Rabbit holes are kind of cool. They can be time sucks, sure. They can also be sources of newfangled ideas, inspiration, or good ol’ entertainment. Here’s a recent example:
The entrance: An email from Harvard Business Review titled, '5 ways leaders accidentally stress out their employees’. I clicked it.
The hole: Somewhere near the end of the article, it mentioned Dale Carnegie and included a hyperlink. I clicked it.
That took me to the Amazon page for his book, How To Win Friends & Influence People. Stuck in Portland for an afternoon last year, I killed time by browsing Powell’s bookstore. As I wandered down an aisle, I came across that book and thumbed through it. It was pretty fascinating in an old-school, common sense, what my mom taught me growing up sort of way. Scrolling down the Amazon page, I noticed it featured the first chapter. I read it. Somewhere near the end, Carnegie included the poem, ‘Father Forgets,’ by W. Livingston Larned.
Dang. I felt it, that poem. Not just as a parent, or as a boss, or as a husband. Pretty much as a human who has always been and only recently has tried not to be way too critical. Of myself, of what I put out in the world, of others.
The conclusion: Carnegie’s principle, which he summed up by saying, ‘Don't criticize, condemn or complain.’ Well said, Dale.
ps… If you, too, wish to read a somewhat heartbreaking poem, here’s a link you can click. Happy possible rabbit-holing…
