Mulligan

I don't know how common this is but sometimes, when playing board/card games, I've been present when players will call a mulligan. In board/card games, this could be a new hand, or swapping out a card. Basically it's a do-over at some level. 

Lately,I've been feeling like we need to call a mulligan on life. Yeah? And I know a lot of other people who are feeling the same. I think we are all kind of bored with the routine. 

I don't know what we can do on a global scale, but I'm thinking maybe I need to take a cool trip somewhere--Iceland, the Azores, Nigeria. So many places to choose from! Or maybe I just need to go play with some kids. Or read a new book? Maybe one that's not The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich? Buy a new shirt? (Wait I did that. And I also bought some new shoes). I don't know. I need to figure out something. Because I definitely need a mulligan. 

*Which is a fascinating read.

Bravo?

Okay, world. Or at least Americans that have crossed through my orbit at any point. We have got to figure out this applause thing.

For example, at a division meeting this week, we had a series of updates, all of which were approximately 2 minutes and were primarily reading slides. And at the end of each one, we gave a round of applause. Why? Not to belittle your achievements, you're doing a fabulous job, but the presentation wasn't out of this world and the updates weren't really unheralded, either. The applause itself was the socially-obligated kind of applause, so I don't think anyone was really feeling it. So, I'm not entirely sure why we were clapping. And I have been in other meetings and events like this, where the whole production could have ended much earlier if we had just done one big round of applause at the end. Maybe I'm just a party pooper?

Also, we need to talk about the standing ovation. Methinks this should not be happening at every performance. I can't think of a time I went to something and it didn't get a standing ovation. Really, people? Really? A standing ovation is kind of an A++ of performances. There is no way every performance is achieving that level. Is it just because we're not that discerning anymore? I mean, I think if it were a movie, or a podcast, or TV show, I could probably distinguish an A++ from a C much better. But I'll probably only ever see Wicked the one time. And I probably won't listen to dozens of symphonies playing Copland, so I don't know how I can really tell whether they've knocked it out of the park. I'll probably never hear dozens of symphonies, period. Welcome to the 21st century, friends.

Whether that's the reason or not, we definitely need to discuss the use of the standing ovation. And the clapping thing in general. All in favor?

Tricks of the lazy

It was brought to my attention this week that planning is actually an activity of the lazy. Okay, maybe not the lazy, but those who want to minimize the amount of work they have to do. 

See, when you have a plan, you know what you are trying to accomplish and you can outline how you are going to accomplish it. You have an idea of how to make it work. You're not playing pin-the-tail on the donkey and just hoping that it all works out. Of course, even when you plan, you have to tweak and adjust. But you probably don't have to start from scratch over and over again. Or duplicate effort a dozen times. 

I'm a big fan of only having to do the work once. And ironically, I don't feel like I'm a very good planner in my personal life. Of course, in my personal life, I don't have a lot of big projects that have huge deadlines and serve vast numbers of people. This is a good thing, and a characteristic of my non-working life that I enjoy. But professionally, I do try to plan because, well, that's what professionals do. And because it's just easier to plan. Really, it is.

So, yeah. Let's all be a little lazier and plan!