Tag: work

Categories
Blog Post

Show Your Work – We Are Bad at Guessing

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.

Categories
Blog Post

Just Execute for Now

Sometimes taste means not offering direction

Starting a new job or project is exciting.

You want to start applying your taste right away.

One of the ways to do that is to give direction.

“This isn’t how this works; let me show you how I do it.”

It’s tempting. You’ll get to show off your “ability.” While it seems all well and good, you could shoot yourself in the foot when you do this.

Remember, as a new person in a role or position, you lack context. Consequently, it takes some time to understand what’s happening around you.

So, take a moment, and engage with the world around you.

For now, just listen and execute.

Don’t execute that grand new plan, not yet. You’ll eventually get there.

Categories
Blog Post

The First Draft Gets You to The Second One

Get to the Second Draft

The first draft is important. It’s also the first barrier.

Granted, it helps us frame what we want to say.

That draft, however, isn’t what you ship. It is the first hurdle.

Thinking that the first try is worth shipping is a trap for the amateur. It creates a feedback loop. You may move fast while making. If so, you risk shipping work that isn’t your best.

You also have a built-in excuse: “It was something I just threw together.”

You stop yourself from doing better work when you ignore a first draft’s primary purpose.

That purpose is simple. The first draft exists to get to the second one.

Things get better with time and intentional work.

Categories
Blog Post

The Idea in Your Head Can’t Do Anything There

Do.

That idea, do it.

It’s a new week.

Try it. Good or bad, your idea is a touch point for your taste.  Trust the world to give you an experience that helps you grow.

Guess what?

Whatever it is might change the world. Or it might not go past your laptop screen.

Either way, you are better to have done it.

So do.

We are all waiting.

Categories
Blog Post

Work with Impact Requires a “No”

We have limited energy, so focus on impact

Learn how to say “no” for the sake of your impact.

Good taste requires it.

Working without intent is another form of hiding. It frees us from responsibility. It allows us to say things like “I’m busy” which in turn creates “faux importance.”

Busy gives us a place to hide. Focusing on things like e-mail or social media can signal “faux importance” due to the low impact they have on the work that we do.

We think people respect those who are busy, however, they respect impact a lot more.

You can’t stay “busy” all the time and make a meaningful impact.

So don’t choose yes constantly and stay “busy.”

Say no and get back to the work that matters.

Categories
Blog Post

What is Taste? How Will We Remember Yours?

Your taste is worth developing

Taste is the ability to intuitively decide something based on a pattern.

Taste is important when you do work without an instruction manual.

It helps you make sense of things in front of you, even if you can’t explain it. Taste helps you set direction in the face of complicated work. Every leader needs it.

If you can improve your taste, you can improve your work even in the face of complicated problems. When it’s honed to the highest levels, it is your calling card. Every time we use an iPhone, we see Steve Job’s taste.

How will we remember yours?

Categories
Blog Post

Write a Love Lette: Treat Your Work Like It Matters

Treat your work like a love letter

A love letter is “sendable.” We take our time to understand how the other person enjoys our communication and strive to match it. We leave ourselves open by admitting our want for someone else.They are honest and vulnerable. 

If your kid picked up those letters, they would smile, knowing that their parents loved each other. That effort and vulnerability show up in work. As a result, it reads well.

Therefore, treat your work like that.

Consider the audience, be honest, and make sure that if someone who you were close to read it, they would appreciate it because our work is our connection to the world. 

When you short change the work, you only play yourself. Make it count.

Categories
Blog Post

Deadwood and Scabs – Action is the Master

You Scab. It is a part of life.

As a leader, you deal with both deadwood and scabs.

We come from a lifetime of “unfair,” “disappointment,” and “expectation.” These things create deadwood over our growth.

“Action” is your fire to clear them out.

So if you tend towards action, you are more likely clearing deadwood. We don’t win all the time.

We don’t win all the time. 

Every time we make mistakes, we “cut and burn” ourselves. This creates a scab.  We make mistakes. Through them, we learn how to distinguish which is which.

Let the scab heal, and get back to business.

The good news is the more reps you get, the stronger the instinct becomes.

The human mind is very adaptive. We figure things out.

Chances are, there is a lot of deadwood to clear.

Get to work.

Categories
Blog Post

Ask Yourself – What Do I Need to Do to Show Up Everyday?

Consistency wins in the end

I think asking the question, ‘How to I succeed?’ isn’t the most important one.”

It’s valuable, don’t get me wrong. There are good results when we take the time to visualize and understand the difficulty of the “finish line.”

It just isn’t the most important one.

I think a more important question is “How do I show up every day?”

Making something is hard work. There will be days where you don’t want to engage. How will you respond?

It’s difficult to think about us “losing” and “failing,” however it is necessary if we want to make things consistently. If we don’t, we allow ourselves places to hide.

Time gets away from us all if we let it.

Don’t let yourself hide from possible failure, because it opens the door for real failure to show up.

Categories
Blog Post

Be Better

You can always be better

The “best” is a singular, winner takes all experience.

There aren’t multiple best.

Chances are, you won’t become the best. This gives you an excuse to hide.

“If I can’t win, I’ll take my ball and go home.”

There is always an opportunity to be better.

No matter where you are, skill-wise, better is available through showing up and pushing through “uncomfortability.”

Everyone can do this, even the “best.”

So, be better.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started