TC, long time reader back to JQP; first time commenter. I always enjoy reading your work. You never fail to adroitly and humorously describe in YOUR words MY thoughts. Even if I were to try to piece together the ideas simmering in my mind in writing or conversation, it would come out clumsy and incomplete. Your prose flows like a novel in email form that I am sad to see end.
To this piece, I wish I would have read it 20+ years ago. I missed many opportunities to move the ball forward and learn from others because my focus was inward. How could ‘I’ improve, what can ‘I’ do to ensure mission success, etc. I can blame my introverted personality as an excuse, but the problem was control and time efficiency. I always despised group projects or shared responsibility and felt small talk or relationship building an inefficient use of time. I have seen the enormous impact and efficiency of a well-networked team. Or the mountains moved with a phone call to an old wingman. Again, I wish I would have read this and internalized the message decades ago.
Keep writing TC! Even lurkers like me are enjoying your work.
Cannot thank you enough for reading and engaging, Jeremy. Most of all I appreciate the way you have wrestled with this piece's propositions. Nothing encourages me to keep writing more than knowing it sets other peoples' wheels turning.
But of course I also thank you for the direct encouragement in your first paragraph. Writing, much as I enjoy it and get a thrill from doing it most of the time, can be a daunting thing sometimes. Not knowing if what I'm trying to say is coming across clear. Not knowing if it's entertaining and engaging enough to hold a reader's mind long enough to deliver something valuable to them.
Your comment gives me reinforcement that helps keep me going more than you know. Thank you!
Hello Tom. I enjoy reading your comments, but this latest one was bang-on. I was an Army Infantry officer who clued in on being tactically and technically proficient while being friendly without being friends. There was the Army and then there was my life - two separate things. As I progressed, one of my senior officers (who was worth a damn) once called me in and told me that I'd never go far in the Army because I didn't have a 'rabbi.' Turns out that he was absolutely right. The Army was going to leave me in one shxtty assignment after the next, cleaning up someone else's mess until I died. I left when it became clear that I was a good 'worker' but had no network. People knew my worth, but didn't value me. I left, never looked back and am so glad I did since I prospered (and learned) elsewhere.
Beautifully written...I had no idea you were John Q. Public! :) Sorry, I may have missed that because I'm new to your account. I've always wondered what happened to John Q. and now I know that you're still here, just in a different way! Bravo!
TC, long time reader back to JQP; first time commenter. I always enjoy reading your work. You never fail to adroitly and humorously describe in YOUR words MY thoughts. Even if I were to try to piece together the ideas simmering in my mind in writing or conversation, it would come out clumsy and incomplete. Your prose flows like a novel in email form that I am sad to see end.
To this piece, I wish I would have read it 20+ years ago. I missed many opportunities to move the ball forward and learn from others because my focus was inward. How could ‘I’ improve, what can ‘I’ do to ensure mission success, etc. I can blame my introverted personality as an excuse, but the problem was control and time efficiency. I always despised group projects or shared responsibility and felt small talk or relationship building an inefficient use of time. I have seen the enormous impact and efficiency of a well-networked team. Or the mountains moved with a phone call to an old wingman. Again, I wish I would have read this and internalized the message decades ago.
Keep writing TC! Even lurkers like me are enjoying your work.
Cannot thank you enough for reading and engaging, Jeremy. Most of all I appreciate the way you have wrestled with this piece's propositions. Nothing encourages me to keep writing more than knowing it sets other peoples' wheels turning.
But of course I also thank you for the direct encouragement in your first paragraph. Writing, much as I enjoy it and get a thrill from doing it most of the time, can be a daunting thing sometimes. Not knowing if what I'm trying to say is coming across clear. Not knowing if it's entertaining and engaging enough to hold a reader's mind long enough to deliver something valuable to them.
Your comment gives me reinforcement that helps keep me going more than you know. Thank you!
Hello Tom. I enjoy reading your comments, but this latest one was bang-on. I was an Army Infantry officer who clued in on being tactically and technically proficient while being friendly without being friends. There was the Army and then there was my life - two separate things. As I progressed, one of my senior officers (who was worth a damn) once called me in and told me that I'd never go far in the Army because I didn't have a 'rabbi.' Turns out that he was absolutely right. The Army was going to leave me in one shxtty assignment after the next, cleaning up someone else's mess until I died. I left when it became clear that I was a good 'worker' but had no network. People knew my worth, but didn't value me. I left, never looked back and am so glad I did since I prospered (and learned) elsewhere.
Beautifully written...I had no idea you were John Q. Public! :) Sorry, I may have missed that because I'm new to your account. I've always wondered what happened to John Q. and now I know that you're still here, just in a different way! Bravo!