It’s holiday time: do yourself a favour
Ask for one
Last week I crashed a conversation so badly, for a minute I thought we weren’t going to recover it.
I was having coffee with someone I hadn’t seen since before lockdowns were a thing. We originally met socially, but over time our catch-ups have gravitated towards work, and we spent most of this one talking about resourcing challenges of various kinds.
Maybe because we’d been in the weeds a bit, or because the original context was social, but at the end of the session when I asked how I could help, the conversation completely stalled. Like, cartoon plane, engine cutting out, plummeting from the sky kind of stalled. It took a few minutes for us to recover and settle on “we probably need another chat to work that out”.
Don’t get me wrong - I have been that person, so busy getting stuff done that even stopping to think about how someone might help felt like an inconvenience. I’m guessing we all have, which is no doubt why the start-up community is so intent on hitching an “ask” to the end of every pitch. It doesn’t come naturally, so it’s helpful to have a pattern to follow.
It’s a pattern I’d love to see in much wider use. Not only does a timely favour move us all along faster, it makes us feel better about each other. Asking someone for help is a way of paying them a compliment - it shows that you trust them and rate their skills. Turns out there are cultures where it’s considered rude to discharge a debt exactly. A slightly overpayment or underpayment keeps the network of mutual obligations live, so favours make community, too.
Speaking of community
Since I’m advocating, seems fair if I go first. It’s been a big year, so I’m going to take a good stretch of down-time, back on deck 23 Jan. In the meantime, here are three favours I’d like to ask:
If you’re keen to explore Tank a bit more and I’ve somehow missed interviewing you so far, nab a calendar slot here
If you know someone you think could use a little extra Tank time, invite them to sign up by forwarding this email: word-of-mouth is what we’re aiming for here
If there’s something related to flourishing and/or burnout you’d like to see covered, drop me a note in the comments and I’ll line it up for Jan/Feb
And maybe this last one for good measure:
The holiday season is a mixed blessing for most people, a tricky blend of affection and irritation, togetherness and absence, rest and overwhelm, joy and obligation. There’s a good chance that however that mix plays out for you, there will be ways your people could lend a hand. Be ready with your ask when the offer comes; and raise a hand if it’s a little slow to arrive. Leaning on each other is how we all flourish: together.
Almost forgot!
The actual Tank update: with finished designs now sitting with us (big thanks again to Kickstand!), the ball is well and truly back in our court. My main contribution has been updating marketing materials (what do you think of the logo?) while Navin has been deep in web world building a pre-module we’re calling Wilhelmina for now. Wilhelmina is all about values, helping to anchor how we use time back to what’s really important. Stay tuned - we’re aiming for playtime in January.
And scraping in ahead of the break: Investment NSW has just confirmed we’ve been successful with our MVP grant application. I’ll leave you to picture the dancing and shouting that went on around here when that email arrived. Needless to say, we’re chuffed and so very grateful.
It’s the perfect way to close out the year of slow, steady progress so many of you have helped us to make. We’re thrilled you’ve joined us for this epic ride, and wish you a thoroughly Tank-filling break!