It is a new year, and I am committing to publishing a work diary every week as inspired by Dayo of The Mind Palace who published 52 articles in 2022.
That is the kind of SOLID commitment I am trying to have in the year 2023 (I just hope it feeds into my fitness goals 💀).
WEEK 1 OF 2023; The first work week of the year.
Work this week has gone better than I imagined, because I honestly did not imagine anything. And when you factor in all the late nights, quick calls, various articles I had to read, plus the numerous YouTube videos I watched in the final weeks of 2022 all in preparation for this week, it could have gone differently had I not taken those proactive steps.
My biggest lesson from this week is this:
“Do not be afraid to make calculated mistakes.”
I was initially going to write, ‘do not be afraid to make mistakes’, but there are some mistakes that you should not be making considering the perception you will have in your organization/work circles as a result of such mistakes.
Calculated mistakes on the other hand portray a proactive spirit, because of the effort that goes into making them in the first place. They are the mistakes you make after you have done your preliminary research and made an attempt at getting the task done. Only those who have made attempts can make such mistakes.
I don’t think anybody enjoys working with the colleague that wants to be coddled all the time in the line of work. When confronted with a task you do not understand, do not hesitate to ask questions to gain clarity and avoid saying outrightly that you do not have questions. Instead say; ‘I do not have questions at this time’, what this implies is that this preliminary explanation is enough but when I review it, I may then have specific areas that will require clarification.
If you are new in a work system, no one expects you to have everything figured out immediately. Give yourself the time to grow and learn, which can only be possible when you are proactive enough to make calculated mistakes.
DO ALL YOU CAN TO AVOID INERTIA
I personally learnt it this week in a conversation with my colleague.
I had been independently working on a task over the holiday and had shared with other members of my team but my business leaders because I wanted it to be perfect before sending it up.
This is a document I had spent all holiday working on, independent of the team input because we were unable to find a suitable meeting time for all stakeholders.
I pored through resources, shared with some team members for review and implemented all the feedback, what else was I waiting for? I still do not know.
In the words of my colleague, waiting till your work is perfect before you share it is a ‘rookie mistake’. Don’t fall victim.
In other news, the ‘CAREER STARTUP’ Podcast is back up and running.
Exciting times are upon us.
Listen here.