Taking Ownership

It's been a while since I posted something on this supposedly daily blog, so here goes...

I think that most of the nagging dissatisfaction I often feel is due to the fact that I wish more people would take ownership of things. What does that mean?

I wish that people would think about what they do enough to look at the big picture. What is the group trying to accomplish? What problem is being solved? What are my tasks? How do my tasks fit into the picture? Do they even fit into the picture? If I don't think they do, should I change my tasks? Should I ask someone for help? If I accomplish all of my tasks well, will my group meet their goals? Once I understand what to do, do it!

When you have that kind of understanding, you don't need motivation - you just want to do it. But it feels like most people don't care that much. Or maybe it's not that they don't care, but they're not focused on the goals. Or they think that marking the checkbox complete automatically will cause the goal to happen, even if the checkbox doesn't mean anything to the goal. Or they think they can't, so they don't try to be any better than what they are about what they do.

This post probably doesn't make much sense. I am feeling very inarticulate at the moment. Maybe that's why I don't write much. But if I could offer the world any advice, it would be the following. Think about what you're doing. Care about what you're doing. And make sure that what you're doing matters. You are trying to solve a problem - be PART of the solution - not part of the checklist!

Maybe the Underpants Gnomes will help...