Work
Munich
Two-day office visit at the roadsurfer HQ in Munich.
Offsite
Spent twelve hours in a meeting room. The countryside venue helped.
Hotel
Back in Bavaria close to Munich for a two-day strategy offsite. When I joined trivago in 2016, and ever since at Appsfactory, Delivery Hero and now roadsurfer, I have been routinely traveling inside and outside of Germany.
Long Day
Long day at work in Munich and going back tomorrow at dawn to Leipzig.
Station Visit
On the feet from 4am to 10pm. The founders of roadsurfer and us non-founding executives spent the day at the Nürnberg station.
Principles
One of my team leads came to me today with a proposal. I gave feedback, we talked it through, and at some point we laughed about whether it would be possible to know in advance what my reaction would be, whether my thinking was consistent enough that you could predict where the pushback would land before talking to me.
School's Out
Tilian got his mid-year report card for second grade. Straight A’s in all main subjects and conduct marks.
Ambiguity
Ambiguity gets a bad reputation at work, and people treat it like something is broken. “There’s no clear direction.” “Leadership doesn’t have a plan.” I’ve sat in meetings where someone said exactly that, and I’ve read the same feedback in employee surveys for years. (And I take it somewhat personally as I am that “leadership”.)