Doing the Same Thing Over & Over vs. Never Doing the Same Thing Again
I earn my living by selling software, and I nourish my mental health by writing. In addition to writing papers and blogs to broaden the awareness of our software, I also write to free my mind. A book project that transports me to Europe in 1940 is my favorite escape.
The pieces that I write for work are intended to attract people to our business. A hoped-for side benefit is that the more I write, the more my writing will improve. The writing that I do on the side helps clear my mind for work. It's a healthy and satisfying cycle.
Ideas often bloom from unexpected sources. A New Yorker profile of the young proprietor of a boulangerie in Paris sparked some fresh thinking on how we train people to use our software. Nate Silver's rich anecdotes about weather forecasting, political races, fantasy baseball and online poker in his book The Signal and the Noise significantly transformed my outlook on how companies should apply our forecasting software.
Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon with a passion for writing, has been a regular source of inspiration. His books and articles focus primarily on health and medical issues, but his ideas extend to many other facets of life. In his book The Checklist Manifesto, Dr. Gawande detailed the astounding impact of such a simple tool on surgery (of course), but also on air safety, construction projects, food prep and even Van Halen concerts.
One of his most entertaining and thought-provoking pieces is a New Yorker article that contrasts our inefficient and ineffective healthcare system with the consistent and reliable quality of a Cheesecake Factory restaurant. (Trust me - or Google the article - he makes this contrast work).
In his talks and articles Dr. Gawande is also candid and prolific about his journey as a writer.
My favorite contribution is his address to the 2005 graduating class of the Harvard Medical School, delivered 10 years after his graduation from the school. Titled "Five Rules," it offers these 5 simple but stimulating guidelines for success:
1. Ask an unscripted question
2. Don't whine
3. Count something
4. Write something
5. Change
Dr. Gawande's fourth book - Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End - was published early this month. [Note: This was originally published in October, 2014]. It's a smart, compassionate and sobering account of the steep and rapid deterioration in the quality of life experienced by many seniors.
The book is grim, but it's also uplifted by stories of how some spirited mavericks find ways to enrich the quality of patients' final days. By enlisting patients' input into how to make their remaining time the most meaningful, they manage what truly matters in the end.
With each book, Dr. Gawande's stature and recognition has grown. In recent weeks, he has appeared widely on TV and radio and in the printed and electronic press. In an interview and review published in The Guardian on October 10, 2014, Dr. Gawande discussed his life, his new book and the craft of writing. This quote jumped out at me:
"In surgery there's a learning curve: I'm trying to do the same thing over and over again and to get better at it. In writing you're trying to never do the same thing again."
Maybe I'll get it right one of these days, but the quest to get better at what I do just never ends either. Technology changes, customers' challenges evolve, but it's still much the same thing over and over. Fortunately, there are a lot of different ways to tell a story. And with a readily available diversion, I'm fortunate to have a mental health outlet.
If you're feeling stuck in the same old same old, take a shot at Atul Gawande's Five Rules. Find an outlet in which you never have to do the same thing again. Be the author of your life and happiness.
Originally posted to LinkedIn on October 13, 2014