‘…you cannot afford to ignore the streams of ideas that are likely to become useful planks as you build up for results. Design a strategy around your ideas to serve as a compass to guide you into getting expected outcomes. Your strategy will definitely include how you will identify, attract and deploy all the resources you need to translate your dreams into a solution that your target market or group needs for solving identified needs’
ANYONE who desires to mind the gap must not mind the noisome social credo. Those who faithfully attend social events such as weddings, birthdays and funerals every weekend do not mind the gap at all. They run the risk of financial, physical and emotional burnout apart from accidents. If you are not careful it is possible for you to attend events in all the fifty two weekends of the year. Therefore, minding the gap will be a matter of prioritising issues that get your attention. This can be effectively done if you have goals that you have set for yourself in the year. Your personal values will also ensure that you can mind the gap without feeling bad about the selfish opinions of those around you.
I never thought about the importance of minding the gap until I saw it in my dream that night. It was as if I was running late to board a train in Easton Train Station in London. A heavy laptop bag dangled mindlessly on my left shoulder. My right hand struggled with a bag that could easily compete with a fifty kilogram sack of beans in weight. In that dream I was going for a University of Manchester postgraduate admission interview scheduled for later that day. Surprisingly, I still had to run to Lewisham that morning to buy a pair of shoes! I gasped for breath on the train. Just as I was settling down I woke up from the dream. I was happy that it was a dream because I am not ordinarily a man given to fashion. I chuckled at the thought of having to buy a pair of shoes in the morning that I needed to go for a university post graduate admission interview.
That morning, as the showerhead sprinkled its content on me in the bathroom, I considered the import of the dream. It occurred to me that there are many people out there who are running late for their assignments because they took time off on their way to shop for a pair of shoes or spent time on something that is of less importance. A lot of people have made a shipwreck of their assignments because of a lack of understanding. That is why a man who carries an elephant on his head can stand at a junction using his toes to dig out a cricket’s hole.
The assignment you have is the most important reason why you are where you are. Do everything possible to understand your assignment. Your assignment is the primary job you have at any point in time. It is your sole mission that determines where you are going in life. The assignment of the employee is not to earn salary. The salary is merely an emolument. The employee’s assignment is to solve problems in his or her organisation. Your salary or income is actually the reward you get for solving problems. It is the benefit that is attached to your assignment. However, your reward is not only tangible. There are psychic as well as social benefits that accrue from an effective discharge of your assignment. A good reputation, built while performing your assignment, enhances the value of your name and your future growth.
Tina Turner, understanding her assignment, knew that she could part with material wealth if allowed to leave with her name. The reason why God gave you an assignment is to help you make a name. In essence what you are working for is not a pay cheque but a good name. The Bible says a good name is more valuable than silver. It is mandatory for you to understand your assignment if you truly want to mind the gap.
If you understand something it is easier for you to appreciate it. You can only celebrate what you appreciate. Your focus can never be shifted from what you celebrate. Therefore, you owe yourself the responsibility of understanding your assignment. This idea of understanding assignments led me to dwell more on the assignment that the elder, my mentor, gave me sometime ago. He had told me to study a lot of people in different vocations and occupations and assess how they relate to productivity matters. Since the elder and I agree that productivity is essential in all spheres of endeavour I took the assignment seriously.
The next thing I did after I woke up was to review my assignment and consider the points that the elder wanted me to pay attention to. I went ahead to analyse how a clear understanding of the assignment will help me accomplish a lot. The modus operandi and the various people I needed to assist me on the project were listed in my notebook. By the way, I have learnt to always go about with a jotter or a notebook. Even while in bed, a jotter (with a pen inside it) is the companion of my pillow. Someone on a serious assignment is always ready to take notes when an inspiration flows into his mind. If you do not use a pen and a paper to capture and incubate such an inspiration it will soon find a nesting place elsewhere.
All assignments are meant to be tackled from various angles. Therefore you cannot afford to ignore the streams of ideas that are likely to become useful planks as you build up for results. Design a strategy around your ideas to serve as a compass to guide you into getting expected outcomes. Your strategy will definitely include how you will identify, attract and deploy all the resources you need to translate your dreams into a solution that your target market or group needs for solving identified needs. You should thereafter proceed to build a system and a plan that you will execute step by step to maximise your expected results.
• Dr. Adeduro, CEO of Thrones and Tones Consulting, can be reached at @waleadeduro
NOTE: This article was first published in The Guardian in July 2008.
This is quite educative and inspiring. Weldon sir.