversations than leave things unspoken or at an inauthentic level.
I like receiving feedback face-to-face
I respect people with humanity & respect, and expect the same back
I see all feedback as a learning opportunity so I like any feedback to include examples and also suggestions on how I / it could be better/different
Things I need
I love ideas sessions with people, where we can freely think about what is possible without the if’s and but’s
I do need a little time to reflect
I need longer paper work in digital form, so I can re-shape it or have an app read it to me
Authenticity, I find it harder to take people seriously if there is no authenticity
Things I struggle with
Too much critiquing and logical reasoning drains my creative energy
If I don’t understand the bigger picture, I find it harder to understand why I should be involved.
I find unnecessary opaque processes draining
Maintaining the status-quo
Surface level conversations over a longer period of time
Superstition
Things I love
Hearing what others are working on and connecting up the dots of what we are doing together
Human conversations over administrative tasks like replying to emails
Understanding peoples experiences and influences behind projects
Team away days
Blue sky thinking
Working on the cutting edge
Collaboration
Working “in the open”
Other things to know about me
I am an ENTP
I have dyslexia
I use interconnected, narrative and dynamic reasoning to make decisions on problems which are logically taxing.
I approach problems in a learning as doing way
My favorite saying is “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
I bring my whole self to work (we should chat about what this means)
I am quite expressive and say what I feel and mean quite openly.
Fairness and justice matters to me. If I think someone is not being treated fairly, or someone is having an unfair impact on others, I will call it out.
I believe hyperlinks subvert hierarchy, with a rich network of people.