Disrupt The Disruption
By Les Mottosky
The most simple and understandable definition of culture – something that can't be objectively observed – comes from marketing luminary Seth Godin: 'People like us do things like this'.
With that as a working definition, if we insert 'caring' as the thing that gets done, we're looking at a pretty unstoppable community. In a business, people go the extra mile to ensure every customer is thrilled and that their co-workers are supported in their efforts to deliver the same.
Conversely, without care, that's not a vibe anyone with a brain and heart wants to be near. Carelessness generates poor quality at best and hazard at it's extreme.
Caring about what we're doing, and who we're doing it with, creates a bi-product of excellence.
When two or more people are involved, consideration, attention, regard or care – however you want to frame it – becomes the major difference maker in the quality of those connections. It also determines the quality of all those relationships combined (aka the culture.)
We need to care more. Now. All of us. About everything. Reaching everywhere.
At home. At work. At play.
When we care even more about the things we take on, lives improve. Inside-out and outside-in.
In our careers, caring converts effort into discernment. Mediocre work meets requirements, while caring notices what should be required but isn’t. This translates into trust without credentials. Clients feel it and leadership notices it. The person who cares more will get chosen over the one with the more polished resumé.
In relationships with others, caring changes how listening works. Without it, listening becomes data collection. Caring makes boundaries clearer, not softer. We say the hard thing sooner. This way, resentment doesn't accumulate and grow moldy beneath performative politeness. This is why people who care deeply often seem “direct.”
Caring turns repetition into refinement where hobbies, crafts and fitness are concerned. The same action, done with care, becomes practice instead of another bad habit. Caring energizes play, keeping it alive beyond competence; that point where people quit because the novelty has faded. That's because care will sustain curiosity after the dopamine rush of beginner’s high has burnt off. And dopamine isn't the pursuit of pleasure, it's the pleasure of pursuit. All pursuit requires caring.
And now for where caring is most rare and, perhaps, gets uncomfortable...
In relating with ourselves, caring replaces self-judgment with self-standards. We stop asking “Am I good enough?” and begin to ask “Is this aligned with what I value most?” (And for those more advanced souls among us, the question becomes "Does this contribute to the good of all?") Questions like these naturally starve our performative impulse in public. We become less interested in appearing consistent and more interested in being honest. That recognition of misalignment means we course correct before collapse. Burnout burns out, because it's been insulated by care. Care of self. And care of self means we're in a position to care for others.
But we must understand:
Caring is not free. It costs us attention. And attention is the one thing the modern world is engineered to extract, shatter, and sell back to us in 15 second clips.
We can choose to care more about the moment and less about staring into those little rectangles of hell we carry in our pocket.
We don't need to share another meme, complaint, or emoji.
We can choose more caring for what's right in front of us. That person. The project. This moment.
More care is the necessary nourishment for our ailing culture(s). In and outside the workplace.
And it's a choice that can't wait another day.
TAGS: #Disrupt The Disruption #Radical Reframe #Wisdom In Leadership #Adaptation As Innovation #Care More Consume Less
Les Mottosky
Adaptation Strategist & Advisor // Revealing competitive advantage. I help leaders build aligned creative cultures that can measure their vitality and adapt to rapid change. It's not easy. But it's simple.
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