A few months back I had the opportunity to hear Seth Godin talk on the subject of adaptation in business. His book Linchpin is must reading for anyone trying to make themselves invaluable in this new era of work, industry, technology, and art. One thing in particular, seemingly unrelated to the other subjects, stuck out to me and I’ve never been able to forget it.
While speaking on Silicon Valley, the tech epicenter of the world, and how that unique environment creates so many adaptable, cutting edge companies, he made this statement, “Silicon Valley is the land where forward motion is expected.”
Think for a moment on a statement like that, “the land where forward motion is expected.”
If we had to describe the work environment that you have created, how would we honestly describe that? Based on some of businesses and non-profit’s I’ve seen over the years, here area few silly, but valid suggestions:
The land where…
1. …People wait to be told what to do.
2. …people tend not to notice.
3. …people do as little as is necessary.
4. …we set expectations low.
5. …people don’t notice clutter and dirt.
6. …innovation goes to die.
7. …nothing much happens.
8. …grumpy people go to meet.
The reality is that people often have unstated evaluations of our “land”, of the places and environments we work in. These evaluations are judgments on the world that we have created by our habits, patterns, biases and attitudes. If we don’t like the land we have created, we can reshape it with those same tools. The most engaged people are creating dynamic, positive, loving, encouraging workplaces by bringing a sense of mission and energy to all that they do.
These kind of environments deal with problems when they arise, they don’t ignore them. They affirm the positive and address the negative, building a sense of momentum in getting problems and challenges resolved.
What could be the description of your work environment? Of your life? What would you like it to be? Once we determine where we are, and where we would like to go, we can set a course to get there.
This is the land of…..
David Curry
