The Grace of Work

It's been an exhausting week with endless technical problems to be solved at work. But I'm grateful to have been able to give all of them their due attention and tackled them the best I could. 

There was a particular issue at work which raised some ire in me, because the person who was responsible did not even do the basics. But I let it go, becomes I've learned to let facts do the talking. By laying out facts clearly, the truth reveals itself starkly. And truth penetrates deeper than any words uttered in anger. 

I try not to take work too seriously. I take it as a blessing to be given the opportunity to exercise my problem-solving skills on a daily basis, for the more issues I tackle, the better I become.  

However I'm not interested in simply becoming the go-to expert in a narrow field of endeavour; I just want to practise being mentally agile, logically rigorous and emotionally detached when it comes to work. One thing I've learned is to never assume anything and to leave no stones unturned. We can be easily blindsided, when faced with something that appears familiar. 

Sometimes it is easy to be frustrated because things don't always go your way. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles stand in your path towards resolution. My approach towards these situations is to do whatever is possible and reasonable to move things forward. New avenues will always open up. Pursue each one to their logical conclusions.

When things are uncertain, weigh their probabilities. Go with the most likely option without ignoring the possibility of being completely wrong. Detect errors early and course-correct immediately. Do what can be reasonably done and be clear-eyed about the possible consequences.

At the end of the day, most work-related things are not that important. At worst, you'll lose a client or lose a potential sale and maybe the company makes less money. What is more important are the people you've helped and the friendships that have been forged in the process of doing your job. That persists beyond work and would often pay intangible dividends.

Work-related problems are just a rehearsal for life in general. When you have honed your problem-solving skills well, they are applicable everywhere. Work diligently not solely for monetary rewards. The intangible benefits far exceed that. That is the grace of work.