The concepts of potential, wisdom, and success…

Just an FYI, this is a post not specifically on technology or Microsoft, but more on people, human nature and potential. So if you are following the Blog just for the technology or Microsoft items, this post may not be for you. If you are looking for something different to start off your week, keep reading.

We’ve all heard the saying, “With age comes wisdom,” and hear people talk about “reaching your full potential,” and every now and then you see something that makes you think, “Wow!” in amazement as we see examples of these things. Last week I witnessed two such things that made me think, “Wow!,” Unfortunately, they weren’t both for the positive and it made me think about the concepts of wisdom and potential.

Here is the first example and this is a pretty fun one. How many of us work each day to perfect our skills and to become better at what we do today than we were yesterday? How many times have you heard someone say, “It’s too hard,” or, “There are too many hoops to jump through,” when looking at a tough task? My girls actually received this first example in an email from their grandpa and if you look at the ages of the people involved and the things that they can do not only individually, but also when working together as a team, it’s fun to see what can be accomplished when you set your mind to something, practice your skill, and work together with those around you. Clearly, “jumping through hoops” is not something these people let get in their way.

Then there was the second example. Again, this was one that made me say, “Wow,” but not in a good way. This was after walking out of a meeting last Thursday in Bellevue, Washington getting ready to get into my car and head home for the day. When I saw this, I had to do a double-take to see if I really was seeing what I thought I saw. Take a look at the picture below and see if you can determine what’s wrong with this:

Click image to view full size

Here is an example of something gone really wrong. Clearly this person just believes they are better than the rest of the people in their community and can do whatever they choose because they are them, regardless of what this means to others and the impact on them. Why? Simple, really. Not only is it an extra long Escalade that’s parked in a “Compact” spot, it also has a large bike rack sticking off the back to make it even longer. If you look at the markings on the ground, you’ll even notice that not only is the vehicle sticking out beyond the parking spot itself, it is actually extending beyond the directional arrow that is in the middle of the roadway to drive through the parking area! This means that over ½ of the roadway to drive through is now blocked off by this vehicle being parked there. So whether you can read, “Compact” or not and even if you have no idea what that word means, the fact that your vehicle blocks off ½ of the roadway should be a clue that you probably do not belong there. Definitely an example of someone falling short of meeting their full potential inside the community they belong to and wisdom not being inherent with age.

So what these two examples last week made me think about is, regardless of our individual ages, every day each of us has several decisions to make and several opportunities to decide, “Will we strive to achieve our full potential?” This can be in reference to in our job, at our talent, as part of our community, etc. and when we don’t, will we instead make the conscious decision to not only not strive to achieve it for ourselves, but go out of our way to actually be detrimental to others and impede their success in achieving what it is they are trying to accomplish throughout their day? We all have the potential to excel individually and as part of a team, either at work or as part of the community. Will we make the most of it or just be a roadblock for others to navigate around? That is the question.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

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