The Point

Saturday 7th September 9.45am

I have discovered something about deadlines. More accurately I have discovered something about my reaction to them. 

I decided a week ago that I would stop writing 500 words on a daily basis and write 3,500 words on a weekly basis. Given that I had managed the daily routine for about 3 months it seemed logical that I could easily produce essentially the same over the week. 

It is Saturday morning and the first “weekly” is due tomorrow, according to the wordcount I have about 3,410 to go. I could of course just not do it, and this is still under constant consideration. I am doing it now but as my prevarication might hint, I have not yet found a subject.

On some level I am the subject. Like us all I know some stuff about some stuff and my arrogance fuels my belief that I have something to say. I just don’t know what it is. As I consider my place as the flotsam and/or jetsam of the less important things I realise the height of my ambition, if I am foolish enough to have any, must be tiny.

What is the point? A perfectly valid question and one I am far from sure I have the answer for. I almost surprise myself with the realisation that the very real possibility, given the massive size of the challenge, that I will never know or even get close to knowing the answer doesn’t bother me too much.

What is the point? Because it’s there? The point, or finding it, might frustratingly, be the point. All achievement is thereby implied random and therefore of less, or even little value? Walk gently and practice random acts of kindness, the journey may be the point.

Why bother? The argument above is that the journey might be all there is. You can choose not to go; nobody is holding a gun to your head but if you decide not to go what are you going to do? The Meaning of Life, as Monty Python might say, might not be the answer but yet another failed attempt at the question.

I am in the school of feed an interest if for no other reason than to kill the time. Get as enthusiastic as you like about anything you like, but, as you get closer to the edge be aware that obsession with its dangerous friends is close by. 

A friend recently made an interesting point when talking about self-awareness, “now that I realise, I am not at all surprised”. This strikes me as funny and sad in equal proportion, demonstrating the awareness gained and the steepness of the hill yet to climb in one breath.

At the time that I realise that I have written enough words for what have would have been enough in the good old days, I also realise that I have my subject for the article, What is the Point? I am not sure where to go next, somewhere along the line I will stop continuously keep checking the number of words, exploring what happens next is part of the new plan.

The first thing that happens next is that I am not allowed to stop. Thinking is like swimming on the sea. You can stay on the surface, floating from pretty colours to click bait or dive down. You can dive a metre or a mile, it is easier than swimming as you don’t need to breath. 

I remember complaining to a colleague, using the above example when they interrupted me. I am entering the second 500, going straight down using all my energy and focus when they do something attention grabbing, like breath. Concentrating is harder than you might think and requires, as close to my head can manage, to laboratory conditions.

New distractions will soon be upon me, rugby on television to watch and a need for food. I promise myself one more push before I dry off for a while. I will not finish the meal at this sitting but the more I eat now the less I will have to later.

I know I am searching for something, but I don’t know what it is or why I am looking. I am not even sure that why matters. You have to do something, and this is something. I recently described self-awareness as a mistress you can never settle down with and an infinite appetite for more. Despite the subliminal sexism, the muse is both enchanting and malign at the same time.

Everything starts with self-awareness, and never ends. What is the point of what exactly? An approach to selling, management or human interaction? To what end, to make any protagonist perform in a better way? I am far from sure I am on their side. As a long-standing lefty, with a romantic view of a utopian world am I saying lets all join hands and sing kumbaya?

I remind myself of my tiny ambition and that it is in stark contrast to the size of world peace. I do want world peace and I want to help if I can, even if the extent of my contribution is not to start any fights. Why do I want it, as George Mallory said, because it is there?

Sunday 8th September 10.05am

How long does it take to write 2,500 words? As with so many things, it depends. If I know what I want to say not too long, perhaps a few hours. The dependency, as always, is that I do not. The search continues and as I try to balance the need to get it done and the value of the contribution the route is unclear.

The subject, What is the Point, obviously needs more detail. What is the Point I would like to make, there are so many and yet the first thing that comes into my head seems a very random way of reaching a decision? Not only am I looking for an idea I am also morbidly fascinated by my thought process, self-awareness always peeping over my shoulder.

I have never been a fan of a good idea; I prefer them to a bad idea, however, any idea without a plan to execute and achieve is idle chatter. I would say that I and the world generally does not have a shortage of ideas, not even a shortage of good ideas. What stops us all achieving more is not the lack of an idea, but, the lack of a sensible majority standing up to the soundbite mentality we all seem to be the victim of.

As I have mentioned before, one of the things we strive for is simplicity. This is not to say that we support oversimplification, it is a complicated world and surprisingly often the challenges we face require sophisticated solutions. As Da Vinci said, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. 

