Shipulski On Design

Archive for the ‘Giving’ Category

When you do something for a long time, the physical and mental muscles you exercise get stronger and you get better at that activity.  But where the muscles you use get stronger, the ones you don’t use atrophy and you get worse at all the other things.

When you do something for a long time, people see you as someone who does that one thing.  And because it’s easy for everyone, that same old work lands on your desk and the system reinforces the problem.  The company knows it will get done quickly and well, and because you’ve done it before, it’s easy for you.  But what’s good and easy in the short term may not be so good and easy in the long term.  When you do what you did last time, you get stale and you don’t grow. It’s the same for your career.  When they see only one slice of you, there’s a long-term downside

When you look at the same old problems for a long time, you see only the same old solutions.  And more troubling, you’re blind to your blindness.  If you’ve solved the same family of problems for the last decade, you won’t see the new solutions made possible by developments in new areas.  And more troubling, you won’t see that it’s time to solve new problems because the same old problems find your desk.

What’s a dinosaur to do?

Pair up with a younger person who wants to learn and teach them how to solve problems.  Their energy will rub off on you and your smarts will contaminate them.  A fair trade for both.  Teach them how to understand the situation as it is – both in the problem space and political space.  Teach them how to read the tea leaves and hear what’s unsaid.  You’ll learn you know far more than you thought and you’ll get to show your whole self to your younger partner in crime.

Put them in a position to succeed and take pride in their success.  Give them credit and revel in their development. Help them stretch and protect them from breaking. Keep them safe and help them live dangerously.  Provide air cover as only you can, and do it with plausible deniability.  You will get great joy (and energy!) from this.

When you’re low on energy, help people. When you’re down in the dumps, take someone to lunch and listen to them.  When you’re tired of the same old work, help people do new work.  And when you want to feel good about what you know, teach people.

At this point in your career, you have all you need and plenty to spare.  Ground yourself in your abundance and give it away.  Everyone will be better for it, including you.

Image credit — Steve Walker

If you always want to be right, it’s time to ask new questions.

If you want to listen well, don’t talk.

If you want to start something new, stop something old.

If you want to do it again for the third time. give someone else a chance.

If you want it to be perfect, you don’t want to finish.

If you want to do something new, be unsure about what to do next.

If you want to hold tightly to things as they are, all you get are rope burns.

If you want to teach, find a student.

If you want someone’s trust, earn it.

If you want all the credit, you’re fast becoming a team of one.

If you want the Universe to change, don’t.

If you want to earn trust, tell the truth.

If you want good friends, be one.

Image credit — Sowhuan

I don’t give – regardless of the situation, there is no giving.

I won’t give – in this situation, there is no giving.

I cannot give – there’s a reason for the non-giving.

I might give – there’s something about this situation that could result in giving.

I almost gave – there was strong consideration of giving.

I will give – in the future there will be giving.

I gave, but I got more – there was more getting than giving.

I gave, but I also got – there was a little getting, but far more giving.

I gave, but I got credit – getting credit helped, but there was giving.

I gave – in this situation, there was giving for the sake of giving.

I gave, and could spare it – there was surplus, and in this situation, there was giving.

I planned, saved, and gave – there was forethought to the giving.

I gave more than I saved – there was a lot of forethought, and far more giving.

I’ve found that the size of the gift doesn’t matter. What matters is the giving.

I’ve found that giving is for the giver.

I’ve found that giving is like getting twice.

I’ve found that giving creates givers.

Thanks for giving when you can.

Thanks for giving when it’s difficult for others to ask.

Thanks for giving when no one else sees the need.

Thanks for giving when no one is looking.

Wherever you are on the giving continuum, thanks for giving.

“Give a big hand to…..” by Andrew Pescod is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0