Driving in to the office this morning, I heard the Coldplay song “Viva La Vida” on the radio. So naturally I turned it up loud and sang along; the band is one of my favorites. Their creation story – four guys who met at university freshman orientation went on to form a band, and steadily grew in their musical confidence – strongly resonates with me. In my opinion they haven’t made a bad album.
But there is one line in that song that usually makes me chuckle yet this morning it got me thinking.
“Now in the morning I sleep alone, sweep the streets that I used to own” is the line. Yeah, we have all been there. What caused my mind to race this morning was the notion of sweeping the streets when you used to own them. Did you sweep the street when you owned it? Why the heck not? Now, that would be impressive. It was your street, so own the work.
No task is too small if you own the place. Embrace your inner entrepreneur. Take ownership. Sweep the street.
jamessnider March 2, 2011
Hi Kevin, I like that….did you sweep the street WHEN you owned it….heck no! Interesting point. By the way, Coldplay is one of my son’s favorite bands (and I think they are pretty good as well).
“Once I had a railroad….I made it run…I made it run against time….Once I had a railroad, now its gone….buddy, can you spare a dime.”
Oh, wait…different generation.
Brigid Blaschak March 7, 2011
Why should you if you can get some shmuck to do it for $8/hr? Delegation is not necessarily a bad thing;-)
I do believe however, that at some point in your life, you need to sweep the streets if for nothing more than to develop empathy. It the whole premise of that “Undercover Boss” show.
I love the show, but I also think it would be equally interesting to give some disgruntled mail room clerk the keys to the President’s office and see how well s/he fares.