These independent thoughts have in common the distraction of having two of something. In the case of business, this might be having two competing objectives, or to be more to the point not having one clear objective.
I think there is also something to the idea that trying to be something you are not (personally or professionally) creates two of you. The real you and the other you.
Lots of people think of the new year as a time to add to their lives those things that they think are missing. There is more value, I would submit, in ruthlessly getting rid of things that don’t belong.
Getting down to one is where I am headed each day. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Why haven’t you done that thing you have talked about doing for so long?
I get stuck in ruts just like everyone else. Every now and then I am reminded to pull my head out of (my butt) the sand and take a look around and ask the hard questions. Most of the time I don’t like the answers.
I get inspired by people like David Morken, who has consistently taken on the hard challenges (Ironman Triathlon, Wasatch 100, and now swimming the English Channel) to keep pushing themselves to get better every day.
This is a poke for you to do the same. Live life on purpose.
Most of us, when we think of a peaceful life, mean an easy life. A life without worry or trouble or heartache. There is a difference between easy and peaceful, however, and it’s important.
Easy lives are not really worth living. It’s the hard choices and tough days that prove your true character. Peace is being OK with the outcome, knowing that each step is a step on the way to something else.
I had never thought of this distinction until I heard it from Tim Keller the other day on a podcast. I think he’s spot on.
I was listening to the podcast from TED Global by Tim Harford on trial and error and the God complex. The basic premise of the podcast is that there is tremendous value in being willing to fail on the way to success, provided that the conclusion is not already foregone in one’s mind (having a God complex).
Harford brings in examples from all walks of life to illustrate his point, but the one I enjoyed the most was his example of talking about how Unilever designed a nozzle for making laundry detergent. At first, Unilever hired a mathematician (God) to solve the problem, but ended up evolving the design by trial and error.
At the end, Harford talks about the use of trial and error in schools and even in politics. It got me thinking about the recent passage of Obama’s healthcare plan. Listening to this podcast helped to clarify my thinking on this (and other similar sea change kind of decisions). The question is not what is the right answer, but how we get there. We simply don’t know the best way to solve the healthcare problem, but instead of trying things out in small groups and finding our way to the best answer, we pass massive legislation that is nearly impossible to understand or change once in place.
I really enjoyed this presentation, and found it quite thought-provoking. I hope you enjoy it.
What complex problems are you presuming the correct answer for in your environment?
I have spent the last few weeks in a mental fog. When I started Rocket Hangar my initial thoughts were that I would not have enough to do, and that I would be scrambling to keep meaningful work coming in while I explored the landscape and decided on the direction for the company.
The reality has been quite the opposite. I have more work than I can get done. I am about three months in now, and I realized over the weekend that I am spinning my wheels, mainly because I am looking at all the bright, shiny things I could do and not giving nearly enough thought to what I SHOULD do.
It may sound odd, but having too many options is almost worse than having precious few. With fewer options you have to pick something and go for it. What I have realized is that I find myself hedging each opportunity against the others and talking myself into and out of different ideas and concepts. If you have read Linchpin by Seth Godin, it’s classic Lizard Brain stuff. It’s not productive. I have to stop.
There is a story in the Bible about the use of what has been given to you called the Parable of the Talents. In the well-known story, a master goes away and leaves his three servants with differing amounts of money. To one of the servants he leaves five talents, to another two, and to the third one. The master returns and asks each of the servants what they did with the talents given them while he was gone. The servant who was given five has turned it into ten, and the servant who was given two has turned it into four.
The master then asks the last servant what he did with his one talent. The servant replies that he buried it in the ground because he was afraid of losing it. The master reacts violently, demands that the servant give his one talent to the servant who turned the five into ten, and that the servant be thrown out.
Regardless of your theology ( or lack thereof ), this story has applicability to decisions you make. We have a given amount of time on the planet, and we should think about how we make the most of it. For some, this means doing work that has a purpose far beyond themselves, like Scott Harrison of Charity:Water. For others, it means becoming entrepreneurs and starting companies, creating new creases in the marketplace, and making their mark there. For others, it means simply having work they love to do every day.
What it never means, if you subscribe to the principles laid out in the parable, is being afraid to do what you think is right or best simply because you are afraid or perceive some level of control you have over a situation when in reality you never had it and never will.
Think about it long and hard. What decisions are right in front of you, begging for you to do something about, that you are ignoring or putting off because of the fear of failure?
How many of us actually live one day at a time? I am not talking about the irresponsible notion of not planning and accounting for the possibility of tomorrow, but I mean living today like it is the only day that matters?
I was reading this morning in Pascal’s Penseé #47, which says:
“We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we have found it too slow in coming and were trying to hurry it up, or we recall the past as if to stay its too rapid flight. We are so unwise that we wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think of the only one that does; so vain that we dream of times that are not and blindly flee the only one that is…
Let each of us examine his thoughts; he will find them wholly concerned with the past or the future. We almost never think of the present, and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light it throws on our plans for the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means, the future alone our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”
If the present is all you have, does it change how you make decisions? Does it mean that you are reckless and don’t plan for the future?
For me, I think this means doing something important every day. I read an anecdote from Steve Jobs a while back where he says he asks himself every morning if the work he is getting ready to do that day is important. If it isn’t, he adapts and changes to ensure he does not string together multiple days of doing things that don’t matter.
I am not sure I fully grasp the concept of living only in the present. As part of my More And Less List for this year, I hope to get closer to what this actually means.
What do you think it means to live in the present? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Hi! I'm Scott Barstow, CEO of Rocket Hangar. I live in Raleigh, NC. I work on new technology in the social and mobile space, as well as doing strategic technology and management consulting for small to medium organizations, both for and not-for profit.
I read a ton of books, coach basketball, and play a lot of tennis.
