Bridging The Gulf Between Intellectuals And Everyone Else

Is the world really separated into two groups, the observers, pundits and teachers — the intellectuals — on the one hand and the rest of us on the other, as suggested in the recent article Intellectuals Are Freaks?

It’s probably more accurate to say that intellectuals are doers too, but that they are more likely to accept and embrace the fact that their work requires drawing inferences, lessons and insights from events and communicating their higher level importance to others.

It might be helpful, as suggested in that article, for intellectuals come to understand the world the way the rest of us do. And we can suggest and hope journalists and professors get a broader perspective by working for awhile in a job where success is measured with hard numbers about revenue and profitability.

But it’s absolutely critical that the rest of us add a little bit of “intellectual” activity to the jobs we’ve got right now. No need to move or even leave your cube. Everyone can stay put, but look at our work in a more intellectual way.

Imagine you are an observer watching you work — that you are going to have to tell someone what you see with some added critical commentary. Teach someone else how to do your job. Notice how this will force you to see the meaning of things at a higher level.

Suppose you added the following to your goals for the year, or even to your job description:

1. Measure how I’m spending my time. What activities make up my day?
2. Evaluate what I’m doing to help my co-workers and my boss and make them smarter, better, more informed, more productive.
3. Take stock of every action I take that actually helps a customer or a client with a problem they’re having.
4. Count the ways I’ve helped the company achieve its stated goals.

Deciding to make a habit of paying attention to the way you do your work is the first step to making important changes in everything you do. The next step is think and communicate about it. Try it for 30 days. See what happens. How will your workday be different?