A Plan vs an Attitude; How Dr Webber Changed My Approach to My Career

I remember when I had my epiphany. I was sat slumped on my sofa watching Grey’s Anatomy. It was an episode where Dr Hunt and the recently demoted Dr Webber were putting together competing proposals to perform a difficult tumour surgery. While presenting their intentions, acting Chief Shepherd said he felt more comfortable with Hunt’s plan and Webber responded with this;

He doesn’t have a plan, he has an attitude!

And, for a brief moment, I stopped stuffing my face with chocolate. This one line stuck with me for days after, led me to rethink my approach to my career, and ultimately caused me to feel a lot better about my situation.

I’m a big fan of plans, I’m a plan man, I’ve found I need plans in my life to get a perspective, to figure out what I need to do, and ultimately reduce stress. Plans are great in that they bring systematic order to what feels like chaos. But the problem with plans are that they work to a chain of absolutes and we exist in a world of uncertainty. That’s not to say plans are in anyway bad or worse than having an attitude, but I feel it’s important to understand when one may be more suitable than the other. While plans have the benefit of outlining specifics and pre-determining our intent, it’s worth noting how potentially…