People Are More Likely to Edit Than Create

In this episode of Grossly Competent, Steve and Patrick embark on a discussion centered on the following quote:

"People are more likely to edit than create.'

What does that mean? Are people just critique or is there something tired and burnt-out under the surface? Patrick and Steve get in touch with their philosophical sides, introduce some modern psychology concepts, and ultimately try to provide some professional strategies to help make sense out of the chaos.

But before that, Patrick and Steve recap the annual Slip'n'Slide event, revisit Steve's daughter's reaction to seeing Patrick's face, and talk about the return of an infamous The Onion mascot that has been dormant for 30 years.

And of course, some fun links for your heart's delight:

• The Onion - Small Town's 'Cryptosporidium Daze' Fails to Attract Visitors.
• Science Direct - Conservation of Resources Theory

Come for the chat, stay for the laughs, and run from our faces: we're Grossly Competent.

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• Give a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts,
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We appreciate you for listening!

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:29

Hello and welcome to Grossly Competent, the learning, development, and delting podcast that does not claim to be pretty. No. But we'll happily pretend to be slightly competent. I am your host, Steve Countl, and I'm joined by my co-host, a man who can only sufficiently be described as stink, stank, stunk. Mr.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Patrick Ailshire. Well, thanks, Steve. It's good to see that the cyclosporiasis hasn't affected your confidence.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Are you talking about my good man Crypty? Do you know what I'm referencing when I say that?

SPEAKER_03 1:08

No.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Okay. Folks, I will I'll explain it in a little bit. Let's let's get through our intro here, okay? Like, let's let's at least do that.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

But I do appreciate the uh the nod to one of my favorite holidays. And the stink stink stunk. That's our from uh from the uh Grinch. Yes. Well I was like, I pictured this ugly green man in my head. I'm like, what the hell is his name? The Grinch.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Oh, and that's just this morning when you woke up.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

Yeah, right. Yeah, I was rather green. Woo.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Wow. All right, we're gonna get through this intro.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

We're gonna get through it, I promise. Um, folks, we've got some good stuff for you this week. But as is tradition, Mr. Patrick, who is our sponsor of the week.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

This episode is sponsored by Unsubscribe Links. Every marketing email promises this is the last one you'll ever receive. Until tomorrow at 8 12 AM, when they're suddenly checking in. Unsubscribe links, a journey, not a destination.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

Oh my god. Yes, thanks, big unsubscribe links. I do always wonder about that because I feel like my personal account is just inundated with junk. I'm like, I don't remember signing up for this. I don't remember signing up for this or this or this or this or this, this, this, this, this. And I feel like every time I click that unsubscribe, it's like a miniature reprieve. I swear that it's like, okay, we'll leave you alone for a week. And then we're gonna come back at you. It's like, hey, that's not fair.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

I like that they've added the unsubscribe like in the email, like at the top of some of those. Otherwise, we're like, well, actually, you're gonna have to log back in. And then when you log back in, we'll just verify that you want to unsubscribe. Not from the whole, not from the whole system, just this one email.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Oh, God, I know. Check this, this, this, this, this, this, this. Um, I don't know if it's a new feature or not, but I have noticed that Gmail is getting hip to people hating spam. And I've noticed that if I continuously get an email and I never open it from a specific email address, I don't know why that's a tough word. Um let's just say, like, I don't open a single email from you know Toys Are Us, whatever. I don't know why they came to mind, but I don't open one for like two months. I will actually, when I open Gmail the next time, I will get a prompt. It's like, you haven't opened these. Do you want to be removed from the list? It's like, yes. So I have done that, and so far Gmail has been pretty great about that. So shout out to Google. They need all the support and help they can get. They are a small mon pa company just doing their best to get by.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

It was Dan and Dan and James, Google, right?

unknown 4:39

Dan and Jane.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Yeah, I think that was.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yep. They they call him old man Dan. You guys, I my uh I don't know where my head's at today. This is this is gonna be a humdinger, man. Like, this is gonna be wild.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

It's all like foggy from just you know all the all all this nature going on outside of us right now.

SPEAKER_02 5:05

Yeah, yeah. You wanna you wanna be the one to break the ice on that?

SPEAKER_03 5:09

Well, you know, our um our sponsor, of course, the uh the unsubscribe links. Speaking of unsubscribing, I'd like to officially unsubscribe from the wildfires, humidity, and poop lettuce. What about you?

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Well, this is really kind of funny. That's why I brought up uh my good friend Crypti the Cryptosporidium. Oh so some of you out there may not be aware of this, but there is a satirical newspaper called The Onion, and uh founded in Madison, Wisconsin, by the way. Shouts. Um, but I s ooh, I should have done my research on this. I believe it was in the 90s.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

It was in the 90s. Mid-90s, yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Okay, thank you. So there was in the mid-90s, there was a massive uh cryptosporidium outbreak in the city's water, to the point that if you lived within the city limits, you were boiling your water for basically every necessity possible. Like you just you had to do it. Um, and the onion being the heroes they are, decided to make fun of that and come up with a mascot called Crypti the Cryptosporidium. And um I you know what? I will make it a point to add the image of Crypti in the show notes. It just looks like a green like blob with a baseball hat, and he's got like this goopy smile, like, hey! And he's wearing a t-shirt that says crypti. Like it's super dumb, but that's what I thought of when you were talking about poop lettuce. Um, because yeah, we could be done with that. I'm okay with it.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

I uh I saw a post on one of the social media sites the other day that said, Man, this was the week I was gonna start eating salad.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

I mean, you can just think of all the weight you'll lose. Please don't take uh health and dietary advice from grossly competent. We uh gosh, yeah just like don't don't take your health advice from Netflix, isn't that the other guy?

