Please Do Not Disturb

In hotels the PDND door hanger sign tells somebody to leave you alone in your room (hotels who want to differentiate say "tied up", "the star is in", .. or simply "I am busy!")

When I work hard leave me alone?

Yesterday we had a bank holiday here. It was a rainy day and I decided to do some I-want-to-be-left-alone work. Only me and my computer. Of course, somebody should do the admin for it, somebody should sell it and somebody should understand it instantly and pay for it - but not now, I need the full concentration to transform my best ideas into something really valuable. Something I want to be responsible for.

I need the leverage from working with other people!

But after some time I recognize (again) it does not work. I need the leverage that comes from interacting with other people. People about who I want to say: they do great work and they made so great contributions that my output is their output too - although it remains my responsibility.

When I work alone long enough I begin to distract myself

At UnRisk we have created a culture that not only motivates for interactions but also responds to agitators who are pointed and maybe even noisy when presenting or criticizing an idea ….

It's not so easy to find the optimum.

Sure, we have our job titles and descriptions. But we also hatch into different roles and look into things through different lenses. Sometimes even a ruckus is required in a complicated situation - when we think we need to leapfrog  … or even bend reality a little. And we know, in rare cases it's not going to happen.