The distinction I believe exists, is between complexity by necessity, and, for its own sake by those who would manipulate the question to serve their own ends. From high politics to a simple business plan the examples are all around us. All stakeholders, be they members of a team or citizens at large, represent the sensible majority and if consensus can be found on the simple objectives the necessary complexity can begin.

It all comes down to logic, and perhaps that most elusive of quality’s, honesty. It strikes me that all arguments are not primarily based on the complexity of the question but the simplicity of the objective. 

I believe in the goodness of the average person but again it depends. I try to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, and, whilst I am happy to accept the plaudits for this visionary stance, you should also know that I am often too quick to judge. The average person is my hero, the one next to him or her is a waste of space. 

Honesty is a high bar. To tell the truth, the real truth, demands fundamental honesty with yourself. In any number of everyday examples, the difficulty is easy to see, “would you like a cup of tea? I don’t mind do you want one”?

In my example imagine that you are the first to ask and that you yourself fancy a cuppa but don’t really want to make it. Being the fine upstanding citizen that you are, you make the tea, for those of us that are not on the Mrs Doyle compulsion from Father Ted, honesty is our only defence to bad behaviour.

I think that might be enough of a sermon for this Sunday, back in the real world everybody has the potential to be a lying bastard. My advice is keep your guard up at all times. The simple plan does ideally require honesty with yourself, your guard being logic. If you always make the tea, there is something wrong.

Sunday 8th September 11.34am

About 2,000 words to go, nearly half-way, downhill all the way home from here. Giving myself this quick pep talk is evidence of the other word I apply as best I can, moderation. In some fantastically optimistic corner of my mind I will one day write something great, in mission control we care about getting the mission over without casualty. 

I know at this stage that this will not be the great piece of writing I aspire to. I am also pretty sure that I will complete and publish a 3500-word article today, moderation. The mission, to try, looks like it will be landed, all be it with a few bumps and bruises. I live to try another day and to the benefit of my own wellbeing this will be marked up as a success, a moderate one.

The good news is that honesty and moderation are the only two words I suggest you need to remember. The less good news is that moderation is just as complex as honesty. I want to be passionate, dedicated, driven and moderate. A difficult balance.

I approach it a bit like sport. During the game I just want to win, and any distraction is unwelcome. Reflection and review where moderation is sought is the time for the strategic plan. Keeping in balance is not only hard it is also wrong if it always is, growth requires exploration and therefore risk.

I do like a balanced and moderate objective; I also like an audacious goal fuelled by crazy imagination. To accommodate both of these, because I love them just the same, I try to see them as individual members of the same family. They will quarrel and fight but understand and accept that at the end of the day they are on the same side.

Moderation is a hard thing to sell, its up there with collaboration. It is often miss sold as a minority opinion dressed up as being in the interest of the majority. With those promoting words like “surrender” as the lingua franca of the day I think it serves us well to be suspicious of those who would deceive. 

Sunday 8th September 12.32am

Still downhill but I have stich. With about 3 days’ worth of writing left to do (1500 words) I need to dig deep or take a break. My first thought is in any decision is not to exclude either if both can be accommodated.

Boris apparently prefers death in a ditch to delay. Speaking for those of us who prefer planning to pantomime, let’s not be too quick to discount the idea of a win win.

The original point, What is the Point, has so far revealed that it’s about the journey and that honesty and moderation might be useful allies. I have also suggested that these allies present an unsurmountable and a lifelong challenge and will betray you if not carefully nurtured. It is all about taking part and being the best version of yourself you can. 

I like a good old-fashioned brainstorm. Make a list of 20 uses of a banana, if you finish, add 20 more. Once you establish a framework, no matter how broad you make it, you encourage creativity and innovation within that. Moderation occasionally needs to be ignored so that invention can flourish. I did say it was hard.

I seem to have more space left than I would have ideally liked so I am going to throw in one more word. In addition to journey, honesty and moderation please give a warm welcome to; objective. That’s it, I promise.

It had to be objective as clarity of objective doesn’t scan. A good clear well-defined objective is a thing of beauty. It is how I re centre, on the way to a meeting, before a scheduled call or before I start thinking about something. 

What do I and everyone else involved want out the event? Be clear about what you want to consider what others might want, and, identify as clear an objective as you can before and separate to considering the plan. The amount of realism one applies to “what you want” is a user preference and will be considered against the cost of failure.

Notwithstanding all of the above I do love a bit of technique. It is easy to hear a politician in the current climate answer a different question to the one asked, not exclusively, the devil’s best trick should not be applied. If we assume “they” are all the same very often “they” are well on their way to achieving their objective.

I have just heard the Chancellor say there are two parts to the plan, prepare for no deal and try our hardest to get one. Who was that guy, when invading another country would first of all burn all the boats so that everyone one knew only one of two outcomes would be possible, death or glory? Did it help? Is it very sensible?

