Hello đź‘‹ I’m Simon and this is where I publish writing about tech, leadership, coaching and other related topics.
I am a father, coach, software engineering leader and musician. I love building high performing teams and creating elegant software that stands the test of time.
You can email me: simon.wade@gmail.com
I’m interested in pretty much everything, from science and technology to music, poetry and philosophy, and everything in between. Some highlights include:
- Philosophy, in particular epistemology, virtue ethics, theories of consciousness, the work of David Deutsch, Iain McGilchrist, Tyson Yunkaporta, John Vervaeke
- Cognitive science and neurology, in particular Vervaeke’s theory of Relevance Realisation and McGilchrist’s Hemisphere Hypothesis
- Physics, in particular the books of Frank Wilczek, David Deutsch, Carlo Rovelli, and far-out theories such as the Wolfram Physics Project
- Computation, in particular the work of David Deutsch and Stephen Wolfram
- Leadership, coaching, organisational development and innovation, in particular the Mastering Leadership framework, the work of Jim Dethmer, Jerry Colonna, and the ideas outlined in books such as Reinventing Organisations, Humanocracy and How Innovation Works
- Poetry, some favourite authors include David Whyte, Ocean Vuong, Ada Limon, John Kinsella, Czesław Miłosz, Wisława Szymborska
- Music, far too many artists and genres to mention, but top genres include instrumental post rock, neo-classical, classical, contemporary and progressive metal
- Literature, mostly sci-fi and fantasy, but also magic realism, classics and everything else
Some of my beliefs:
- The growth of knowledge is inherently open-ended and unpredictable, and there is a limitless potential to human knowledge and progress
- I believe in the power of good explanations, scientific exploration and critical enquiry; and the importance of open-ended thinking in shaping a better future for all beings
- Innovation is primarily a search problem that depends on rapid iterations of trial and error, usually by “tinkerers” working on things that don’t seem useful to experts
- “Our talent for division, for seeing the parts, is of staggering importance – second only to our capacity to transcend it, in order to see the whole” – Iain McGilchrist
- Bureaucracy is an antiquated solution to the problem of organisation, and in our modern world it’s a scourge that constrains productivity and oppresses our natural creativity
- Centralised, top down decision making is not sufficient for the complex, volatile and uncertain world in which we live;Â decentralised systems of bottom-up decision making harness creativity to sense and respond to the world in generative ways
The story of Odin in Norse mythology demonstrates the importance of values and the willingness to make sacrifices to uphold them. Odin goes to a Frost Giant who guards the “pool of knowledge” and asks to drink from it. The giant tells him that he will only allow him to drink from the pool if he takes out his own eye. Without hesitation, Odin plucks out his own eye and drinks from the pool, becoming far-sighted and able to see things that others are not able to see.
Humans are meaning-making beings, and it’s in our nature to find and create meaning in everything we do. The challenge for making work more meaningful is really about getting out of the way of this natural inclination, and minimising anything that interferes with our natural inclination to engage with the world in meaningful ways.
It may be that hierarchy itself is a big factor in preventing this, because the power imbalance of hierarchy leads to people being subject to the power of others, and subjected to the domination of hierarchy.
What does leadership mean to me? It’s not about having followers, although many leaders do. It’s not about telling people what to do, or being a servant leader. Leadership is a way of being in relationship to an emerging future that invites others to come into conversation with their own contribution. Leadership is ultimately about growth and development, about transformation and the journey that takes us from where we are to where we want to be.
Professionalism is a set of norms and codes that help humans to cooperate in the absence of trust and connection. This is important in many of the impersonal interactions of daily life, but it can be a mask that actually stands in the way of trust and connection.
In my work as an engineering leader I often see people trying to pretend that they don’t have feelings because they feel that it’s not “professional” to show their emotions.
Returning to work after the summer holiday you are presented with a choice about how you will show up in your work. If you’re like most people you’ll have a mixture of good and bad patterns of behaviour when you’re at work. Your journey of growth and development is happening in your practices and contemplation, in your meditation, in your ongoing education, your relationships and all the various weird and wonderful areas of your life.
We live in a world that has been systematically dismantling many of the sources of meaning in life. Where once we had community, we now have social networks full of outrage and tribalism; the village now replaced with the nuclear family, food halls and strip malls; eldership with the retirement home; our place in the web life replaced with an extractive relationship to Earth. We’re encouraged to find meaning in our status, our possessions and accomplishments, but meaning is always something that lives in relationship to others.
I want to help create a world where everyone is engaged in work that they find meaningful, and where communities of purpose come together to nourish and protect what they cherish, for the benefit of all beings and for future generations to come. This seems to be an important part of our journey towards becoming a custodial species once again, and working with organisations provides an important point of leverage for our efforts.
Most people have a vague picture of coaching, some mixture of sports team coaches from TV sitcoms and 90s-era Tony Robbins infomercials, but I’ve noticed that it’s often different to the reality of modern coaching.
Coaching is a powerful tool to help people thrive and make the impact they seek in the world. This article provides a brief introduction to coaching and why it’s valuable.
Let us begin with the following definition: Coaching is a structured, collaborative conversation that helps people explore new thinking, to find what they seek within themselves and take action.
If you’re lucky enough to live in the developed world then you’ll probably have around 30,000 days of life on Earth. Sounds like a lot, right? But you’ve probably already used up a whole lot of these, and if you’re anything like me you’re wondering what the hell you’ve been doing with all that time.
Each and every one of these precious days we are presented with a question: How will you spend this day?