Happy Groundhog Day!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 29 years since the movie Groundhog Day came out in 1993. There are plenty of people in the workforce born after it! You might even be one of them!
It is a movie that is now a part of the culture. Today, Groundhog Day is synonymous with doing things over and over again in a rut.
I really noticed that in my time in Ireland in the 00s. For the Irish it was a fresh term. Before the movie, they didn’t know this North American pagan inspired annual ritual marking the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Embracing our longing for spring. I say North American because we note it here in Canada too.
For those in Europe, they only know Groundhog Day in terms of Bill Murray’s Phil continuously doing the day over until he changes and wins the girl.
Changes his mindset. Adjusts his approach. Alters his behaviours.
It’s funny reflecting on that in 2022. In the past decade there has been a proliferation of works put out there on building habits. And on mindset. And on changing behaviours.
For me, part of the trick is to figure out the right balance of persistence and innovation.
We do want to build tenancy in our ongoing practices – especially in our work. Sometimes things just take multiple iterations to get the outcomes we want. Grit. We’ve all heard the rule-of-thumb that prospects need to see our ad or message at least 7 times before they respond or get it. We need to get our message right and repeat it.
Yet at the same time, like Phil in the movie, we need to tweak and innovate. We need to live the repeated days differently. We need to experiment and try different things. And like Phil, we also need the days where we just embrace the situation with abandon, grab the groundhog and drive over a cliff. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
The message in the movie isn’t so much about Phil being in a rut. It’s about how he worked to get out of it. How he evolved.
The magic is always in knowing what to keep and knowing what to change. A wisdom that comes with practice.
Where do you see the need for both persistence and innovation in your work?
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