Boring is good, for living, working, and running a company.
Some Vietnamese expats at our BBQ were talking aboutthe choice between NZ and VN is between boring paradise and exciting hell.
My son said where we live outside Wellington has “everything you need if you are over 40”. He lives in Cuba Street.
Image: Exmeasententia, Wikimedia
As we get older, boring is good. I certainly don’t lead a dull life, but in general, I prefer not too live an “interesting” life any more.Remember, “may you live in interesting times” is a curse. Most of us have had more than enough interesting in recent years.
Perhaps it is also time to consider how to make your work more boring, a regular nine-to-five, no massive changes, no all-night finishes, no reorgs, no crises. How nice it would be to spend a steady day doing a stable job, then go home to the family with energy to spare.
And most workplaces should be making themselves boring. Sure if you’re SpaceX, you don’t want boring. Startups and super-competitives can work – and panic – themselves to a frazzle. But all the big legacy corporations out there should be aiming for smooth and steady sailing, changing course with grace and calm.
It is the evolution from red to orange to teal, to a more sane way of working and living, in harmony with our environment.
For many organisations, this will require new behaviour from bosses. It is the end game of Open Management
Life will generate quite enough excitement spontaneously without us generating more. Most of us need to calm the farm. Relax, slow down, seek peace. Here’s to boring.