Or, you would work for someone else in a specific location — at a headquarters, in a division, a region, an office … but the key was at their place of work. Then came the pandemic just as the driving beat of AI platforms and tools swept through. Employers and executives tasted for themselves the flavor of working remotely.
“5” Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Be on the lookout for ways to repurpose the past. Discarded scraps from one project/relationship/era can be reworked and turned into something new.” Aries
Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 65 in Season 2 of “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 18th day of June in the summer of 2020.
“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”
Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.
Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year
S2 E64 — Let the Beers and Weekend Partying Begin; S2 E63 — Easier Than Finding His MacBook Air Password?; S2 E62 — “Shh. Did You Hear That?”
Related from Season One, the Normal Year
S1 E65 — Focus Your Mental Energy; S1 E64 — Father and Son Rituals out of Storage; S1 E63 — Day 63 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E62 – Next Reality?
Context
So if I’m honest I’m drawing from last week’s focus on my legacy and my search for wisdom (Volume Three Manuscript) to fill in with some reworked experiences that better fit this passion project in progress, “Volume Two Manuscript”.
This is the second volume of books. The first volume described how to discover where to live. And a path to follow, the knowledge path. I originally distinguished what you would learn by choosing either to work for yourself independently which could free yourself up to live anywhere your heart desired, instead of where the jobs were and the employers were located.
Its theme was how to live, love, work, play, invest and leave a legacy.
Or, you would work for someone else in a specific location — at a headquarters, in a division, a region, an office … but the key was at their place of work.
Then came the pandemic just as the driving beat of AI platforms and tools swept through. Employers and executives tasted for themselves the flavor of working remotely.
Superior advantages of mastering knowledge work
Whoa, they discovered this way of working, well worked for them — making them more productive and efficient.
The implications for all of us — the intended consequences and unintended consequences — as individuals it is better to have been mastering knowledge work rather than service work or manual work.
Why? For two reasons. You have options that others don’t have.
You can remain employed during disruptions like a pandemic which forces physical distancing at your home in your neighborhood with or without partners, spouses and children who require daily bandwidth and homework assistance.
The newer normal translate into inconveniences, frustrations and the time to reflect and enjoy deeper bonding.
So, that’s one.
Free to move about the country
The second is, if you can work remotely aren’t you also untethered from having to live where you do right now? Aren’t you free to move about the country and still remain employed?
While the second book in the first volume examined all the ways you can become a ‘Preneur they all rely on variable income.
You needed to master a sales process which translates well to media channels and subscription business models.
Not all of us are cut out to succeed. I know this much about me, I’m not.
But if you are already employed, already have the tools necessary to provide value to your employer while working remotely like all the other knowledge workers delivering distributed work, then head out on the highway and follow 11 steps to the quality-of-life you want and deserve.
My distinguished career began with jobs I hated, but I didn’t know why. It ended with me advising executives and executive MBA students not to make the same mistakes I had made over the years when I knew why.
But, that’s not entirely true.
What I discovered wasn’t they should avoid the jobs and organizations and stages of growth that I did.
Or even find the positions in specific types of talent cultures that brought out the very best in me, because they were the best fit.
That’s what I did.
But, to understand the “why” that made them tick and pursue their own best fits working with sixteen different talent tribes at the intersection of seven dimensions.
Evidence
Random ones that make me want change my sign.
“5” Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Be on the lookout for ways to repurpose the past. Discarded scraps from one project/relationship/era can be reworked and turned into something new.” Aries
How can you separate your work life from you life life? Your work life consumes at least eight hours out of every day Mondays through Fridays if you let it. Your life life provides the context. Who was it? Maybe John Lennon who sang something to the effect that life happens when you’re busy making plans. So if I’m honest I’m drawing from last week’s focus on my legacy and my search for wisdom (Volume Three Manuscript) to fill in with some reworked experiences that better fit this passion project in progress, “Volume Two Manuscript”.
“5” Steve Smith, 30: “Study and cultural exploration will bring you good fortune. You will feel determined to do your unbiased research, and you will refrain from forming an opinion until you have all of the facts.” Gemini
In this case the cultural exploration focuses on talent cultures you find within certain types of work and client organizations and which may be about to move through a new growth stage which requires a transformation from the past. All covered in my “Volume Two Manuscript” in progress.
“4” Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “You’ll have ideas, and you need the right people to bounce them off of. People who absorb your energy and agree with you are not good bouncing prospects. Look for the hard and deflective types.” Leo
In the beginning, I collaborated with a small team as an offshoot from the Orange County Development Roundtable (OCDRT) who met weekly. We bounced ideas off of each other to sharpen elements and discard others that just didn’t make sense. From those humble beginnings a framework emerged and a theory I further developed and tested over a decade with hundreds of Executive MBA Students who had been in the workforce for at least seven or eight years.
“4” Steve Harvey, 62: “The research suggests that improving your weaknesses, while noble in intent, is far less effective than leveraging your strengths.” Capricorn
We can thank Peter Drucker for this truism. But he went further and advised managers, leaders and executives to find talented people who excelled at what you didn’t and delegate assignments to them as a way of further developing their strengths through experience.
“3” Steve Nash, 45: “Because of the complexity within the crevices of the human heart, people fit together unexpectedly and in ways so particular that they would be impossible to duplicate.” Aquarius
Unexpectedly, maybe. But in my work experience fitting together people from a diverse set of talent profiles leads to better team results after forming, storming, norming and performing processes.
What’s Going On …
Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll
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- @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 3808 to 3911.
Foresight
Quality-of-Life
Long-Form
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- Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate
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