Working Out Loud: Why Bother!?
Contributed by Tanvi Gautam July 25, 2017
Ever heard of Work Out Loud Week? If you are into hashtags, it was #WOLweek.
Working out loud, as I understand it, is a movement that:
- Arose from the frustration with the extremely siloed way in which organizations work and learn. Something simply not sustainable in a VUCA world. We need a diversity of viewpoints to bear upon the tasks we take up.
- Is a rebellion against people protecting their work till it is perfect and then sharing it. We are all a work in progress, and the sooner we accept that others can contribute to the perfection we are trying to reach, the faster we will grow and learn.
- Is an opportunity to make your work visible in a manner that might connect with someone else, and help them as well. I am huge fan of serendipity and click moments that allow us to make connections we never thought possible.
That said, I am myself getting started on this journey so let me point you to an expert who literally wrote the book, John Stepper, who has this to say on #WOL:
“When you work out loud, you ask yourself: What am I trying to accomplish? Who can help me? How can I contribute to those people and deepen our relationship?”
There Are Five Elements Of Working Out Loud:
- Being Purposeful
- Building a social network
- Leading with generosity
- Making you and your work visible
- Improving yourself and others
So in that spirit, here is something I am working on right now: A downloadable, easy-to-read curated resource to allow people to start their storytelling journey.
To Answer The Three Questions:
- What am I trying to do? I am trying to make it easier for people to connect with the storytelling capability, because it is a key transformational skill for leaders today.
- Who can help me? Maybe you ! Perhaps you can tell me if the content is looking intersting to you.
- How will it contribute & deepen relationships? I am hoping it will spark a conversation and allow us to form a community that wants to connect on this topic.
Go ahead and use the three questions to start working out loud!
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