A little boy wrote to a famous scientist, Buckminster Fuller, and asked him, “Dr. Fuller, what should I be when I grow up?” Dr. Fuller wrote back, “I can’t tell you what to be when you grow up. You have to look out into the world, see what you see that needs to be done, and go do it. No one looks at the world exactly as you do. So if you see something that needs to be done, and you don’t do it, it will go undone.”
What do you see that needs to be different, needs to change, or should happen a different way? Have you decided to go out and ‘fix’ that piece of the world?
No one sees the world exactly as you do…
We each have our opinions, maybe moreso on frustrating days in the workplace, and have a picture how things should happen. This is the basis of our individual vision.
The horse who is a little crazy…
I grew up riding horses, and I would always choose the horse with too much spunk over one I had to kick to get moving. I like to interact with people who are stronger in their opinions – and are able to turn that into productive movement forward – a challenge I would gladly take on in riding a horse. (However, it hurts more now to get bucked off than it did 20 years ago. )
We all have a little craziness inside us.
Our opinions. Our frustrations. Our grumblings. And if we listen closely, behind them all, we hear how we look at the world, and we also receive our mission in life – not from someone else, but from where our passions, values and drive points each one of us individually.
Never ignore those frustrations.
There is a strong value behind what is upsetting to you. I get frustrated by bad drivers, especially those who move slowly in the left lane. But it is not because I think what I have to do is so important, that my time is more valuable than theirs or that I think for some reason that I deserve to go first and should not have to wait. For me in particular, it bothers me because they are either unobservant or defiant, both unproductive behaviors. If we were each observing others for how we could help someone in some way or move out of their way if that is the best way to help, we could all accomplish more every day. This leads me to work with people who wish to be more productive to increase their level of critical observation and strategize in order to remove their defiance.
What drives you crazy?
Make a list on a particularly frustrating day. Then, take Dr. Fuller’s advice, and use that information of how you see the world to determine your marching orders for making your workplace and this world, a better place.