Brown Bass Road Trip

You can check out the specifics of my recent Brown Bass Road Trip here (should you so choose), but let me simply say that the act of fishing just leads to good things.  Whether it's being close to the home of potentially giant bass, recognizing the health of a vibrant lake, sharing meals with friends or just temporarily sharing an elevated lifestyle with the one you love, I am more likely to encounter these and many other good things when I am out fishing.

Private dock on a Northern Michigan lake; not bad, eh?

I've got a thing for brown bass.

I've got a thing for all bass!

Why else would I experience such sights, except that I am out chasing fish?

50,000 Hours

Please let me preface this with an acknowledgment that I have willingly subordinated my professional life to the needs of my immediate family and to my personal sense of life balance.  I need to be there for my kids, we've needed to share meals and talk, I need the flexibility to experience life and take advantage of unexpected developments, and I need to fish! My current job has been absolutely awesome in accommodating family life while providing just enough security and compensation that we've all had ample opportunities to partake in all of the above.  We've collectively benefited a great deal, and for that, I am truly thankful.

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I am just a bit premature in claiming 50,000 hours at my current job, but I am close enough to legitimately reflect on this milestone.  And rest assured, if I were to include the hours from my previous, related job, I could clear the 50,000-hour bar with a wide margin to spare.

Let's simply assume familiarity with the common maxim that it takes 10,000 hours to truly master a skill.  Have I done so with my time at work?  Have I simply continually beaten a 40,000-hour, long-dead horse while coasting?  Have I refined my initially-honed skill?  Have I moved on to other skill(s)?   Have these other skills complemented the initial and subsequent skill(s)?  It's at least worth thinking about!

I've divided my experience here into very approximate five-year chunks and reflected on what might have dominated my efforts during that time.  Here's what I came up with: in many ways it reflects Simon Sinek's Golden Circle*, and my long journey towards peace with my work.  I'll admit, this journey that has become increasingly difficult for me to continue without consideration of some major changes. But simply going through this exercise has increased my understanding of the personal value of these 50,000 hours.


Chunk 1, Hours 0 to 10,000 (What? I)

Here I learned about my employment situation, the workplace rules and expectations.  I learned the nuts and bolts of my general program, the rules and physics of Air Pollution Control.  I continually got exposed to different scenarios, and I started developing some specific areas of expertise and personal style.  I learned from my mistakes, learned how to avoid the mistakes of others and to build on common successes.  Let's just say that this period was devoted to the development of Skill 1: Building the Necessary Foundation.

Chunk 2, Hours 10,000 to 20,000  (What? II)

Fortunately, I believe that I grew beyond simple mastery of the basic position.  Here I got increasingly involved with the implementation of a very specific program in support of general programmatic needs.  I had to work with many and varied co-workers, but my role was still largely as a doer and worker bee.   My scope of understanding became both broader (in general) and deeper (focused on the needs of this specific program.)  I ran with this program to the best of my abilities, and improvements were meaningful and measurable.  This program became the least of concerns for my management.  While this sounds like a desirable outcome, there is perhaps the real possibility of future, collective amnesia about the actual accomplishments achieved.  Let's just call Skill 2: Developing Specific Program Expertise.


Chunk 3, Hours 20,000 to 30,000  (How? I)

At this point, I had considerable experience and recognized expertise.  Now I had an opportunity to build on these by focusing  on programmatic effectiveness.  With a foundation of proven, historical effectiveness and a free rein from above, I was able to leverage various Outside Partnerships to address some pervasive, important programmatic issues.  Using Skill 3: Working Effectively with Others was actually a lot of fun!

Chunk 4, Hours 30,000 to 40,000  (How? II)

This period was probably simply dominated by too much to do with too few resources.  But with my independence came an opportunity to define, at least in part, my work priorities.  On a singularly important day early in this "chunk" I was exposed to a Customer Service model simply presented as "COKE".  The premise; Which is most important to effectively addressing a customer's needs; Conscientiousness? Openness?  Knowledge? or Empathy?  

I'm a pretty smart guy; I am even a scientist; I am an expert in a technical field; and at the start of the exercise, I knew that I brought Knowledge to the table.  That was the hammer I could wield.  From the start, I even thought that those other traits might just get in the way of the actual work of solving problems!  (No wonder he'd been brought in to speak with us!) But at the end of the exercise, I was convinced that Empathy (by which I mean recognizing the real humanity of the issue at hand and reacting in an appropriate, humane manner) was the answer to the fundamental question of effectively addressing another's needs.  At the very least, our presenter offered some fun and interesting anecdotes.  But his ideas are still with me; it really was a singular day for me.

Somewhat awakened to empathy and its two-way nature, I pretty quickly realized that I could not actually accomplish much without the significant help of others.  Moreover, they will only help if they've bought into my plans.  We needed to identify and share a deeper understanding of a common, accepted goal.  And dare I say, finding this common goal is a tremendous tool for earning trust from others; and that my code for honoring that trust demands sincere, mutual efforts to achieve that shared goal? I'm willing to summarize this period as Skill 4: Sharing a COKE.  

I may have just been growing up, but work and life became more than knowledge, expertise and Analytical Thinking.  It became more about just being a better, more effective person.  I certainly found that there is considerable freedom and joy in recognizing this as a legitimate function, especially when compared to being simply correct, perfect or accomplished.

Chunk 5, Hours 40,000 to 50,000  (Why?)

At about this point, I had clearly developed my unique professional perspective.  I have specific ideas about what is important, what can be changed, and what is best left alone.  But acceptance of this question Why? into the personal meaning of my work can either motivate or deflate.   When possible, I have utilized the question of Why? to help me prioritize my directed efforts and interests.  But I'm not sure my current employer or business unit has the luxury of examining Why? we do certain things or pursue certain goals.  Our collective myopia commands attention to immediate needs and rarely any farther.    Unfortunately, this is a rather important issue for me; after all, the answer to Why? ultimately defines the purpose of my work.  Without an acceptable purpose, I'll likely not ever be satisfied with my work.

Like many of my other less-than-light-hearted posts, this entry has simmered for quite a while.  Meanwhile, back in the office, my acceptance of my work has recently worn bare thin.  I've not much hope that an acceptable Why? will emerge locally; and so I've initiated several steps for some real (if only theoretically meaningful) change.  Perhaps as a result of actually taking these steps, I've recently had a moment of clarity: 

I have enough personal perspective to know that I am not defined by my work.  I have so many other interests and good things going on that I don't have to pigeon-hole my self-esteem in any such manner.  I am the positive sum of all my Relationships and Partnerships.  I am close to the heart of a small group of truly amazing folks.  I sometimes even influence them for the better of all.  I am fortunate to be near the crest of Maslow's Hierarchy; I've time and resources for leisurely thought and introspection.  I stand on the Shoulders of Giants with respect to what I know, the ease and technology of our modern life, and even the sweet functionality and performance of my beloved fishing gear.  

Bottom line, I've enough awareness to know that I've got it good and am more likely to share this goodness than to to take it from others.  And this has remarkably little to do with how I've spent the previous 40,000(+) hours.

Out of such a blurry rant, emerges my version of Skill 5: Creation of Meaningful Personal Focus.

I now know that I may not find that Focus at my current desk.  But I am okay with that; I think I can let myself relax a bit and go make it happen.  I don't need to fix things there.  There are plenty of other possibilities that deserve my attention.  If pursuing these can help develop my own version of Meaningful Focus, they will prove to be truly worthwhile endeavors. I should now be ready to take them on.  Time to start!

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*Maybe any reader should just cut to the quick and google Mr. Sinek or his book "Start with Why", and save one's time.