Intentional and Impactful Endings: 2020…and a par-tr-idge in a pear tree.

Photo by Richard Burlton on Unsplash

I once heard an amateur activist chorus deftly adapt the 12 Days of Christmas into a powerful message they were trying to convey, by springing their message on the listeners-out of the blue-with a thrilling operatic soprano at the end.

…and….a….p-aar tridge in aaaaaaaaa pearrrrr treeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

That got me to thinking about the end of this relentlessly taxing year and endings: specifically intentional, impactful endings

Author, Dan Pink, who published a book about maximizing the productivity and impact of your work and your life, called When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, says this about endings:

Endings have a disproportionate effect on how we remember entire experiences.

Be intentional about endings…

…because endings have a disproportionate weight than other elements of the episode.

People and groups who sing the 12 Days of Christmas are intentional about their endings aren’t they?

You don’t often see a performance of the song ending in the same way the song is sung at the beginning or the middle do you?

That same petite, pretty partridge in the pear tree at the outset of the song, so meek and mild…