Stop Waiting for Godot

A famous 20th Century play by the Irishman Samuel Beckett was Waiting for Godot. The entire story concerns two tramps literally waiting by the side of a road for the arrival of someone named Godot, with whom they have an appointment. Two others show up at some point to taunt the waiters. Eventually a boy comes along and declares that Godot will not arrive that day, but is coming the next day. The play ends with the tramps deciding that Godot will never show up, and that they should move on. But they don’t. They just stay there.

Beckett’s entire play is a study in futility, a window into inertia. And it holds a mirror up to much of the excuses-making that disguises itself as productivity in modern organizational society. How much energy do we spend ruminating over who might arrive at any moment with the answers, over who might be the one to fix something….especially concerning the persons or groups we feel are to blame for our problems, etc.?

We may not be waiting for Godot in particular, but too often we are waiting for some stimulus or event beyond ourselves rather than taking the simple step of moving on. Moving on toward creativity and proactively sowing the seeds of unleashing our best potential, deliberating our sharpest ideas, reaching beyond comfort zones to collaborate with those we might otherwise underestimate or misunderstand because of a passive ignorance.

Personal accountability is about moving from waiting to acting. Much of the marketing culture would prefer that we wait for it to redefine us, remake us, rethink us. Unleashing authenticity demands that we build relationships with those who can partner with us in moving forward, rather than the easier path of surrendering to inertia with those content to simply whine, watch and wait…and wait.

Who is the person you need to partner with today? Someone has been on your mind, someone whose best thinking can collide with yours for groundbreaking change. Drop them a line. Don't wait.