Colleagues you care about are coming over for dinner. What should you make?
Some people don’t care if it’s delicious, as long as it’s interesting.
Some don’t need it to be interesting, but it needs to start on time.
Others define delicious differently than you do.
One couple doesn’t care at all about the effort you put into it.
A few don’t care if you’ve worked hard to create a spectacular meal, they’ll notice that the kitchen is a mess.
One person is really concerned that the food match their dietary needs.
And many are paying attention to the sustainability and cost of what you prepared.
Some are uncomfortable if you put in too much of effort.
The lesson is simple: empathy matters and empathy is hard. The more diverse the group’s interests, the more you’ll need to let them know in advance where you’re heading.
Get clear about what it’s for before you start doing the work.
You’re at the Zoom meeting, on time, and no one is there. Are you the ghost or is everyone else?
We needed a word for this existential minor dread, and now we have one.
Coordination is hard.
PS the Ides of March are overrated as a threat. It’s the chronic conditions that really get us in the end.
When an organization is known for speed and quality, it’s likely that if times get tough, quality will suffer before speed does. That’s because customers notice speed right away, but it takes a while to come to a conclusion about quality.
If a musician or politician is known for showmanship and wise insights, the showmanship will probably outlast the wisdom.
When we measure and compare the easily visible, we may be setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Here’s a simple rubric for outsourcing:
If you’re never going to need to do this again, and it’s easier to do it than to instruct someone else to do it, by all means, do it yourself.
If doing it yourself will give you joy or satisfaction that is greater than the productivity boost you’ll get from leverage or better tools, please do it yourself.
But if you’re going to do it more than once, and the customer can’t tell if you did it yourself or not, perhaps you should have someone else do it or build the tools to get it done more efficiently.
Next time will happen sooner than you expect. Better to invest a bit more now than to spend for that shortcut again and again.
Unreasonable commitment is unreasonable. It happens before there’s a guarantee it will work. It’s out of proportion to what others think is standard. Unreasonable commitment is dedication, persistence, care, energy, connection and investment that doesn’t seem to make sense.
You can’t do this in everything, and you probably can’t do it all the time. That’s why it’s unreasonable to expect.
I’ve been fortunate enough to do hundreds of podcasts. The hosts are even kinder and more professional than you’d imagine, showing up for months or years with virtually no listeners. They do it because they care.
But only one podcast host had me in tears before we began recording.
Last September, I spent the day with Mel Robbins and her team of more than a dozen professionals. We recorded for four hours, two episodes worth, and then they quietly spent six months editing the work.
Mel’s even more Mel-like in person. She’s fully present, committed and yes, over the top. Our conversation led to my new book and course, and it also reminded me that better is possible. Not just for the person in front of the camera, but for everyone on the team, for the guests and for the people listening.
Neil Pasricha wrote about Mel a decade ago. Before last year’s bestseller or the Golden Globe nomination or the podcast hit its stride. It’s a choice.
Unreasonable commitment doesn’t seem like a good plan until after it works.
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