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Exactly. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

Please don't take it from us.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Awful. If you are listening to us, um well, if you're sitting down somewhere listening to us, I hope it's uh on a couch and not in the bathroom. Um but you know that yeah, wash those veggies, boil them up, or whatever you gotta do to avoid that because yeah, it's nothing to mess with.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

It's nothing to mess with, and yeah, uh seriously, the this wildfire stuff. So, folks, I'm genuinely hoping that when you listen to this episode, that is just a a bygone memory for all of you. But right now, holy smokes. Uh pun intended. Um, yeah, we are in the thick of it right now. It is brutal outside. And if it's bad here, I can only imagine what it's like for our uh our Canadian folks. So uh my heart goes out to you guys, Mike. That's awful.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

The UP and all that the uh term they're throwing around when whenever these wildfires come around is the acronym AQI, the air quality index, and anything past like zero is great, zero to forty is like awesome. That's regular times, but uh we're in a jump to anything over 300 is essentially hazardous, and that's not just if you have asthma or anything like that, it's just for everybody, it's not safe to be outside. And uh little Milwaukee this morning was sitting at about uh 550, 600 or so, which is like and you can feel it. I mean, oh yeah, it is not not pleasant.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

You're absolutely right. I was in a suburb of uh Milwaukee Metro just last night, and uh a buddy of mine were chatting, and it was so thick, like it genuinely looked like you know um how the air will get when you're at a bonfire. Oh, yeah, right? Like, but it's just I mean, we were in a parking lot and it was like that, like whoa, and you could just smell it, it was so just palpable. So, gosh, you guys, if you can, if you don't need to be outside, do not be outside, take care of yourselves, make sure you're checking on people too. Um, this is as you said, Patrick, this isn't just for anybody that has respiratory issues, this is honestly for everybody. So just be a just be a good person, check on those neighbors of yours, check on that elderly person that maybe lives down the road or down the hall. Just make sure everybody's okay. That's great, great point. That's my PSA. That is my good deed for the day, and that's it. Actually, I I lied. I would love to disclose a little something. We talked last week about this shindig that you and I were going to, and we got to see each other in person again, and uh, I wanted to give an update to our wonderful, faithful listeners. Um, it was a lot of fun. And it's a really good time. Do you want to tell the story about my daughter, or would you prefer I do?

SPEAKER_03 10:43

I prefer you because I was experiencing this with only like one of my senses, if you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Yes, okay, fine. So, listeners, um, hopefully you listened to the previous episode. If not, I can catch you up quickly. Um, my daughter, she is seven, she kept on asking, what does Mr. Patrick look like? And I kept showing her pictures that involved him with a bag over his head, like our podcast image, um, a picture that you and I took at an event we went to in April. Just I'm just being a dork, right? So the joke was always gonna be, and I told Patrick to bring his paper bag to this event that this party that we went to, um, and I would text him when I got there with my family so he could be wearing this paper bag, so I could point him out to my daughter and go, Oh, there's Mr. Patrick, because of course she's seven and she's not an idiot, so she knows that that's not really what he looks like. And I just wanted to just mess with her, you know. So sure enough, we park, I send the text, and we're walking up the driveway. It's like a big long hill, and we're maybe 30 feet away, and I see Mr. Patrick standing in the middle of the garage with the garage doors wide open, and he's not surrounded by anybody, and he is just standing there with a brown paper bag facing us. If the music would have been more ominous, this would have been a perfect horror movie image. Like, of course, I start giggling, like, oh god, and in true fashion, my daughter, she kind of gets over like the crest of the hill, sees Mr. Patrick, and just goes, Oh, come on.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

It worked so well.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

So she walks up and I go, Hey, honey, this is Mr. Patrick. And she is not impressed. Not impressed at all. But thankfully, Mr. Patrick was a good sport, removed his fake face, and uh showed us his real face, even though I'm glad you didn't do your uh your Halloween mask idea, because that would have been nightmare fuel. Well, and it's it is really kind of interesting because she's been asking, right? Like, she wants what does Mr. Patrick look like? Whole ride home, inconsolable, couldn't stop crying whole time, and I kept being like, honey, what what is the matter? And she's like, she that well, she wouldn't talk in the car, but when we got home and I was tucking her in, she took her blankets and curled them up real nice underneath her neck and just said, I saw ugly people. It's like, oh man, I know who you're talking about. He is gross.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

No, just kidding. And then I think he she you said she was pretty quiet at breakfast the next day and just kind of staring out the window, and what's you know, what's wrong, honey? She said, How come he doesn't host that podcast himself?

