Not Reinventing the Wheel

Don't try to reinvent the wheel. If someone else always seems to be ahead, watch and learn from them. If someone else has a faster and more efficient way of doing something, learn from it and model your own work accordingly. If you're having trouble getting specific jobs done, ask others who are in the same boat if they have any tricks of the trade to show you. Maybe you've overlooked some shortcuts, though remember, cutting corners is not always the quickest way to go, especially if you forget a key part and have to do everything over. It's working smarter, not harder and admitting that someone else might know better.

"You know you've achieved perfection in design,
not when you have nothing more to add,
but when you have nothing more to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery

Simplify. Get rid of the clutter so you can look at your priorities and make clear decisions. Once you've gotten rid of everything that distracts, takes your mind off the job or goal at hand..... you can create the path that moves you forward. Part of that clutter is observing those around you....their successes and ways of being. When you remove judgment and no longer believe your way is the only way....only then can you learn and do 'it' better......better for you and everyone around you.

One of my pet peeves is when I hear someone say "Been there, done that. I've tried everything there is." My first response is "Everything? or is it everything you thought of?" Have you opened your mind to the possibility that someone else might have a way that works better? And isn't it a feather in your cap to realise you are taking the best of all the ideas around you, getting rid of the ones that don't resonate, making something work, rather than living with the belief that change is impossible? Which shows you as a leader?

If I were hiring or choosing my team, I know who I'd choose and it isn't the "know-it-all" It's the person who admits to not having all the answers, knows who has them and, if not, is willing to find them.

Best...
Donna Karlin