johnmaconline

I was an expert in calculus in college. But not today.

I was not an expert in software development in college. But I am today.

I was an expert in engineering product development 20 years ago. I still am today but in a different way. I probably won’t be 20 years from now.

All expertise follows an arc. It’s a moving target. You can gain expertise, and you can lose it. But you can also gain it and keep it.

Just because someone was doesn’t mean they are. And just because they weren’t doesn’t mean they aren’t.

It’s about finding where they are on the arc.

From one perspective, standing outside is the sad position.

It’s the moment in the RomCom where the character we’re rooting for spots the love interest in the cafe with someone else — laughing, smiling, very happy. They’ve likely been showered with slush by a passing vehicle or are walking home stunned from having just been laid off. And then this debacle spotted from across the street through the cafe window.

It’s also the middle schooler who doesn’t get picked. Maybe it’s for the team, or maybe it’s a birthday party. They found out by the hushing and roaming eyes of the group as they approached from down the hall. They know that posture.

But also…

Standing outside provides another perspective. If you’re not on the team or part of the story, you can see things that the inside people can’t or don’t want to.

From that perspective, standing outside is the useful position.

If you find yourself standing outside, or maybe you have stepped outside on purpose, this is your chance to see things without bias, innovate on solutions without bias, and work to affect change without bias.

No matter where you stand, you can be important if you engage.

Failing is the present-tense verb.

In the act. Happening. Still going on. But also learning. Figuring it out. Adjusting. Recalibrating. Refactoring. Resetting. Trying something different.

Failure is the past-tense label. Failure is a decision. The story has ended. We’ve defined it.

Not all failure is bad. Not all failing is helpful.

It’s up to you how you see it and what you do with it.

A decision tree is a tool that seeks to objectify and process-ize decisions.

If this, then that. On down the tree.

It can really help in a group scenario. The decision tree presents a clear and organized way to visualize and socialize a decision-making process. “See here? This is how we do it. We all agreed to it.”

You can appeal to the tree to supplant emotions, curtail strong personalities, and create collective agreement where there is little personal agreement. In fact, arguing about the decision tree rather than the decision might be the best strategy for the group. It can be an effective means to equitize the strong and subtle personalities.

But sometimes the decision tree becomes a crutch. A reason not to be courageous. A reason to take the easy road.

Some situations call for courage rather than previously-agreed upon process.

Sometimes, you need to change the decision tree.

Strava tells me I’ve run about 6500 and cycled about 10000 miles since I’ve been using that app. Most of those miles are right around my house with my driveway being the start and end point.

Those are circular miles. I start at the end of my driveway, and somewhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours later, I’m right back where I started. Just looking at the routes on a flat map doesn’t reveal much. Didn’t really get anywhere.

Yet the actual route I took makes all the difference. I’ve got 5-mile running routes with 100 ft of elevation gain, and some with 1000 ft of elevation gain. I’ve got 20-mile cycle routes with 300 ft of elevation, and some with 2500 ft. 

The effect on me, my fitness, and my success in an event I’m training for is directly coupled to the routes, even though the endpoints are the same. There’s no way to get better, go faster, or be stronger without going directly up the hill or through muck. I can get there a different way, but it won’t help me nearly as much. 

Where are you trying to get to? Are you trying to build a company? Learn a new skill? Make an impact in your community or the world? 

The route you take will make all the difference. 

I love to write code to automate stuff.

Here’s an example. I spent several weeks (off and on) writing a bunch of code that automatically generates a weekly status report. I schedule it to run once a week and it creates the report I need with zero work from me. Before I wrote that code, it took me about 4 hours to manually create it every week.

Easy and helpful process tradeoff, right? I have 40 hours of coding time into the tool. It saves me 4 hours per week. After 10 weeks, I’m in the black. Forever.

There’s another understated benefit to this automation — consistency. When I did the work manually, certain aspects of the report inevitably differed from week to week based on my time, mistakes, and one-off inclusions or exclusions. Now, that report shows the same stuff, all of it, each week — 100% consistency. The process itself and the output of that process are identical each time. 

Investing in process brings consistency to the output. However, it doesn’t always save time — on purpose. Sometimes, the purpose of the process is to slow the whole thing down. Safety, justice, accuracy, and creativity are all reasons that you might want process to slow it down.

Ask yourself what you’re trying to accomplish. 

Sometimes, the slow road is the better road.  

It’s the heart of the matter. It’s the reason you’re doing what you’re doing. There’s little point if you’re not making something better for somebody.

The thing about better is that we often assume that a) better is objective, and b) we know what it is.

But the truth is that a) better is subjective, and b) it takes empathy to know what it is.

Better starts and ends with who.

The point of activism is to make change. Not to put “activist” on a business card.

The point of creating a movement is to make change. Not to make yourself a deity.

The point of designing new products is to make change. Not to sell snake oil.

The point of starting up a new business is to make change. Not to take money.

The point of your marketing message is to make change. Not to chase likes, clicks, and empty applause.

Happy Birthday to someone who understood the reason.