Gandhi was a father to India but disowned his son. Einstein gave us relativity but was in love with his cousin. Hamilton was a legend but rumor was he slept with his sister-in-law.
Realizing that even our heroes are a complex mess can be liberating.
We recently had a major production incident which took 48 hours to fully resolve. Our technical experts did well under trying circumstances and worked till 3am to ensure the impact on our clients was minimal.
For centuries all we could be sure of was Death and Taxes. But in 1946 we starting using high-speed electronic digital Computers and added something to that shortlist.
Who doesn’t appreciate a little “me time” every now and then. After all, our days are full of meetings, messages and deadlines. Life is a constant exercise in juggling work, parenting, friendships and family.
Imagine filling out a form at Home Affairs and them rejecting it because you’ve put down a made up profession. This is exactly what happened to a Dutch software developer in 1957.
I’ve noticed something about the top performing people at work. They tend to need the least direction and thrive on trust and freedom instead of hierarchy and bureaucracy.
