Weeknote 11: on being in love with the sound of your own advice

My Bluesky profile includes a quote from a poem (probably) by St Teresa of Ávila which I discovered a few years ago. One of the stanzas goes: With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all; but You know, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. I think about this a lot in an age of freewheeling public opining on social media. I think it bleeds into work sometimes when I’m asked for my opinion as part of my leadership duties. An opinion is just like an arsehole though. If I can’t follow up with some practical next steps for the people I’m speaking to or some things I can do to help, I’m just as good as any other person on the internet. Which is to say, not very good at all.