It Is What It Is, or Is It?

Rod was a great boss. He played college football at Tulsa as a tight end. He was big, tall and looked intimidating, but he didn’t rule by intimidation. His calm confidence put others at ease. His clear logic allowed him to cut to the heart of the issue. He was good at figuring out what things were under his control and what things were not and directing his energy toward opportunity.

Rod had two “go to” phrases that stuck with me. He would tell us “there is nothing but air and opportunity between you and what you want” to motivate us to get to work. The idea seems more powerful than just “nothing is standing in your way” to me – rather than nothing, the space between you and what you want is something positive that we call opportunity.

It Is What It Is

The other phrase I remember Rod using a lot was “it is what it is”. This statement was sometimes used a a confirmation of a fact, ie. “your deal got turned down and their is nothing we can do about it, it is what it is.” In other words, let it go. Move on. Forget about it. What I’ve only recently realized is that usually he used it as a redirect to get people to change their focus from what they couldn’t not control to what they could control, ie. “There is nothing we can do to get this deal approved, it is what it is – Let’s talk about the new applications you got today”

It Is What Is

It is what it is thinking can be helpful at times. There are many times when we need to accept things and face the facts. However, sometimes it’s important to remember that just because it is what is doesn’t mean that it is what it is. The way that things are doesn’t have to determine the way things will be. People can change and because of that people can change their situation. This works both ways. It’s easy to take it for granted when things are good – you can start to become comfortable and believe that things just are good and you don’t have to keep working to make them good. For some people they see many of the challenges in their life as things that just are the way they are and cannot be changed. Both of these mistakes can be costly.

“It is what is” might be only 2 letters different than “It is what it is” but to me the difference is huge. Both serve as an acknowledgement of reality which is a vital step in dealing with any challenge. “It is what is” implies that it can and will be something different. Good or bad, this too shall pass.

Some things are “it is what it is” things –  (like the scorpion and the frog) Some things are “it is what is” things (like the ugly duckling)