In Only Ten Minutes...

It is only ten minutes...

Here I sit on a flight and as always it makes me want to think and write in my blog. I keep thinking about ten minutes.and how my mind and outlook on life has been shaped by working at IBM. .

You might wonder what 10 minutes has to do with this, and it comes down to Thursday afternoon. There I was getting ready for a 4pm call and it was suggested we needed a few slides to review for the call. Of course this request would have to come to me at 3:50 pm. So this is where ten minutes comes in. When I started at IBM, I would have thought the request was crazy who could possibly throw something together in ten minutes. But, after many years at IBM, I didn't question. The request, realizing I had two pitches that together would work... I created a new pitch and got it out for the call with two minutes to spare.

What I remembered thinking about after was no waste of time worrying if this could be done. I just knew it had to be done for the vice president I was working with.. This is not just a hallmark of my IBM career but I think even more focused as I have returned after 18 months. The idea of seeing what needs to be done and doing everything I can to achieve what is expected and more importantly to try and exceed the expectations.

I used to say that I did not want to be defined by IBM. I didn't want at the end of my time for that to be the top memory of me. Truthfully, I still feel that way but I realize after my return how IBM does influence and in some ways define my life. I have a much more certain approach to my life while I am working at IBM. Partly because I don't have as much time to contemplate the world as I did a year ago. But, it is also that I have my mental groove back and that working at IBM helps that.

This summer has brought me to a summer that I would not have imagined at the beginning of the year. I made a clear choice not to start back in Provincetown. I could not imagine working and watching all the summer tourists. I also could not imagine convincing people that I was working during a parade. So the decision to work in Fort Lauderdale means I missed most of the holiday weeks and parades. I have to say I have enjoyed the summer any way. I have made some great new friends in Fort Lauderdale and that has made missing a summer in Provincetown not as depressing as it could have been.

I wrote this about a month ago... and now I sit here and wonder what if I put his discipline to my personal life?

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