Category: This is all a test

…and expecting different results is a quote many of us may have heard over the years. It’s usually attributed to Albert Einstein as a definition of insanity, but the real author of the phrase is apparently Rita Mae Brown from her 1983 book, ‘Sudden Death.’

On a similar trajectory but in a different context, Twyla Tharp once stated, “If you only do what you know and do it very, very well, chances are that you won’t fail. You’ll just stagnate, and your work will get less and less interesting, and that’s failure by erosion.”

Though Twyla Tharp was speaking from a dance and creative perspective, there is personal and work-related relevance we can glean from both her and Rita Mae Brown’s quotes.

The work mantra for the last number of years has been to focus on strengths with a seeming implication to ignore or minimize a focus on weaknesses. Though probably a great idea for productivity or just getting through the day, it doesn’t seem to be a great strategy for personal or professional growth. 

Abandoning everything one does, or knows how to do, for the sake of growth would also be an unuseful strategy in the opposite direction. 

A useful way forward might be to find a little time and locate a weakness or two one could work on, take back a small part of one’s job that is usually given over to someone else, or put oneself in situations or take on a project where a stretch is needed. 

If we keep delegating or handing off work we think we’re not good at, we’ll probably never grow beyond where we already are. 

And in a world that is changing and evolving ever more quickly, this may be the quintessential mindset of personal and professional insanity, doing the same thing and expecting different results.

One of the best things I’ve encountered this week is Nassim Taleb’s 2016 Keynote address on ‘What it takes to be antifragile.’

PS: This blog post was thought of and written by me, no AI here, and is a mosaic of my experience, reading, and forward learning.

… a person who compromises digital services and networks through unauthorized access to an account or computer system.   

OR, a person who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle by non-standard means. (Wikipedia source for this somewhat altered version) 

The same concept, but as soon as one takes out the information technology and/or computer systems terminology, one begins to see a broader concept.  

Take work for example.  How many of us have ‘hacked’ our way through a project or sometimes just our day, taking the road less travelled one might say, in order to get it done.   

We’re all hackers to some degree, some of us more than others because the world is moving too fast for the systems to keep up.     

It’s now OK because it’s gone mainstream.  

Take a look at the second definition again and see where you stand.   

What did you hack today?  

If you didn’t, put on your hacker hat and think about what you could do better, quicker, easier, or more simply outside of how you’re supposed to do it?   

PS: This blog post was thought of and written by me, no AI here, and is a mosaic of my experience, reading, and learning.

  …as Dorothy wondered and exclaimed to her dog Toto in “The Wizard of Oz.” 

Throughout the entire article, there was no mention of what these organizations were doing to address these and other challenges, but maybe the article was just about the complaints and problems being faced, not the solutions.  

The pandemic seems to have turned things upside down a bit but what I have found in some cases is that the issues now being faced were present prior to the pandemic.  The pandemic just accelerated the issues showing up, not specifically causing them.

So, are these organizations doing the same things, trying to go back to an old normal using pre-pandemic mindsets to solve post-pandemic problems?

A better strategy for all of us might be to look at our situations and issues and engage with them as they now stand with the resources and insights we presently have so we can move forward to a more useful place.   

We’ve all heard the famous definition of insanity outlined by Albert Einstein, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.   

Maybe we’re all just a little insane at the moment.  

I heard somewhere that right now might be the last time things will be the same and, like Dorothy, we’re just coming to grips with the fact that we’re not in Kansas anymore.   

Written while listening to an Emilie Autumn mix.  

This blog post was thought of and written by me, no AI here, and is a mosaic of my experience, reading, and learning.