Why This Blog?
Reading and thinking about these posts will help you…
- Develop and maintain a new kind of awareness of what’s going on in your workplace,
- See more quickly and clearly what the situation requires,
- Give generously of your time and efforts to help make good things happen, without undue focus on what’s in it for you, and
- Express yourself often, with the right balance of getting your message out and regard for the circumstances and foreseeable consequences, and
- Stay open and ready for your priorities to change — quickly and often — to match the constantly shifting environment in which you operate.
Any career or life’s work is really a matter of moments strung together. Some you’ll describe as positive, some negative, but in retrospect even the events in these tiny slices of time will be seen to have mixed results.
If you go into each moment — not wearing your title or job description or the size of your office or your paycheck like so many badges, belt notches or helmet-marks — but just being open and ready to observe and learn, and to make all your interactions the best they can be, you will measurably improve your chances of achieving positive outcomes. That’s the most anyone can realistically ask of him or herself. Anybody who promises you more than that is just blowing smoke at you, and I think most of you already know that.
So, this blog is not about how to change a corporate culture, but it is definitely about corporate culture. It’s not dedicated to helping you find that sweet, serendipitous place where your unique skills and passions meet the work you were meant to do, but you may find that happens naturally.
The posts you’ll see here are designed to help you mobilize the resources of your workplace, just as you find it, to get good things done despite an imperfect culture, broken processes and the limitations and constraints of the organization or the unwillingness of others to cooperate.
It is about taking stock of the place where you work, getting a clear-eyed view of what the situation actually is (and isn’t) and acquiring a particular mindset and attitude about how to be productive there.
The title On The Spot Insights is not about the insights contained in my posts, but about the ones you’ll come up with specifically about your own job or business after you’ve read them.
When you do, let me know. I want to hear from you!