I’ve had a few times where I’ve instantly changed my view on something after a conversation with someone.
One such conversation happened at work quite a few years ago.
I was sharing my frustration about how someone wasn’t willing to do something obvious that would be a significant improvement for the organization in multiple ways.
“Why do you think they’d want to make it better?” my coworker said. (Ironically, he later told me it was a different RPL manager had related to him, having had a firsthand view of the different motivations of people running the organization.)
“If you do your job and get your paycheque no matter what, why would you worry about trying to do more or improve things go above and beyond?”
He went on…
“It’s always easier to say ‘no’ then say ‘yes’ because if you say ‘yes’, there’s risk. And someone will have to do some extra work. And most people don’t like to do extra work.”
It blew my mind as I’d never thought that some people *wouldn’t* want to make their workplaces better.
But now, I regularly think of that advice and the amazing things that can happen when people do embrace change and do the work to make something amazing happen!
