Don’t go chasing people you’ll never make happy.A great example is the original wiki design. Ward Cunningham and friends deliberately stripped the wiki of many features that were considered integral to document collaboration in the past. Instead of attributing each change of the document to a certain person, they removed much of the visual representation of ownership. They made the content ego-less and time-less. They decided it wasn’t important who wrote the content or when it was written. And that has made all the difference. This decision fostered a shared sense of community and was a key ingredient in the success of Wikipedia.
 One of the hardest aspects of community is learning that you will never make some people happy. This is why it is so important to have a core purpose fixed firmly in your own mind. It is important because unhappy people will try to manipulate and control you and often sidetrack you along your way.
Wikipedia is incredibly successful because it has such a strong sense of community coupled with a core purpose of building a knowledge base from its community. There are the whingers of course who would like extra features but Wikipedia has resisted the temptation to allow individuals to rule what the rest are doing. It has determined the big picture is so important and cannot be sacrificed for the sake of any one person.
Some people don’t like this often because of their overinflated egos and self perceived importance. At Wikipedia knowledge is king not, “I”. But, look at its incredible success.
In our own personal development this principle is also true. I must decide what I have been placed on this earth for. Do I really believe that I was placed here to make a difference? If the answer is yes then I must commit myself to a purpose, whether it be saving the whales, helping disadvantaged people, serving God, building a better family. Whatever it is it must be held at the centre of all that we do. It will then allow us to make decisions about the many choices that we will have to make about the way to achieve that purpose.
Take the time to understand yourself. Find a tool that will allow you to do this. I recommend the Green Light Profile because it offers its advice in the context of a relationship with your career coach who will help you look at your career choices. It is something that I have spent a lot of time working through with people and it is a very positive model that looks at your strengths. But really any tool that enables you to better understand some aspect of who you are will help.
It will help you to make some people unhappy. Not eveyone will appreciate your purposefulness because it will stop their manipulation of your circumstances to bring you down to their level. Don’t worry about them. Encourage if you have the opportunity but most of the time you will have to leave them in their misery. Move past that and do something great today.
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