Life Lesson

My daughter swiffered the floor (she’s three, mind you).

“Daddy, did I do a good job?”

If a good job is doing a job. Yes. If a good job is removing all of the dog hair on the floor of a room. No. If a good job is feeling proud of the effort you put in. Yes. If a good job is showing your sister how to be engaged in household chores. Yes. If a good job was doing it well enough that we don’t have to redo it again later. No.

Your team might not ask for the feedback, but they want to know if they are doing a good job.

Of course, you could make it so they don’t have to wonder what’s a good job.

Handing them the swiffer is one thing. Telling them what a good job looks like with it is a whole other.

Stay Positive & BRB, Gotta Go Reswiffer With My Daughter

It’s a beautiful expression, really. Even more so when you think about all that can be categorized under it.

• Interrupting destructive habits
• Awakening our heart in the work we do
• Being curious about the interesting as well as the uninteresting
• Raising a family
• Innovating through empathy
• Leaving a legacy
• Advocating for social change
• Developing your philosophical system
• Restoring nature, hope, or motivation

Stay Positive & Ain’t Life Grand?

A leader’s job is to blend two objectives.

1. The needs of the business.
2. The wants of the team.

That’s it.

Succeed in achieving those two things together and you’ll be the most sought out leader in the world.

Stay Positive & Never Said It Was Easy, Though

There’s far too much internal debating about content, product, GTM, and alike.

At some point (and that point happens far earlier than we ever think), it’s best to put it in front of the target and get feedback.

Of course, the feedback may not be perfect. Perhaps it’s best to get thoughts from 2-3 targets to really round it out. But you don’t need far more than that to validate killing, continuing or simply shipping a project.

Asking the target (not through some formal survey or incentivized email, but on the phone, in person or on a video call) gives you the shield to protect an idea as others intend to share how they think or feel about it (or perhaps when new team members join the project and want to influence it).

“I think this works best” holds no weight against a statement like “I talked to a target prospect and they said this would be strong collateral.”

It’s not perfect, I’ll admit. But perfection isn’t the goal. Alignment and shipping the thing is.

Stay Positive & When Did You Share The Work With The Target Last?

The unpredictability of the sea is what makes it so magical.

The uncertainty is tantalizing; rather, the only thing that is certain is that it will change.

The current shifts. Different animals pop up. And you never know exactly what you’ll see what you’re out at sea.

Most of our projects and jobs and businesses are more like the sea than we acknowledge them as.

In fact, it’s when we try to see them differently than the sea that we get frustrated. When we act like consistency is permanent or tomorrow will be almost exactly like today or the guests we’ll serve next weekend will be the same kind of guests we served last weekend.

Far better to lean in, appreciate, and work with the change.

Stay Positive & Grab A Paddle

Every ingredient that goes into a recipe is a choice. The volume of each ingredient is also a choice. The timing, temperature, and process of adding the ingredient is also a choice.

It’s a choice to make it in your kitchen instead of someone else’s.

It’s a choice to take a taste throughout the process to determine if it’s on track.

In quality management, there’s an optimization model that calls on you to ask why five times and then a how when you’re facing a consequence.

(Why was production off? The canning line broke down. Why did the canning line break down? We weren’t staffed accordingly to prevent it. Why weren’t you staffed accordingly? The manager thought we could make it work? Why did she think it would work? She’s done it before at another establishment. How did she achieve seamless production at the other establishment?)

Every step of that was a choice and the value-add comes from exploring all the choices that resulted in the production being off.

If you’re not getting the results you want then it’s worth evaluating the choices you’re making. All of them. The smaller the better.

Ultimately, the choices are everything.

Stay Positive & The Controllable Outweighs The Uncontrollable

They can’t connect with you if they don’t know about you.

If you don’t mention your family. If you don’t wear your favorite Hawaiian button ups. If you don’t use a clear glass to drink your matcha tea while on camera.

The way to start connecting with more people is to become more connectable.

Stay Positive & Flaunt It