I was watching Steven Bartlett's Behind the Diary (Diary of a CEO) today and he explained that when he was interviewing Walter Isaacson who learned from Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, that to be successful in business you must have a passion for beauty including the beauty of the parts unseen. If you have a passion for the details that no-one sees, like the storage room, or the circuit board, then you'll have pride in the whole company. The saying is "paint the back of the fence."
I'm a back of the fence painter. But there is a fine balance between focussing on something too much so you are harming the higher priorities. You don't want to waste time on something that doesn't add value to the cause. I use this analysis in business quite often. Being ADHD I really monitor what I spend my time on. I can get caught down the rabbit hole if I'm not mindful. I don't want to spend all my time answering emails when I could be using that time creating an automation that will help a whole department. And even if no-one appreciates it, or they don't realise how much labour has been saved, that's ok. Because I KNOW how much it helps. I paint the back of the fence when no-one else will see it.
I want to work for a living where everyone involved has that same passion. it would be an extraordinary place to work indeed.
Watch the clip here:
