Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Events in life and work can be separated widely by time and space. They can also be two parts of the same story. Connected separated events grows valuable knowledge as long as we can make the connection.

My family and I were caught in a snow storm in December on Interstate 81. One result of that experience is that things I once considered difficult, in particular driving in bad weather, now seem much easier.

Fast forward to February 2010 and the Washington D.C. area has several snowfalls – exceptionally large snowfalls. We – well the weather – set a record for a season for inches of snow falling from the sky. The records go back to the 1880s. We have a few weeks or months left in this season to add to our record. Please note that a winter snow season is not defined with any precision.

The result of the February snows was 30 inches of the white stuff on my street. The Federal government in the D.C. area closed for 4 1/2 days (also a record). Schools closed for more than a week (I think they will be finishing their required 180 days about the 4th of July.) I, however, hardened soul that I am, missed ZERO days of work. I piloted my vehicle at a crawling pace through the half mile of snow to reach a “main road,” i.e. one that had six to ten inches of plowed snow otherwise known as packed ice. Compared to facing a hundred miles of snow-covered Interstate in the dark this all seemed pretty easy.

The two snow storm stories are separate by two months, but they are close enough to one another that a flake of snow cannot slide between them when turned sideways. Experiences in life at home and at work are often this way. An endeavor appears to end; close the book and move on with your life. An unexpected event, however, occurs. We can treat the two as separate and apart. We can also see the second event as a continuation of the first. If we can do such, we can grow. Relating two events multiplies instead of merely adding the knowledge.

Look at today’s surprise. Ask if it truly stands alone or if it is a continuation of something in the past. Making the connections, drawing on all available knowledge and skills, is a worthy goal.