Oct 11, 2022·edited Oct 11, 2022Liked by Morgan Fabian
Great post! Each one of us have different "yardsticks" and even within one's career those yardsticks can change with life circumstances.
I just watched this interview with Arthur Brooks and I think you might enjoy it. Especially the parts about high-achievers and pitfalls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5OmuP8vTQ
Amazing, I loved reading this, it was great to understand what was happening when you quit, it was such a shock. I admire your courage and passion to do what you love, to inspire yourself, go be you, you know you will be awesome at it. The yardstick method is great, having gone through major life changes its important to asses yourself by your own standards not other peoples. Be careful and deliberate about those footsteps you follow, because you will end up at their destination, not yours.
Thanks Justin, means so much. When I left I felt terrible for not providing others with more of an explanation. I'm not sure I even had found the right words yet to explain my reasons, just the instincts that staying wasn't the right choice.
I imagine that measuring our lives by our own standards (and not other peoples) will a lifelong project of consistent recalibration
A helpful reminder for those of us who utilize these mental models for maximizing efficiency and impact in our jobs that we should be putting the same level of critical thought into there things that will actually make us feel fulfilled at the end of the day.
Looking forward to reading more of the Figures series!
Absolutely. Efficiency and impact in themselves can be 'yardsticks' we could use in our jobs or in our lives. Fulfillment is a much more complex one, albeit the most telling. Perhaps efficiency and impact will be great indicators of fulfillment, but that probably depends on the individual.
Hi Morgan, really appreciated the article here as I have grappled with similar questions in my career. UC Berkeley could be the driver behind these thoughts. One question I had is whether or not you think there is a risk of having too much speed (and not enough velocity) by trying to “manage the delicate balance between several” yardsticks for career success? Do you feel like you could be saying “yes” to too many yardsticks and if so, do you think prioritizing 1 or 2 yardsticks might be more effective than 5-6 to achieve velocity?
Ryan I love this question. This is a great exercise in taking the mental models to their extreme and watching how they might fall apart in real life scenarios.
In theory, you are totally right: if we want velocity towards a given yardstick, say... "social impact" wherein you are measuring the number of lives you improve across your life, but then have another yardstick that is "creative excitement" wherein you measure how much time you spend in "flow state", they will cause distraction for each other. You will undoubtably have to make tradeoffs, impacting your velocity and there is perhaps an argument to be made to pick one.
I think an argument can also be made against focusing on one metric, drive us to burnout by not taking sufficient care of our health, relationships, and more. We are complex, multidimensional beings and there are a number of things that will be important to us in our lives. I imagine there might exist some people out there who prefer the one metric and will live their lives accordingly. For most of us, there is a balance that should be considered to ensure our own sanity, health, and happiness. Without those, its hard to make an impact.
I'm reminded of the caution from statistician George E. P. Box: “All models are wrong, but some are useful”.
I think they remain useful as a mechanisms for viewing our behavior with new eyes.
My favorite Figures yet! So much respect for your insightful, critical thinking and love to hear you share the application of it all with such personal truth. Bravo my friend :)
This was a great read!! Keep ‘em coming. Love the notion of “choosing your yardstick” for what job success looks like and recognizing that it’s a highly personal decision.
Great post! Each one of us have different "yardsticks" and even within one's career those yardsticks can change with life circumstances.
I just watched this interview with Arthur Brooks and I think you might enjoy it. Especially the parts about high-achievers and pitfalls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5OmuP8vTQ
Amazing, I loved reading this, it was great to understand what was happening when you quit, it was such a shock. I admire your courage and passion to do what you love, to inspire yourself, go be you, you know you will be awesome at it. The yardstick method is great, having gone through major life changes its important to asses yourself by your own standards not other peoples. Be careful and deliberate about those footsteps you follow, because you will end up at their destination, not yours.
Thanks Justin, means so much. When I left I felt terrible for not providing others with more of an explanation. I'm not sure I even had found the right words yet to explain my reasons, just the instincts that staying wasn't the right choice.
I imagine that measuring our lives by our own standards (and not other peoples) will a lifelong project of consistent recalibration
Beautifully put, Morgs.
A helpful reminder for those of us who utilize these mental models for maximizing efficiency and impact in our jobs that we should be putting the same level of critical thought into there things that will actually make us feel fulfilled at the end of the day.
Looking forward to reading more of the Figures series!
Absolutely. Efficiency and impact in themselves can be 'yardsticks' we could use in our jobs or in our lives. Fulfillment is a much more complex one, albeit the most telling. Perhaps efficiency and impact will be great indicators of fulfillment, but that probably depends on the individual.
Hi Morgan, really appreciated the article here as I have grappled with similar questions in my career. UC Berkeley could be the driver behind these thoughts. One question I had is whether or not you think there is a risk of having too much speed (and not enough velocity) by trying to “manage the delicate balance between several” yardsticks for career success? Do you feel like you could be saying “yes” to too many yardsticks and if so, do you think prioritizing 1 or 2 yardsticks might be more effective than 5-6 to achieve velocity?
Really liked the visuals.
Ryan I love this question. This is a great exercise in taking the mental models to their extreme and watching how they might fall apart in real life scenarios.
In theory, you are totally right: if we want velocity towards a given yardstick, say... "social impact" wherein you are measuring the number of lives you improve across your life, but then have another yardstick that is "creative excitement" wherein you measure how much time you spend in "flow state", they will cause distraction for each other. You will undoubtably have to make tradeoffs, impacting your velocity and there is perhaps an argument to be made to pick one.
I think an argument can also be made against focusing on one metric, drive us to burnout by not taking sufficient care of our health, relationships, and more. We are complex, multidimensional beings and there are a number of things that will be important to us in our lives. I imagine there might exist some people out there who prefer the one metric and will live their lives accordingly. For most of us, there is a balance that should be considered to ensure our own sanity, health, and happiness. Without those, its hard to make an impact.
I'm reminded of the caution from statistician George E. P. Box: “All models are wrong, but some are useful”.
I think they remain useful as a mechanisms for viewing our behavior with new eyes.
My favorite Figures yet! So much respect for your insightful, critical thinking and love to hear you share the application of it all with such personal truth. Bravo my friend :)
So glad to hear you liked this one Katie! More on the way :)
This was a great read!! Keep ‘em coming. Love the notion of “choosing your yardstick” for what job success looks like and recognizing that it’s a highly personal decision.
Yes! The HBR article is such a helpful piece. There is such value in giving ourselves permission to define success for our own lives
Really enjoyed this!! Especially, “Amazing how bluntly someone else can put feelings you’ve been unable to find words for”
Haha yes! Thanks Brandon, we desperately need each other to figure out the complexity of our inner worlds
So well written, Morgan!
Thanks Sriram!!