I gave a 13-minute talk to the Irish Network Operators Group (INOG) recently. In this 13-minute video I argue that you can become more effective, and happier, by standing back and reflecting on how you work, leveraging existing truths, fallacies and principles.

I introduce The twelve networking truths and the 8 Fallacies of Distributed Computing. I then describe a handful of my own learnings and fancy terms like Chestertons Fence and the Gordian Knot.

Check out the video folks, I’d love your feedback.

I did the presentation because I was a little bit afraid, and know myself enough by now to recognise small fears as opportunities. This is the same fear I faced when I started this blog.

This isn’t false modesty, I’ve done talks before in Amazon and it’s not a terrifying experience, but I was still very nervous. It still took me hours of consideration, planning and prep, in addition to a fair bit of anxiety.

I got a real buzz from doing the talk and overcoming the fear. Now that I’ve seen the video, I’ve got a few things to work on. But by facing a small fear, I’m now slighter better at public speaking and a bit more likely to do it in the future.

If you live near Dublin I strongly recommend a trip to an iNOG meetup.