243: Develop Adaptability and Direction Recognition Skills and Have Confidence in Your Abilities with Stephen Woolston

<p>Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Stephen Woolston.  Stephen is a program and service delivery consultant with an extensive background in IT infrastructure.  He holds a first-class computer science degree from Nottingham University and started his career working on mainframe systems at Norwich Union.</p> <p>He is also a professional coach, helping people to become happier and more successful in what they do.</p> <p>In this episode, Phil and Stephen Woolston discuss how to quickly adapt your approach to problem-solving, in an ever-changing landscape, by using radical adaptability and positive direction-finding. How to quickly adapt to new environments, find and fix more problems effectively. As well as the importance of having confidence in your abilities.</p> <p><strong>KEY TAKEAWAYS:</strong></p> <p><strong>(3.04) TOP CAREER TIP</strong></p> <p>Develop radical adaptability and a positive direction finder. You need to have the ability to drop into any commercial environment and quickly figure out what is happening and how to move things in the right direction.</p> <p>During the podcast, Stephen explains, what he means by radical adaptability and positive direction-finding. As well as how you can develop those skills.</p> <p><strong>(5.23) WORST CAREER MOMENT</strong></p> <p>Stephen was once an operational planner, responsible for the governance of approving renewal costs. When he started, he was handed a cost schedule that he assumed covered everything. Unfortunately, a big expense had been left off that schedule.</p> <p>From this experience, Stephen learned it is not enough to simply check your work. You also need to be on the lookout for mistakes that have slipped through the net. The experience taught him that no colleague can produce flawless work every time.</p> <p><strong>(9.46) CAREER HIGHLIGHT</strong></p> <p>For Stephen, the highlight of his career was taking a leading role in Norwich Union´s Unix systems management. At the time, Unix was in its infancy. So, Stephen ha