You remember the set-up, right: Norm walks in (everyone shouts "NORM!"). He proceeds to belly up to the bar. Hops on his stool. Hunkers down like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sam pulls him a frothy cold one and asks in a nonplus manner, "How goes it?" Norm replies in a stoic, matter-of-fact fashion: "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear." Classic. Used it a million times myself.
So that was my kinda work week. The major issue stemmed from a collective lack of getting the "work" part. Or more appropriately, getting the work we don't have - BUT - still getting to work. You see, one of our business initiatives is admittedly a "work in process." Boy, is it ever! We are building the proverbial bridge, as we cross it. Which for some, is scary. Difficult. Concerning. Troublesome. Uncomfortable.
Given the situation though (i.e. timing, product, market, resources, etc.), moreover the upside opportunity (i.e. new sales, profits, market share, etc.) - we just have to keep working, as we work on it. We have to go, while we get going. We have to do, while we get it done.
For sure, this type of work situation is kinda messy and unstructured. It's not the way we all would like it, if we had our choice. More often than not, however, this is the way it is: at both work, and life. Sometimes, we just have to make it up, build it up and clean it up - as we go along. While we all love proof positive, verifiable been there/done that assurances - backed by trustworthy reports and bullet-proof, time-tested systems. But that's not gonna happen, most of the time. Nope. Quite the contrary.
So how do we overcome the FUD factor? Well, we don't. We just do our best to get along with it. In other words, where there's a will and a why - there's a way. It may not be "the" way - but "a" way. And "a" way - assuming the pros outweighes the cons - is better than no way. Way!
But don't just take my word for it. There's an awesome new book called Do The Work by Steve Pressfield - which does a fantastic job of explaining how to work, when the work is unclear. Its a great read and well worth the hour or so it takes to get it read. Oh yeah, the book is also free on Kindle; compliments of the folks at GE. So get get it my friend. Better yet, get to work on the work that needs work.
Doing The Work Is Good.
Posts