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Dad, what do you what do you do on there? Nothing. Nothing. I take up a lot of space. I interrupt Patrick a lot. Um gosh, I don't know. It'd be hard for him to interrupt himself, honey. That's what I'm there for. Absolutely. I thought you were gonna say something like she'd have like the the thousand-yard stare, like like those images you'll see of like shell-shocked individuals. Yeah, that's my daughter. Like, oh my god. No, it was uh, but overall, folks, the event was fantastic, it was a ton of fun, and I had the distinct pleasure of having a very nice chat with Mr. and Mrs. Ail Shire. I got the combo platter, and it was just it was so nice, it was so nice. They're just such wonderful people. So, um, overall, lots and lots of fun.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

Great time. Uh tradition, unlike any other I did find it. Oh, sorry, say masters, but uh the slip and slide party. Oh, yes, awesome.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Yeah, I did find it was uh really kind of jarring when it happened, but when I was talking to your parents, they said something like, Why aren't you our son? It was so weird, and I was like, but Patrick's right there.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

They were like, Well, they it was weird, it was weird when you guys got in that conversation about Buckeys, and then they invited you to go with them. I said, Well, I've never actually been there. And they're like, Well, Steve, do you want to go with the two of us?

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Yeah, like I tried, yeah. I tried involving you, but their uh their will was ironclad. They were like, No, no, let's get this Joker out of here. No, I can't even remotely paint them in a negative light. No, your parents were wonderful, and I think I talked your dad's ear off enough. So I was very, very thankful that they even gave me the time of day to chat. It was so nice. I just I enjoy them thoroughly.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

So mom and dad, if you're listening, can I get that 20 bucks back?

SPEAKER_02 17:23

For Buckeys.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

Yeah, that's what I meant.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

Not to talk to you. No, no. So, Steve, you want to get into a topic today?

SPEAKER_02 17:33

That's right. We have a topic. Holy hell. Um, and this is uh this is a Patrick Ailshire special.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

Uh, this is, yes.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Dang right, folks.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

I was in a meeting the other day, and I heard a quote from a coworker that resonated with me. And I thought I would share that quote in a minute, once I kind of tee it up here, that we could end up talking about for our topic today.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Sounds awesome, man.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

So I was in this uh virtual meeting, there was uh three of us total, and we were discussing employee engagement in network resource groups that we have at my company. So current state right now, in July of 2026, there seems to be a bit of a mix of not only mental exhaustion, busy workloads, and maybe a bit of the unknown when it comes to participation in these network resource groups. There are six different groups that we have. They've been around for almost two years, and it's kind of at this point of like, okay, where do we go from here? What do we do?

SPEAKER_02 18:36

Do you mind if I interject? I just have a clarifying question. Yeah. Um, when you say network resource group, is that like uh like an ERG, like an employee resource group? Same thing. Okay, just different name. Yep, got it.

SPEAKER_03 18:48

Exactly. Yes, good, that's a good question. So I felt this quote was applicable to a lot of things regarding the workplace. And since we are an L and D podcast, if I if I'm correct on that, labor and delivery, yes. Yeah, exactly. I forgot all that. People have asked me, oh, L D, eh? Yeah. Um at one point in this conversation, my coworker stated, people are more likely to edit than create.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Huh.

SPEAKER_03 19:19

People are more likely to edit than create. What are your initial thoughts on that, Steve?

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Interesting. Um I kind of like it. Um, I mean, just off the top of my head, I it gives you a lot to think about. And sometimes I like it when something can be so simple, but there's so much complexity behind it. Yeah. Um, I guess, I mean, I know you asked me, but I'm actually gonna volley it back. Um, because obviously it resonated with you to a point that it you wanted to make it the focal point of our conversation. So what's your I I have an idea of I want to say, but I love your side.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

I'm I'm intrigued too because I I just kind of what you were saying, there are a few different ways to look at this, and folks generally when when it's something like this, when it comes up like it's a quote and there's a few meanings to it, Steve and I don't say like, oh, I'm gonna take this side, you're gonna take this side. This isn't uh ESPN, we're not doing one of those uh skip skip bayless and yeah, no, whatever. Or you know, we don't we don't do that for for entertainment purposes. And so I I'm intrigued to see if you're if you read into this the same way I did, because I felt I thought that again, it depends on the situation, but in regards to what I was describing in the conversation that my coworker mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Oh, that's fair because I guess some context would be good.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

