There’s Growth in the Boredom

There’s growth in the boredom.

Once you’ve got the idea and made the sale, now you must deliver. And delivering isn’t as fun.

I continually find myself restless, looking for new things to tweak because I don’t want to knuckle down and execute the boring. I’ve suffered greatly because of it.

Robin Dickinson puts it well: respect the boredom. The business is in the boring. The boring stuff is the stuff that works, even without glamour.

Getting Clear On Results And Rewards

When I haven’t done what was boring but necessary, it’s usually because I wasn’t clear that it was necessary for my results. We must get smart about what our bottom-line activities actually are, and filter everything by that.

And we need to know what the reward is: that being bored by getting results empowers me to have time for what I really enjoy. If the boring empowers the fun, then perhaps I’d stop avoiding it.

Obtaining vs Maintaining

In our attention economy, we are so used to multitasking and being distracted that the focus required by maintenance is increasingly unnatural. The saying ‘you can do anything you put your mind to’ has created a culture that considers itself above the boring. They’d rather be obtaining (having fun) than maintaining (sharpening the saw).

There’s growth in the boredom. Respect it.