Saturday, November 15, 2008

I can´t I can´t I can´t

Thought I´d share this.
If I write anything I´ll ruin it...

Ok.
Maybe this toon from a while ago helps:

The lesson for companies: how many Nick Vujicic attitudes do we have?
Okay. Or first: do we think this attitude will take us farther than the fearful ones?
Then why do we insist on instilling control over trust?

We promote fearful behaviors. And we make decisions about our professional future, our dreams, our everyday responsibilities....based on that fear.

Why? Why the first thought that crosses our minds is ¨hhhmm...don´t think so...¨ or ¨who? me!? Naahhh...¨
Maybe cause we don´t want to let ourselves down, or we don´t want to think we can and then be wrong when we fail (one failure is enough).

I guess I´m forgetting the positive side of this.
Life is too interesting to settle for living without knowing ¨what could have been¨.
If you dream about it, go TRY IT!

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be” ~ George Sheehan (via jungle of life)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

You might as well

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Mediocrity is poweful


It´s no secret. If you´ve been in the ¨professional world¨ for at least a week of your life you´ve seen it in action.
CYA. Cover your Ass.
The tactics, to name a few:
- Copy everyone and their dog in an e-mail ¨to make sure everyone is informed¨.
- Repeating ¨we have to¨ and ¨we need to¨ instead of ¨we are going to get this done by this specific date¨.
- Nodding your head like an hypnotized cow in meetings when you don´t know what the hell is being said instead of asking for clarification (many times the person talking doesn´t know what she´s saying either).
- Avoiding to commit to a date for something you know is important ¨because you depend on others¨.

No matter how big the plans or how bold the strategy of a Company, the CYA guy is as powerful as the CEO, cause he is the guy that PREVENTS things from getting done.

The problem: Mediocrity is contagious. And grows exponentially.
Just like y= x³, you get an ever bigger (exponential) increase of mediocrity (y) for a steady increase in the number of people acting that way (x).

The paradox: We all know this. However, at some point, we´ve all seen ourselves there. Sometimes for a day, sometimes for a week, sometimes for the rest of our ¨careers¨.

We humans are weird beings: we want to do stuff but more often than we´d care to admit end up on the other side of the spectrum when we try. Specially if there are others involved.

Life is too short. No offense, but we can do much much better. We´d get so much more done if we focused on 10 or 20 things.

So I´m in the middle of something to try to contribute. Watch this space.

Oh, and what´s true in business is also true in life.

Debunking the myth that all rock songs have stupid lyrics #1

From Motion City Soundtrack´s album ¨Commit this to memory¨, a song that speaks to our fear of failure. And the melody gives me the chills:

Why can't you finish what you've started?
Why can't you try and understand?
It doesn't make a bit of difference if you start what you can't finish
Every story needs an ending, after all.

I think I've known it for a long time
Suffice to say, it's been a while
You're too afraid to face the outcome
Quite likely, you're a failure
It's a shitty thing to say, but hey man - the clock is ticking

....

What fills the magic in the meantime?
I know it’s hard without advice,
You need to find a new solution,
Adaptation and retribution,
If you truly do believe in something,
Somehow it all works out.
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