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Mohammed Al-Taee asked question on his Facebook page about a statement of who a skillful employer will hire… it included “stupid people” and Mohammed asked myself, Heather Coleman, and Walter Akana if we had an answer.
It wasn’t where I planned to go today but it is on my mind. There are different kinds of people. We can’t all be brilliant, creative, or talented in everything. The question was about hiring stupid people. I’ll let Mohammed address that on his blog because I am sure he will, I think the direction he was going is hiring unskilled people and I have no problem with that.
But the question he provoked for me is… “What if you are not stupid?” but “what if you make stupid choices?” Oh, I know, we all do that too… a thousand examples, including me falling on the ice and getting a black eye… But what if you have tons of potential but you don’t use it for good? Or tons of resources? Or tons of connections?
What if you fritter your time away with television, movies, video games, drinking, drugs, and never just get off the couch and get going? I talked about the Blame Game awhile back but it is bigger than that.
I have too much to do… too many options to even start to fit into 24 hours. What makes some people so different? I really don’t think it is because they are stupid. I think it is their choices.
Just wondering. You can talk about it here if you want.
Great blog, Julie.
I have been thinking about this very topic recently – choices. Why do some people choose to be selfless and others selfish? Why do some do the bare minimum to get through the day and collect the paycheck while others have the attitude of “while I am here I will commit to improving our organization?”
I know life circumstances will sometimes interfere with the productivity of even the best worker, but let’s put that aside for a moment.
Generally thinking, I believe the choices we make come down to personality types, attitude and integrity. It becomes an issue of what *type* of person are you? Are you committed to personal and professional growth? Or are you going to the least amount and complain about it every step of the way?
What if life forced us to take stupid choices or if there no option available except stupid one?
What should you do?
.-= Mohammed´s last blog ..Brand Conversation with Julien Smith =-.
I read your post earlier today and thought about as I went about my morning.
You are right about the many activities that compete for our precious time. Perhaps that’s part of the root of the problem. Too many choices lead to inaction. Limit the choices, and you limit the time that you spend hemming and hawing about what is the “best” option.
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..No Such Thing =-.
The choices we make are the only choices we *can* make given our resources, knowledge, ability, aspirations, beliefs, limitations at the time the choice is made.
When people say “Oh if I could turn back time, I’d do it differently”… it’s not true. If they turned back time, there is no other choice they could possibly make because given all the other constants, nothing would be different inside themselves.
This is why regrets are a waste of time. There is no way you could have done anything differently because everything up until that point was set up for that particular choice.
To start making better choices, we have to start by developing ourselves so the next choice we make has a different set of resources behind it.
This is why I love personal development – the future really is made of magic.
.-= Reeta Luthra | Stress and Health´s last blog ..Making Successful Choices =-.
[...] This discussion inspired Julie to write a blog post about stupid people but in another view, she wrote in How do you start your day? [...]
And if you are going to complain about it… I really don’t want to listen! Great comments, Heather. Hit a frustration point but hopefully this post will help someone sitting on a fence or not knowing how to get moving.
If you are taking a position that is less than your talents and there is absolutely nothing else out there, then I would go with it and do my best possible job, look for advancement, and look for new opportunities.
I would also keep networking and meeting new people and open the door to new things. Does that help?
Perfect answer. We need to focus here, a lot of people need to hear this.
.-= Mohammed Al-Taee´s last blog ..Brand Conversation with Julien Smith =-.
That’s true and good reminders for people like you and me who are high energy, passionate people but there is the other kind, as Reeta Luthra referenced in her post, http://reetaluthra.com/blog/2010/02/23/stress-danger-level-behavior/
Those are the kind I was thinking on when I wrote… though as I see the many activities that I am engaging in today, I totally agree with your suggestions for me.
Thanks for sharing Reeta’s post! Definitely good food for thought.
Of course, when I said “you” in my previous comments, I was using the collective “you.” I could have just said “me” since it really does fit me.
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..No Such Thing =-.
You and I are similar, Melissa. I think I was feeling your thoughts for me personally. I have always been on the organizational search to get myself focused… but my personality and desire to help often takes me off to help the next person in need. I just need to be cloned.
.-= Julie Walraven´s last blog ..How do you start your day? =-.