we have to carry what is essential

A masterful warrior carries everything she needs and no more, just as a masterful painter uses all of the paint that she needs and no more, and a master chef uses all of the ingredients that she needs and no more. In the same way, a masterful philosopher will use all of the words that she needs and no more. 

I am not a mountain climber, but a few years ago I had the idea that I might want to climb seriously, so I started to read and to train. I’ve climbed a few glacier-covered mountains in the northwestern United States with professionals. One of the things you learn from professional climbers is the discipline of packing well. 

Tools are helpful when you climb. Your sleeping bag provides warmth, your lantern provides light, and your gloves provide protection. Lose your footing and your ax can save your life. Every tool has a purpose, and almost any tool can be helpful.

Every tool also has weight.

Standing at sea level, an ax in your hand feels like a feather. At twelve thousand feet, hours from the summit, an extra pound in your pack feels like an anvil. 

In the same way, words have value. The right words can right your balance. The right words can light your way. But words also have weight. In our life and work, we have to carry what is essential, and leave much of the rest behind.

Resilience: Hard-won Wisdom for Living a Better Life by Eric Greitens. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2015. p.12,13

by the awful grace of God

Even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget

falls drop by drop upon the heart,

and in our own despite, against our will,

comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.

AESCHYLUS

Resilience: Hard-won Wisdom for Living a Better Life by Eric Greitens. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2015. p.5

the virtue of resilience

Resilience is the virtue that enables people to move through hardship and become better. No one escapes pain, fear, and suffering. Yet from pain can come wisdom, from fear can come courage, from suffering can come strength – if we have the virtue of resilience. 

Resilience: Hard-won Wisdom for Living a Better Life by Eric Greitens. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2015. p.3

what problem are you trying to solve?

Critical thinking, problem solving, and working well with others are necessary for employees at any level, but MIT Sloan professors Nelson Repenning and Don Kieffer, along with alumnus Todd Astor, found that leaders who can directly answer the question of “what problem are you trying to solve” will be a step ahead in the game.

According to Repenning and Kieffer, a good problem statement has five components that include:

• a reference to something the organization cares about, and connects that to a clear and specific goal.
• clear articulation of the gap between the current state and specific goal.
• measurable targets.
• neutrality toward causes and solutions.
• an achievable and appropriate scope.

“In our experience, leaders who can formulate clear problem statements get more done with less effort and move more rapidly than their less-focused counterparts,” the experts wrote in MIT Sloan Management Review. “Clear problem statements can unlock the energy and innovation that lies within those who do the core work of your organization.”

Meredith Somers

"4 things you need to know about soft skills," MIT Sloan. February 6, 2018

still much that is fair

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but there is still much that is fair, and though in all lands love is mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater. 

J. R. R. Tolkien 

The Fellowship of the Ring, b.2 c.6 p. 452 by J.R.R. Tolkien (Haldir speaking to Merry)