Today was a day where nothing really went to plan, which is why I’m writing this post ten minutes before bed rather than just before lunch as I typically try to.
Not one thing on my to-do list was done. Not one meeting went the way I’d hoped it would. Things I thought I understood became more complex than I anticipated, and things that I needed to wrap up quickly instead unraveled like so much yarn.
I’m reminding myself that failure is the best schoolroom, and that where I am now is a solid light-year ahead of where I was just a few years ago. But that’s the thing with scale — everything scales. Revenue, yes. Inspiration, definitely. But also challenges, fears, and wicked problems.
One note of hope. I’ve been feeling that I’m not moving fast enough on some of the issues that are smacking like juicy bugs against my windshield. I’ve been in my new role for exactly two weeks today. I cracked open one of the stack of management books that I pored over in advance of taking this position and stumbled on the importance of acting quickly and making the best use of your first 100 days. Oh! Maybe fourteen days isn’t enough to make radical, innovative, and lasting change in my organization. That sounds silly, but to be honest it’s the way I tend to think.
Let’s be kind to ourselves and at least give it 50 days, shall we?