Become a Genuine Storyteller
If you spend more than ten minutes in an office, you're likely to hear it: "Manage Expectations". What a ridiculous term.
What expectations? Why are we managing them? This is a buzzword that makes the office feel important, but it's also something deeper, and less innocent. It's a philosophical mindset of how we have to behave in the office, in the home, in the church, in the street...everywhere. We're constantly living up to someone elses' expectations and managing the process; chances are, you're sick of it.
The next time you hear "Managing Expectations", just stop, wait, and think before you try to manage anything.
Tom must have been told this too much as a kid, while he's chasing love down the rabbit hole he's endlessly managing expectations. He'll think "Am I her type? Should I behave more like that other guy she's with?" All the while missing out on who he really is.
Bob spends his time in the office working for an archaic principle; the client is always right. "Fear the client, and manage their expectations", it's basically shouted from the rooftops at people like Bob. All the while he'll wear his Tired Suit and a Tired Smile; because the client is always right, and that means that he's always wrong - it's killing him.
So why run in circles chasing our tails just to 'manage expectations'? Bob needs to know that he'll never find life; love will find him. Tom needs to know that the client has a valid point more often than not; but also that the client isn't always right. There are times to stand up and be who you are, and those times are becoming more and more crucial to our daily lives.
As we become more and more interconnected through social media and digital communication we lose the genuine personality that people crave. Online dating robs us of our souls, we're now too awkward to walk up to the stranger and start talking. Rapid communication in the workforce removes us from personal conversations and sets us trapped at our desks. The easiest way to counteract this is to Burn the Box and to stop Managing Expectations.
Try becoming a Genuine Storyteller (©). Instead of working to tell the story that people want to hear, work to tell them the story that you have to tell. The difference? Well, Tom will attract his soulmate through his stories: turns out he has a love for life and all worth living - he's a Happy Human. Bob, will stand tall in the office and realize that he's not just needed - he's irreplaceable; as he builds better relationships with Genuine Stories, he'll realize that wearing a Tired Suit to work is just as sad as trying to Manage Expectations.
After all, the only expectations we can truly manage are our own; isn't that enough work?
