Quotes of the Week from Me:

“Creativity should be honest expression. It should allude to the limitless nature of life’s possibilities.”

“It’s okay, you’ll get stronger. Don’t worry, you’ll get stronger. You can do it. Go get stronger.”

“Be yourself. Improve yourself. Be yourself. Improve yourself. Be yourself. Then, improve yourself. Keep rereading that.”

“Sometimes you should rely on over-communication.”

Quotes of the Week from Others:

“Understanding the question is half the answer.” – Socrates

I’ve been asking for a lot more clarification lately. Two reps seem to work better than one in those moments.

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett

“Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.” – Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” – Peter Drucker

Quick Optimism

What if I told you that you haven’t even scratched the surface of your potential? What would your next move be?

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Over-communicate. Well, sometimes. Situationally. Over-communicate when necessary. Well, when is it necessary?

As long as you start thinking about it, I think you’ll gain an advantage. Awareness, acknowledgement, and utilization are key themes that pop up more than I thought they would when I started this newsletter, and the concept of over-communication leans on them again.

Coordinating with your team at work, talking with your friends and partners, ordering food at Chipotle. You’ve got to over-communicate sometimes. Reminding your team about an important event on the calendar (make sure you know they know about it), discussing how you feel about being left out of plans or committing to too many (get on the same page about your friend/partner calendars), and yes, speak up about that extra scoop of chicken at Chipotle (the prices keep going up so get your money’s worth).

I don’t want to be a hypocrite, I am not an over-communicator. Glad I got that out of the way. I still believe there are a lot of benefits to a quieter, more observant approach to life. However, certain situations, even problems, can be managed and/or avoided by over-communicating.

Three short stories for you on this incredible Monday.

Part I

I learned a great lesson at work this week. I was consumed by my trip to Waterville, Maine and Princeton, New Jersey. I needed to be fully prepared; I was fully prepared. It is recruiting season and most of my days are spent connecting with students, administrators, and business partners. A lot of internal thinking. I have expanded some of my responsibilities and now coordinate with my team and other departments to cover more events and we missed one this week.

I confirmed with a colleague that we had made a plan for her to attend an event in upstate New York. With multiple events on one day, the team was spread between New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and doing virtual events.

This particular event was on the team calendar. Everything was in place. On the morning of the important date, I texted my coworker, “Good luck today!” with a response of, “What’s today? It’s next week right??”

It had been a few weeks since we discussed the plan. Follow-up is key. Over-communicate. We now have a plan B and everything worked out, but we could have avoided missing the event altogether.

Part II

My wife, Taylor, and I are in the “deprivation stage” apparently. We had both heard the term before, but it really just means we have no time to do anything. The competitor in me thinks, “Well there is always time if you make it,” but the parent in me thinks, “Not this time, doesn’t feel like it anyway.”

Take yesterday for example. We took our kids apple picking, walked the dog, went grocery shopping, took out the trash, mowed the grass, found some time to watch football, and had a bonfire. Some work, some fun. Taylor also did about 3 hours of remote work and I cleaned the living room and kitchen. And yes, we both got a workout in. Productive day!

We still need to fix an exterior door on the house (Beckett tackled a storm door and cracked the entire door frame), we need to pick up our boat from the shop, we need to sleep more, we need to clean the garage, clean out our cars, clean and stain the porch, and the list goes on and on and on.

In our deprivation stage, the point is that we are constantly lacking sleep, time, money, and more. But especially time. There is very little of that.

It is difficult to make plans, actually keep them, and then make more plans and actually keep those. What I mean is it is difficult to maintain relationships with friends and each other. Date nights, nights out with friends, just going for a walk can be hard to prioritize with such a long list of things to do each day. But if we over-communicate, it makes it easier to plan ahead. It makes it easier to find and establish a sense of comfort, predictability, and a manageable calendar.

Part III

Anyone here eat Chipotle? It’s been on my mind because it is used as an example in one of my business presentations for work. In one of the undergraduate programs we run, students select a company, compile research, and present their findings for a company valuation. They discuss different value drivers based on market competition and other factors to argue whether or not their company is a good investment.

Chipotle is a fun company to study. “Healthy fast food” – it has been a go-to of mine since my high school basketball days. But it got me thinking about a common Chipotle problem.

I never order online anymore. I am probably jumping to conclusions, but without the pressure of staring me in the face while you prepare my meal, it is much easier to skimp out on servings size and portion.

I have still been gypped in person though. Part of it is my fault for not speaking up. Over-communicate. Ask for a little extra rice and vegetables, especially when “extra” means a normal amount. Otherwise you’ll spend too much on lunch and stay hungry. Or potentially worse, you’ll end up with a pound of rice and two small pieces of all the yummy good stuff.

Sometimes you need to over-communicate.

Make it an over-communicative Monday.