Skip to main content

Just doing enough!

There is a tendency to do more, frequently, with an expectation that others want us to do more. This is a serious energy killer. It gets us focused on what others might ask of us rather than what we would have wanted. We overestimate what is to be done and then expend energy doing something that may not turn out as impactful as it could have been.

What if we instead chose to keep our eyes and ears open and noticed what makes engagement a lot less self-gratifying and more rewarding and engaging for us and for those around us? Doing just enough so that there is room for us to hear a reverberation of what we did, a response, feedback, a comment that provides us an engagement opportunity?

In a rush to get things we don't realize what is the value we are generating as a result of doing those. Are there recipients eager to see your ship out so continuously - especially when what is meant to be for others right from the go?

So while putting our work out there is important, knowing how to offer a space, silence, and listening for signs of an engagement can be a vital asset. It provides an opportunity for someone who is eager to consume what we have and offers us the opportunity for course correction.

Have you ever seen where social media is taking us? We rush to share what we have on our minds and yet impactful contributions are nowhere to be seen. What was trending just days ago vanishes from our memory a few days later.

Lasting work is thoughtful, comes in bursts, small shots and takes feedback into account, and adjusts to what engagement it receives. Such work has the potential to generate attention and become a brand of its own.

It's important to not overdo and lose the audience. Just doing enough is enough..

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Checks and balances!

Defining a good purpose, setting a target goal and getting people working on them is usually not enough! There are too many aspects involved in getting the results we want. For example, there is an aspect of painting the big picture, working on motivation management, productivity tracking, building experimentation labs, and erecting resilient systems that systematize the workflows. Just putting bodies to work and defining milestones rarely achieves the right results. The other aspects that help march towards the milestones in an orderly manner, they are equally important. At the very least, they make objectives widely understandable and results more attainable. The job of a thought leader is to enable progress and enable recovery. Therefore, it is never enough to have just ideas. Those with ideas also have the responsibility to assemble the work environment in such a way as to create situations containing the energy disperses. Energy dispersal from lack of clarity, loss of motivation, ...

Choking the communication channel.

There are instances where everything looks in order. Structures are rightly in place. Right roles are defined. Responsibilities are distributed. Bi-directional open communication is expected to take place. And with that, collective work is expected to turn out productive. Yet, when the action begins, everything breaks apart. Productivity dwindles, cooperation is missing, and ad-hoc interactions are common-place That creates chaos. No one appears in charge even though there is someone responsible. It clearly is a sign of broken communication channels. A well-orchestrated workplace focuses on methods to communicate grounds-up and top-down. It encourages patient listening, internalizing and responding rather than reacting. All effective open communication channels are a result of making such communication possible. Often, the structures are set such that you centralize communication of every bit of your activity to someone in the hierarchy. Over time it turns into a permission-based inter...

The hyacinth at the surface - nectar - just beneath!

The envy of comparison is an unconscious, quietly growing emotion, like water hyacinth spreading unnoticed on a pond's surface. It surrounds the nectar of the water, creating the illusion of poison. The water itself, however, is inherently sweet, with the nectar infused deeply within it. But just cast off the tangled trap of those creeping vines, and the water will reveal its true nature—flowing freely, tirelessly, with a sparkling clarity. Water’s existence, its entire journey, is one of cooperation, of giving endlessly with a pure heart.  Even in the face of numerous obstacles and thorns along its path, water remains undeterred—a divine miracle, no doubt, but one forged through relentless effort. Who notices this journey? Who understands it? Water has no respite—it constantly battles friction and wear. "Why is this thorny life my lot?" It may ask, as feelings of resentment, anger, jealousy, hatred, sorrow, and helplessness arise. Just when it seems trapped, its spirit s...