Yeah, yeah. So fair enough. Fair enough. When when we're asking employees to brainstorm their own ideas for an upcoming meeting or maybe things they want for training, how they can contribute to the resource group, there seems to be a lot of silence. So we're sending out surveys, we're um ideas aren't really floated around. However, we found though if you end up giving people options to say, hey, out of these choices, what do you want? Or if we say, hey, we'd like you to critique this or give us your honest feedback about something, then people are much more apt to respond. Versus just the idea of interesting. So it's like I I think back to that, people are more willing to edit than create. They don't want to like start from scratch, they want some of those options here. Give us something to to have, to hold so then we can basically kind of turn that you know into something else. Um I notice that's not always the case, but it's something I've definitely noticed in my role. And one other thing, and I'll kick it back to you, is it goes for a organizational learning and culture council that I serve on as well. There are a lot of ideas on how we could improve, which I think is great. People are willing to give that, but there's not really additional ideas on how things could be implemented. It's kind of like that. Okay. The the creativity stops once the work needs to happen.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Yeah. Which I definitely understand. I agree. Um no, I I think that's a very valid take. Um when I hear that this this idea of people are more willing to edit than to create. Um forgive me if this starts feeling like touchy-feely philosophical or something like that, but are you familiar with the I uh I'm gonna probably screw it up. Uh the conservation of resources theory. It's like a a human psychology thing.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

Oh, I thought you were referring to our podcast. We all you're definitely conserving resources. Uh, you know, like we we haven't quite rented our room out yet for the podcast. We're not taking it on the road yet.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

No, but in the future. In the future.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Um okay, so I'll give a kind of a brief little synopsis on this. So uh the short version of this is that people have a motivation to protect resources or build resources, maintain whatever. Um, and in this case, when I say resource, I'm saying like your time, your energy, your social circle, uh, stuff like that. So when I think of people are more willing to edit than create, I think it kind of really falls into this category, right? Like you said so early on that there are um I'm trying to make sure I choose my words correctly, that uh you're noticing with your employee structure that there's a lot of not burnout, but people are tired. Like it's halfway through the year.

unknown 24:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

I feel like the corporate culture often lends itself to go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And usually summer is the time where people start trying to take vacations and whatnot. We're just on that cusp, right? So maybe they haven't had that time to unwind and relax. On top of that, it's been really, really, really, really hot and humid and yucky and poop lettuce, of course, right? Um, so I think when I hear that, I I get the impression that the the tiredness, the the exhaustion is what's leading into this. Um it's kind of like the idea of if I go weeks without cleaning my house, and folks, you if you ever stepped into my house, you'd be like, Do you ever clean this place? And the answer is yes, but I have two kids and they trash it immediately. I do love them though. They are my my grandmother calls it lived-in clean, and I'm like, Oh, you're too wonderful to me. I love you. Um, but if I go weeks without cleaning, and then I want to get it to be so it's manageable, there's a lot more effort and resource that goes into that compared to just little bits of management that goes in to keep it at that level. So without prolonging this too much further, when you something that you said really hits, and that is where you notice that if you leave it wide open, people are less likely to give their opinion or insight. But if you say choose from these options because you've kind of laid out some of the foundation, then they're more likely to because it's not so much of a resource investment. I I hope I was able to take what's in my brain and kind of smash it out into the world so it makes some sense.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

Yeah, no, I think it it it seems like you kind of took more of the the positive spin on it, where I was more of like uh oh yeah, people I don't want to do the work. And that's not necessarily the case or what I was trying to get to. It was just that I think kind of what you were again mentioning was maybe that that's we're midway through the year, there's people you know, people are on vacation, and just that that overall maybe tiredness of just the world's an exhausting place to live, and now more so than any time in recent history. Yeah, I'm not gonna try to compare what things were like in the fight or flight 24-7 of our ancestors and cavemen and everything, but like uh, you know, as far as just like with like the world we live in, the the 24-7 news cycle, the media, the social media, the it's just there's a lot, and so and it's hard to unless you are really good, uh like Tecla, Dr. Tecla Ross, oh snap, yeah, like knowing how to put the phone away, it's hard to shut that off. And so again, and people they have their their day-to-day jobs where some of these like resource groups I mentioned, or these councils, kind of these like quote unquote extra activities, that's hard sometimes to find the energy or the time to fit that in. But I really liked when when my co-worker said that he's actually a program manager of some of these groups and the councils. So he was kind of just coming from his perspective of hey, that's what I'm here for. I'm here to kind of get things kicked off and keep pushing on. But I'm I get the sense that employees here they don't want to create stuff, they want to, they're good with editing it, they're good with giving you that feedback in their whether their attitudes positive or negative, it's uh, hey, this is what it is versus well. Let me let me, you know what, if he were to say, Well, why don't you come up with something, they'd be like, Whoa, whoa, no, no, no, just you give me what you give me what you have, and I will let you know how I feel about it.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Yeah, there's a couple things I want to make sure I touch on. Um I that is fascinating, right?

SPEAKER_03 29:50

Like, am I just a curmudgeon on this?

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Maybe I am no, no, because I think it goes like I this is what I said earlier. Like, I this is such a cool, but seriously, man, I really like this topic because it's it's a little bit off the beaten path of what we normally discuss, but it I think it produces a lively discussion. Like, I think it's kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_03 30:13

Yeah, during the meeting, yeah, he's this gentleman said that, and then he asked me a question, and I said, I was writing it down on a post-it. I was like, let me get make sure I got that right. I said, I go, people are more likely to edit than create. He goes, Yeah, and I said, Thanks. Side note, I host a podcast and I want to use that.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

I was like, I gotta know the topic.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

Yeah, I I love it. No, um, something just happened uh this week that interestingly kind of ties in with what you're saying. So um, no, I I I I appreciate you thinking that I I look at this as sunshine rainbows. Um, but I I think it goes both ways. I genuinely do. Um, I was cleaning out an education room we have on campus, and in the process of that, uh two leaders happen to swing by and visit. They saw us in the room, and of course the work was done, so that's the time to come visit. Like, don't like help. No, I'm joking. Terry and Rachel, I'm joking.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

Classic uh creating uh editing versus creating.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

Yeah, yeah, that's it right now. Um they they were in a meeting next door, and they were walking by, saw me in there, and they're like, Oh, that guy's ugly, and they came on and said hi. And funny enough, they had said, Oh, Steve, by the way, we have some things for you to do. And I laughed because I knew what they were doing in the other room. They're having this meeting, and I was like, Is that what you guys do during those sessions? You just come up with stuff for me to do like I have nothing going on. Like, I'm I'm joking with them, of course. And they got a chuckle out of it all as well. I'm like, okay, so what are you tasking me with this time? And the response was, we want training on Microsoft products. And I got a little bit of a smile on my face and just went, Yeah, I I I bet you do. And there so the reason why I responded that way, and I explained it to them was every single place I have ever worked since I've been in learning and development. At some point, this comes up. We want more training on Excel. Okay, sounds good. Why don't I put you into some uh Udemy classes or something like that, right? Uh when can I sign you up? Uh I'll get back to you. They never get back to me, right? Like, okay, cool. I I can tell that was such a a big deal for you, right? Like very urgent. So, yeah, but they want it right now. Like, are you sure that's what you want? Are you like really? How how badly do you need this? And they were talking about, well, maybe we could find a consultant to come on site. Like, that's not what you want. That's not what you want. You think it'll be fun. It's not sure, it's not at all, right? Like, and I just kind of and maybe this time's different. I don't know. It's kind of like that uh meme from Arrested Development where Tobias is speaking to his wife and they're making fun of the McManchins, and he's like, Yeah, people get these. I'm paraphrasing it, but it says something along the lines of like, people get these grandiose ideas that it's gonna work out for them. And his wife responds, uh, it's Portia de Rossi. She's like, Well, does it ever work for them? He goes, No, God, no, no, never. They delude themselves. But it could work for us. And it's like, so dumb. But maybe I'll put that meme in the show notes so people don't think I'm fully or the the the clip of from the correct show, because it's stupidly funny. And if you have never watched the rest of development, you owe yourself to watch it because it is such a seasons one, two, and three. Yeah, you don't really need to go, although that scene is from a later season, I think it's season four. Um, but that is like the only redeeming quality of that season. Otherwise, it's sorry, Jason Bateman at all. Um, okay, so to your point of saying, like, yes, people say they want these things, but then once once the real work comes, you're like, ooh, I um I have a haircut. Yeah, I bet you do. Yeah, uh-huh. Okay. Um, so it is interesting that people almost miscalculate their own motivation. And I think that ties in to learning and development and just uh people management, uh, any of those different places in the the work hierarchy. You just have to be in tune with what is actually going on here. Like, you say you want more training on Excel. Are you an accountant? No. Okay. What are you using it for? Like, so just like trying to dig in, and maybe it's well, I just want some more computer literacy. Okay, we can work on that. That sounds good. But just kind of a blanket, easy, like, oh, well, this is the answer. No, there's usually you have to dig in a bit more.

SPEAKER_03 35:45

And I've mentioned this on here and mentioned this to you, but I that's one thing I really like that we've implemented on my learn and development team is that training request form.

SPEAKER_04 35:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

That asks, you know, not only what's the training they want, does this training exist? Why do you want it? And so then when we have that follow-up conversation, once we get the results, okay. Because it could be that they maybe don't need the training or don't want the training, they just thought they did. It's they want to put the band-aid on versus you know, versus actually addressing the actual problem. And so that gives us a uh and it's also helpful too because it could say, hey, we have a if you only got a few employees, us coming to an in-person training for three of you, it's not really gonna be that beneficial. So how we can offer we can put together an e-learning for you, we can do a virtual meeting or luncheon. That's great. That'll just save time for everybody. Or, you know, maybe we can fit you into our a la carte session when we do offer this. If we do, if you have more people where we do think that this training would be beneficial, but a lot of times it's that they someone's told them, hey, I think we could use this training, and then they actually we actually break it down. Well, this is what we talk about in this session.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:10

Oh, well, I don't know if we want that.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Yeah, it's like, well, this is kind of what you asked for. Yeah, um, yeah, so I think uh really to the credit of this this quote, people are more likely to edit than create. Creating sounds awesome, right? Like it sounds so cool. Like, man, I get to think of how many people say they want to start a business. Right? Like, you can say it all day long, but you really have to put yourself out there to out tear, out tear, out there to actually do it. There's there's real legwork that needs to go into it. There's there's so much things that are going on in the background. Like you with zero proof pass, I see your stuff all the time, whether it's on LinkedIn, Instagram, like you're going out there, you are feet on pavement, stamp, stamp, stamp, you're doing these things, right? You are creating. Now, would it have been a little bit easier if somebody gave you a template? Yeah, of course, right? Like, these are the steps you need to do to be successful, but every business person worth their salt will tell you there is no such thing as you don't get a book on it. Like, you can read every success book possible, right? Like self-help success. They're all gonna say different things, they're all right and they're all wrong, all at the same time.

