Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

We are responsible in that we are able to choose our response. This isn’t a new thought, but one that bears repeating.

Around the first century in the world or Rome and Greece lived a man named Epictetus. He is the first persons recorded to have written the thoughts in this blog post.

Persons who are responsible are able to choose their response to events. The events do not spur a flinch or uncontrollable physical reaction. One attribute of being responsible is that persons choose to be responsible or choose not.

Examples:

• When I’m hungry, I am grouchy.
• When I’m hungry, I choose to be grouchy.
• When I’m hungry, I choose to sit apart from others so I don’t appear grouchy.

Hmmm. That is an intriguing. See the difference when a person chooses their response?

The trouble is, this takes much of the fun out of life. I lose the chance to be grouchy or some other reaction that I feel is bad and will reflect badly on me. I can’t gripe, I can’t lie, I can’t cheat, I can’t…well, I can’t do things that I think are wrong, but can be justified when considered an uncontrollable physical reaction.

Then again, I can choose that being grouchy isn’t bad and it is, in fact, a justifiable reaction to an event. Hmmm. This adulthood thing isn’t so bad after all, huh?

As a manager, what happens when someone walks in with bad news? Well, first I can choose to call it “news,” not “bad news.” I can choose the adjective I use with “news.” Then I can choose how I respond to the news.

Yes, this adult hood and responsible stuff isn’t all bad.