My Favourite Tip: Nick McKenzie - An unusual ice breaker

Published Aug 16, 2023, 8:00 PM

Among great thinkers, the long walk or run is nothing new. Philosophers, artists, novelists and world leaders have long espoused the value of solitude for working through thorny problems. 

Award-winning investigative journalist Nick McKenzie is no different. Whether he’s stuck in a tough patch of writing, or trying to figure out his next move in a delicate investigation, running alone often leads to the solution. 

But Nick doesn’t always run alone. In fact, he’s turned running into one of his favourite ways to connect more deeply with his contacts, sources and colleagues. The initial conversations he has with sources can be tense - usually, they’re risking a great deal to help him with his work. So getting together, out of business attire and into sweaty neon workout gear, and going for a short run helps to break the ice and bring guards down on both sides… 

Connect with Nick on Twitter or on his website

You can find the full interview here: Award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie on death threats, confirmation bias and the power of insecurity

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Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

 

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

Among great thinkers, the long walk or run is nothing new. Philosophers, artists, novelists, and world leaders have long espoused the value of solitude for working through tricky problems. Award winning investigative journalist Nick mackenzie is no different. Whether he's stuck in a tough patch of writing or trying to figure out his next move in a delicate investigation, running alone often leads to the solution. But Nick doesn't always run alone. In fact, he's turned running into one of his favorite ways to connect more deeply with his contacts, colleagues, and even his sources. My name is doctor amanthe Immer. I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium. And this is how I work, A show about how to help you do your best work. On today is my Favorite Tip episode, we go back to an interview from the past and I pick out my favorite tip from the interview. In today's show, I speak with Nick Mackenzie about the role running plays in his work life.

For me, running has been almost a savior in the low part of the day, so I can come in with lots of energy and ideas, get stuck into them and then you might hit a wall either you feel tired, you've got a mental block, and knowing there's a set time for me normally's about two o'clock, I've got my five or seven k run, and it's about freeing the mind of those obstacles, and for whatever reason, as you're running and as the chemicals are kicking in, I can solve problems really well in my mind and bring them back to the office and then get things done. It also helps to, i think, read the bottom for me, rid myself of some of the anxiety that can grow up in the day, or some of the problems that can burden you and leave you less productive. The run almost sort of purges those And only recently have I begun to ask myself, well, why what's the biochemistry behind all that? And of course it's chemicals kicking around, and it's getting away from the computer screen. But yeah, I find running a real source of ideas making and it's calming as well. My job can be stressful. Often during my run I'll have a really intense problem and I'll be working it out as I'm running. Often I'm coming up against say a politician or a powerful person who's coming at me. They might have sued me. They might be attacking me in some other way. They might have stepped up in parliament and had a crack at me under parliamentary privilege. I'm almost mediating a conversation with them or an approach to them as I'm running. This is what I'm going to do. This is how having to deal with this problem. Sometimes it's about, actually, you get your anger out in the run, and I can be almost quality. Sort of it sounds a bit weird, but I'm like, I'm fighting them in my run, and then I can get out that anger, and then you let it go and you get back to being a professional journalist, leaving those angry personal emotions on the shelf.

Do you have any apps or anything that you use to record your thinking on the runs, or do you find that it just sticks in your memory well enough.

I sometimes write down just little notes on my phone, because I carry my phone as I run. Sometimes, actually quite often, I'll have my intention to just go for my run. It's out the office and the docklands, around the tan and back. But I'll stop after two k's and make a phone call because it's occurred to me, I've got to this is how I solve this work problem. This person's got the answer, and I'll just stop and I'll be a bit pat. I'm sorry, I've been running, been thinking about this, have a good chat, make a few notes on my phone, start running again. I might do that three times in a run, and it can be really really a really useful way of communicating and you trotting down those ideas so they're recorded. And the other key thing I do is go for runs with people. So if I have a source or someone who's assisting with the story, it's actually a great way, you know, take their suit off, you're or you're sweaty, and you're running ear it's a bonding experience and you know their mind's flowing like your mind. So they're coming up with ideas and thoughts and creative ways of looking at things, and you're discussing discussing them as you run. It's a great way of dropping your guard. It's quite intimate thing going for a run with someone that can be intimate and that you can just share as you run. You're talking and there's people might look at a journalist over a cup of coffee. They bring up the work book and the pens out or jez am I on the record, what's happening that I run. It's more free flowing and you can have a really frank discussion with somebody sort of off the record in this running zone, so that can be really useful as well.

If you enjoy this extract of my chat with Nick, you might want to go back and listen to the full interview, which you can find a link to in the show notes. If you're looking for more tips to improve the way that you work, I write a short fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things that I've discovered that helped me work better, ranging from software and gadgets that I'm loving through the interesting research findings. You can sign up for that at Howiwork dot com That's how I Work dot co. Thank you for sharing part of your day with me by listening to How I Work. If you're keen for more tips on how to work better, connect with me via LinkedIn or Instagram. I'm very easy to find. Just search for Amanthaimba. How I Work was recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of the cour Nation. I am so grateful for being able to work and live on this beautiful land and I want to pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging. How I work is produced by inventing with production support from Dead Set Studios, and thank you to Martin Nimba who did the audio mix and makes everything sound better than it would have otherwise