THE AMAZING UNKNOWN!

"It is the unknown that excites the ardor of scholars, who, in the known alone, would shrivel up with boredom."

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) American Modernist poet.

You (hopefully) have a good education, one that allows you to continually be amazed at all the new things you have yet to learn.

FUTURE BEGINNINGS REQUIRE RECENT ENDINGS

"You must give up the way it is... to have it the way you want it to be."

Unknown

Having your cake and eating it too just doesn't work.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE OLD

"The new organization is edgeless, permeable, amorphous . . . constantly reforming according to need."

Unknown

This sounds like something an organizational consultant would say to their client.

As if all "new" organizations are this.

Not so.

Because resistance to change is as strong as it is, new or old, this does not happen way more often than it does.

v2.0 YOU

"One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea."

Walter Bagehot (1826-1877) British economist

And not just when it comes to innovation leading to new things.

This applies equally well to personal innovation, and lack thereof.

When was the last time you did something to improve you?

THIS ISN'T A BAD THING

"Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is."

Albert Camus (1913-1960) French novelist/essayist/dramatist

Not all the time but enough that we should stop and think why we are not always striving to become something better.

LIMITS, YES, BUT WHAT LIMITS?

"A man is not good or bad for one action."

Thomas Fuller

17th century British clergyman/author

And yet we often judge others as though they were.

How are you when it comes to giving others second (third, fourth, etc.) chances?

How many are too many?

NOT WHAT IS, WHAT WILL BE

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again."

Thomas Paine

18th century English intellectual

And if not the world, certainly your business and absolutely what you will become in the future.

But you have to do it!

NEW AND IMPROVED

"So long as a person is capable of self-renewal they are a living being."

Henri Frédéric Amiel

19th century Swiss writer

I propose an edit.

So long as a person attempts self-renewal they are a living being.

Without the attempt, being capable is of little value.

Keep trying and let the outcome take care of itself.

A VERY DIFFERENT DAY

"A man may be a pessimistic determinist before lunch and an optimistic believer in the will's freedom after it."

Aldous Huxley

20th century British author

Which is to say, things change.

Plan to create the outcomes you wish to see happen.

Start by accepting that whatever currently is today won't necessarily still be tomorrow.

Not Happy?

"Those who cross the sea change only the climate, not their character."

Horace

1st century BC Latin poet

And this is true of other things in addition to character.

If you're not happy at work, before you change, make sure your unhappiness is not due to something you control.

If it is, you won't likely be happy somewhere new.

On Your Own

"Traveler, there is no path, paths are made by walking."

Antonio Machado

Early 20th century Spanish poet

Suggested by Paula Johnson

There are paths made by others we can choose to follow.

Take the ones best suited to you while always being receptive to the idea of making your own.

We Won't Be Like You

"The new organization is edgeless, permeable, amorphous . . . constantly reforming according to need."

Unknown

This sounds like something a new generation person would say to demonstrate how they are different from all generations gone before them.

And there's a slight implied bias suggesting that the new way will be the better way.

If so, great, we can all benefit from new and better ways.

However before concluding that is so I'd like to hear how this "constantly reforming" organization intends to manage itself.

Now What?

"We have perhaps a natural fear of ends.  We would rather always be on the way than arrive."

Eric Hoffer

20th century American philosopher

Is that because we know that with most ends there soon follows a new beginning?

The devil you know versus the one you don't?

Let's Try Something Different!

"One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea."

Walter Bagehot

19th century British economist

Strange too because "new and improved" is standard, very successful marketing text.

How receptive are you to change?

There's More Than One Door

"The back of one door is the face of another."

 Proverb

Rejection and failure can be seen as either the end of something old or the beginning of something new.

If one door closes, look for another to go through.

Happy New Year!

"In my beginning is my end."

T.S. Elliot

Early 20th century American-English poet/playwright

A reminder that everything ultimately ends, or at least changes to become something else, including all in your career and business.

On this last day of 2010, the day before the first day of 2011, well you should recognize this in your business life.

I wish you all your best year yet, only to be surpassed by those that will follow.

Bill

Knowing When To Say Enough

"One who does not know when to die does not know how to live."

John Ruskin

19th century English art critic

You can't do all you do equally well, certainly including business, so much of success in one thing requires that you know when to stop doing something else.

Do you?