More Lessons from Barack Obama

A few quotes I found enlightening from a NY Times piece, "Barack Obama,
Forever Sizing Up":
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/weekinreview/26kantor.html?ref=politics&pagewanted=all

On how he's run meetings since he worked at the Harvard Review:
"Everyone contributes; silent lurkers will be interrogated. (He wants to
'suck the room of every idea,' said Valerie Jarrett, a close adviser.)
Mention a theory and Mr. Obama asks how it translates on the ground. He
orchestrates debate, playing participants off each other -- and then
highlights their areas of agreement. He constantly restates others'
contributions in his own invariably more eloquent words."
(it goes on to say he then goes away and decides, with the decision
sometimes a surprise to the people at the meeting)

On time to think:
"As a community organizer, he spent his evenings filling journals, trying
to sort out the day's confusion. During his seven years as a state
senator, he used the time driving between Springfield and Chicago for
contemplation; when staffers suggested that a candidate for the United
States Senate should have a driver, Mr. Obama resisted, saying the driver
might intrude. Hence Mr. Obama's fluster when he misses his daily gym
time. 'That's when he can get his mind straight,' said Jim Cauley, his
campaign manager in the United States Senate race."

On how he uses planning:
"Mr. Obama resists making quick judgments or responding to day-to-day
fluctuations, aides say. Instead he follows a familiar set of steps:
Perform copious research. Solicit expertise. (What delighted Mr. Obama
most about becoming a United States senator, he told an old boss, was his
access to top scholars: he was a kid in the Princeton and Stanford candy
shops.) Project all likely scenarios. Devise a plan. Anticipate
objections. Adjust the plan, and once it's in place, stick with it. In
part, this approach explains how Mr. Obama won in the primaries: he
exploited the electoral calendar and arcane differences in voting methods,
and while Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton continually tried out new
messages, Mr. Obama modified his only slightly, even when some supporters
urged more dramatic change."

Don't ask yourself "what's my passion?"

This is one of the most important posts I've ever read, and I may look
back some day to find it has changed my life. I'm excerpting it here so I
don't lose it.

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2008/10/why-it-might-no.html

----

I'm paraphrasing, but in part Dan Pink answered, "I never ask myself
'What's my passion?' That question is too huge. It's not helpful."

I think that's absolutely correct. One of my happiness-project resolutions
is to "Think big," but sometimes you can paralyze yourself by asking big,
unanswerable questions.

When someone asks me for career advice (and I've been known to volunteer
this advice, even unasked!), I say, "Do what you DO. What do you do
already, in your free time? Try to do that as your job." In my case,
although as a Supreme Court clerk I surely had one of the most fascinating
jobs for a lawyer, on the weekends, I was writing a book. This was a
helpful clue as to a profession I might enjoy. I have a friend who always
felt guilty in law school, because he was wasting so much time playing
video games; after graduation, he gave up a prestigious clerkship to work
for a - you guessed it - video game company.

A friend told me that she was going to try to get a job as an editor of a
women's magazine like Vogue. "Do you read those magazines?" I asked in
surprise. I'd never seen her read anything like that. "Nope," she said. I
didn't say anything, but I wondered - would she be good at helping to
create those magazines, if she never chose to spend her time reading them?

It can be hard to identify your "passion," but you can identify what you
did last Sunday afternoon. "Do what you do" is useful because it directs
you to look at your behavior, rather than to your ideas - which can be a
clearer guide to preferences. It's not possible for everyone, but to have
work that is play, and play that is work, is a very, very happy state.