Andy Lykens

Innovating and operating through growth

Posts

Play your own game

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Even though it’s possible for a professional basketball player to play baseball, you don’t typically see them doing so.

They spend their careers developing a way to play one game that is uniquely their own. Trying to translate that to another sport leaves them without an identity and at the beginning of a journey where every other player has a years long head start; even Michael Jordan was a rookie in a double-A league when he played baseball.

If you’ve spent years becoming undeniable at what you do, honing skills and building relationships while collecting useful experience, it’s ok if you want to try to play a new game.

Just don’t be surprised when people catch you making rookie mistakes.

(H/T JP)

Just keep going

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As you pursue this thing that you’ve conceived you’re on the path of ‘keep going.’ Immediately, you’ll experience feelings. In fact, there’s no opportunity to not feel things – good or bad. Either way, whatever you’re feeling, it’s temporary and just because you don’t like a feeling doesn’t mean it isn’t doing you some good.

Once you realize that feelings are transient, there’s no reason to stop putting one foot in front of the other on the path of ‘keep going.’ You’re allowed to feel bad AND keep going. You’re allowed to celebrate the win AND keep going.

The reason to keep going isn’t for productivity. It isn’t to distract yourself from bad feelings, or because you’re never good enough and need to always achieve. The path includes breaks, vacation, and fun. The path also includes distractions and mistakes. The path offers quitting something and starting over. The path sometimes means staying too long.

The path you’re on leads to the thing you’ve conceived, and this thing you’ve conceived can’t be done without you. So wherever it is you are – just keep going.

Answer the question

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If you’re in a group of people asking and answering questions you might notice…

The person asking the question might not have confidence in their question, either because they’re not sure exactly what their question is, or because there’s something holding them back from being direct. They’re hoping that the answerer will interpret their meaning and answer the intent behind the question, rather than the question itself.

The person answering the question doesn’t. Instead, they state some belief that’s adjacent to the subject of the question, but they don’t address the question directly. Whether or not the question was direct is irrelevant.

If you’re a listener and you feel like there is a chasm between the question being asked and the question being answered, you’re probably right. You can raise your hand, clarify the question or the answer or both.

What you shouldn’t do is sit there, assuming that someone else has all the answers.