"Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice." - Paul (the alien), Paul (the movie)
Things have going smoothly for the last week or so; I've made a couple of blog posts and a couple of awesome people have commented. Good times.
I thought it was about time for me to 'fess up. I don't know what I'm doing. Most bloggers I've come across seem to know what they are doing. I don't. I didn't want to wait until I was good - it could have been a damn long wait - so I've started now.
I'm in phase 1 right now, and that means trying. In this case I'm trying to do four things:
Write. A bit obvious this one. I like to write. Now I'm writing. Go me!
Work towards my top-level goals. More on what they might be another time.
Tease out a process. I'm gathering some thoughts around a process I've had rattling away in the back of my head for some time. It's part-Agile, part-Lean, and part wisdom accumulated from a decade or so working as a project manager. I'm not sure what the process is yet but I know it starts with trying and has the aim of small, repeated steps of improvement, moving gently up and to the right.
Finally, and this is the one that surprised me:
Make the world more awesome
I realised something recently. Naive and simple I might be, but I want the world to be awesome. Not just good, but awesome. Not just for some people but for everybody.
I don't see myself as being revolutionary material but that's kind of the point. We could rely on the actions of the powerful few to make the world a better place or we mere peons could band together and do it. The technology exists now to make a motivated few a force to be reckoned with. Get enough people working together, taking baby steps in the right direction, and the cumulative effect could be surprising.
I don't think I'm going to get very far. I'm unlikely to change anything. But the thing I've realised is that there is precisely no reason not to try.
Things have going smoothly for the last week or so; I've made a couple of blog posts and a couple of awesome people have commented. Good times.
I thought it was about time for me to 'fess up. I don't know what I'm doing. Most bloggers I've come across seem to know what they are doing. I don't. I didn't want to wait until I was good - it could have been a damn long wait - so I've started now.
I'm in phase 1 right now, and that means trying. In this case I'm trying to do four things:
Write. A bit obvious this one. I like to write. Now I'm writing. Go me!
Work towards my top-level goals. More on what they might be another time.
Tease out a process. I'm gathering some thoughts around a process I've had rattling away in the back of my head for some time. It's part-Agile, part-Lean, and part wisdom accumulated from a decade or so working as a project manager. I'm not sure what the process is yet but I know it starts with trying and has the aim of small, repeated steps of improvement, moving gently up and to the right.
Finally, and this is the one that surprised me:
Make the world more awesome
I realised something recently. Naive and simple I might be, but I want the world to be awesome. Not just good, but awesome. Not just for some people but for everybody.
I don't see myself as being revolutionary material but that's kind of the point. We could rely on the actions of the powerful few to make the world a better place or we mere peons could band together and do it. The technology exists now to make a motivated few a force to be reckoned with. Get enough people working together, taking baby steps in the right direction, and the cumulative effect could be surprising.
I don't think I'm going to get very far. I'm unlikely to change anything. But the thing I've realised is that there is precisely no reason not to try.
I've got goose bumps* reading this! It's so right for you Adam and so right for a lot of people who feel the same way.
ReplyDeleteBaby steps up and to the right getting better all the time - could become a dance!
* We need a better expression - goose bumps brings up a horrible picture of plucked goose. Suggestions?
Thanks Ann!
DeleteI think a dance would be an excellent idea. Will have to see who I can rope in :)
As for an improvement to goose bumps? Baby molehills?
Great post. I'm up for devising a dance. This could be good reference: http://youtu.be/ZTpn30Pms8I
ReplyDeleteWill Smith is so cool. Even acting stupid he's cool. My favourite is "The Carlton"
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon!
ReplyDeleteI think then a dance should be devised! And it should obviously draw upon the wisdom and power of The Carlton.
"Before you study Zen, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers; while you are studying Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and rivers are no longer rivers; but once you have had enlightenment mountains are once again mountains and rivers again rivers."
ReplyDeleteI've come to think that the best processes are those which are, in part, stepping stones onto better processes - those which aren't are just dogma.
Nice philosophy, I like it!
DeleteThanks for sharing, Ian.