A couple of months ago I asked a colleague/friend about the undergraduate students he advises. His response has stayed with me. He said "I fancy myself busy, and I find that I don't give them adequate time and attention".
This is one of the most productive people I have ever met. Yet he was unwilling to say that he IS busy, only that he "fancies himself busy." In addition to being extraordinarily productive, he is also deeply humble. To say that he IS busy would be to suggest that he is important, and that's not a sentiment he is comfortable with. Lately when I think about how busy I am, I remember his humble response. And I chill out a bit. Busyness is often not an unfortunate condition of life, but self-flattery.
He continued about his students: "I have found that if I make my expectations clear, they will rise to the occasion. Most of the time when they don't meet my expectations, it is because I have not made my expectations clear."
He's right about this too. I love to blame things on my research assistants, but the truth is that if I make expectations clear, they really do step up and do what they are asked. Often what I think of as their failings are really mine.
One brief conversation with this man and I find that I'm not really comfortable complaining about how busy I am or the mistakes my research assistants make.
