No assignment is without its issues. They may present themselves in the beginning, after a while or towards the end, but they hardly ever stay away. This time around, the issue had disguised itself as a sense of dejection, driving me away from my desk into the woods.
There seemed to be no way of pleasing my steering committee. It had been the fourth time in a row that they dismissed my progress report. Even though they did not reject it outright, it was clear enough that they weren’t satisfied. And much as I would have loved their complaint to be unreasonable, I had to admit that it wasn’t. Which only made things worse, for now I had myself to blame.
The problem involved presenting the subject matter in such a way that it allowed the steering committee members to get to grips with it. It had been clear from the outset that this was one of the main challenges of the assignment. Which is why I had invested a lot of time and creativity in it. After several feedback rounds, it was obvious that considerable progress had been made. But it clearly still wasn’t enough. That hurt, in particular because I pride myself on being an expert in communication matters like this.
There seemed to be no way of pleasing my steering committee. It had been the fourth time in a row that they dismissed my progress report. Even though they did not reject it outright, it was clear enough that they weren’t satisfied. And much as I would have loved their complaint to be unreasonable, I had to admit that it wasn’t. Which only made things worse, for now I had myself to blame.
The problem involved presenting the subject matter in such a way that it allowed the steering committee members to get to grips with it. It had been clear from the outset that this was one of the main challenges of the assignment. Which is why I had invested a lot of time and creativity in it. After several feedback rounds, it was obvious that considerable progress had been made. But it clearly still wasn’t enough. That hurt, in particular because I pride myself on being an expert in communication matters like this.
So, I had gone off into the woods. I knew I had to try once more, hoping to crack the nut the fourth time around, but my brain had simply stopped working. Instead, I found myself taking a brisk walk and enjoying the scenery on a Monday morning. Which, arguably, still was work, albeit not billable, because it somehow was the only way out of an apparent dead end.
The walk didn’t magically present me with the solution. It did, however, yield an insight. What if I simply shared the problem with my sponsors? That felt unnatural at first since I’m inclined to present solutions rather than problems. But it turned out the right thing to do.
The sponsors showed themselves quite receptive and supportive. Only a few weeks later was I able to present a solution that did satisfy the steering committee. The rest of my assignment was spent on implementing that solution, full speed ahead. Somehow, a blockade had been lifted.
The walk didn’t magically present me with the solution. It did, however, yield an insight. What if I simply shared the problem with my sponsors? That felt unnatural at first since I’m inclined to present solutions rather than problems. But it turned out the right thing to do.
The sponsors showed themselves quite receptive and supportive. Only a few weeks later was I able to present a solution that did satisfy the steering committee. The rest of my assignment was spent on implementing that solution, full speed ahead. Somehow, a blockade had been lifted.
No assignment is without its issues. They may present themselves in the beginning, after a while or towards the end, but they hardly ever stay away. This time around, the issue had disguised itself as a sense of dejection, driving me away from my desk into the woods.
There seemed to be no way of pleasing my steering committee. It had been the fourth time in a row that they dismissed my progress report. Even though they did not reject it outright, it was clear enough that they weren’t satisfied. And much as I would have loved their complaint to be unreasonable, I had to admit that it wasn’t. Which only made things worse, for now I had myself to blame.
The problem involved presenting the subject matter in such a way that it allowed the steering committee members to get to grips with it. It had been clear from the outset that this was one of the main challenges of the assignment. Which is why I had invested a lot of time and creativity in it. After several feedback rounds, it was obvious that considerable progress had been made. But it clearly still wasn’t enough. That hurt, in particular because I pride myself on being an expert in communication matters like this.
So, I had gone off into the woods. I knew I had to try once more, hoping to crack the nut the fourth time around, but my brain had simply stopped working. Instead, I found myself taking a brisk walk and enjoying the scenery on a Monday morning. Which, arguably, still was work, albeit not billable, because it somehow was the only way out of an apparent dead end.
The walk didn’t magically present me with the solution. It did, however, yield an insight. What if I simply shared the problem with my sponsors? That felt unnatural at first since I’m inclined to present solutions rather than problems. But it turned out the right thing to do.
The sponsors showed themselves quite receptive and supportive. Only a few weeks later was I able to present a solution that did satisfy the steering committee. The rest of my assignment was spent on implementing that solution, full speed ahead. Somehow, a blockade had been lifted.
There seemed to be no way of pleasing my steering committee. It had been the fourth time in a row that they dismissed my progress report. Even though they did not reject it outright, it was clear enough that they weren’t satisfied. And much as I would have loved their complaint to be unreasonable, I had to admit that it wasn’t. Which only made things worse, for now I had myself to blame.
The problem involved presenting the subject matter in such a way that it allowed the steering committee members to get to grips with it. It had been clear from the outset that this was one of the main challenges of the assignment. Which is why I had invested a lot of time and creativity in it. After several feedback rounds, it was obvious that considerable progress had been made. But it clearly still wasn’t enough. That hurt, in particular because I pride myself on being an expert in communication matters like this.
So, I had gone off into the woods. I knew I had to try once more, hoping to crack the nut the fourth time around, but my brain had simply stopped working. Instead, I found myself taking a brisk walk and enjoying the scenery on a Monday morning. Which, arguably, still was work, albeit not billable, because it somehow was the only way out of an apparent dead end.
The walk didn’t magically present me with the solution. It did, however, yield an insight. What if I simply shared the problem with my sponsors? That felt unnatural at first since I’m inclined to present solutions rather than problems. But it turned out the right thing to do.
The sponsors showed themselves quite receptive and supportive. Only a few weeks later was I able to present a solution that did satisfy the steering committee. The rest of my assignment was spent on implementing that solution, full speed ahead. Somehow, a blockade had been lifted.