Month: December 2020

A fictional character who took to heart Warren Buffet’s advice about reading (dot #3110) is Elizabeth Harmon, the chess prodigy that is the star of The Queen’s Gambit. The show follows the trials, addictions, winning, and losing of its star Beth who goes from a young orphan to a world-wide chess competitor.

While Beth has some inherent genius and predilection toward chess, she also reads book upon book about the game. Not content to rest on her laurels, she is continually reading to learn about new moves, the patterns of other players, and possible solutions to dilemmas she may face years down the road. This foundation serves her well when the competition accelerates as the knowledge she gains from books serves as a storehouse of tools to guide her in precarious matches.

Beth was a world-class player on her own merits, but she was also wise enough to know when she needed help from others. She had tutors and competitors who not only played against her but helped her analyze moves in order to advance her skills. Although she did not like it, she learned from feedback and the mistakes she made.

Take a lesson from both fictional Beth Harmon and real-life Warren Buffet and embrace being a life-long learner. Even if you’re near the top of your game, preparation, preparation, preparation is always a winning move in the end.

 

(The Queen’s Gambit is an intriguing seven-episode limited series on Netflix – highly recommend!)

 

Thanks, Curt!

Warren Buffet, the University of Nebraska’s most famous alum, was asked during the university’s virtual commencement about the advice he would give this year’s graduating class. He related his comments to the question people are frequently asked: “If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be?” and said that his advice would be “to read – then you can have a long lunch with anyone, living or dead.”

Buffet claims that he was called “a book with legs” as a child and has continued his love affair with reading throughout his whole life. It seems to have served him well!

Reading is a special art that requires you to slow down and focus on that task alone – which is probably why so many people are turning to podcasts, audiobooks, or other forms of absorption that allow the content to be part of the background instead of center stage. But in that delicious week between Christmas and the New Year when things have a more relaxed pace, make a date with yourself to have “lunch” with someone through reading a good book and continue a monthly lunch as a habit in the new year. You can start by having lunch with Warren!

 

Guide Dogs for the Blind raises 800 puppies each year but only 300 dogs pass the training to become guides, far short of fulfilling the 1100 applications it receives. The dogs with superior health indicators and bone structure are held back to be used as breeders for future liters. Others start the training but for reasons of temperament, obedience, or other factors are determined not to be suitable candidates for a guide dog role. The term they use for those who don’t make it: “career change.” I love that!

Instead of saying that the dogs failed to fulfill their original destiny, a much more neutral term is used to simply describe that the role of becoming a dog for a blind person was not a good fit. Some of the career-changers become support dogs for those with PTSD. Others become beloved family pets. It’s not that they aren’t valuable or good at something but they don’t have the discipline or calmness to take on a life-or-death job. There is no shame in the dogs switching to a more appropriate role and it will probably enhance their happiness for the rest of their lives.

Why do we attach a stigma to people who make a “career change”? Some take on supervisory roles and suffer through them for years rather than make a move to another role where they would shine without having a staff. Others remain on paths outlined by others or determined by their college major, even though their passion lies elsewhere. People who rise up in an organization often hesitate to make lateral moves or even shift to less senior positions where their happiness and success would far outweigh the monetary gain they sacrificed to climb the ladder.

Having a good fit for the job you are performing is important for both dogs and humans. If you find yourself with a misalignment with work itself or your personality’s compatibility with it, embrace a career change and move on to something that makes your tail wag.