The New Crop: Issue #98
On busy-ness + "companies are brilliantly solving the wrong problems"
What’s in this issue:
💭 Thought: On busy-ness
📚 Read: Companies Are Brilliantly Solving the Wrong Problems
😆 Today’s Laugh
Oh, if only this were possible (my cat and I are NOT on great terms these days with all of her puking…)
💭 Today’s Thought
What follows is a poem for those who feel like they’re always busy…
… for those who find themselves:
flying from one activity to the next,
running through a seemingly endless stream of “To Do” items, and/or
filling their schedule with as many tasks, meetings, activities, and assignments as can possibly fit.
If you feel like you’re constantly
doing,
striving,
producing,
earning,
or proving,
then consider this: can you let yourself just be?
Worker Bees.
I wonder if you can pause
--just for a moment--
the emergency of your life
and step out into
the quiet of the world.
Hear how gently it conveys
the delicate thread of birdsong,
how quickly it can soothe
the rupture of a passing jet.
Feel its vast, smiling invitation
to rest back into the person
you've been all your life.
- James Pearson, from The Wilderness That Bears Your Name
🖊️ Today’s Reflection
If you’re new to journaling, I highly encourage you to read Nancy Adler’s article: Want to be an outstanding leader? Keep a journal.
This week, find a quiet place and gift yourself 10 minutes to reflect on any of these prompts (or invent your own!):
How do you know when you have balance in your life?
What (if anything) are you avoiding by being busy?
📚 Today’s Read
Companies Are Brilliantly Solving the Wrong Problems
In this article, Jasper Kroese discusses the factors that lead organizations to focus on solving the wrong problems and what we can do to counteract them. Check it out!
There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. - Henry David Thoreau
See you next week!
xo,
Anne