And You?
Photo by: Marcin Wichary
And You?
I was interviewed this week about the work I do. Near the end of our conversation, this person asked,
If you had it to do over,
what would you have done differently?
My first answer was that I would not “wear” client issues; would not get so embroiled in their stories that I make them my own; that I wouldn’t “own” what isn’t mine to own.
After hanging up, I thought some more about the question. I emailed the interviewer back and said, Upon further reflection, I would add something:
I would have taken more risk.
Look, we all take risk…Every morning, those of us who are able, get out of bed. There is risk in getting out of bed. Each of us define risk in our own way. As people, we have different appetites for risk and different risk tolerances. Historically, in my life, I don’t know how much of a risk-taker I’ve been.
A number of years ago, a survey was done. The question I was asked this week was asked of those aged 95 and over. The DATA was collected and the “top 3 answers on the board” (Thank you, Family Feud and Steve Harvey.) were:
Reflect more
Risk more
Invest more in things that will outlive me
Coincidentally (or not…) another friend sent me a YouTube video this week. The video showed a husband and wife skiing down Lhotse (think Everest) – down a chute that had never been skied before. This is the kind of risk I’m NOT going to take, despite the DATA and the inspiring STORY. Here’s a link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPXSFVruIHI It’s fascinating! It’s 23 minutes long. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, go to minute 20-21 to listen to the skiers discussion of RISK. Then, listen to the end for the question:
And you?
Stop reading here if you like,
but I would like to share one more thing. Today, DATA is everywhere. For the author of Homo Deus and Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari, DATA will one day be the new “religion” in the sense that people may well (do?) worship data. I don’t put myself in that camp. I believe DATA must be tied to STORY. STORY draws people in. Once in the STORY they may value the DATA. But, let’s go one step further. What will get you to take action? I believe that a good QUESTION just might…So, stick with me for just a minute longer: DATA, STORY, QUESTION. The survey of the 95-year-old’s presented DATA. My interview this week (and the video) are the STORY. At the end of the video and at the end of this blog are the QUESTION:
And you?
Will you take action? Will you take risk? IF you do, you’ll be glad you did!
