She showed no content going into the bed and he could feel it.
Why in the hell he didn’t get a promotion?! Mark was preparing all his friends, her and her parents that he is going to slam dunk this Friday. He could feel the sensation when his name is on the door. That sports car he always wanted and vacations two times a year on a nice island. Yeah!
But it all vanished like a fog in the spring morning. That’s why she was kinda angry. So why in the hell he didn’t get the coveted promotion? All weekend it was consuming his mind.
He made a list:
- He had a better education – Ivy League.
- He had a bigger team.
- He was more popular, people from other teams knew him since he always knew how to small talk and make friends.
- He was not shy to shine when the time was right, showcasing his achievements and “making the impact” to the company’s bottom line.
He was smarter, better dressed and had more friends in the company than anyone else. He knew the projects and delivered them on time. Then WTF?!
So there he was, in the morning, in the office of his boss and after a small chit chat he went ahead and asked the question.
– Tim, why not me?
– Well Mark, I knew you would ask this, so let me ask you back. What do you think are the best qualities for this job that you wanted so bad?
Mark listed many qualities but Tim only shaked his head. Mark really didn’t know. He exhausted all the options. He was puzzled.
– Then what is it?
– Your rival has a quality that you do not posses. And it’s not your fault and you’re doing just great in the position that you already are. But the company is expanding rapidly and we need a leader who knows the processes and product in a very deep level. To have that understanding, one must sit down with a problem for days or weeks until he understands all the intricacies and details to make a right decision. Paul has that quality where he improved all of our proccesses when he just stated with us. From the product, to hiring, to optimization of our supply chain where he spent freaking 6 months in a factory in China to understand how it’s assembled. This guy can go deep. In the world where people’s span of attention is 15 minutes and people jump from one task to another, or when people get bored easily and always looking for low hanging fruits, working deep – is a real treasure.
And that’s why he got a promotion and not you. He’s not better than you Mark. Paul is on another level. Maybe one day he will get my chair as well.
Driving back home, Mark stopped at local Barnes and Noble. After looking for 10 minutes in the specific lane, he picked up a book and read the first paragraph. The cover of the book said – “Deep Work”.