In the Midst of Chaos, There Is Also Opportunity

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

We all have busy lives. Busy careers. And yet, in and amongst all of it, opportunities present themselves — and all too often get put aside, filed under "I'll get to that" or "maybe when things calm down a little." I know I'm guilty of this. And I know I've regretted it.

So when the opportunity arose to record a podcast alongside two excellent colleagues, I'm genuinely glad we made it happen.

It has been a great chance to keep learning — #AlwaysLearning is not just a hashtag for me, it's a genuine north star — and my very first observation was one I wasn't expecting at all: this format has immediately shown me how much I rely on non-verbal communication.

In a room, or on a video call, so much of what I do is unconscious — eye contact, a tilt of the head, a slight pause that invites someone else into the conversation, a slight change in expression that signals I want to respond. Stripped of all that in an audio-only format, I've had to become much more intentional about how I communicate. It's a genuinely useful discomfort.

We started recording on Microsoft Teams, and have recently been experimenting with Squadcast for better audio quality. I'm sure there will be more tools to try as we find our rhythm — and that process of evolving our setup is probably worth covering in a future episode, Richard and Cyrus!

If there is something you have been putting off because the timing isn't right: consider that the timing may never be perfect. The opportunity is what matters. Book the time. Start the conversation. Hit record.

#Microsoft #IBM #Podcast #AllOurOwnOpinion