[OSList] law of 2 feet

[Michael Wood via OSList]

"All this appears conducive to a very passive existence. Not much for 
> us to do. And the truth of the matter is that doing less always seems 
> to accomplish a great deal more. That said, there is one thing that we 
> really have to do. Follow the Law of Two Feet! Strange sort of law 
> which says ? If ever you find yourself in a situation in which you are 
> neither learning or contributing, you must move your two feet until 
> you find yourself a new place where you can do the one, the other, or 
> preferably, both. In a few words: Follow your passion and take 
> responsibility for it" (HOWEN)

Reading the above post from a couple of days ago reminded me of being at an evening presentation last week. The guest speaker was part of a team who had won a Nobel prize a few years ago (it was for an organisation rather than a person, which might have been a warning from the start). Anyway, after about 10 minutes, still on the first powerpoint slide, and this guy had been rambling on about nothing much and let it drop that 'I have 59 slides', but 'I will move through them quickly'.  Then I had this breathtakingly liberating internal reminder of the 'law of two feet' and that I actually did have the  freedom to move. No one was stopping me except me. So I went home, got a glass of wine and put my feet up with a good book. Next morning a colleague was complaining that the presenter was still rambling 2.5 hours later - mainly about himself. AHHHHHHH. The Law of 2 feet. Yes indeed."

Michael Wood

Perth, Western Australia