Ambition: noun - am/bite(y)/on

On learning to eat

Have you ever wondered at what stage of human development we learn that our mouth’s have limited capacity and that we need to leave room to chew?

You probably can’t recall when that happened but according to the Internet it is between 10 and 18 months of age. At this time we discover the need for space and appropriate movement in the mouth.

10 to 18 months… its not an instant thing… its learned behaviour.

Later on when kids get bigger they can try to stuff everything into their mouths which may be more of a man thing but I seem to recall more boys and men doing that than female friends and acquantices.

My Dad used to tell me the rhyme of the Pelican when he observed me gobbling food… “a funny bird is the pelican, it’s beak can hold more food than it’s belly can.”

In any case I suspect ambition is a bit like learning to eat effectively.

When we are ambitious we can take on more than we can effectively handle at one time, we simply have a greater belief in our capacity than what space and appropriate movement can provide.

If you have ever read Neela’s stories of corporate life and startups then you can get a strong sense of flavour of how she has sought to teach them how to metaphorically not stuff their faces without learning to chew properly… if you haven’t read her work then you’re missing out.

Ambition needs a strategy but an ambitious strategy needs tactical chops to get chewing.

On LinkedIn for sometime I used to refer to myself as a Smartist - an artist who also happens to do strategic management.

Having just facilitated a strategy day last week I figured I might talk about ambition and strategy today.

The client I have been helping has just completed a digital transformation… which is a big deal since CIO magazine noted that 95% of all digital transformations fail. However, finishing a transformation does not actually occur after the go-live date. It takes some months to bed in the processes - actually its probably a similar time to learning not to overfill our mouths.

In the strategy meeting we had the client has ambitions… they want to become ISO certified, have their training accredited, increase sales, grow the staff… and… and…

Ambition is great. But you need to have the space to grow, putting more food in our mouths in order to eat faster isn’t how reality works.

Ambition needs space and appropriate movement. Space can be related to time so some things just take more time than we currently use right now.

For example I had an ambition to complete a painting per week, I’d like to get 30 more paintings done before an art exhibition in November this year. However the first subject I chose was also ambitious. It was more complex than my usual subjects and has proven to soak up much more time than I expected.

So should I curb my ambition? Well I think I have some options…

1. Stop sleeping and just paint for 15 days straight to get back on target

2. Lay myself off to make the operational balance sheet look good

3. Learn to get good really fast

4. Keep going and turn this painting into a print so I can sell multiple copies and have fresh options for visitors to the exhibit to choose from - prints versus originals.

I’m going to go with option 4 and readjust my space and appropriate movements to match what I am currently capable of achieving.

There’s nothing wrong with having ambition however, we should keep an eye on our capacity to take it all on and adjust that capacity before we start making a mess or inducing a gag reflex.

Wishing you a safe and productive week

Thanks for being on the journey with me

David