If you don’t ask, you won’t know.
But, in either outcome, be considerate. Because you are taking someone’s most precious resource. Their time.
Be generous enough to yourself to ask.
Be generous enough to know what you’re asking of others.
Progress needs diversity.
Progress requires all perspectives.
“Progress requires optimism and pessimism to coexist.” – Morgan Housel
Optimism is hope. To explore the possibilities and believe in future potential.
Pessimism is caution. To question what’s happening and go forward when the probability is favorable.
The stories we tell ourselves are the most important.
Are we giving the most generous interpretation or the most critical?
Are we leveraging a growth mindset or a doomed mentality?
Are we creating “valid” excuses for why something happened?
Are we identifying what is, or was, in our control?
It’s not what we say, it’s how we say it.
It’s not what we do, it’s how we do it.
It’s not what we share, it’s how we share it.
Delivery matters.
Identify who you are dancing with and deliver accordingly.
The work we do and the changes we make can be exhaustive and draining.
But it doesn’t always have to be.
We can enjoy it. And if you’re having a hard time finding the joy in the work, it might be time to shift the story you’re telling yourself.
“Working on replacing our file management system has to be one of the most painful efforts I’ve led thus far”
Or…
“Developing a strategy to elevate a major thorn in the side of the team is going to boost morale and efficiency freeing our team to create more value in the spaces that matter.”
The stories we tell ourselves drive our beliefs and actions.
Maybe it’s time to tell yourself a better story.
You’re trying to boil the ocean.
You’re falling into old ways that you’ve outgrown.
You’re contributing to the culture you’re trying to change.
You’re lashing out because you’re hungry, tired, or stubborn.
Best to catch yourself, forgive, and course correct.
Give yourself the grace to know you aren’t perfect. And remember, others aren’t either.
My favorite technique to knock things off my to-do list:
Batch them.
Resistance comes after us all. And the temptation to refresh the Slack or Inbox to find the next distraction always lingers.
When you can make the space for getting real work done, capitalize by batching out those heavier lifts.
Frankly, it doesn’t even need to be a heavy lift, it can be the thing that has the heavy impact.
After that first task is completed, you’re effectively removing the friction to make change. You’ve already crossed that barrier once, now strike again.
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin
“Stop trying to make fetch happen.” – Regina George
The other day I caught myself working and reworking on a particular problem.
I noticed that after a few hours of work, I was looking at something that didn’t look like the type of product I would usually release.
In that hesitation, I called a colleague for feedback.
“Hey, does the way I’m presenting this look right? Or am I trying to make fetch happen?”
In this case, I was exhausted with the problem and introduced change just so I could see something new. What the product needed was a simpler, cleaner display.
This served as a good reminder. Who is the change for? And by introducing that change, are you adding value?
We can job craft more than you may think.
Whether you are an employee, employer, or entrepreneur, there exists this opportunity to craft your ideal role.
Two components need to met:
Once you’ve met #1, you can move on to #2. And that is where you can start to introduce parts of your ideal role.
You’re in operations but aspire to be involved in marketing. You keep offering, but it never materializes. Instead of waiting to be pulled in, create a marketing plan, remove the resistance others may have, and show you can provide value
.
You are endlessly pulled into other meetings and are unable to ever get into your flow state unless it’s in the middle of the night with no interruptions. Consider blocking your time for a few hours a day where people cannot over-schedule you and place your devices on DND.
People will generally follow the rules you’ve set or the ideas you have, as long as those rules are communicated properly, flexible to change, and realistic. Most importantly you’re delivering value.
If you’re seeking to shake up your day-to-day and craft your job to what you’d like to be doing, you can start now.
