Tag: expectation

Blog Post

Show Your Work – We Are Bad at Guessing

Post author By jrlsage
Post date November 23, 2016

It’s tempting not to share your work

The world seems to value “easy” when it comes to creative work.

So, you tell yourself that it isn’t worth showing the hard work you did.

The restless nights you spent answering emails instead of getting more shuteye.
The time spent away from loved ones while you answered one more phone call.
As a result of all these, you tell your boss that you’ve taken care of things and you are rewarded with more project assignments and less praise.

As a result, you tell your boss that you’ve taken care of it and your reward is often, more projects with less praise.

This result doesn’t make for a healthy work environment.

However, don’t take it as malicious.

Human beings do a horrible job at estimating the amount of work someone else did.

When you don’t show off what it takes, we assume it’s easy.

Take the time to mark down how long these things take. They help your boss understand how to manage and help you understand how to estimate (because we often misjudge time and estimates ourselves)

Know your worth, show your work.

Tags boss, expectation, managing, taste, work

Blog Post

Expectations, Screwdrivers, and Running Uphill

Post author By jrlsage
Post date October 7, 2016

Making something is hard.

When you do it enough, you face failure, and usually, a lot of it.

We think if we just get one thing to work, then it’s all downhill from there.

Eventually, if you keep showing up, something works.

Now you have a reputation.

With a reputation, you realize that it isn’t downhill, it’s uphill. It’s not easier; it’s harder to work.

Before, people didn’t know who you were, and now, there is an expectation. You have to fight the initial barrier to creating while making sure you don’t succumb to the weight of “expectation.”

You have to deliver! You made it happen before, do it again.

Hiding is easier because of the shadow of expectations.

However, there is an opportunity for growth with expectation. We gain muscles by working against resistance, not with it.

When there is the expectation, you can grow.

I think of expectation like a screwdriver. Like the screwdriver, the expectation is never far from any do-it-yourself (DIY) job because it gets things done. However, screwdrivers pike up. They are useful and small, so if we misplace one, we grab another to take its place. Many toolboxes have too many screwdrivers taking up space because they haven’t cleared them out.

We overload ourselves with expectations that we haven’t cleared out. It is worth the time so you can lighten your load.

After that, use the right screwdriver (expectation) to knock out the job (creative project).

Then get a bigger project.

Tags expectation, growth, hiding, screwdriver, toolbox, work

Blog Post

Don’t Under Share – Get Expectations and Why’s

Post author By jrlsage
Post date September 26, 2016

Context is critical. Don’t lose it.

It is easy to under share.

What is under sharing? “Under sharing” is when we don’t give enough context about a project. It’s when we hide because of fear(they should know so I better not) or expectation(they should know so I won’t).

Under sharing destroys working relationships. Why? Just because we under share doesn’t mean we “under expect,“ which leaves both sides at a loss.

It easily leads to:

Under share -> under expect [lead]
Under share -> under deliver [report]

For example, say a critical project comes to your desk. You decide to put one of your sharpest people on it. You have high expectations, and you expect this person to get through.

The last time, on a “regular” project, they didn’t need context and knocked it out of the park. You decide that they don’t need it here too. Besides, that might insult his or her intelligence. I mean, they should know, right? Aren’t you busy enough?

Wrong. At best, you’ve just handicapped a competent person, at worse, doomed them to fail.

This is in your future.

You have to direct and give them a chance to win.

A way to force yourself to do this is to add two items to whatever medium with how you communicate.

Those two things: expectations and “why” step out of the instruction and focus entirely on context.

i.e.

Instruct – Take the lead on “Project X.”
Expect – That I receive weekly reports, and we will see significant progress by (x/xx).
Provide the Why – This is a major initiative for the company and a chance for you to shine.

Don’t fall into the trap of under sharing.

Tags delegate, direct, expectation, expectations, under expect, under share, under sharing, why

Blog Post

Expectation and Anguish

Expectation leads to anguish.

The biggest source of my anguish is when I put my thought process behind someone else’s idea. It leads me down a rabbit hole that I do not like to go down. As much as I hate it though, I can’t help but see it through.

I start to selectively listen to the world and concoct a plan. I do not know where this plan leads. I do know that it has ‘truth’. My presence diminishes. What takes the place of presence is ‘my “ability” to read minds. “I KNOW WHAT HE MEANT”. Process goes out the window, and ‘result’ takes its place.

I hate looking at results. They are shallow representations of work.

This is easy to see in others.

I watched a man write a resignation letter last night.

It is hard to find something more emotionally laced than a resignation letter, especially the first draft. It is easy to identify yourself with your job. It is even easier to take it personal. From what I saw, the entire thing came from a place of expectation. He had this qualification, he worked this amount of years, and he EXPECTED a certain treatment. He couldn’t do the job any more. He looked like he was in

He looked at results. He knew what other people meant. He had a plan because he heard things. Everything that leads to shallow results. It was a sad representation of what expectation can do.

I want to get rid of that. One of the positives of sitting in an acting class is the ability to focus just on the moment, nagged out of expectation. As frustrating as it is, it serves as a wonderful reminder that expectation blocks you from achieving things that amazing. When a scene acted fully becomes undeniably interesting. Something as simple as packing a bag is mesmerizing. But that can only take place when the expectation is gone.

It isn’t easy to get there. But the alternative is to slave to the result, a slave to expectation. There is no freedom in that.

Tags anguish, expectation, result