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You’re that person who has genuine faith in humanity, but also wants to cut the next jerk who jumps in front of you at a subway turnstile.
You want to bake humanity a cake full of rainbows and butterflies, and occasionally you want to take that same cake and smoosh someone in the face with it.
You have smiled at babies and flipped off cab drivers in the same breath.
Basically, you’re a cynical optimist — two sides of humanity’s coin, half hopeful, half jaded, all confused.
I recently saw an article about New Year work resolutions and one section of this was about finding a new career.
Amongst the advice was a suggestion that you should develop career goals and formulate an action plan. The authors then included the SMARTER system as something that could help with creating objectives.
Specific Be as clear as you can and avoid ambiguous statements.
Measurable Quantify what you must achieve.
Achievable Motivate yourself but also keep your goals reachable.
Realistic Be reasonable and keep your goals attainable so progress is achievable.
Timely Create timeframes for completing steps.
Empowering Ensure your goals feel right for you and help you make the changes you want.
Reviewable Keep your goals flexible so you can adjust to changing situations.
I’m happy to say that my goals simply don’t comply with this system. In fact, I can proudly attest to the fact that they fail completely when reviewed against it. To be fair, they are more than just career goals but they are what will drive and guide all of my career decisions.
I want the world to be a better place. I can’t describe it and I certainly can’t measure it.
This goal not only motivates me, it passionately drives me – but I don’t pretend that it’s achievable for me.
Is it realistic? Hell yes – but not in my life-time. How’s that for a timeframe!
How my goal looks and how I get there is absolutely flexible and reviewable. The goal itself is not!
I have blogged before about having a fuzzy vision. I can’t tell you how to get to my island but if I work hard, my island may find me.
Sometimes you feel so powerless that you just want to rant.
Last night I saw the end of Police 10-7 and the story of yet another sexual assault on a young woman.
These low lives make up such a small percentage of men but there’s enough of them that you can’t blame women for including all of us as ‘the problem’.
I know it’s not fair, but I’ve always told my daughters not to walk alone at night (not that they need telling). People may think I’m odd but I will always proactively offer to walk a woman home/to the station/wherever if they’re leaving an event alone at night (obviously only those that know me – for those that don’t I try and suggest someone else) – even though it shouldn’t be necessary.
If I’m walking at night and see a woman by herself, I will cross the road or ensure I keep my distance so I don’t freak her out.
I don’t know anyone who has shown an attitude towards women that they would even consider assaulting one (of course most wouldn’t show it).
Women tend not to want men discussing this with them – they are the victims and we are the perpetrators. “Not all men” simply doesn’t cut it.
So I do what I can but at the end of the day, it’s nothing. We have this big problem with men, but as a man I also feel so powerless to help.
This sort of topic isn’t what this blog is for, and it’s not an attempt to deflect from the victims. It’s simply a vent for my frustration.
We can send people to space and split an atom we can’t even see – but we can’t stop ferals walking our streets!
I was going to post the meme below at some stage with a brief statement in support of the quiet ones. As a self-confessed introvert, I have been a little noisy of late about the strength of the silent ones. It’s time we recognised that volume does not always equate to value.
Memes are great for simple messages and thoughts, they’re easy to share and tend to be in picture form making them readily viewed online.
It’s no use being clever and trying to do deep analysis on a meme – the point is they’re simple and should be read that way. Just share them and carry on…
I know you know this is coming BUT
The reason I’m advocating for introverts is because we need diversity of thinking, strengths and experiences. This is also why I’m often commenting on the very narrow focus we tend to take when talking about diversity in business and governance.
I like this meme, but the reality is we need noisy destruction as well as silent growth.
If the tree did not fall, the seed could not grow in the space it left behind. A fallen tree provides space and food- both are important for growth.
Destruction and noise, or maybe more pointedly for business disruption and vocal passion are necessary ingredients – as is deep thinking and quiet determination.
Don’t be selfish – share your purpose, your ideas and your random thoughts.
The world needs to hear them.
Too often deep thinkers sit back and allow the noisy thinkers to take center stage. Loud and passionate people should be heard – but so should those who quietly ponder life’s complexities and come up with creative, practical and world changing solutions.
Forums such as blogs and LinkedIn make it easy to share your thoughts. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the ‘professional posters’ satisfy everyone’s needs.
We really do need to hear more from the deep thinkers
The Optimistic Cynic 