A few hours late, since took an unexpected vacation.
I came to some rather disturbing conclusions yesterday. I’m sticking by them; I wish I didn’t need to. Last week’s election results only reinforce what I’ve been thinking —
1. People are unwilling to admit when they’ve made mistakes, and;
2. People view extra effort on something hopelessly broken as noble.
While the politics drove it home, I see it at work all the time, too. What you have really isn’t working anymore. Accept that. Move on. What about it does it do well? Recreate that when you start from scratch again. What doesn’t work well? Don’t recreate those things, even if people have come to expect them.
*now to find something where I’m not relating it to cars or food*
Yeah, I’m drawing a blank. Bear with me, and my scarred brain for a moment…..
I brush my teeth every morning. Should it really matter all that much that I don’t remove the cap from a metal tube? Or what if I’ve got to hold the brush slightly differently because the handle has a different shape? Does the new stuff do a better job than that old metal tube and rectangular-headed brush? Probably. A dentist could probably show empirical evidence of how well each accomplishes the main goal — getting the damn plaque off my teeth.
Many people in my profession don’t approach the problem like that. You need an Oral-B toothbrush, and Crest toothpaste, because that’s what you’ve always used, and are used to. Uhhhhmmmm. No. The Sensyodyne allows me to drink cold things without pain.
I’ve had a hell of a time lately convincing people to think this way about different problems. Whether that’s at work, or with my mother when it comes to buying a damn house, forming babby; I have other considerations that don’t make those choices right for me.
My job, really, as I see it, is to convince people to think about problems in the way I am so they don’t waste money. Easier said than done, certainly. Now on to the prompts…..
1. Are you a motivated person by nature? If you need motivation where do you find it?
No. I am an utterly lazy sack of crap. See: how little I actually accomplish many weekends. But I do respond well to reasonable deadlines. Actually, I prefer having a deadline, even if means I do something early. Now, that gets taken advantage of, because people who expect one thing often get something else entirely. But I’m not one who thinks his first cut at something is perfect. I screw up. Lots. Give me a chance to fix it. But give me feedback.
2. If you were forced to live the rest of your life in a library, a museum or a zoo which would you choose and why?
Museum. I’m guessing they might have the better snack bar.