When something is not your problem but still matters

I read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 20 years ago and have forgotten most of the detail. But I‘ll never forget one piece of technology:

The S.E.P. field

A Somebody Else's Problem field is used to hide something from unwanted eyes. It can run almost indefinitely on a torch battery because it utilises a person's natural tendency to ignore things they think aren't relevant to them.

This is funny is because it’s true. The modern office is littered with these fields. Let me be completely honest, I put up S.E.P. fields on a near daily basis. I may actually run out of torch batteries.

I find myself thinking things like: “Let me forward this to so and so, it sounds like the kind of thing they should be responsible for.”

Or the the classic: “Arg! I didn’t cause this problem. My team or department didn’t even cause this problem! Why do I have to deal with this?”

This is where something James Clear tweeted recently helped me a lot. He explained that in life:

1. SOME THINGS ARE NOT YOUR FAULT... but they are your responsibility.
2. OTHER THINGS ARE NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY... but they are your problem.
3. MANY THINGS ARE NEITHER YOUR RESPONSIBILITY NOR YOUR PROBLEM... but they make the world better.

His conclusion is as profound as it is simple:

TAKE ACTION ON ALL THREE.