Perspective is Everything!

It may not seem so given the last three months.   I have to tell you:  Lately, I have been letting the glass-half-empty mentality of what has been surrounding almost everyone get to me.  As you can tell by my earlier blog posts, I am trying to stay positive as I wonder what the future holds.  At times, I have wondered if we, as a world, are heading to a place with no hope.  After all, the Covid-19 virus is one of many issues we have.  Global warming, immigration issues, trade tariffs, and trampling of personal freedoms are constantly in the news.  Add in the challenges of keeping a business alive, and I find myself getting overwhelmed at times.

Perspective is everything.

I was going through my draft blog posts, and an article by Steve Denning gave me pause, providing a bit of perspective.  Steve went through a retrospective, taking a look at how things have changed over the course of recent history.  When you take some time and read the article, you realize that we have come a long way.  We have reduced poverty, people live longer, eliminated disease (polio and smallpox), and generally made people’s lives better.  We have come a long way.  Most of the folks who were alive 100 years ago would have struggled to imagine the world we currently live in, thinking science fiction was just that.

No doubt the challenges in front of us are immense.  The population of the U.S. is divided on about every topic. Open or shelter-in-place, discrimination, sexual harassment, and hatred seem to be everywhere.  Do you walk on eggshells around your friends to avoid getting into a fight?

To survive in this environment, you have to find hope.  You have to believe that things will get better in the future.  Believing that we will overcome the challenges and issues in front of us may seem like science fiction today, but without hope, what do we have?  We have to continue to push forward, continuing to face the challenges head-on, fighting the good fights, knowing that things can get better.  After all, isn’t that what got our species to this point?

If you want to check out Steve’s article, you can see it here.

Chris

My unique content challenge is a goal I have set.  Will you hold me accountable?

Over the years, I have resisted the concept of re-sharing content from others.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve been doing it over the last 2 years.  I’ve shared quotes and articles of others. I don’t have a problem with the concept of sharing. There are a lot of people who do that, and they do it well.  I love the creative process of building on the shoulders of others.  I want to not just be a conduit.  I want to add to the conversation.

For me, I have decided I am going to take the “Yes, and…..” route and challenge myself.   What the heck does that mean?

“Yes, and….” comes from the world of improv.  In improv, one participant states something.  The second participant accepts it as truth.  The “and” part of this principle means the second participant then builds on the truth in the first participant’s statement.  By building on the established truth, the communication line continues.  

Applying “Yes, and….” outside of improv has the same effect.  In our workplace or personal life, the dialog keeps going.  Building on another person’s idea has the result of validating the first statement. With their statement validated, the first participant remains engaged and committed to the conversation.

By challenging myself to apply the “Yes, and….” approach to my social media efforts and blog posts, I am committing I’m not going to just share others’ work.  I’m going to add my perspective to articles, tweets, and quotes.  I’m going to also continue to write 1000 words per day.  There’s a risk you won’t approve or like what I have to say.  

That’s ok. You can just ignore my writings.  Hopefully, there are a few of you that will.  Maybe a few of you will like my content on LinkedIn. You might even sign up for my newsletter at www.belithe.com.  For those of you who re-tweet or re-share, feel free to share my content.  🙂

I hope I am up to the content challenge.  I’m hoping you will hold me accountable.

Chris

When I woke up this morning, I found a Seth Godin email in my inbox.  It really hit home, so I wanted to share it with you.  Seth got it right.  Seth’s metaphor of Following in the footsteps of those that came before us is more relevant today than ever.

I know we are all getting shelled with emails right now.  That is the only way most businesses have to get in front of their prospects.  Many almost read desperate, as I am sure their revenue has dried up.

beLithe is just like every other business in the world right now.  Our road forward is not clear.  To date, we have relied on personal relationships as our main means of finding business.  Many of those personal relationships have been forged over the years.  My preferred method of maintaining relationships has been in-person face-to-face.

To say the least, it’s been hard to try to build new relationships in the last two months.  Everyone’s platform is burning right now.  As if there weren’t enough challenges, not only did the way we interact change.  The business model for the Agile space appears to be changing moving away from in-person to on-demand.  Training workshops are now virtual.  Daily Scrum meetings are virtual.  PI Planning events are virtual.

It would seem that we are going to be primarily interacting from a distance for a while.  At least six feet, but potentially much more.

So far, we have been lucky.  It looks as though beLithe will make it through this phase.  Somewhat battered, but still alive.

What prompted all of this?  Probably some relief on my part.  It’s been somewhat tense lately.

Here’s the body of Seth’s email that I found in my inbox this morning.  It really hit home, so I wanted to share it with you.

From:  Seth Godin

To:  Christopher Daily

Following in the footsteps of those that came before

No matter how hard you try, you can’t.

After just a few steps, you’ll be slightly enlarging the footprint. By the time six people have done it, the original is completely gone.

Footprints might be a fine compass, but they’re not much of a map. That’s on us.

I’m not a marketing guy, but Seth’s blog posts often contain a lot of wisdom for all of us.

Our path is ours and it is unique.  We can try to imitate those who we aspire to be like, but at the end of the day, our path is our own.  Especially in today’s world.

All the “experts” out there are trying to figure out what to do as well.  We are in unprecedented times right now.  The “experts” haven’t been through this before either.  Nobody can predict what is going to happen next.  Mother nature, in the form of Covid-19, doesn’t care about unemployment, profits, or how we feel.  Covid-19 only cares about surviving.  More changes are in store for us.

Following in the footsteps of others is the easiest way forward.  With each step, look around.   Be sure you are surveying the landscape.  It can and will change.  As we strive for the New Normal remember:  Following in the footsteps of others isn’t helpful if they are wandering aimlessly.

Remember that your path is your own.

We will beat this virus.  Have no fears about that.  Life will return to a New Normal.  I can tell you I won’t be shaking hands for a while, but we will be able to wander out of our bunkers like we used to.

What is challenging and stressful today will be commonplace soon.  The one thing you should count on is that change is going to be with us for a long time until we get this virus beat.

Chris

You can never have enough tools in the Agile Toolbox!

I know.  I know.  I have a similar go-to explanation of why I bought another tool to hang in the garage.

Over the years, I have had to solve problems.  We decided to make them available to others.  Nothing earth-shattering, but they might be of help to those of you who are looking for examples.

Here’s a list of what we are sharing so far:

 

You can click here to see what we have so far.

As we continue to develop additional tools, we’ll share those as well.

Chris