Monthly Archives: February 2013

#48 Whitespace

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It is comforting to come to a predictable work place. Comforting, but boring if done for long periods.

A work place that is 100% predictable is probably not innovating or pushing the envelope. Either their customers are not demanding enough or perhaps there is no competition or other burning platform to rally around to drive change.

If you want to work in a fun and exciting workplace, actively look for “whitespace.” These are the difficult problems that everyone wants solved, but no one wants to step up to solve it. Identify the whitespace, reward those who jump on the opportunity to take over the whitespace. Be sure to set the right priority so that people are not spread thin. Find the right sequence and do the top 2 or 3 items well, instead of doing a number of things badly. The illusion of progress when you do many things, may well turn out to be just that… an illusion.

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#47 Doing your best

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English is a funny language, you can express yourself, but at the same time confuse and obfuscate. Take for example the statement, “I am doing my best.”

This can have two meanings:

  • You are doing the best you can under the circumstances. The situation is tough, there are many challenges, you lack resources, and perhaps the skills. Unless something dramatic happens, your performance is unlikely to improve.
  • You are operating at the highest levels that you can. You could not do better no matter how hard you try. This is the point you want to be as much as possible. It is brutally hard work to get to this point, but so satisfying and fulfilling, you don’t mind doing it again and again.

This is more than a play on words. “Doing your best” is a clear metric to see how you and your co-workers are performing. Each meaning has a different set of actions that will follow, so make sure you are targeting the right meaning.

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