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Adina Dinu's avatar

Great article, Rick! Sara's "hollow expertise" and your perspective on burnout rising from not pursuing your passion and interests are the main takeaways from me.

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Rick Foerster's avatar

Thanks Adina for your feedback on what resonates. That always helps!

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Sara Pendergast's avatar

Yeah, Rick, it’s surprising how being rewarded for serving a greater “good” can trap you in misery. I’m glad you have a chance to explore what’s next. Luck definitely plays a part in having that chance for me too. Without a certain financial security, I wouldn’t have the guts take the time to do what I’m doing.

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Rick Foerster's avatar

I agree. I also wish I had more guts than I do, but still grateful for the small slice of guts that helped me NOT continue in ways that no longer served me.

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Sara Pendergast's avatar

Yeah, that’s the best we can do: take steps in a new direction when we muster the strength to serve ourselves better.

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Sarrah Marić ✨'s avatar

I didn’t realise how much I needed to hear this!! Being good at something you didn’t choose (!!) thats been my exact trap too. Praised, promoted and completely over it. Felt VERY seen.

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Rick Foerster's avatar

Glad it resonated, Sarrah! And hope you can find your way.

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Yi Xue's avatar

An interesting piece, and interesting perspective. I happened to just finished reading Cal Newport’s “So good they can’t ignore you”. I also wrote about “Love what you do - a contemplation on passion vs. Competence” in which I argued (well, not really) that being good at what you do can lead into love what you do and do great work. 😊

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Rick Foerster's avatar

It definitely can. Just doesn’t always. 😉

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Jade Fisher's avatar

Timely. Thanks Rick, as always. 😊

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Rick Foerster's avatar

🫡

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Jason Lang's avatar

Rick, your writing continues to resonate with me. I'm in a rabbit-hole of writing and essays along the lines of why we do what we do, and it's impact on our inability to make a change.

https://open.substack.com/pub/experimentalhistory/p/be-myself-id-rather-die?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=q39ql

Your work here does justice to the tension between monetizing what the market values vs what the essential self values. With me, that tension is now significant. Thanks for the voice and framework.

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Rick Foerster's avatar

Thanks Jason for the feedback, and will check out what you sent.

I think a lot of people feel the same tension! But it’s a constant battle trying to figure out the “right” thing to do.

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Ved Shankar's avatar

Your point about creativity being the main strength (vs firefighting) reminds me of the 6-page memos Amazon adopted, while ditching PPTs.

The point was in the process of holding on to PPTs, a lot of busy work was created that felt good but wasn't that effective (preparing slides, practice presentations, relying on the skill of a presenter) and it glossed over necessary details or deep thinking in the process.

Probably more memo writing and deep thinking at a startup sounds like asking someone to meditate in a forest fire, but could be more effective

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Rick Foerster's avatar

I agree with you, though I’ll admit it’s hard, as you need to do a 180 from the norms. It probably requires a very particular culture and hiring, as well as prioritizing non-growth/financial goals (37signals level of self-control).

I’m a little more skeptical of Amazon (loved the book “Walking Backwards”), because every employee I know, as well as stories that have crept out over the years, is that Amazon has many of the same dynamics of any other org.

Also, I would clarify that “what works for me” doesn’t always = “what works for the business.” I think there’s (a lot of) tension there, and my essay was meant to explore some of the ways that “what works for the business” can override our own instincts if we let it.

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Ved Shankar's avatar

I'm reading the book right now! I have also heard that what goes into the memo can becoming a political issue, since only senior leaders can write it.

Yup, processes/recommended ways of working are not optimized at the individual level. You found a way that broke away from norms but that worked for you.

But in some way, writing that slide was a "deep work" task that suited the problem and you at that point.

Or do you think it was more of a relief from fire fighting? (Like doing excel can be a relief after a week of presentations)

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Rick Foerster's avatar

It was 100% deep work that suited me.

I’ve come to understand the difference between coast-work and flow-work:

- coast-work = easy stuff that’s within realm of skill/expertise, gives a breath of fresh air in between difficult work, doesn’t suck energy away (initially at least)

- flow-work = creates energy, demanding in the perfect dose, lose track of time, want to continue doing more of it (nearly endlessly), can’t stop thinking about it (in a good way where you want to contribute/express more, not anxious way)

Coast-work is sometimes helpful, but over time, too much of it can be a bad thing too (esp feel like you’re not growing, etc.).

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