I agree that Mark Watney in The Martian offers some great examples of work ethic. Break big, abstract problems into smaller concrete problems and as Neil deGrasse Tyson likes to quote from this film "science the shit out of this."
Of course, the other side of the problem that this film does not quite address so well is knowing what to do. Maintaining collective mind share across a team about what to do is something I've seen organizations struggle with. Mark Watney had the advantage of a very clear goal (staying alive) and was a team of one.
Any thoughts about how to keep the team doing the math in the same direction when the team is much bigger than one?
Thanks for this comment—you're spot on that this part is hard and very different from "stay alive." 😊
The best example I've seen was at LinkedIn. The CEO at the time, Jeff Weiner, was religious about repetition.
He would repeat the basics—mission, vision, priorities, goals—over and over. He quoted an old quote from David Gergen (longtime political operative): leaders should repeat things so much that when you think it sounds absurd and you're sick of hearing it, it's just beginning to sink in.
Another way I've heard this phrased: "Don't get bored turning a profit."
Many leaders get bored or lose focus and stop repeating the same "math." Company-wide focus gets diffuse. It's also worth noting that another LinkedIn principle was to keep priorities to three—not even four or five. That constraint helps too.
Thanks for this question — I may write a full post on it. 👀
I agree that Mark Watney in The Martian offers some great examples of work ethic. Break big, abstract problems into smaller concrete problems and as Neil deGrasse Tyson likes to quote from this film "science the shit out of this."
Of course, the other side of the problem that this film does not quite address so well is knowing what to do. Maintaining collective mind share across a team about what to do is something I've seen organizations struggle with. Mark Watney had the advantage of a very clear goal (staying alive) and was a team of one.
Any thoughts about how to keep the team doing the math in the same direction when the team is much bigger than one?
Thanks for this comment—you're spot on that this part is hard and very different from "stay alive." 😊
The best example I've seen was at LinkedIn. The CEO at the time, Jeff Weiner, was religious about repetition.
He would repeat the basics—mission, vision, priorities, goals—over and over. He quoted an old quote from David Gergen (longtime political operative): leaders should repeat things so much that when you think it sounds absurd and you're sick of hearing it, it's just beginning to sink in.
Another way I've heard this phrased: "Don't get bored turning a profit."
Many leaders get bored or lose focus and stop repeating the same "math." Company-wide focus gets diffuse. It's also worth noting that another LinkedIn principle was to keep priorities to three—not even four or five. That constraint helps too.
Thanks for this question — I may write a full post on it. 👀