Reflections Jan 2021 – Week 1: Are you thinking too much about your ‘why’? What is drive? When is a lie a good lie and more…

Agency musings

Drive, motivation and your ‘Why’ - are you thinking too much about it?

When I watched John McAvoy’s story last year (see it here), tears were running down my cheek. If a story of crime rehab moved me as much as that, I knew this was a cause I could be deeply passionate about. It aligned with my upbringing too - everything aligned. 

My new ‘why’...

“Helping young people out of a life of crime.”

Motivated, I reached out to several charities in that space. Within two weeks became a volunteer business developer at Gloves Not Gunz (a charity that uses sports to redirect young people from a life of crime). Now working on the first programme with them… the drive. It runs deep. Roarrrr!

But why? Why are we driven? Have you ever asked yourself that question too much? For almost anything you do, the why ends up leading to ‘I just want to be happy - that’s why’.

Now add the fact that we humans need very little: 
Water, food, shelter, safety, good hygiene and sleep.

If you have all those things already, suddenly the hamster wheel gets a little too real. Motivation drops. Drive stops. Because what’s the point really?

Sometimes you just need a top level ‘why’. Don’t think about it too much.

Sometimes we have to trick our brain to be ignorant of what we know.

Let this thought sink in (but not too much): 
You can’t be driven if you think too much about what it means to be driven.

Inside Polymensa

Team Mintaka

Virtual Onboarding Research presentation

At Polymensa we spent the last 6 weeks researching over 40 companies - interviewing them on how they do their onboarding in a virtual environment. Tomorrow our Team Mintaka will have the privilege of being the first to see the results. Very excited!

NEWS: A new Polymensa team is launching soon...

We’re in the process of building our next team of top agencies.

Together we’ll go on a journey of being inspired and exploring business and life related themes.

With all the 'sameness' last year, this will be one of the best ways to get your drive back and start something refreshing. Get different perspectives on your current challenges. Most importantly you'll build a new network of friends.

If you’re interested in joining Team Alnilam, hit reply and let’s chat more...

The beautiful mind

A good lie can become the truth

Have you seen Playbook yet?

It’s a selection of inspiring and educational interviews with top sports coaches across the world. One of them is tennis coach: Patrick Mouratoglou - his most notable student since 2012 is Serena Williams. 

According to deception detection expert Pamela Meyer we're lied to 10 to 200 times a day, and tell a lie ourselves an average of 1 to 2 times in the same period. If you just denied that, you used 1 of the 2 lies already ;)

In 2015 Patrick had the challenge of turning Serena’s lack of confidence into believing that she could win Wimbledon. In the first few games her stats at the net were terrible. Patrick had to do something about that, so he walks up to Serena and says:

“I have good news for you. Every time you create a short ball, I’m relaxed because the stats say you are winning 80% of the balls. So keep going!” - that was a lie. 

After a short stint with wariness, Serena didn’t question the stats further. She went on to win 80% of the balls at the net and ultimately crowned Wimbledon champion that year.

A fine line to walk, but as Patrick says, sometimes as a coach (or a manager of people) you have to lie to build the confidence of a team member. He continues, all that matters is the result, that your team is happier and produced work at an exceptional level.

Quotes of the week

“As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The person who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The person who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” (from an engineering point of view) Harrington Emerson

Company spotlight

Playbook

Inspiring interviews with successful sports coaches.

Waking Life

An animated movie that is primarily about a kid trapped in a Lucid Dream, but explores many philosophical topics along the way.

Wired

Explains a topic at 5 different levels of difficulty (from kid to expert). Here’s an example.

Company spotlight

Clearfind

A tool that analyses your overall software spend and usage to give you ways to cut costs.

Random information
(entertaining at the very least)

• The ISS is currently man with a team of 7

• One of the animals with the widest field of vision and the fewest blindspots is the chameleon. 360 degrees. More vision records - e.g. best night vision, most superior colour vision, furthest range of vision, etc.

• Crispr - a way to edit genomes.

• Underground coal mines can drive 2,500 feet (750 meters) into the Earth and other types even deeper - uranium mines can reach 6,500 feet, or 2 kilometers. But those depths are extreme; most top (or bottom) out at about 1,000 feet (300 meters).

  Yes, you guessed it? I also wondered how they pooped. Underground toilet for mines

Thank you for reading.

If you enjoyed this feel free to sign up to our mailing list to get notified in your inbox when our next musings are out.
Also find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

"Be an infinite learner." - Polymensa

Have a great week!
Cheers, Daniel :)