GarthBox

Thanking someone in a slack can be perceived as sarcastic.

An apology doesn’t resonate as much in an email than in person.

Saying “I love you” may check a box if it’s in text format, but it’s a world of difference to say it face-to-face.

Giving candor to a colleague will lead to performance changes faster if it’s done via a Google meet than through a written performance review module.

Funny how this list could go on and on; and it’s all the important stuff.

Stay Positive & Which Scenario Are You Opting For

p.s. the exception here may just be a handwritten note mailed. That sometimes carries more impact than something said in person. Oh, the irony.

My wife and I have a little container of change for an adventure fund that we’ll probably use for the girls one day when it’s full.

Would we rather have a massive barrel full of change already, though? Of course we would, despite the obnoxiousness of the size and the hassle of converting it to cash. But given the option between a barrel and what we have now, the selection is obvious.

Real life change works just the same.

A little bit of change is manageable, still beneficial, still growth.

A lot of change is hard and a hassle but far more valuable in the end when it’s cashed in.

I heard a great reminder about change the other day that’s worth sharing here: you can either have control or you can have growth.

It’s an “or” statement… and the catalyst from control over to growth? You guessed it: change.

Stay Positive & Change Pays

It’s not necessarily that you can choose to be happy (though there’s truth to that).

It’s that you’ve already chosen to be happy.

Consider this: you’ve already achieved the goals you said would make you happy.

Read that again.

Stay Positive & Happy Day To You

My daughter was having a meltdown about the cinnamon sugar not covering her entire piece of buttered toast.

Of course, it did, but some of the sugar dissolved in the warm butter.

The full meltdown was avoided when I pulled out some water and salt to demonstrate how things can dissolve. The maniacally best part? I got to see her have a disgusted face when she tasted the water to realize there was salt still in it despite it dissolving.

She’s never complained about the cinnamon sugar on her toast again. She learned and she enjoyed learning.

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I was debating the usefulness of a marketing campaign with a colleague and we were in a disagreement. I changed the topic to compare our strategy to that of another agency working on a fly fishing campaign (my colleague recently went fly fishing). The comparison made total sense and it led her to say something that made my argument about our campaign moot: “but I hate fly fishing.”

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It’s one thing to ask chatGPT to show its work and explain something, but it’s incredibly more powerful when you ask a follow up question like “Can you finish this sentence? The way the moon and sun switch in the sky is like….”

Stay Positive & Analogies Are Like Making A Half Court Shot At The Buzzer

The light can either be on or off. Simple. You know what you’re getting. And chances are either choice won’t impact you all that much in that it’s easy to determine which you need.

A bit more challenging?

You can either have growth or you can have control. Like the light, you can’t have both.

Just like we’d never turn the light off and think it’s on; let’s not have growth and think we can also have control… or vice verse.

The faster we realize it’s an “or” and not an “and” the faster we can move forward…and often with far less stress.

Stay Positive & Find The Switch

Telling someone you love them helps more often than it hurts.

Doing a job that isn’t yours helps more often than it hurts.

Exercising helps more often than it hurts.

I’m sure you can think of a few more things like cleaning up and organizing before you have to, checking in on the people in your network before you need something, and working on protocols that prevent disaster than protocols that clean a disaster up.

The list goes on.

The point is that we lean in when it sucks because we know it helps more often than it hurts.

Stay Positive & Doing Something That Sucks Every Day Is A Good Place To Start

In the fast-paced and ever-evolving landscape of today’s work environment, one phrase seems to persist across industries and job titles: “It’s not my job.”

This seemingly harmless declaration often signals a boundary, a limit to what we see as our responsibilities. But what if we flipped the script? What if stepping outside the confines of our job descriptions became the very thing that set us apart?

The Pitfall of Stagnation

“It’s not my job” is a mindset that breeds stagnation. It creates an invisible wall between what we are and what we could be. When we confine ourselves strictly to our defined roles, we miss out on opportunities for growth, innovation, and leadership. In contrast, those who embrace tasks outside their job description often find themselves at the forefront of new opportunities and career advancements.

The Differentiator: Going the Extra Mile

What distinguishes the top performers in any field is their willingness to go the extra mile. These individuals understand that true success lies not just in fulfilling their duties but in exceeding them. Here’s why doing what isn’t your job can be your ultimate differentiator:

Skill Expansion: Taking on tasks outside your usual responsibilities broadens your skill set. You become more versatile, adaptable, and valuable to your organization. This continuous learning approach can lead to personal and professional growth that rigid adherence to a job description simply can’t match.

Problem-Solving: Tackling challenges outside your job scope forces you to think creatively and develop innovative solutions. This problem-solving mindset is highly prized in any workplace and can position you as a go-to person for resolving complex issues.

Visibility and Recognition: When you step up and take on additional responsibilities, you get noticed. Managers and colleagues see you as proactive and dedicated, someone who is committed to the success of the team and the organization. This visibility can lead to new opportunities, promotions, and career advancements.

Leadership Development: By venturing beyond your defined role, you demonstrate leadership qualities. Leaders are not defined by titles but by actions. When you show initiative, take ownership, and support your team in unexpected ways, you naturally position yourself as a leader.

At The End Of The Day

There are two final thoughts to remember at the end of the day.

The first is a lesson I learned from Kim Scott: some people are at stages of life that they want to excel and others are at stages that they merely need to maintain. The typical example is of a parent having a child and wanting work to be smooth, no unexpected hurdles or added stress or more responsibility, but there are hundreds of reasons out there that ultimately align with the objective of not doing what’s not your job.

The second lesson is when it comes to others. Never, and I do mean, never tell someone that something is not their job. The benefits of doing something that’s not on the job description aren’t secret; they’re obvious. That’s why the first half of this blog post was just telling you what you already know. That means someone is doing it intentionally because they are in a growth stage focus of their career.

Stay Positive & So, Who’s Job Is It Again?