Jan 26, 2022RedirectedI’m no longer posting new stories on Medium, but if you’d like to follow me, my blog can now be found at nikknight.co.uk. I also have a separate blog dedicated to my adventures as a cancer patient, kickingthecan.nikknight.co.uk. Alternatively, you can follow me on Twitter. Hope to see you around!1 min read1 min read
Dec 13, 2020The Big C**Content Warning: cancer, surgery** This story is based on social media posts I made in July 2020. Wiggle your big toe. That was my first lucid thought as I came round from my anaesthesia in ICU. My brain latched on to Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, willing herself back to movement…Cancer2 min readCancer2 min read
Feb 22, 2020How To Be CoachedLast month, I embarked on a postgrad certificate in coaching, which includes three four-day group training modules. These sessions are pretty intensive, and involve a lot of actual coaching practice — we easily spend as much time coaching each other as we do learning about the tools and techniques we…Coaching6 min readCoaching6 min read
Jan 13, 2020Retrospective ReduxA bit over a year ago, I wrote Retrospective, which was partly a reflection on what 2018 had been for me, and partly an exploration of the interplay between resilience, confidence and failure. Re-reading it now, through the lens of 2019, I’m pleased to find that I took my own…Retrospective3 min readRetrospective3 min read
Oct 24, 2019FearlessWhat would you do if your fear didn’t stop you? I watched Edward on stage giving his talk. He looked composed, comfortable, and completely at ease. His slides flicked over every 15 seconds and he easily kept pace with them, smoothly moving from one key point to the next. He…Public Speaking3 min readPublic Speaking3 min read
May 20, 2019The Lesser of Two EvilsIt is past 9pm, it is dark, cold, and bucketing with rain. I’ve got at least 40 minutes of running in front of me, and all I want to do is turn around, go home, and get warm and dry. But I’m not going to, because this isn’t about me. …4 min read4 min read
May 1, 2019GardeningI’m trying to write a new blog post meditating on the word ‘manager’ as I look out at my slightly untidy and overgrown garden, and I’m thinking that it’s not a very good word to describe what those of us who carry that title actually do. To manage generally means…Peopleops4 min readPeopleops4 min read
Feb 10, 2019DeveryoneOpsUnless you’ve been living in a cabin in the woods for the past few decades, you’ll know that tech can be a pretty tribal industry. People are sorted and categorised according to the technologies they know and use, the roles they are employed into, the depth and breadth of their…DevOps3 min readDevOps3 min read
Jan 19, 2019Out(r)ageEver get those moments when someone says or does something, and you instantly get the rage? Or worse still, you hear about it second-hand? That tidal wave of indignation that starts in the pit of your belly and rises up, through your chest on its way to your mouth —…Self Improvement4 min readSelf Improvement4 min read
Jan 10, 2019PathologyDuring a Twitter discussion with Charity Majors this week (about the various challenges and pitfalls associated with Engineers becoming Managers), I dashed off this tweet: I hate the “people leave bad managers, not bad jobs” trope. People leave for all sorts of reasons — sometimes it is because they have…Management4 min readManagement4 min read
