Weiss Advice Issue: 225, April, 2022
Well, we’ve been through Covid, supply chain shortages, polarization, vax and anti-vax, war in Europe, sexual scandals, sports scandals, university admissions scandals, the Theranos trial, the opioid/Sackler cases, and on and on. And still, we persevere.
That’s because we’ve brought the proper people to justice, we’ve created vaccines, we’re responding to tyranny without risking nuclear winter, we have a free (if biased) press, and we are resilient.
I’m weary of people whining, especially consultants. The world needs expertise more than ever, and there is plenty of money floating around. (I remind you of the difference between “budgets” and “money.”) Neither your complaining nor your clients’ complaining is going to change a damn thing.
Volatility, turmoil, disruption are common because that’s the world we live in today, and it’s full of opportunity. But you can’t take advantage of it behind your keyboard, staring at your screen. You need to get out and “mix it up.” I had a woman tell me, “No one is travelling these days.” That’s because none of her friends was travelling, while the airplanes I was on were packed.
Listening to a small coterie of people with whom you have common interests is as bad as trying to stay informed by reading social media. At my recent birthday party in New York, I had over a hundred guests from different countries, different times in my past, different clients, and different views.
Those are the people I try to keep in my circle.
It’s interesting that when you meet someone you’ve only interacted with on Zoom they can be much taller than you imagined from the small screen’s singular exposure.
The world can be that much taller, as well.
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