I know I made a promise, but I want to propose another word, logic. Is it logical to say I want one of two things that are diametrically opposed? If it does not, then any plan that has them both as an objective is flawed at best and false at worst. If what you claim is the truth, especially the simple kind it should stand up to simple logical scrutiny lest it be suggested that it is a lie.

Success has many parents and failure is an orphan. Failure, especially when obvious and anticipated, conversely, has many villains and the guilty game players are always too keen to identify them for you. 

When the news tells me, a man won a race for the 6thtime and a woman beat a world record, in that order, it strikes me that it is a bit back to front. Unconscious bias? Easily explained or excused even on occasion correctly explained. If it is so easy to make an innocent mistake what happens when you introduce spin?

I once worked in an organisation where the CEO, a genuinely nice and bright person, would regularly contradict himself in the same sentence. Very few seemed to notice including himself. He was guilty of too much thinking on his feet and trying to sell an idea after the sale had been made. We all have our strengths and weaknesses; visionaries often have a blind spot a strength has its logical limit before it becomes a weakness.

Just this last little bit. What have I learned about the process? It is now beyond doubt that I will publish this, the first of my weekly 3500-word articles later today. I found myself putting it off until, if not the last, quite a late minute. At this stage with a week before the next deadline what do I now know that I might use?

I don’t exactly enjoy writing these, it is a bit too much like work. Immodestly, I am able to find myself interesting and this is a way of forcing myself into a place where thinking is not optional. I am not sure if avoiding thinking is human nature but if it is mine, it is something I would like to curb. As is my habit of self-compromise it is a trade-off, finish this and then see what anaesthetic the TV has to offer.

As the week presents itself and mission control demand a plan, I think I am in a pretty good place. There is always a lot to do and that in itself is a good sign. As far as writing next weeks article is concerned the one simple lesson is start earlier. I still spend a lot of time thinking about a theme or subject area. As evidenced here I still don’t have a final contender.

I need to set aside more time to read. To put it more clearly, I need to finish reading the odd book. I have four currently on the go, one in reserve and three on the old list where I have promised myself to try again. The consensus is that I will finish two before buying a third. When I do buy again, I think I will get a biography, the genre that for me combines interesting and entertaining as long as they are not too clever.

Sunday 8th September 2.39pm

As I confront the last 600 words, I try to contextualise what if anything I have learnt. A lot of this has the feel of a diary but not enough to suggest that is a hidden desire. If anything in striving for authenticity, another word for honesty, it becomes necessary from time to time not to self-censor too much. 

I was chatting recently to some people about the nature of work. We quickly agreed on the desire for interesting, significant and fun, a three-card trick with more ladies to follow than time available. Good luck finding it, because if you do, you don’t need anymore. If you are going for the hat-trick be aware self-awareness will be critical and like a lot of things of value the reward will match the effort.

Why am I writing these seems to be the recurring question and I don’t know the recurring answer? I may never know the answer let alone if it is the right question. I may be giving too much credit for determination, or equally, possibly not enough. I am writing these because I have the feeling that I may discover something of value. Like all great adventures the very real possibility of that not being true has equal merit.

So, in the desperate attempt to finish, in summary, how does the longer form of the game suit me? Like the old, there is the vague feeling of it being a pain in the arse, and yet a small sense of satisfaction that what was a different and not inconsiderable challenge has been met. 

I may indeed be digging deep in search of value or indeed wasting my time. The triumph, self-declared, is in the ongoing search. It would be a lot easier if I knew what I wanted to say, but, while we wait for clarity to reveal itself, an effort is being made. The longer form is different, too soon to decide if it is different good or bad.

I enter the new week fully intending to write another article and therefore to not give up, just yet. The words coming now as blood from a stone, the wordcount defying me, completion the undisputed winner over quality and yet we have a winner and live to fight another day. 

The discovery is that this form may be forcing me to think or approach the task, differently. This, from memory was the point, I think it is slightly harder, but, that may be required and therefore not necessarily a bad thing. I will vary the approach and as part of that perhaps make it easier for myself, starting sooner and trying to identify one subject and sticking to it prime amongst the new ideas.

It hardly seems worth writing anymore, the target within in reach, creative energy on the point of surrender. Counter intuitively when you run out of reasons to try, that feels like the most important time not to give up. 

Victory is mine, clearly defined and adjudicated by the victor. There will be other battles, and I hope, other victories. I live in hope that there will be greater victories and accept that there will be defeats amongst them. For someone who is a little too fond of winning the realisation that it is the taking part that really matters is comforting and annoying at the same time.

My passing thought is that I will write the article next week on the subject of motivation. I think I have an ability to motivate and that the ability starts with being able to motivate yourself.

Martyn Richards works for Wishful Thinking Fundamentals Ltd and is a Mentor to a range of technology clients.