Bird by Bird

I have been recently reading this book on writing called Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Into the 38^th page of the book, I began thinking –‘I could use this at work too!’ And no, I’m not talking about writing better memos, resumes or MOM’s. I’m referring to taking away learning from the title and its message alone.

Anne says that you can’t be a great writer overnight; even the greatest struggle with their book. Her advice remains – ‘take it bird by bird’. One small bit at a time and the work will be done.

Ever since I’ve moved into my new role, new city, new house and more, I’ve been haunted by the daunting tasks that lay ahead of me. Be it unpacking, getting things set at the new office, building new relationships – it’s all given me sleepless nights. To top it, managers in the new office have a lot of expectations from me.  The centre is new and chaotic; and they’re looking at me with big eyes hoping I can help them maneuver their way out. What they expect from me is a whole culture rehaul!

How do you do this? Bird by bird! Every morning I wake up, I take a small chunk of what I want to achieve and work to get there. It spans across all areas. I take my unpacking one box at a time, work – one thing at a time and I’ve come along pretty well. Instead of shrinking back in horror when I look at the big picture, I’ve broken it into pieces and placing them together one piece at a time.

So how do you change the culture of a workspace? Bird by bird 🙂