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Karthik Subramanian's avatar

Wes, words can't express how much I love this article. Amongst the handful of articles I've read about "going above and beyond expectations", this article turned a yellow spot into the sun in terms of SHOWING how creativity can be used to produce great outcomes despite amount of resources one has at their disposal. At the end of the day, a great thing about being human is the ability to be creative and work together in large teams. As a software engineer, I think these examples (both from big project to the typical day to day interactions) inspire me to exceed expectations. Below were the parts that resonated with me:

1. Turning cardboard boxes into makeshift shelves story: Now that I think about it, I also had a similar story with my mom but in the lens of "how can we use our leftover refried beans and rice effectively"

2. Elevating the Mundane: Was amazed by the way this argument was phrased in the article. Definitely turned a yellow spot into the sun!

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Caleb Mellas's avatar

I really liked the language of “turning a yellow spot into a sun” to notate someone who creativity and meaningfully raises the bar.

I also liked how you said there’s not rules, or do x/y/z plan to be that type of bar raiser. But when you see it, you know. It feels magical to see it.

For my own personal learning, how would you coach someone who’s motivated and eager to be a bar raiser and start taking things to that next level? Some ideas I had:

- Try to find bar raiser examples?

- Ask others who the best person they know at that thing and reverse engineer their work?

- Ask a set of follow up questions for yourself to go 2-3 levels deeper before just cranking something out?

Anything else you’d add?

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