Author: William Kerr

I watched as a landscaper finished off their work at the building next door which entailed using a leaf-blower to ‘clean’ the parking lot.

It took the landscaper about thirty minutes to go over the entire lot and though I’ve heard and seen this happen every week, did not really think about it until today, while having a cup of tea sitting in the sun on the balcony.

The landscaper was blowing the dust and dirt towards some end but as I continued to watch, I noticed that much of the dust and dirt just settled back where it had been blown from.

I later walked over to where it seemed the landscaper had aimed her efforts and a pile of dirt might have been left but found nothing of note so I wondered, why blow the dust around in the first place. Was it just for appearance’s sake or did she really believe that her efforts were actually necessary and doing something?

A wind storm that hit the next day certainly showed an extraordinary amount of dust and dirt being blown around in the parking lot that was blown clean just 24 hours before.

So, how much of our daily work is similar to that landscaper blowing clean a parking lot, moving stuff around and having it settle back where it began and leaving, “nothing of note” done.

What I did find, walking back through the parking lot was a thin layer of dust on the cars that were in the parking lot when it was being blown clean.

And, like above, how much of our daily ‘leaf blower’ work does little more than leave a layer of dust on the people and initiatives that are in the vicinity.

Written while listening to a Jethro Tull concert.

…How to properly use a can opener.

…

When I came across this a number of years ago I was surprised at the controversy that ensued when I would mention it. In many instances, there seemed to be only one-way people perceived the information, either it was a revelation or it was nuts with each side quickly providing the reasons why they held their opinion.

The level of debate was somewhat astounding regarding the verticle vs horizontal use of a can opener.

In like manner, a controversy raged years ago that sitting was the new smoking so everyone should work standing up. For quite some time pundits and scientists weighed in to stake their ground with the requisite data to prove their side.

Like the can opener, consensus came down to an ‘either/or’ division, some stating that working while sitting is bad for our health and the other side convinced that working while sitting is better for focus and our well-being.

Enter ‘and.’

Though it seems common sense would suggest that maybe working while standing some time ‘and’ sitting at other times would be logical, we have probably all realized at one time or another that common sense is not always so common.

How many things in our work and personal lives do we battle with an ‘either/or’ model when ‘and’ might be a more effective way forward.

Or maybe remaining in an ‘either/or’ confrontation mode helps us hide a bit longer instead of actually getting on with things.

Written while listening to Rory Gallagher

Here’s a link to last week’s post which spawned this week’s topic but did not connect with some of my social platforms

…is a phrase indicating that it’s easier to get a job teaching how to do something than to get a job actually doing that thing.

Apparently, the origin of the phrase comes from playwright George Bernard Shaw and more recently commented on by Woody Allen with his riff, “those who can’t do, teach and those who can’t teach, teach gym.”

The original statement from Shaw’s 1903 drama series actually stated that “those who can, do; those who can’t teach.”

It seems both Shaw and Allen may have had little idea of what teaching is because teaching is ‘doing teaching.

Though it seems obvious that if one can’t really do something one can’t really teach it, Seneca the Younger’s quote that “while we teach, we learn,” puts us in a bit of a quandary.

Is it possible then that it’s not binary ‘either/or‘ but ‘and‘ meaning we need both together? Teaching and doing are part of the same thing. And being more generous with our work by understanding that just in the doing we’re teaching and in teaching, we’re doing helps things along.

Written while listening to Bach’s English Suites.