A few years ago, a wise colleague shared some sage career advice – “Don’t swing at every pitch.” Career choices have high switching costs and it helps to be discerning as we consider new opportunities.
However, this post isn’t about career choices.
I’ve been thinking about this advice in the context of work more broadly. In any given day or week, we might experience many triggers for frustration or annoyance. It could be indirect – an inaccurate insight being shared widely, a document with false assertions, or some other perceived injustice. It could also be direct – someone saying something unfair directly to us or about us.
If we work with enough humans or in large enough organizations, we’re likely to experience such triggers often. And it can be easy to get caught in a reactionary cycle.
I think of these triggers as pitches. We can swing at every one of them that comes our way – but we’ll tire ourselves out needlessly.
Every action doesn’t deserve an equal and opposite reaction. Few are worth the effort.
It pays to focus on the signal while ignoring the noise.
Don’t swing at every pitch.
