A push from an astronaut

During my christmas vacation I read Chris Hadfields excellent book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth ”, and he talked about an interesting term that he called minus one, zero and plus one.

Over the years, I’ve realized that in any new situation, whether it involves an elevator or a rocket ship, you will almost certainly be viewed in one of three ways. As a minus one: actively harmful, someone who creates problems. Or as a zero: your impact is neutral and doesn’t top the balance one way or the other. Or you’ll be seen as a plus one: someone who actively adds value. […] I think about how to aim to be a zero and to try to contribute in small ways without creating disruptions. Chris Hadfield

These terms stuck a bit with me, and i thought quite a lot about that during my vacation. How can I stretch to reach a plus one instead of a zero on the web? (I sure hope that I’m not a minus one). Well, you can’t be a plus one without contributing anything. I’ve been very grateful all the times I’ve been stuck and suddenly found the solution to my problem because someone bothered to post their solution to the web. Hopefully I can pay it forward by posting some of my solutions and thoughts, and this way contribute in small ways. One year after Chris Coyier sparked the idea I just needed a little push from an astronaut to start…