SPEAKER_03 38:45

It's like I had a couple people just out of curiosity, not against them or anything, but they're uh, you know, this is a brand essentially a brand new concept. There is nothing out there like it. I can say that the of uh a passport program for establishments to offer non-elk drinks, you know, and it's modeled after the alcohol versions, but you know, some people asking, like, what were your what were your projections the first year? Like, what the hell are you talking about? I go, I wanted to sell one. I sell one. So then I could then I if if I if I sold one, I knew that I could sell more.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

And so that's a great way to look at it. I'm sorry, I'm interrupting, but yeah, yes, you gave yourself a real attainable goal. You didn't I'm gonna make a million dollars in a year. No, not at all. You you started with this kind of humble impression of if I can do this to benefit one person, cool.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:46

So I'm sorry, I had to interrupt, but please that it's kind of the the you know the joke, too.

SPEAKER_03 39:51

I knew I knew it would sell, I knew it would work, but like at the same time, it to what scale? We're still finding that out, and that'll be something I'll find out in the coming years. But you know, just so like, oh, what were you projecting for? I'm like, I don't know. I printed uh X amount, a few hundred, and we'll see, and was hoping to sell those and whatever.

SPEAKER_01 40:10

You know, like I your projection.

SPEAKER_03 40:13

Like really like I work I work in labor and delivery. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

And I am really good at Excel.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

Sorry to circle back on this, but um what was kind of funny about this whole thing about oh, we want Microsoft training, and I'm like, Yeah, I bet you do. Um, is that just today, um, I'm looking at the clock, roughly about four hours ago, I was having a conversation with my manager and one of her colleagues, and I brought this story up as a joke. Like just kind of messing with them, like, oh, by the way, I've been told I gotta start inputting or implementing uh Microsoft training. And her colleague, who has been with the organization for I think 15 years or something like that, he just went, Oh brother, it's like this comes up like once every couple of years. He's like, Did they happen to tell you that we'd already had a consultant come on site once? I'm like, no, that was never mentioned. He's like, Yep. And you want to know who took us up on it? Almost nobody. I'm like, oh, that's awesome. Okay, I'm like, well, then my snarky response was completely valid.

SPEAKER_00 41:37

Jeez, so true.

SPEAKER_02 41:39

But oh the other this is going really far back in something you said, um, but it just it's sticking in my brain. You made the mention about the I keep on wanting to say burnout, but that's not correct. Um, just the the fatigue of the current modern workplace. And I know there's uh 60, 70, 80 year olds being like, oh, you guys think you have it bad. No, like we get it. Every generation has their things. What and and you can find statistical data on this and whatnot. The current modern work environment never leaves you. Like, depending upon what you're doing, because we all have access to these nice little rectangles that have contacts from work, your email, people can text you. There'll be times I'm sitting on the couch with my kids and my phone dings, and it's somebody from work. And normally I'm just like, okay, I'll talk to him tomorrow, but sometimes I respond. I don't get to leave. But what is something you said about I don't want to compare the current state of things to like you know our ancestors, where you're on 24-7 and survival. But I there's a part of me that kind of wants to argue a little bit about that, just in the simple sense that we are still the same beings from all those millennia ago, or however hundreds of thousands of years. Like we're still hardwired that way. So when we feel fear now, it's the same as when our ancestors felt fear. When we get that, oh man, like you can't rest, it's the same that they felt too. Ours is just a very different environment. So the psychology still exists, it's still there, it's just not a saber-toothed tiger or some creature at the cave gate. It's oh I got a text from so and so at work. Like, I don't want to answer it. Like, maybe if I just am really quiet, they'll forget I'm here.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

Yeah, which is no different, right?

SPEAKER_02 43:56

Like, I don't know. That's my tangent of the year. Holy hell.

SPEAKER_03 44:03

But have you had to walk to work uphill both ways in this blizzard?

SPEAKER_02 44:12

No, but I've had to work in blizzards before. I uh this is this will be really quick. Um, I was many like 20 years ago, I was training with a dude um in the pest control industry um just to kind of learn more, you know. And it was, I kid you not, a white out blizzard. A white out blizzard. I think it was February. And we pull up to the outside of a house. We're on the road, and he's driving, and he looks at me and he goes, Okay, go do the service. Like, um, huh? I was supposed to walk around the outside of the house and try to see if I could find like, you know, potential deficiencies, entry holes, that kind of thing. And I'm like, well, you're gonna like come with me so I know what I'm doing, right? He's like, I'm not going out there. Needless to say, it didn't get done. But I just I I think of that so often. I'm like, that's not how to train. That's not how to train. So stupid.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

Do what I say as I do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

I mean, he was just being a uh smarty pants, but it was too funny.

