This week is about Thanksgiving and being thankful for both outputs and inputs. 

On Thursday I’ll have Thanksgiving with the in-laws and we will have things like: turkey, mac n cheese, rolls, mashed potatoes, multiple pies, my mother-in-law’s spectacular stuffing (my favorite thing), and more.  It will taste delicious, like it does every year.  Here’s the thing.  That food doesn’t miraculously appear on its own.  It requires a lot of time, effort, energy, and resources from a lot of people to make it happen.  It’s the time, patience, and care spread over hours that leads to a great turkey.  It’s investing hours in finding the ingredients, preparing the ingredients, and pulling it all together that leads to an amazing pie.  On Thursday, I’ll be thankful for the food AND for the people and all of the effort they put in to prepare a great meal and a space to enjoy each other.   

What does this have to do with anything?  In our analogy this week we should be thankful for the outcome (delicious food) and we should appreciate all of the inputs (the people, time, effort, and resources it takes to pull this off).  This same thinking should apply to the work we do. 

We live in a world obsessed with outcomes and final deliverables.  While we are obsessed with these things, we don’t always acknowledge the sacrifice and effort that goes into creating something great.    Have you ever created a deliverable that was used and then felt that your contributions weren’t quite appreciated?  I have.  Have you ever felt that people didn’t fully understand or appreciate the amount of effort, energy, and resources you had to pour into making something successful?  I have.  Now think about when things went differently.  What did it feel like when you and your efforts were appreciated as much as what you delivered?  This always makes me feel valued and that I matter.   

The challenge: How are you recognizing the effort and energy that goes into the deliverable vs. just recognizing the deliverable itself? 

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry