I have learned that our WebEx accounts are linked to our Teleconferencing accounts in such a way that if you are hosting and close the WebEx session you hang up on everyone on the phone. Whoops!
Category: Work
Not There Yet
I am learning the value of “formally communicating” even while figuring out what that means in differerent settings and to different people.
This stuff is hard.
Like Minds (not)
This is a big one.
I have learned that, through fortune and choice, I have surrounded myself with people who think like I do and who understand me well. That is a glorious thing!
It means, however, that I have learned to expect people to know what I’m talking about, or even what I mean. Sometimes I end up talking in shortcuts, which works great when I’m with my family and long time friends, when I have the same boss for 10 years. One word or phrase implies a whole story. Often a funny one. (You know what I mean – you can post them as comments!)
This model does NOT work when I’m with new people and/or people who don’t think like I do!
My next big lessons are going to be about noticing when I’m out of my friendly frequency, when I need to spell things out, and how do make that shift!
Wish me luck!
Window of Opportunity
I have learned (more than once*) that some things have an expiration date on value, and they need to be taken care of on time. Documents that describe an event, for example, lose shelf life pretty quickly. Feedback is another.
Get it done, get it over, get it out.
* I think I need to add a new category for Lessons Learned Again and Again
Surf’s Up!
A Very Smart Executive suggested that I learn to surf: ride the waves, don’t get tossed about in the ups and downs.
The scope under discussion was work, but I think it works on a much larger scale.
This is all on my journy to Resliance and I love the image.
Ask
I may need a new category for Big Lessons, and this is one for me.
Sometimes I just need to ASK. Instead of trying to figure out the answer or project what it is I’m answering at all, I need to just ASK: What do you have in mind? What are your solutions for this?
I don’t have to have all the answers. Sometimes I just need to ASK the questions.
Answers abound.
There’s Waldo
Is this a cool idea or what? A new business colleague of mine ALWAYS wears a wild Hawiian shirt on the way home from business trips. The whole team changed into play clothes for the journey but this guy does it up. They say this way they can find him in the airport, but I think it’s a great way to say “off duty!”
I would add “or no clothes”
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. – Henry David Thoreau
as quoted by Jim Freedman
The Public Option
I have learned that I am not as public as I imagined. I learn lots of things that I just can’t post because they are not things I can share with the world. Some of them are about work, some are about people and they don’t make sense – or become coherent lessons – out of context.
What I can do is get all general about what I am learning, and I will continue to do that here. I am continously amazed at how much I learn every day.
At the beep…
leave a message! Jomol learned this lesson this week, and shared it with me. If it’s worth a call, it’s probably worth a message. Say what you came to say, leave a message at the beep, and you may not have that open action item hanging over you.
Jane's Lessons Learned 