And for a Change, let's talk about Work

I was flattered this past week, and it felt good.  I took some work on that I had thought was behind me, and it was fine - not special, or insightful except that it required a degree of focus to do well.  That in itself was a nice change from what I’m doing normally, but what will stick with me is the discussion around some original future work ideas.

A colleague and I discussed what a 2.0 version looked like for something we both knew well.  I had some ideas that I’ll admit must have been latently pent up in my head, as I’d certainly never given them voice before.  But once the cork was popped, it kept flowing. And that “original thought’ was stimulating.  It was a needed intellectual release, and to be recognised for it by someone I respect was very nice.

I can’t speak for anyone other than myself, but lately my brain has been tied into spikey little knots by the ‘trumpetting’ than seems relentless in the news cycle.  It’s the oozing sore that will be with us for a number of years I fear and like any well designed reality show, it’s hard to take your eyes and ears away.  So the chance to do that, to think deeply about matters that are not politics and are complex was viscerally satisfying.

We don’t often gain fulfillment from our work, but when it does happen -  it’s quite good isn’t it ? Sure beats reading twitter lately.

Yoda was Wrong

As a young person, I had few hard rules.  One maxim however gleaned from the imagination of George Lucas was that "there is no try, there is only do, or do not'.  I felt I actually believed this, as unforgiving as it is.  As time has gone by and I no longer look for philosophies to live by from a galaxy far far away, I've come to understand that often all we have is 'try'.

We after-all are imperfect beings working in systems that are biased, and dealing with economic, political and socials pressures that are at times beyond our direct control.  To succeed at anything is due to a combination of factors, not the least of which is trying, but our level of try is virtually never the only variable.  If I say this another way - my level of trying doesn't on it's own guarantee success, but it does figure into the success equation, in some as yet undermined way.

All of this came to mind recently, as someone in my life has been trying really hard of late, and soon finds out if the efforts taken were successful or not.  There's an implied celebration or consolation coming up.  It struck me though that that's the wrong thing to look for.

What we should be measuring to acknowledge and feel good about is the level of 'try'.  If any of us give something our best, then pass or fail, win or lose we deserve to be recognized and celebrated.  The outcomes themselves are nice, sure but they're the icing on the cake - not the cake itself.  And icing doesn't really happen without the cake, does it ?

When you see someone really put their heart into something, and push themselves to new levels of performance, then the trying itself is worthy of our praise.  The outcomes will come their way - or they won't  - but the supporters need to recognize that the passion, focus and commitment are what we want to see.

So - well done - you couldn't have tried any harder.  I'm proud of you whichever way this ends up.

Vegas in Arabia

If you ran a city/state, what would you aspire for it ?

Would it be a model of equality, or perhaps the greenest, or cleanest or world renown for...something.  Or would you go for biggest, loudest, and try to out-Vegas, Las Vegas..?

Dubai sadly has aimed for the latter and while it is certainly impressive it strikes you more as an exercise in excess, than a noble pursuit.  Sure having the world's biggest X is interesting, but really in a carnival sense more than a practical one. As impressive as it's engineering feats are, it's notable that the entire service industry seems to be manned by expat immigrant labour that while treated fairly, are not by any means equal to the local Emirati.

Perhaps aiming for world's most inclusive health care, (everyone's covered today, but via mandatory private scheme's), or the best educational system might be more in order.  It can't be the greenest as the cost of watering that piece of the Arabian desert would make your eyes hurt.  Water is more expensive than gas remarked one individual I met recently.

Now, I'm a realist and understand that while Dubai is perhaps the most renown of the UAE's seven different emirates, unlike it's sister states it does not have oil riches, so it needs to develop other industries. Tourism plays a significant role in that development with the emergence of the hometown airline as a global leader and the marketing of Dubai as a destination  in itself.  But I can't help but wonder what a desert paradise means having just spent a week there.  Real contrasts popped up everywhere, in almost any way that you looked at the place. Their investments of trying to be some version of 'best' might show more productive long term returns if placed in other areas.

Dubai is absolutely worth a visit to see this for yourself.  If your own budget does't allow for that, then grab a cheap flight to Las Vegas and imagine what it would be like it they added more bling and made it bigger.