SPEAKER_03 45:32

That is pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 45:34

No, this was this is a good conversation. Like, this is such a fascinating thing. I'm really glad you brought it up, man. Seriously.

SPEAKER_03 45:43

Good. Yeah. And because I think it's again, it can apply to a lot of different scenarios and situations. I mean, not even really at work, you could really expand on this, and you could go in a lot of different directions. But I just like, yeah, right when he said it, it just stuck with me, and I was like, yeah, I like that because it it helped it. I was able to relate a lot to work.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

Oh god, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:04

Some work stuff, you know. And again, it doesn't matter what industry you're in. You could, you know, it I just had flashbacks to other companies I've been with and instances where this this is. I I maybe I didn't have a word for it or a phrase for it, but but now I do.

SPEAKER_02 46:20

Yeah. So you know, I one last thing on my behalf, and then if you have anything else, please chime in. I feel like the most successful people are also sometimes the most creative. So, like, yes, there's a lot of resources that go into that creativity, but it also has the most gains. Like, it's you can't expect the world if you're not willing to try to put in your own world. Like, you really have to be willing to have those blood, sweat, and tear moments if you want to surpass everybody else.

SPEAKER_04 47:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:03

So I think like it just if we're gonna look at this from a learning and development standpoint or just a professionalism standpoint, it's not a bad thing for you to stand out from the crowd because you're creative. You think of things in a different way or a new perspective, or you shed a light on something. Does it also kind of paint a little bit of a target on you? Depending, I guess, but it also has the best opportunity for the best gains.

SPEAKER_03 47:33

This might be a good segue into a future conversation of talking about creativity and uniqueness uh regarding uh creative individuals in the workplace versus artificial intelligence. Do we think in the future that people can still are gonna be able to thrive? Are the the most creative people that are individualistic? I don't want to I don't want to throw out the word authentic, because we say that so many times, but like the people that are that are unique, that are creative they may end up having a leg up versus those that and hey, we're all guilty of it. We we use artificial intelligence for our for specific things maybe at work or in our lives, but it'll be interesting to see how this adapts over the next few years in the workplace of who's gonna stand out more, who's gonna look better in an interview versus someone that says, Oh yeah, I just plug and play.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Yeah. Oh yeah, I think that sounds awesome. Um, we should definitely have that conversation. Interesting that you use the word unique because that is often what people say about my face. They're like, You he's he's a unique looker. I would say it was AI, but I was there was a part of me that was about to jump on that and be like, what do you mean? Uh I am AI. But I was like, no, we we beat that one. I feel like we've been beating that one in pretty good, so we need to give that one a breather. Um yeah. Um did you have anything else you wanted to add about this one? Okay. I know I've said it like twice before, but awesome, awesome idea on this one. This one was really cool. I like this one a lot. Appreciate it. Um, Patrick. Yeah, do you know who wishes they could edit our looks?

SPEAKER_03 49:37

A lot of people. Oh, but uh, the correct answer is spinnerousky.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

It is indeed! While Mr. Patrick fires up the wheel, a reminder for our listeners: each episode we spin the spinneroski, which is a wheel of names that might belong to the woman who so generously shoved Mr. Patrick and I into the ugly club all those years ago. And the goal of this is that eventually we'll land on her name to thank her properly. Are you ready to uh spin?

SPEAKER_03 50:10

I am, and I will let you know the wheel has is about 20 pounds heavier than it was last week. And what I mean by that is uh there are just thousands of people that this could be. I mean, people that have lived in the Pewaukee, Wisconsin area for their whole lives, people that maybe lived there for just a couple years, and so we've been doing this for 44 episodes now, and the the wheel of opportunity and names, the list was getting a little smaller.

SPEAKER_01 50:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:42

So I just wanted to make sure that we had enough ammo to go for eternity. So we have re-upped the names, and I'm excited to see what happens here.

SPEAKER_02 50:57

I'm gonna all right, I'm gonna make a prediction right now because you you know darn well, just like I do, that the spinaruski has a way of like reading the situation. Yeah, I am picturing something like an auburn or ashly or something that has to do with fire. Because of the the fires. Um, not that I'm trying to make light of that, but I I I don't know. That's my guess.

SPEAKER_03 51:30

But I'll maybe maybe the name two will have a sense of like a like a smokiness to them, their personality or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 51:38

Like Macy Gray.

SPEAKER_02 51:45

Copyright infringement. Anyway. Uh we are giving Madonna way too many chances. Way too many chances. Okay. Okay, folks, let's do this. Count of three, spin that roosky. And by count of three, I meant the three words. Oh my god. No, what is it?

SPEAKER_04 52:19

Stella.

SPEAKER_02 52:21

Stella.

unknown 52:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:24

Uh, you know, you know what I think of when I think of Stella and how she got her groove back.

SPEAKER_03 52:33

Dang. Yeah, I was thinking of Seinfeld.

SPEAKER_01 52:36

Mmm.

SPEAKER_03 52:38

Stella.

