meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Back to Work

Episode 70: Expectation Zero

Back to Work

5by5

Business, Society & Culture, Barriers, Dan Benjamin, Careers, Communication, Merlin Mann, Creativity, Work, Productivity, Constraints, Technology

4.72.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2012

⏱️ 86 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

TOPIC: Recalibrating Expectations

This week, Dan and Merlin talk more about struggling with expectations. Everybody's expectations. Including yours.

Why it's worth recalibrating your own expectations, managing others' expectations, and accepting the impossibility of knowing—let alone meeting—the expectations of the entire world.

Because, that's monkeyballs.

We also learn that Merlin likes his buttons touched very gently.

Links for this episode:

This week's episode of Back to Work is sponsored by our friends at Igloo Software and MailChimp.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

says here says here and now I click the button and then I click and it says wait a minute

0:06.2

late a minute let me read this it says it says wait a minute I click here and it's very small

0:14.4

and it says this is an agreement that you will hold blameless the make why do they make the text so

0:21.7

small why does the text have to okay and I'm looking and I click okay it's slow

0:31.2

and that is everybody in my family just give me just don't don't click menus here make this thing

0:38.4

with your fingers on the clicky thing don't stop clicking with the mouse you ever get that

0:43.1

with that they go okay and there's a link hang on like double click the links

0:52.8

you get we get the double-clicking links yeah okay and then I want a copy

1:01.2

edit and go paste okay hang on

1:06.7

hello welcome to my impersonation of thanks giving across America you know thanks giving

1:16.4

yeah any holiday where you're forced to go home and pretend to get along with your family for

1:21.0

a little while you know a lot of people say there's the isn't there like some kind of like a

1:24.3

holiday where you're supposed to go and like fix your parents computer day or something isn't

1:28.0

like a thing nothing I now my thing on this is I think this should be every time you go home I've

1:33.6

said this before I will keep saying this damn Benjamin do not do not I will not be stopped

1:37.8

when you go visit your family next time don't even ask just pick up whatever camera they're using

1:42.6

wrong and turn off the flash hit the thing that makes the lightning bolt have a buster okay you

1:47.9

know what everybody's lives get better your camera is plenty fast you don't need to make everyone

1:52.4

look like a surprised corpse turn off the flash why do your pictures look so because apparently

1:57.7

everybody everybody my family's an old Jewish man why do your pictures look so good why does everybody

2:03.1

not look like a surprise corpse is because I don't have a non bouncing incredibly bright flash

2:09.0

in everybody's face action everyone looks Dan have you noticed this relative pictures they're all

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from 5by5, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of 5by5 and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.