500 Words a Week - Do Good Work

A story we may have heard before; President John F Kennedy was taking a tour of NASA when he encountered a cleaner mopping the floor. Kennedy introduced himself and asked the cleaner what he did at NASA, to which the man responded “Mr President, I’m trying to put a man on the moon.”

Regardless of our role, we should all be working towards a globally held vision. How we help progress towards that vision may differ depending on the roles within your organisation.

At times, we can be quick to criticise others, or suggest how others may do their roles differently when we might be better served ensuring we are doing our role to the best of our ability. The old saying of “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”, rings true here. Firstly, in that we must make sure our house is fully swept before commenting on others. Secondly, if you are not open and willing to accept criticism, don’t freely and regularly give it out.

I got a little lost in this when beginning, in terms of always internally commenting on others work when in fact I needed to better pay attention to my own duties and role.

I think this is something that will always naturally happen. The major issue with this is that these criticisms only end up making us feel frustrated or annoyed. No progress has been made, except putting ourselves in a cloudy mood. I think it’s in these times we differ back to NASA’s cleaner. We are here to do our job, to the best of our ability, to aid with the wider organisation vision.

This is also a lesson I’ve started to grasp in regards to trying to progress your career. Advice we may have been given before about staying patient, keeping your head down and doing your work, I may have not fully appreciated before. As with most people, we want to be at the top of the ladder before we’ve taken our first step. I’ve come around to this advice a little bit more, but I still believe that at times you need to try and make things happen for yourself if you feel lost or stuck with your situation. How the above links in, is that you need to ensure you’re doing good work regardless of how you perceive your situation or how you feel. You need to ensure you’ve firmly secured your ladder before attempting to climb it.

In one of my first internships advice I got given was that you never know who is watching you, so always ensure you’re putting your best foot forward. I don’t think this was a warning to constantly check your shoulders, it more links with a quote I’ve mentioned before:

“If you have a sterling reputation and you keep building it for decades’ people will notice.” – Naval Ravikant