Today I was working on a big programming project and was working on a specific problem that many people have told me cannot be done without a lot of painful backend work among other things. In a nutshell, it is the problem of logging in to a different domain remotely while still retaining session or cookie data. Now that probably sounds extremely boring to most people, but I got a thrill out of it. I dare say I felt a surge of adrenaline when I finished it and a sense of pride when I stepped away from the code like a Michelangelo from his David. Thinking about it I realized how silly this whole moment was, but we all have things in life that stoke our fire. It is different for each person. One might have a nationwide press release, one a finished building, another a high crop yield. We each have different types of fuel, but they aren’t different grades as they are all on the same level. Understanding that each of us is motivated by different things is one of the most important ideas in business. You wouldn’t plug in your gasoline car anymore than you should give your employee, who isn’t interested in sports, tickets to a NBA basketball game. Pressing your interests on others is dangerous and can cause resentment. Try to understand what makes others tick……in fact, MAKE yourself understand. The wider range of interests and knowledge you have the more relationships you will grow, and the more success you will find. Narrow-minded corporate attitudes do you little good in the long run.
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