Dan's Daily

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers” – Voltaire

It’s easy to speak, hard to listen, and even harder to ask thoughtful questions that cut to the heart of an issue.

It feels like there is a natural evolution there:

• By speaking, we seek to be heard
  
• By listening, we seek to hear
  
• By asking thoughtful questions, we seek to deeply understand the other person and their point of view.

How convenient that I’m writing this post in the early morning. So today with my teams, I’m going to practice holding back knee-jerk opinions, and try and ask thoughtful, helpful, and generous questions instead.

Ever since I was a boy, the name Nobel sparked a sense of awe within me. The Nobel Prizes are widely considered to represent the pinnacle of human achievement across chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, peace, and economics. But only recently did I learn about the man behind the prizes, and the sad story of how they came to be.

Born and raised in Sweden, Alfred Nobel was a success by all traditional measures. He was a leading chemist and inventor, most known for inventing dynamite, and was a wealthy businessman due to his work in the arms industry.

In 1888, an obituary was accidentally written for Nobel following the death of his brother, Ludvig. What Nobel read brought him deep sadness, “the merchant of death is dead”, and “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”

7 years later, just one year before Nobel’s death, he signed away 94% of his assets to create the Nobel Prizes, in the hope of leaving a better legacy in death than he did in life.

When I read this, I felt sadness that this was the genesis of such a revered prize.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a fan. The Nobel Prizes celebrate the feats of remarkable individuals and who inspire millions of people each year.

However, this story reminded me of the saying “all that glitters is not gold”, and how it’s important for us to be aware of and acknowledge that there is often a messy grey area within many of our favourite stories.

This weekend I played my first game of football in over a year. To make matters worse, it was an 11-a-side 90-minute grueller. I was surviving, but barely.

Deep into the second half and up 4-3, we launched a cracking on-target shot, only to be blocked by a defender’s arm in the penalty box. This mistake meant we were awarded a penalty, which is where the ball is placed 10 metres from the goal, and we had a free shot to score against the goalkeeper.

The tentative looks on the faces of my team mates told me they were staying well away from the task.

Heart pounding, legs trembling, I approached the ball and imagined myself as Lionel Messi extending the lead for Barcelona in the Champion’s League final.

Whether by skilful strike or simple luck (let’s be honest, it was luck), the ball sailed into the net.

The rush of emotion that I felt in this amateur Saturday kick-around gave me a tiny insight into what it must feel like to be the player taking the deciding shot in a high-stakes sporting match. What pressure they must feel. And more importantly, what confidence they must possess.

I likely won’t be taking another penalty shot for at least another year, but I loved the experience from this weekend and what I learnt from it. Despite it being a low stakes game, I still had to muster the confidence to overcome my insecurities, say “I’ll take the shot”, and then follow through with action.

What would happen if we applied this type of attitude to our work and relationships? Would we see different results? Could we make things a little better?

It definitely feels like it is worth a try.

When Stan Lee pitched Spider-man, his publisher said it was “the worst idea he’d ever heard”.

He said the character wouldn’t work because “people hate spiders”, “teenagers are sidekicks, not heroes”, and “a superhero shouldn’t be unattractive, poor, love-troubled, and an orphan”.

But Stan couldn’t shake his gut feeling, so he put Spider-man in the final edition of a magazine that was being cut due to low sales.

The magazine flew off the shelves.

Fast-forward to today and you can’t go anywhere without seeing a child in a Spider-man t-shirt or with a Spider-man backpack.

Stan’s advice was “if you have an idea that you think is genuinely good, don’t let anyone talk you out of it”.

I didn’t hear this story until today, but I can still remember how I felt, sitting in the movie theatre, watching Spider-man for the first time.

Stan’s decision that day, to put an idea out into the world despite the opinions of other, has had a huge impact on me and many others.

I highly recommend taking two minutes to hear Stan tell this story.

Welcome to my first blog post!

I’ve wanted to start a blog for years, and I’m excited to be taking the plunge.

I feel like Sam Gamgee taking his first step outside the Shire on his way to Mordor. My own website on the Blogosphere is the farthest I’ve been from home.

It’s the generous work of Seth Godin and Rohan Rajiv that inspired me to start this blog. Both Seth and Rohan have written daily for over 10 years, and I’ve benefited immensely from their wit and wisdom. In particular, they talk about the transformative power of daily writing to help one clarify their thoughts, reflect more often, and be more accountable.

Over the last 3 months I’ve written 100-300 words each day to see if I enjoyed the writing process. Safe to say, I’ve loved it. So here I am.

Thanks for reading!