“Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.”
― Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Great words from an amazing lady!
ASK for the impossible. If you dare…
50% grant precisely as you ask – they love the sheer wonder of fulfilling that mad dash of giving
25% grant close to what you ask. They believe but can be hard pressed to make that extra jump.
0% attempt to fulfill the basic essence of the request. I think they have a want to personally but are scared to show it publicly.
25% refuse your request altogether. They personally are the ones who need to believe the most. They have tried in the past and failed – some toy the loved dearly broke one too many times and could not be fixed, or they put all their hopes in a single basket that was dashed to pieces early on. Or publicly think it shameful to grant such requests or think outside the box.
Story: I personally remember when working at Enron, my boss constructively chiding me for missing an error on a PowerPoint presentation for a routine internal weekly meeting. I was kicking myself for missing the error though it was unimportant if it had made it to the meeting. But I promised myself that kind of error would not happen again and I walked myself through a new check system to alleviate the possibility of missing it again in the future.
Fast forward many months: Friday afternoon, the whole team had just produced a large presentation for an oversea meeting and the 3 executives left to meet with 4 dignitaries at the airport to fly over in a private plane. Once on the plane they would not be reachable except for a brief window for a few minutes before going to the important meeting. Several individual teams worked on the project. It was kept a secret who we were working for, and until they left the ground no one saw the whole presentation. So I got my eyes on the whole presentation just after their take off – it was Friday afternoon and the office was deserted. It was peaceful and my daughter was at a friend’s – I decided to walk through the presentation (guess whalers this is leading…). So I’m on page 57 when I spot it. Page 54 and 57 are supposed to be the same but are not. I went straight to Defcon 2. How to get a corrected new presentation page to them in 1999 and the following: no email due to international restrictions, no internet email/no webmail, 10.5 hour time difference? Left me with fax – so I asked the hotel overnight courtesy desk to ensure it was in one of the gentleman’s hands at check in. It was all, and the best I could do. My heart was pounding through my chest and into the floor beneath me. I hoped it was good enough. They would be gone on the trip over 2 weeks. I prayed. I went home.
2 months later I was summoned into the CEO’s office (do you still feel like you are getting called to the principle’s office like I do?). I was handed 2 envelopes. A regular mailing envelope and a larger flat one. He stuck out his hand and told me congratulations. Of course I went into puzzler mode. They were enjoying every moment of this. My boss came from around the corner and we sat down. I can’t tell you the purpose or who in particicular was involved but let’s just say one involved was a former White House diplomat, Noble recipient, and still alive. My jaw hit the floor. It was tough to keep secrets from me because usually I was the one doing the secret keeping and was the one in the know. But they explained why so much hushness. Then my mouth dropped open again – and they quickly said “and your correction got to us, and saved the presentation Mr xxxxxxx never knew there was a last minute correction”.
I learned that it’s not a cliche to take your mistakes and learn from them. It truly is an opportunity to learn what you can do better for the next time, because you never know what that next time will be!
Merry Christmas All!
“Even the box and bow are a present.” – Mr Tiffany
Great story! Thanks. I’m beginning to understand that perseverance and determination are precious life secrets hidden in the open for all to see.