Pop's Garage Philosophy 3

Phew. More work on Pop's Garage (and Mom's dragon hoard of ceramics and porcelain supplies, fabrics, patterns, knitting machines and materials, stained glass, dishes, pots and pans, towels and cloths of every type, size, color and fabric, and of course a TON of part-finished projects). Carol and I walked, er, hobbled out of there last evening with a full minivan and Intrepid's worth of ... stuff. And I'm back there in, let's see, about 90 minutes. Another fun day approaches.

An old family friend showed up while my brother and I were up to our elbows in Garage ... stuff the day before yesterday. Once I again I heard the semi-rhetorical question, "How did you know where to start: I wouldn't have been able to." Oh?

A lesson from Pop's Garage is never let yourself defeat yourself. If you start off by thinking you can't win, well, you can't, and won't. Sure, some things are harder to do than others, and some you might never have the talent/kill/knowledge to do--like for example, I am totally fascinated by space and various space programs, but at my age I will never, no matter how hard I try, be a rocket scientist--but that has nothing to do with defeating yourself. A given in project management, personal, team or corporate, is that the goal has to attainable ... without using magic.

The Chinese often use a phrase, mei you ban fa, which translates as "there is no way [to do or achieve or succeed at the issue in question]." Whenever I hear it (and it is appropriate, always a consideration) I answer, "If you think there is no way then I guarantee there will be no way. But if you start by saying/thinking 'maybe there is way,' then you know, maybe there is a way." In other words, don't defeat yourself before you even start by saying that you won't be able to ...

Anyway, this is what this video is about. Was I nervous about the Garage job? Sure: I am not a fool. I knew how tough it would be. Did I fear the Garage job? No. Fear? As Aldous Huxley wrote in novel, Island (years before it became famous in the Dune novels by Frank Herbert),

Fear is the mind killer.

Well, fear is the mind killer. In the case of the friend's comments on cleaning Pop's garage, it was fear of complexity. Because something looks difficult you fear it, from there a very short move to defeating yourself.

Dick will encounter many "garage" jobs as Acme grows. Many will be the time he, and his team, shies away from certain tasks. That's okay (being nervous is actually a good thing: continued later). But fear the task? Never!