Get Off Your Agenda

People matter.

Years ago, if you would have asked me if I was a people-oriented person or a task-oriented person (understanding it’s not mutually exclusive) I would have said, people. Now I’m not so sure.

About 15 years ago our neighbor across the street bought a new shed. We didn’t have a shed if you can believe that. So, we asked if we could have their old shed. And not really having a great way to dispose of it, he gladly complied.

Now to get it to our house. Maybe 150 yards from the current spot, through his side yard, the street, our side yard and down in the backyard corner. Easy.

The problem was transportation. So, with the help of a friend who was a construction-type guy – finish carpenter to be exact - we were off and running. Given his background, I trusted his way was the best way. We began with manpower, a truck and some PVC pipes. That’s right – PVC pipes were the key mode of transportation. That’s because we had no way to lift it onto a truck and no truck big enough anyway. Adding to the challenge, the shed had no solid base, so the side wood slats would have to roll on the pipes. That got messy. It was extremely slow and unsteady. An hour in we hadn’t gotten very far.

Then, my neighbor a few houses away saw us while he was cutting his grass. He stopped and yelled, “Do you need any help!”  I said, “Sure.” He grabbed a digging iron and headed down.

6 hours later, we got the shed where we wanted it, and he turned back to his lawn. A lot happened in between. But goal accomplished.

The key to this story was my neighbor, who, on a whim offered some help. I’m pretty sure he didn’t think to himself, “Hmmm, I’d like to take a 6-hour detour from my personal agenda – cutting my grass – and drive myself crazy helping my neighbor roll a shed on PVC pipes to his yard.” But he did. He got off his agenda and stepped into ours.

Looking back, I am very impressed. Who does that?

Well, I need to do that more. 

While tasks are important, people are so much more important. And I’m working on that every day. How about you? Do you need to occasionally get off your agenda?

By the way, I still have my neighbor’s digging iron.