fulfilling a need

i could show up at work tomorrow,
collect all the pens in the office,
test all of them,
make sure they work,
throw out the ones that don’t,
lay them out on the ground,
sort them by color,
then by height,
count them,
and then distribute the pens
to everyone in the office.

by the end of the day, i would have done a lot of work.
but nobody needs that.

instead of, “what should i do?” ask, “what does someone need?”