Bram, A Spy Story: a story of coming of age, of Queen and country and the origins of Covid-19. “Once you start reading this book, it’s difficult to put down. Initially, you are immersed in the delights of Oxford academia, only to then be exposed to the starkness and brutality of Moscow during the Cold War. Bram, a brilliant Oxford chemist, turns spy whose mission is to save the world from a highly dangerous and ubiquitous threat. This book is characterised by most of the attributes of a good spy story with action, heroic exploits by a larger-than-life protagonist and a strong plot. Well worth a read.”
If only it were an Urban Jungle. But sadly, the reality it's a zoo. The cages are the cubicles, the tranquillisers are e-mail and PPT and feeding times the free coffee and cookies. It's tough to break out but it can be done. Like any prison film you’ve ever seen you know you need to get fit. That's step 1. Stand and stretch and mobilise at regular intervals and then drop to the floor and do 10 press-ups. Do it on the hour, every hour. Twice a day find a secret location in the stair well where CCTV is not observing you and do some stair runs and pull ups. Keep that going. Now you need to add creative thinking, step 2. Smuggle into the compound a book, yes a real book. Anything from this list is suitable. Finally read the blueprint.
Don't forget to send the rest of the inmates a postcard from freedom.
Explicitly agree the actions at the end of a meeting and/or conversation.
Never talk negatively about a member of the team when they are not present: it stops trust and hence a high performance team being formed. If there is an issue, address it of course. But with them and formally.
Stay hydrated.
Stand and move a lot.
Take the stairs for exercise and heart rate boost.
Shorten meetings and have more gaps in the day to actually think.