Contributing

Whenever I look at ancient architecture, I have to almost physically stop my self and remember someone built this building. Someone sat down, laid out a plan and decided to build this building. They decided it best for this series of bricks, carved stone, or pour blocks to go where they are.

I can look at the modern civilization around the ancient architecture and see this building is completely out of place. It no longer belongs, but once upon a time, it was exactly where it needed to be for the purpose it was made.

It was made where it was made for a reason.

For the construction no longer standing, it had a purpose but it did not stand the test of time. Whether the materials gave out, mother nature had her way, or war took its toll. The building is no more.

Today, I can see modern society, government, and the culture. They have all been placed where they are for a reason. They were all created with a purpose. I use all of them regularly.

However, I have to be prepared to contribute to them if I expect to ever see them change for the better. I have to be willing to throw in my two cents or I will forever be a silent victim of their demise.

How are you working to make the structures you are a part of better? What are you doing to add to positive forward progress? How are you making the people around you better?

Contributing,

–JT

Love the post? Please share it on Facebook or support me on Patreon

The System

Having recently had the opportunity to celebrate the American Daylight Saving time and knowing the majority of the rest of the world had now had the opportunity to also catch up and join us in our time change of productivity. ( A great explanation if you did not know different parts of the world celebrate DST at different times.)

This only rekindles my eternal loathing for the semiannual holiday. My seething subsides a little more with each passing year as I have fewer and fewer clocks to change. I think at this point, there are only four clocks I have to update manually. However, how many lost hours of productivity have been lost to the time change negatively affecting people because they forgot and showed up to work late? Or how about how many hours have been spent wasting time communicating this archaic tradition to help people not forget? Or what about the opportunity we all have to change our clocks? I doubt there has been any time lost to changing clocks every year.

Truly, what upsets me most is best summed up by Admiral Grace Hopper, “The most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’” (An amazing woman to say the least. We a great deal to her in regards to modern computing languages and software development if you do not already know of her, you should get to know her.)

There are very few methods, systems, or processes that last forever. I have a pretty good system for brewing my french press at work. However, it is not perfect and will not last forever. Maybe my taste will change or my preferences will change on the flavor, style, or strength of my coffee. Similarly, Daylight Saving Time was once very necessary for generations built on sunlight, productivity, and manufacturing. As we now deviate from these ancient systems, it is time for us to update our clocks for the last time.

Similarly, as I grow and mature, it is time for me to take a look at the systems and processes in my own life and develop them. Mature them. Bring them up to speed with where I am at in life.

What processes are you using without question? What systems are outdated that you use regularly? What long overdue process do you need to institute?

Intentionally,

–JT

Love the post? Please share it on Facebook or support me on Patreon

Teaching

Teaching is one of the noble careers I appreciate. Natural teachers are some of my favorite people to be around. They are so adept at bringing learning into their whole life and sharing new knowledge with me and everyone around them.

However, I so forget how much it takes to be a teacher. I was trying to document my processes and systems for how I do what I do and I realized how much it really takes to teach. The visuals so people can see things the way I see them. The endless words strewn across pages and pages to describe my actions.

Then, at the end of the day, the people I am trying to teach still have completely different mental filters and life experiences between the two of us getting in the way of our filters and conversations. We have no way to cross these hurtles without standing in the same room together and talking it all through.

I had forgotten how much it really takes to teach people what I was doing. I had also forgotten how much it had taken for me to get to be doing what I do. How many layers of the onion had grown on top of one another to develop into the job I was doing.
It was very humbling to not be able to document the layers of the onion. I did not need to document how or why things had gotten to be they way they are. I only needed to document how to do the what needs to be done. And though, it was important to have a process through which these processes could improve, it was not necessary in least to document the evolution of how things came to be how they are.

I realized the necessity of having things be the way they are is good, but I had too often been trying to protect things and keep them the way they were because of the process to get them to be the way they were and I was not fighting for everything to get better because it needed to be better.

I was trying to protect the inner layers of the onion meanwhile the outermost layer of the onion was rotting away and couldn’t grow or improve.

What are you needlessly fighting to protect? If you were to document how you do what you do, how much time would you have to spend defending the process to get to where you are? Is the process to get to where you are as important as the destination? Where is your pride getting in the way?

Humbly,

–JT