Tag Archives: balance

Getting to Forest Height

I’ve just gotten back from a lovely vacation, spending some time relaxing and away from the pressures and day-to-day of work. While the vacation glow persists for another day or two, it got me to thinking about the tremendous value of just stepping back for a bit.

It is a truism that we often miss the forest for the trees; that is, we get so enmeshed in the detail of things that we can miss large-scale trends or broader context. That’s not to say the details aren’t important — in fact, in terms of execution, they’re incredibly important — but in isolation, they can be crippling.

Getting even just a few days away from the current project can be helpful to come back to it with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. New approaches are more obvious, as are (more importantly) new questions: Why are we doing it this way? Are we really on track to meet the intended needs? Does this all still make sense?

The tech world mythologizes the start-up work environment where everybody works 20 hours a day and sleeps in their cubicle (or works around the clock from their bedroom). There are times when that may be necessary or desirable. But I’d submit they are pretty few, and if they’re not interspersed with time for recharging and replenishing both cognitively and emotionally, you may end up confusing motion with progress.

The Importance of the Side Project

Every job has its ups and downs, not just the job of elevator operator. (Sorry, old and bad joke.) There are parts of the work that are engaging and interesting, finding answers to problems and implementing those solutions. And then there are the other parts — the prerequisites, the occasional begrudging task.

That’s where the side project comes in. Around our offices, we make sure that everyone has a side project to keep them sharp and engaged, even when the primary project might be a little stultifying. This gives our team members a chance to step away, shift gears, and focus on a different matter for a while.

It’s useful not just to provide a palate cleanser for drudgery. Sometimes, we can get so enmeshed in the norms and expectations of a specific project that our vision begins to narrow. Keeping another project on the side enables us to shift that perspective and keep our sights broad.

For some of our team, it’s a passion project — helping reach out to an underserved community through Internet broadcasting, for instance. For others, it’s a project that might end up being commercial one day, like a new and improved nonprofit management system. Still others combine the two, exploring a recreational opportunity app, for instance. (For one of us, it’s writing for this blog!)

Regardless of the specific project, it’s something we prize greatly, and I think it helps us stay sharp and balanced. Because even with the most fun of projects, there’s always a chance to get sucked in a bit too far!