The Friday Thing #787
I heard a rumour that it’s Friday….?
The Friday Thing #787 almost didn’t happen as it’s been one of those weeks where I have not had time to think, let alone write. But these kinds of weeks are also a reminder. A reminder about instinct and what a powerful force that can be when you trust it. I wrote about that back in oh, I don’t know, a few Friday Things ago ??
?
This week is based on some things I observed over the last ten days and some quotes I picked up that fell into the category of wisdom, for me at least.
The first is from an executive I know who remarked about another exec and their propensity to pay ‘special attention to people who change their mind’. I try not to change my mind too often as I think it can signal a lack of conviction or confidence, but this was a good reminder that I should be more open to it. I changed my mind a lot this week during a high-speed project I am working on that is also high stakes. I have caught myself changing my mind and realized that the key is to give a rationale for that. The rationale this week has been because I learned something new, or got new input, or had missed a detail. Or most often, had heard a better idea.?
领英推荐
The second is from a taxi driver last week in DC. He and I were chatting about the impatience of other drivers in DC and he said, “it’s like the people who put food in the microwave and then stand in front of the microwave and shout HURRY UP”. It’s a good reminder to curb my impatience. At work I consider myself generally a very patient person, maybe too patient at times (feedback welcome). Away from work I am definitely less patient but trying to get better (feedback welcome).
The final quote is from a list of shortcomings David Ogilvy’s shared with his staff in the 1970’s regarding his own weaknesses. He noted that “Like every one of my age, I talk too much about the past”. I feel like I fall into that trap at times so I am going to try to do less of it. It’s not that the past doesn’t have great lessons and memories, but I’m more of a futurist at heart.
That’s all for this week. Quick musings before I hop on a time machine to Europe.
Have a great weekend and happy Friday.
-Steve?
?? Modern Work Dad | Avid Learner | For Serving, Sharing, and Solving. ?? ??????
2 年?? "You can only have #patience if you have #love. You can only have #patience if you have #forgiveness. You can only have #patience if you have #courage." —— Dr. Maya Angelou | ?? In honor of #BHM we #learnitall together... Another great learning as learned recently from #parenting with children is that to #trust the process =) fyi together & best,
Director, Senior Executive Producer at Microsoft
2 年My new favorite quote - “It’s not that the past doesn’t have great lessons and memories, but I’m more of a futurist at heart.”
Head of Internal Communications, B2B at VMO2. Storyteller, writer, maverick. ??
2 年So pleased you made the time to write on Friday, I always look out for you to start the weekend with words of wisdom and wry humour. I’ve no doubt many of us see ourselves in the behaviours you describe. I know I do. My teenage boys pick me up on all of the above! Safe travels.
Absolutely loved this one, Steve. All three were great but I need to focus more on not shouting at the microwave :)