Ability and Focus

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES

Most people think they are better than average drivers. They are not. That is statistically impossible. Only a minority of people can be "better than average", and only a relatively few can be "good" or "the best".

There are two key things to be a better than average driver: ability and focus. That’s it. Most people don’t have one of those two.

If you are skillful but text while driving, then you lack focus. And aren’t a good driver.

If you focus hard but don’t have the experience or motor skills, then you lack ability, and aren’t a good driver.

Ability and focus are all it takes to be better than average at most things. One you are born with (focus), and one you are not (ability). You can drop everything in an instant and focus – you are born with that. You cannot instantly gain ability. That takes time, perseverance. 

Choose wisely what you want to be good at. If you have the ability, then focus. Pick something and stick with it. If you don't have the ability, then also focus because most people simply don't, and eventually you will get better.

Everything's Urgent, Everyone's Optimized

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES

You don't notice the plumbing in your home if it is working perfectly. You only notice it when the water backs up. But someone installed those pipes before the house was built. They planned and made decisions on the quality of materials, set dates, and hired workers. You didn't see any of that.

Everything's urgent, everyone's optimized. Everything's gotta come down to the wire. Most everyone is overworked and underpaid. So you don't notice the stuff that isn't urgent.

But take a moment to stop and look out over the horizon, the plains, the Serengeti. Watch the wind blow the trees. Look for the deadline – the danger – long before it comes. Combine this vision with the details of today. 

What's the one thing you could do right now that in three months would make a day pass unnoticed? What's the one easy thing you could do today that will eliminate urgency from a day in the future?

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The most difficult things in the world 

Must be accomplished through the easiest.

...

Therefore the Sage

Never attempts great things 

And so accomplishes them.

...

Thus for the Sage 

Everything is difficult, 

And in the end 

Nothing is difficult.

- Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching 

Blindspots

READING TIME: 2 MINUTES

A blindspot is similar to having a different point of view. Think of it as it pertains to driving. There's everything in the windshield. And you have three mirrors in order to help see what's beside and behind you. But they don't give the full 360° view. You can't see everything. You only have a partial view. 

There are spots the mirrors can't help with. If you're not careful you might change lanes and hit someone because you didn't see them. That's a blindspot.

But think of it from the other driver's point of view, the person you just changed lanes and hit. You're in their windshield. They think you're an idiot. They are looking at the side and back of your head. You can't see what they see. You can't see the back of your head.

Being confident based on what's in the windshield is not enough. You have to accept the limits of what you can see.

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There is a second-order to this analogy. You shouldn't drive in other people's blindspots. If you know you are in someone's blindspot, and hang out there for too long, and they hit you, that's partially on you. 

If you recognize you are in someone's blindspot, give a little time and space. Or let them know you're there. Don't become apoplectic when they change lanes into you. For you also have a blindspot if you don't recognize that you are in someone else's blindspot. 

There's a third person behind you who is watching you drive. They're looking at the back of your head and saying "that person shouldn't be driving in that other person's blindspot."

Different Views

READING TIME: 4 MINUTES

Sometimes we say about other people "He doesn't get it!" OR "She doesn’t understand what it’s like to do my job." But what does it mean to get "it"? 

A nice trick is to instead say "I don’t understand what it’s like to do what she does." The person isn't an idiot, probably. Just has a different view. 

"It" is the project, the show, event, job, situation, etc. Imagine you are working on a project. You can view it in your mind as an object. Pick it up mentally. Spin it around and view it from different angles. Look at it like it's an apple or a tree or a dog. It might be an ad campaign or a concert or a news report but you can see "it" as an object. 

There are others working on "it" too. You can put "it" in a room and everyone working can surround it. Everyone has a different view. The person standing next to you has a similar view. She can see almost the same thing. But the person 180 degrees around the circle, has a completely different view. He sees a side of "it" you don't. And therefore he has an understanding that you don't. It would look like this:

Now we can distort this image to make it more realistic. Everyone is not standing in a perfect circle. Some are closer than others. Some have their views blocked by clusters of others. Some are far away. Everyone still has a different view but the views are not equal. It would look like this:

Some people may have a poor view, but have a lot of control over the project. Power – or control – over the project is called clout. The more clout, the greater ability to control the overall vision. Some with the most clout may be furthest away with the worst view. And some may have the best view, but the least amount of clout.

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Another thing to realize is that this project is not the only one. There are many other projects and everything is tied together. What's more likely is that you are working on this one thing today, but it's part of a bigger project, a grand scheme.

Now imagine many small projects like stars in the universe. And you can take the same images from above and imagine people surrounding each one. Now we have dozens of projects. And people are surrounding them all, and have different views.

Your view of this one project may be good. But your view of some of the other projects is bad. Inversely, some people who have a very poor view of the first project that you are working on, may have a good view of others. And a few people may have a poor view of all the projects, but they have a lot of clout to affect the whole thing. That's your CEO, etc.

Given how complex this picture is, you can begin to see how complex the world actually is. Some people have a decent view of all the stars in the universe, all the projects. They may be in the back, but they see more overall than any other person. That is likely the person with the most clout. 

What's the point?

When working on a project, remember you may have a good view of it, and someone else may be impeding your ability to affect it. But that person also sees many other things that you don't. She sees a different view of this project, and many other projects tied to this one.

Also keep in mind that this project might be important to you. But in the grand scheme of things it may not be that important.