“If we treat each other as if we are geniuses, poets and artists, we have a better chance of becoming that on stage.” — Del Close

Del Close the Father of All Longform Improvisers Del Close, the Father of All Longform Improvisers

The past week at work has been kind of frustrating. Miscommunication all over the place. Balls being dropped. And all of it seems to end up in my lap for some reason, even though I’m not the guy in charge. I feel let down by people I trust. I get angry at people.

But then I take a moment to realize that we’re all inherently good people trying to do our best. We’re all on the same team. Even demanding clients aren’t demanding because they enjoy being jerks, but because they’re under their own set of pressures and deadlines. My coworkers didn’t drop the ball because they have a vendetta against me, but because just like me they have a ton of stuff on their plates and clear communication among a large number of people is a super-hard problem. And if I should lash out at them, they have no idea that I’ve had a crappy week and my son’s been sick and I just generally feel overwhelmed.

I know that I work among the very best. I see the results of their work every day. It’s just a matter of building that same level of deep, abiding trust with my coworkers that I have with my teammates.

Although I think they might look at me funny if I patted them on the shoulder and said, “I’ve got your back” before every work day…