Staring at the water as I do most weekend mornings, enjoying the peace and coffee, I’m contemplating the simple satisfaction of cleaning a swimming pool.

It can be frustrating too sometimes but mostly I feel satisfied doing the work. The basics are always the same; scoop the leaves, empty filters, rescue sodden bees and gekkos. Then then there are the water tests, chemical balancing, and regular troubleshooting.

When it’s done and everything is working, we can all enjoy it.

Then you do it all over again – especially with towering trees, the rogue bees and other nature messing with perfection.

It’s not an easy job. I’m sure the lads at my local pool shop rue the 40-degree days when they’re lugging chemicals and equipment to clean someone else’s pool. But after long days in an office, sitting for hours in meetings or banging out copy at a desk, it’s a tonic.

So, what is it that makes cleaning the pool so satisfying and how can that translate to the office (or can it)?

Firstly, and most obviously, it’s active and outdoors.

Not sure that translates to corporate life but squeezing in outdoor time, a walk or using the stand- up desk could conquer the interminable sitting.

Every action is for a reason, everything you put into the water is designed to have an impact.

Minimise the meetings and emails that get nothing done. Ring people when you need an answer or walk up to their desk – it’s harder to dodge a question in person.

I’m in control (most of the time) with pool management. It’s up to me to decide what to do and how to do it. The pool is my domain.

Ensure your team has super clear roles and responsibilities, Reduce the layers of approvals and oversights to wade through.

Pool cleaning is a ‘just do it’ job – you get results. There can be complexity of course; the science of water management is a challenge I’m oddly enthralled by. The pH tests make me feel like a mad scientist.

Take on new challenges. Say yes to doing the things that scare you. The bigger the challenge, the greater the reward. Being the right kind of scared occasionally is healthy.

There are tangible, usually fast results with the pool. You can see success right there in front of you. No waiting or wondering.

Find something daily you can cross off the list – find a sense of achievement even if there are 50 other things hanging in limbo with multiple stakeholders and opinions at play.

There’s value in a clean pool that family and friends can swim in safely and comfortably.

Build a team that revels in success with you. Sharing the wins and lifting each other up is so much sweeter.

If you don’t get results, you have carte blanche to change tact and try something else. If you still can make it work, you have support. The local pool shop gets  a call when there’s a pool emergency.

Don’t point fingers or shirk accountability. Create a network that has your back and will help solve the problem with you.

You either do a great job and get results – a pool you can swim in. Or you don’t.

Focus on solutions, not problems. Minimise the debriefs and pointless rear-view of what could’ve- should’ve happened. Move on and park your judgement and unconscious biases.

Like mowing lawns or growing a garden, pool work isn’t easy. But nothing worth doing is.