can poison a relationship

Anger repressed can poison a relationship as surely as the cruelest words.

Dr. Joyce Brothers 

Anger: Handling a Powerful Emotion in a Healthy Way by Gary D. Chapman. Moody Publishers. 2007.

your company needs you now more than it ever did

Schistosoma mansani, commonly known as the blood fluke

Creating an economically viable entity where lack of original thought is handsomely rewarded creates a rich, fertile environment for parasites to breed. And that's exactly what's been happening. So now we have millions upon millions of human tapeworms thriving in the Western World, making love to their Powerpoint presentations, feasting on the creativity of others.

What happens to an ecology, when the parasite level reaches critical mass?

The ecology dies.

If you're creative, if you can think independently, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the fear of being wrong, then your company needs you now more than it ever did. And now your company can no longer afford to pretend that isn't the case.

So dust off your horn and start tooting it. Exactly.

Hugh MacLeod
"your company needs you now more than it ever did" Gapingvoid. 7/31/2004

lose yourself

You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. Your mind gets bored and therefore tired of doing nothing. Get interested in something! Get absolutely enthralled in something! Get out of yourself! Be somebody! Do something. The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.

Norman Vincent Peale

The Power of Positive Thinking: 10 Traits for Maximum Results. Simon and Schuster. 1952.

far more sensible approach

When it comes time to break a horse, the Havasupai have a simpler, far more sensible approach than western cowboys. They lead the horse out to a deep section of the stream, next to a large rock. Then the rider climbs from the rock onto the horse. In the deep water of the creek the horse is unable to buck and put up much of a fight. After a couple of days of repeating this process, the horse is broken and ready to ride.

Greg Witt

Exploring Havasupai: A Guide to the Heart of the Grand Canyon. Menasha Ridge Press. 2010. p.37

a big idea will change you

You don't know if your idea is any good the moment it's created. Neither does anyone else. The most you can hope for is a strong gut feeling that it is. And trusting your feelings is not as easy as the optimists say it is. There's a reason why feelings scare us. 

And asking close friends never works quite as well as you hope, either. It's not that they deliberately want to be unhelpful. It's just they don't know your world one millionth as well as you know your world, no matter how hard they try, no matter how hard you try to explain. 

Plus a big idea will change you. Your friends may love you, but they don't want you to change. If you change, then their dynamic with you also changes. They like things the way they are, that's how they love you- the way you are, not the way you may become.

Ergo, they have no incentive to see you change. And they will be resistant to anything that catalyzes it. That's human nature. And you would do the same, if the shoe was on the other foot.

With business colleagues it's even worse. They're used to dealing with you in a certain way. They're used to having a certain level of control over the relationship. And they want whatever makes them more prosperous. Sure, they might prefer it if you prosper as well, but that's not their top priority. 

If your idea is so good that it changes your dynamic enough to where you need them less, or God forbid, THE MARKET needs them less, then they're going to resist your idea every chance they can.

Again, that's human nature. 

GOOD IDEAS ALTER THE POWER BALANCE IN RELATIONSHIPS, THAT IS WHY GOOD IDEAS ARE ALWAYS INITIALLY RESISTED.

Good ideas come with a heavy burden. Which is why so few people have them. So few people can handle it.

Hugh MacLeod

"Ignore Everybody." Gapingvoid. 7/31/2004