Be Graceful Above Grouchy
Credit: Midjourney.com

Be Graceful Above Grouchy

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune. Great minds rise above them.?
Washington Irving


Recently I came across someone who’d potentially plagiarised my work.

It came in the form of a newsletter from an acquaintance that I’ve known for some time. He gets my newsletter too, and we operate roughly in the same fields.

In his newsletter, he referenced some identifiable language and a concept that I’ve been writing and speaking about for the better part of a year. It’s unique enough to recognise as something that could easily be referenced back to me. Yet it wasn’t.

My first thought was to react by firing off a testy email letting him know that what he’d done wasn’t OK.

But before I did anything so rash, I did a couple of other things first:

  1. I reflected. Maybe it was pure coincidence? Maybe he’d read my stuff and then forgotten about it, only for it to resurface later with him thinking that was his original stuff? Maybe I’ve done something like that in the past too?
  2. I connected. I sent a WhatsApp voice message to a couple of trusted colleagues asking for their advice.?

Those two circuit breakers of reflecting and connecting changed the frame for me. I decided:

a) no idea of mine is truly original (thanks Seth Godin)?

b) I’m flattered that he might have been inspired by my work (thanks Colin Ellis ); and?

c) it’s not worth the energy to pursue something that only might have been true (thanks Simon Dowling )

I chose graceful above grouchy.

And I got on with my day.

Where are you choosing grouchy when instead you could choose to be graceful?


Like this post? For more good ideas on leadership, learning and living life deliberately, including resources that I don't share here on LinkedIn, go to https://www.digbyscott.com/thoughts#subscribe

Jo Clarke

Organisation Development | Leader Development | Organisation Culture | Coaching

10 个月

Oh that is indeed graceful... role model as always Digby ??

回复

Love this, great advice

Gaylin Jee

Building innovative human advantage |Founder of 33 Emeralds |Certified Facilitator LEGO Serious Play |Master Partner and Accreditor The Game Changer Index | #leaders #teams #systems

11 个月

Love this perspective Digby Scott - thanks for sharing. There is a humility weaving through this post which makes it very inspiring, and graceful. Hands up ... I may be referring to the 'circuit breakers' of reflecting and connecting, such an excellent way of putting it. ??

Dyane Hosler

Library Services Manager, Redland City Council, Queensland

11 个月

The person will know themselves if they have plagiarised and are most likely reading these comments right now. Their response is their own. It’s the strength yes to be grateful and keep moving onwards, being grouchy is a waste of energy! Love your posts!

Alex Belov

AI for Business | AI Art & Music, MidJourney | Superior Websites

11 个月

Digby, intriguing scenario! Have you considered confronting them creatively? Perhaps positioning it as an inspired collaboration could turn the tables. What does your gut say about flipping the script?

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