SPEAKER_02 52:40

Wow, Stella. You know what? If that was a Stella that gave us the ultimate push 20 some odd years ago, I can die a happy man. Because that is the name of somebody. That is definitely the name of somebody that's no nonsense, and they're like, I know what I want, and I want it now. And just kind of pound right through, and I'm gonna go talk to Mr. Joe. So, Stella, if you're listening, thank you for everything you've done for us. Thank you for living rent-free in our heads. Thank you for having the might of a thousand sons and pushing Mr. Patrick and I off to the side and melting our faces in the process.

SPEAKER_03 53:27

Yeah, it's like wow, that's a great name. I I've only met one Stella in my life, and this would not be her because they were way too young at the time, but it was a student I had.

SPEAKER_02 53:39

No way, wow.

SPEAKER_03 53:41

I'm not I'm not just saying this because I we could say this about any name, but this individual was the nicest little fourth grader ever. I mean, she was so just so kind to all the students. She was very accepting. We had a I've said this before, one year I had it was like the circus. We just had a lot going on. Students of all over across all different avenues, and she was just so kind to everyone, really polite, never saw her get frustrated or whatever, and I was like, oh, you are such a great so I always remember that name because in her because she was such a great student. So hey, um, great name. And uh for the one, the actual Stella that gave us a nice little shove, I didn't really mind it.

SPEAKER_02 54:31

So uh regarding your student, was she a mediocre student or was she Stella?

SPEAKER_03 54:45

Oh no, to be honest, she was she was actually probably like the smartest kid in the class, too. So it was it worked out really well. So I was I I really enjoyed having her in class.

SPEAKER_02 54:56

Oh. So she was a Stella student.

SPEAKER_03 55:03

Nailed it.

SPEAKER_02 55:05

You know how something is a dad joke? Like, do you know when you can tell it's a dad joke?

SPEAKER_03 55:11

No.

SPEAKER_02 55:12

Well, because it's a parent.

SPEAKER_03 55:18

Oh, it is so good. What was the fish joke again? I'm glad I got it. What did the fish say when he hit the wall?

SPEAKER_00 55:27

Damn.

SPEAKER_03 55:31

No, the one your son told, the cod.

SPEAKER_00 55:34

Oh, how do fish how do fish purchase things with a credit cod?

SPEAKER_03 55:41

I had to call him out on that. It was great. Did you tell him the basketball one? Yeah. But the cod, come on. The cod was so good.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 55:54

Alright, man. Alright, alright. Hell yeah, man. You want to fire us off?

SPEAKER_03 55:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 56:01

See what you did there. I see what you did there. Fire us off.

SPEAKER_01 56:06

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 56:08

You're you didn't even know it, man. No, no. I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 56:12

I did not. My guy.

SPEAKER_03 56:14

That is fantastic. My shout-out today, speaking of all the wildfires, is firefighters world world round, okay? Around the world. Uh, not only the ones that are battling in the uh our neighbors to the north, but also all over the place. I mean, if you pull up a map right now, I don't know, I'm sure there's an app for that, but of where wildfires are, they're not just in Canada right now. They're in, I think, Minnesota. They're out west for sure. That always happens in the up in the um the PNW Pacific Northwest. It's just constant and they put their lives on the line. It's a crappy situation. Steve and I can sit here in our homes and complain about the smelly smoke outside. Um, it's and of course, if you're you're you're compromised with your uh you know ability to be able to function outside and breathe, yes, that's very serious. But compared to being in the front lines, like you know, they put their lives in the line, and so we want to thank all of them. Uh give them a shout out for all that they do.

SPEAKER_02 57:22

Yeah, I uh 100%, man. Yeah, I I totally agree. And I the funny thing is, is I was not meaning that pun. Um but you yes, I I could not agree with you more. This is one of those rare times where both Patrick and I agreed that, like, yeah, this is where the shout out goes. Doesn't matter if you're a local firefighter or if you're um you're on the uh the national levels, you know, right? You're you're helping with these broad scale events. No, I every single one of you, you're amazing. So thank you. I appreciate it, and we appreciate it. Well, all right, man. I mean, talk about a donor. Anyway, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding, folks, I'm joking, but that is it for this episode. So if you're gonna be sad, be sad about that. But the good thing is, we're gonna see you next time. On Grossly Competent. You ready, man?

SPEAKER_03 58:31

Let's do it.

unknown 59:22

God, that was beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 59:24

Remember when we had a guest on and they just nailed it.

SPEAKER_00 59:30

I'll never forget that.

SPEAKER_03 59:32

Falsetto, that was the coolest thing. All the guests, you know, all the guests though, they they added their own spin to it. They each added their own spin.

SPEAKER_02 59:41

Absolutely. I was not. I will never forget. I'll never forget that. That was so awesome.

SPEAKER_03 59:48

Just like literally knocked my socks off because I wasn't I didn't know she had a vocal singing background.

SPEAKER_01 59:54

No. No.

SPEAKER_03 59:56

God, no, no, just we cut we we kind of put people on the spot, and it might be a little be like, by the way, you're gonna sing this out, and they can do whatever they want, right? But the fact that she was like, okay, and then just came out of nowhere at the end. It was