David Sturt Quotes

The important thing is to not assume that good is good enough, because even good things can always, always find a way to get better.

Each of us has a unique perspective on the world around us, an inner eye that has more to do with how we think than with what we see.

Moses was good at his job. He was efficient. He was always busy making the room clean. But at the same time, he could read the family's emotions. He never made a medical diagnosis or overstepped the bounds of his position. But he shared a lot of practical, commonsense wisdom gleaned from helping hundreds of families make it through traumatic surgery. Moses reinforced the good: "You're sitting up today; that's a good boy." He offered encouragement: "You're brave. You're strong. You can do it." He gave practical advice: "You've been through a lot, but you're coming through it now. Your body knows what to do. Just rest and let it do it." Matt and Mindi looked forward to visits from Moses because as he made their hospital room clean, he also gave them hope.

That's what reframing your role is all about: thinking about how your work affects others, looking at the larger purpose of your work and whom it benefits, and seeing yourself as a potential difference maker.

A fixed mindset causes people to fear failure; they don't want to try anything that might damage their current sense of ability and intelligence. Their self-worth and identity are wrapped up in not making a mistake, so they gravitate to fail-safe activities. People with growth mindsets, on the other hand, seek out challenges and activities that expand their abilities. The fixed mindset seeks sameness and validation; the growth mindset seeks learning and adaptation.

We have the ability to insist on doing something great – something people will love and appreciate.

I think it's the difference between working with your head down and with your head up. You need to look at everything going on around your job so that your eyes are open to possibilities. If you look at how your work affects others, at how relationships work, at what others want and need, you will see things you don't see when you are just going through the motions.

Change is the catalyst of life and, likewise, the catalyst for all great work.

Thinking of the good our work can do for others, beyond our daily to-do list, helps us change how we do what we do in ways that add meaning to our work.

Job crafters are those who do what's expected (because it's required) and then find a way to add something new to their work. Something that delights. Something that benefits both the giver and the receiver.

Anyone can be a difference maker.

Understanding requires our own observation. Solutions frequently come in the form of mental pictures. The only prescription is to get out and use our eyes to see how things work.

We've all got crazy ideas that tickle and nag. Let's turn up the volume on these great work muses. Allow them to germinate, mature and grow.

Difference making, by its very nature, is the art of taking something good and making it better. It's an act of fine-tuning, improving, and refining, not starting from zero.

It doesn't take any special training to ask the right question. Nor does it require a high IQ. The only real resource required to ask what people might love is time.

Good is the foundation of Great.

The guiding mantra for connecting is this: it's just a conversation.

Great Work begins when we take the time to ask if there's something new the world would love.

When we engage people in conversations about great work, we're not asking them to solve a problem for us. We're not selling something, nor are we asking for some kind of handout. What we're really doing is inviting them to participate with us in the shared enjoyment of making a difference.

When you begin to see problems as road signs that say "great work possibility; turn here," you're on your way.

The truth is, we can't see what we aren't looking at.

There is something important you should know: the most significant examples of great work, the most poignant, the most inspiring, the ones we know would take your breath away, we can't tell you about. They haven't happened yet. They're yours.

If you don't ask the right question, who will?

It's natural to feel limited by the constraints of our jobs from time to time. But rather than seeing those constraints as limitations, we can see them as a starting point for making a difference. And when we look at constraints that way, life gets interesting.