Friends of Dave #407: 🦕 yabba dabba doo🪨
It's not enough to do the work. Finish the job.
It is interesting to me how we can find patterns in a number of conversations we have throughout the week.
This week it was around “finishing.”
My wife and I don’t watch a tremendous amount of television these days, but finally caught up with the HBO documentary on David Chase, the writer and showrunner for “The Sopranos.”
We were devoted fans to this series back in the day, and Sunday nights were appointment watching for us after putting the kids to bed. The documentary gave an interesting look at the backstory for how the series came to be, the lead actors were cast and how the story was crafted over the 8 years it was in existence.
One of the most talked about elements of this groundbreaking series was the creative, nuanced and some feel controversial way it ended, and the documentary rightfully devotes ample time to cover this topic.
Chase and his writing team had painstakingly created a cast of characters, lead by it’s strong lead Tony Soprano, and rich storylines around each that all deserved an appropriate send off at series end.
The story needed to be finished in a thoughtful way that fit the series.
This week we also happened to have some conversations about finishing with our youngest son, the one for whom I cheer loudly at sporting events, as it relates to his various activities.
With his last year of middle school getting into the groove and preparations for high school already starting, we discussed the importance of finishing this chapter of his education strong. He has been an excellent student for the last two years and his academic performance this year will largely lay the foundation for the track he will be on in high school.
There was also talk about his athletic endeavors — with basketball tryouts this week he mentioned he wanted to focus on improving both his shooting and driving to the hoop this year.
As you may have gathered from some of the preambles here, he is as serious and meticulous about his sports as he is about school. I was impressed as he dissected his shooting technique and the moves he uses around the rim and articulated how he would like to tweak things to get better. We talked about the importance of follow through and maintaining his focus, not just during his initial movements to put the ball in the basket, but throughout the entire act of shooting.
The finish is as important (if not more important) as how you start.
I may have written about this here before — I have interviewed countless people for jobs over the course of my career. Nowadays most of it is done over video conference — but back in the day final interviews were conducted in person. That is where you could really tell if a promising candidate was going to be a good fit for a role or an organization.
One of the many quirks of my evaluation process: I always take notice of someone’s shoes. They can have the nicest suit, be the most articulate speaker, or possess the greatest personality or professional qualifications, but man, if their shoes aren’t polished or don’t look right (they don’t have to be expensive mind you, just treated with care), I start to question things.
I remember one young candidate for a role that blew everyone out of the water with his intelligence and experience. On paper and on the phone, the guy seemed to be the ideal fit. Then he came into the office for his final closing interview — dressed appropriately for the client facing role up top, but somehow decided to wear a pair of beat up Docksider shoes and NO SOCKS.
Despite the great conversations he had with our team, all I could think about afterwards were the guy’s hairy ankles….and wonder if our customers would think the same. Couldn’t give him my vote.
Finishing details matter.
This happens to us all from time to time, doesn’t it?
We get out the gate and start to get traction with something, only to find we have a hard time sustaining the focus and enthusiasm to bring it to the right ending.
It’s about wrapping things up.
Writing a final chapter.
Sticking the landing.
Playing to the whistle.
Closing.
Finishing.
Whether you are writing a hit TV series, playing basketball, looking to land a new job or just living your life, the art of finishing what you started is just as important as how you begin. And yet so often people forget to do this part justice.
But those that can finish well make a lasting impression.
Back to my son….I realized that this was something I wanted to share with him as we talked about his interests this week. However, as many of you know, it can be hard to convey the importance of something like this to a teenager in a way that will resonate.
We were at the kitchen table chatting, sharing a plate of leftover french fries of all things, and he decided to get up to go outside to get the mail. I sat there thinking about how I could drive home the importance of the art of finishing to him — in a way he would find inspiring and remember as he continues his journey through adolescence and into young adulthood.
I could see him through the front window, walking to the mailbox and pantomiming different basketball shots every few steps, each one slightly different as he plays out the last seconds of a fictional game in his mind.
I mindlessly grabbed a handful of cold, mushy fries as I watched him come back down the driveway — he is a good kid, our youngest kid, and soon he will be leaving our nest. I think he is going to do just fine.
I guess it is true: the movie never ends — it goes on and on.
Just then he opened the front door and I look up from the fries to see him….
Friends, if you know, you know. 😉
XOXO
Dave
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