What 2 Participants at Type-A Breakfast Taught Me About Life
Last week, at a Type-A Breakfast session in Melbourne, there were two participants who sat across the table from me…
One arrived early. She was there before I (the organiser) arrived. She was already working before 7:15 am; and carried on till the end of the session at 9:30 am.
Those are the agreements of a Type-A Breakfast session: Arrive before 7:30 am, work till 9:30 am. No talking or ‘networking’ in between.
We had a quick chat after. She felt she accomplished a lot that morning. She loved the idea of a ‘Type-A Breakfast’; and we briefly discussed her intention to organise it in the CBD. She knows of a venue that’s more accessible for others who may want to join; and there was free wifi (so we don’t have to use our mobile data plan).
Another participant arrived way after 7:30 (I think it was close to 8 am); worked a little, and headed off early for a meeting in the city at 9 am.
She later sent me a message with valuable feedback – the cafe we worked at… didn’t work for her. The music was loud, the coffee was overpriced, there was no free wifi and the service staff didn’t seem to welcome customers who were working on their notebooks.
Because of these reasons, she won’t be joining future sessions (even though she was excited about it before).
Two participants. Same conditions. Different results. Different responses.
To be very clear – I absolutely appreciate the feedback that the second participant gave me. Very valid. Very valuable.
In fact, my wife doesn’t love that cafe for some of the same reasons (loud music, relatively overpriced coffee, some service staff don’t seem very happy to meet customers).
And – that feedback led me to make a decision – to select a new venue. for Type-A Breakfast Melbourne.
So – very important feedback indeed.
But the observation reminded me about life. How I sometimes approach life like the first participant; and sometimes – like the second.
And I’m reminded… that it’s not about the conditions we have to work with, or to work in.
It’s about how much we’re able to ignore everything that doesn’t matter – to focus on what does.
(15 mins)
