Do I have "projects"?

This question was prompted by the launch of a new feature in idonethis.com. As a perk for paying $5 a month to use the service (a calendar where I note everything that I've done in a particular day, in the short term it's moderately useful, but after a couple of years it's great to have that record of what you've done, even if you don't always leverage that information to maximal benefit), I can add a tag to "make progress on projects." My first response was that I don't really have projects. I'm not writing a book or trying to develop a new product. But then I started to think about it a little more and realize that I do have projects, even if I don't really think about them in that way.

So what are my projects? I would say my MBA is a project. Maybe a better way to think about is that every class I take towards my MBA is a project. By narrowing the project down to just taking classes, that collects some of my other activities, like listening to lectures about the Revolutionary War or trying out Coursera by taking a class about dinosaurs.

Strange things start to happen when you start mixing classes like this together. While listening to a lecture about the progress of the war, I realized that my business studies have given me a much greater appreciation for the context of my work activities. (This insight came about while hearing about the flawed assumptions the British used in their execution of the war.) Even a class about dinosaurs gives me a fresh look at what I do every day. Paleontologists use every shred of data they can find to draw conclusions about animals that lived millions of years ago. That maximization of available data is something I strive for in my projects at work.

So I guess this is really a project about breaking my thinking patterns. When I think about what I may have done if I hadn't started taking classes at Marist, I assume that I would have spent more time working on getting a research paper published or some other activity that was very much in line with my graduate school training. I would have deepened the grooves that I was already treading rather than exploring new ground. My classes have revealed bodies of knowledge that I never would have sought out if not for my introduction to management and leadership theories in a formal class setting.

So I do things to #breaknewground (a tag that I will use in iDoneThis) in my thinking. Why bother? Well, most of the people I work with have academic training that is similar to what I went through. We're mostly PhDs in chemistry or pharmaceutics, something based in the physical sciences. With that shared background, we all tend to look at problems in the same way. That groupthink results in people seeing the same opportunities. Similar thought patterns produces similar pattern seeking behaviors that result in everybody seeing pretty much the same thing when it comes to where we should go as an organization. By breaking my thought patterns, I open myself to new possibilities. I might see something that others do not see. One of the biggest feathers in my professional cap came about because I see things differently that the people I sit with in meetings everyday.

So I break new ground in my thinking so I can see things differently. I'm also #pushing_it_toTheEdge in my workouts. A kind of off-hand description of what I'm trying to achieve physically that I write a couple of posts ago captures what I'm trying to do with my workouts. I want to be healthier, sexier, and primed for peak performance. That's a project without end. Well, most of my projects don't really have a set end point now that I think about it.

I read. I read books, blogs, magazines, lots of different things, but I only keep track of books. Why I read is too complex to try to capture in one paragraph of a blog post. Not that I really feel the need to express why I read. It's just self-evident that it's a worthwhile activity. Some of my reading is kind of project like. Reading an epic fantasy series is a project. (Reading fantasy, yet another way to challenge your assumptions.) Sometimes a particular book could feel like a project. Maybe there is no need for an overly clever tag when it comes to reading. Maybe #reading will do for now.

I have other projects in mind, but these will do for now.

The usefulness of personal metrics

I weigh myself every morning. I have an app that I use to track this daily measurement. My desire to enter my weight into the app is very strongly dependent on whether my weight went down (let's get it in now!) or up (it can wait until I've showered...and brushed my teeth...and gotten dressed...). This morning I just looked at it as a number. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a number that provides some feedback on whether my actions are consistent with my expressed desires. (To get healthier, sexier, and primed for peak performance).

It does me no good to give that number any more meaning than a simple data point. I track all kinds of things about my life. That list of books over to the right is just one source of data that I've been collecting about my life for the past couple of years. I don't really do anything with that information. I collect the data, but I'm not really using it to find ways to improve or modify my behavior. I use it mark progress towards some goal, how many books have I read this year?, but I don't use it to help direct my actions and modify my behavior.

I don't use it that way because keeping track of my weight or what books I've read isn't about directing my actions. It's just a measure of what I've done (or the consequences choices I've made). There is value in tracking what you've done, it shows you what you're willing to do. If I'm willing to spend four years of my evenings to pursue an MBA, there must be something about that activity that has real meaning for me. I'm doing it for some reason. My choices of reading material tell me something about what I enjoy. I too frequently look at those titles as a commentary on my character (what exactly that commentary may be has not been delved into too deeply), but it's also data on what I find interesting. If I can stop looking at it as a definition of my value and as a way to find what really motivates me and what I enjoy, I can use that list to stop flitting from one thing to the next in an endless pursuit of the interesting and direct my readings toward achieving something more than mere entertainment.

We have to look at the information at our disposal in every way possible to discover something new. Using that information to reinforce some valued idea about who we are only blinds us to these potentials.

Feeling safe? Beware!

Safety is a short step from irrelevance.

The Edge is about stepping away from safety. Progress only comes when we're willing to stop sticking with what we're familiar with to try something new. The routine reassures us with its familiarity. It feels safe because it feels we know it so well. That sense of security is dangerous. It lulls us into complacency.

A few months ago my wife told me she could tell that I was feeling safe in our relationship again (this would be after a cycle of conflict) because I would regress to my previous behavior. That security was a very real threat to our relationship. Too many people feel safe at work when they're working on the thing that they've always done the same way they were taught to do it. Change implies risk and risk is scary, even when change is needed to stay relevant.