Back in your days, things were certainly different. But I promise you, any judgement you are giving on 30-40-50 years before in your life is probably inaccurate, biased, and positively or negatively exaggerated.
It’s a good base to make a joke, not a good one to make a decision.
You can set rules for the best case scenario or you can set rules for the worst case scenario.
When you use the best case scenario as a basis, you trust that things will progress well, that people are trustworthy, that nothing terrible or horrible will happen, that “bad” is a situation that can still be managed without much pain.
When you use the worst case scenario as a basis, you look at what will go wrong, at those who will betray you or not keep their part of the deal, at principles that need to be protected, at a “good” situation that is very difficult to digest.
Many companies claim that they will be changing the World – or the way the World does this and that. Few even actually understand what changing the World means.
In Finland, a local grocery chain has declared themselves “bully-free zone” (article linked in Finnish). And it’s a fantastic win.
Not because it’s their business. Not because they make money from it. Not because they are getting free publicity.
But because it makes sense.
It must be one of the best executed corporate social responsibility campaigns ever.
Whatever you are working on, and whatever the meaning of good, cheap, and fast is in that context, it’s always important to remember that you can’t have them all at the same time.
Focus is key. And again, just like yesterday, the more people are involved in that project, the more important it is to give them clarity.
When you have a project that matters, it’s silly to keep it to yourself.
Much better to share it, to go over ideas and obstacles with other people, to celebrate successes with those involved and analyze failures with those you trust.
But you also have to keep mind that everyone has an opinion, and everyone has their own experience.
So, if you plan to try everything that comes up in these conversations, even when it is with somebody who clearly have something to contribute, you will soon be lost.
Note that the more people are involved in the project, the greater the confusion will be.
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