Life lessons from my current job

The other day, my LinkedIn reminded me that it had been 7 years since I started my current job at Oxford Policy Management. I began to reflect on my time, and thought about the many different challenges and successes I have faced in this role. At this job, my team and I work very hard to deliver impactful projects across various thematic areas, which holds many different challenges. One challenge we have faced time and time again is most of our clients wants their work delivered at a high quality but within unrealistic timelines.

Some might find this an impossible task, but as my team knows, I have a go-to approach for situations like this. When my team faces a challenging project or timeline, I simply put more men on the job.

This is an approach I learned from an anecdote that I’ve internalized into a life lesson, which I will share with you today.

Put More Men On The Job

There was once a businessman who was known for his prompt delivery of products and services. His strategy was to always have more men on each job. If any area of his work was struggling, he would insist: “Put more men on the job!” This strategy helped him build a great reputation in his career.

One day, the businessman and his wife were eating breakfast with their daughter and he asked his little girl what she wanted most for her birthday and she said she wanted a baby brother. “Daddy and I would love to give you a baby brother,” said the wife, “but your birthday is in two days’ time…