FilterFree

We all know what a tree is, right? A quick search for images of "trees" yields THIS. Wait! What? How can trees be so different?

We all know what a dog is, right? A quick search for images of "dogs" yields THIS. Wait! What? How can dogs be so different?

Any guesses what happens when we search for images of humans? How about Buddhists ... or Americans ... or Methodists ... or Democrats ... or Bosses ... or ?????

The vast differences we see are reflected in the images, alone. Imagine the uniqueness of each if we were to also consider their smell, dispositions, voices, intellects, personalities.

The filters we use come with MUCH prejudicial baggage. When we choose to focus on the collective assumptions implied by those filters, instead of trying to understand and engage with each other as individuals, problems and misunderstandings assuredly follow.

When I can see you as YOU, not as a representative of a bunch of other ___?'s___, the opportunity for mutual understanding and meaningful engagement is greatly improved.

"Drop the filter and step away from the..." (Computer? Meeting? Microphone? Decision?)

MathematicalBetterment

Achieving continuous improvement in organizations is a tough slog. 

The efforts of each individual or division in the organization certainly helps. The stacking up of those efforts can be thought of as the addends in a mathematical sum. 

Looks something like this:

a + b + c + d + e + ..... = Improvement

A more robust approach, however, is to leverage the mathematical concept of products in our efforts to get better. The resulting product is sort of like a sum on steroids.

Looks something like this:

A x B x C x ..... = IMPROVEMENT

If the addends in the sum represent the individual efforts of the organizations members toward improvement, what do those factors in the product represent? Those are the systems we put in place.

While both sums and products move us in the right direction, it's our systems that propel us toward improvement in accelerated fashion.

**Next week's lesson will focus on the debilitating effects of subtraction and division on an organizations efficacy. (Yep, not pretty.)

Yoda-ffirmations

The difference in Gurus and Charlatans is more often in the delivery than in the substance. Most of us have a few of those Yoda-type Gurus whose insight is highly sought (and even occasionally heeded).

What often has the effect of fingernails scratching along a chalkboard is advice that is unsolicited. Yet, the Charlatans feel compelled to continue to spew their advice broadly and pervasively.

As one of my mentors is fond of saying, "Everyone has an opinion; I prefer the informed ones." Amen!

My most highly valued Yoda-types behave in these manners:

• They WAIT for me to ask before offering their wisdom.
• They LISTEN to me before offering their wisdom.
• They READ me and my contexts before offering their wisdom.
• They FRAME their wisdom to me as a menu of options.
• They FORECAST with me the possible outcomes of those choices.
• They DO NOT JUDGE me on the difficult choices I've made after seeking their wisdom.

"Thanks" is usually the only pay my Yodas receive from me, yet they give freely and repeatedly. I can't imagine trying to navigate life and work without them. 

Here it is again: THANKS! (They know who they are.)

EnergyUpticks

High energy can make us happy, more productive, and give us feelings of effectiveness. Low ebbs in energy leave us feeling ineffective and deflated.

Energy is not what someone else does to us; it's what we create for ourselves. The choices we make impact our energy levels. 

Some proven strategies that improve energy (and, outcomes) if done on daily basis are:

• Eat and drink wisely (consider reading Greger's How Not to Die).
• Build in sufficient rest.
• Engage in "peace" pursuits (such as prayer, meditation, reflection).
• Exercise and move (intensity not required...walking/yoga work just fine).
• Focus time and effort on the BIG picture stuff (do good to/for others).
• Say NO to more of the inconsequential things (gossip, TV, negative people).
• Communicate with those we love (and who love us).
• Share love, gratitude, and forgiveness freely.
• Abandon judgmentalism and the desire to "change" others.
• Get into nature, somehow (breathing fresh air and soaking up sunshine).

Our pursuit of betterness always starts "at home," looking in the mirror. 

BONUS: Positive steps toward energizing have compounding effects. Score!

AtomicHabits

I recently read Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.

This book is chock full of guidance for those who want to engage in a continual process of betterment, for themselves or for their organization.

My top takeaways were:

·       Forget about goals, focus on systems instead.

·       Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.

·       4 Laws of Behavior Change: 1) make it obvious, 2) make it attractive, 3) make it easy, 4) make it satisfying.

·       The two most common habit cues are time and location.

·       Environment matters more than motivation in habit formation.

·       The context is the fundamental habit cue, more than a specific trigger. 

·       It is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues.

·       Regarding bad habits…it’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it.

·       Dopamine = desire. Dopamine is released when you experience pleasure AND when you anticipate it.

·       Our habits imitate those of three social groups: 1) the close (family and friends), 2) the many (the tribe), and 3) the powerful (those with status and prestige).

·       The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired behavior of the individual.

·       Walk slowly, but never backward.

·       When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.  

·       That which is rewarded is repeated. That which is punished is avoided.

·       Charles Goodhart’s Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

·       Knowing that someone else is watching you is a powerful motivator.

·       From psych research, The Big 5 Personality Traits: 1) Openness to experience, 2) Conscientiousness, 3) Extroversion, 4) Agreeableness, and 5) Neuroticism.

·       Peak motivation occurs when working on tasks that are right on the edge of our current abilities.

·       Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery

My favorite quotes:

“Now for the interesting question: If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still succeed?” (p. 24)

“Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient.” (p. 28)

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” (p.28)

“There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change, and identity change…The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.” (p. 41)

"The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.” (p. 147)

“Researchers estimate that 40 to 50 percent of our actions on any given day are done out of habit.” (p. 160)

“Just because you can measure something doesn’t mean it’s the most important thing.” (p. 204)

“Boiling water will soften a potato but harden an egg…Genes cannot be easily changed, which means they provide a powerful advantage in favorable circumstances and a serious disadvantage in unfavorable circumstances…Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities.” (p. 227)

“Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference.” (p. 249)

“The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it.” (p. 250)

I read quite a lot of books. This one is in the top quartile of those I’ve read over the last 10 years.

Well worth your (or your team’s) time in the reading. And implementation.

PeopleFarming

My lovely bride of 45 years and I are farmers. We gently and lovingly care for the land, the plants, and the animals (domestic and wild) in our little corner of the planet. 

We are stewards. We think/act/farm with an eye on the sustainable "health" of the land and all the lives thereon/therein. The construct is called Permaculture -- care of the land, care of the people, return of surplus.

The Farmer Continuum looks like this:

Long-term outcome optimization <<________>> Short-term outcome optimization

All farmers lie somewhere along that continuum, not necessarily on one of the extremes. 

Leaders can be thought of as People Farmers. 

A similar People Farming continuum exists. Leaders can take the approach of careful, thoughtful, long-term development and nurturing of the life-people and the land-culture within our spheres of influence. Or, we can attempt to squeeze as much as we can, as quickly as we can, from those around us.

Perhaps Permaculture is good practice in our People Farming roles, too. 

Just seems like good stewardship.

BetterQuestions

Good questions stimulate deep reflection, often unexpected insights, and occasionally, transformational breakthroughs. Not-so-good questions do none of that. 

What's the difference?

Not-so-good questions...

• Offend others
• Diminish others
• Feel judgmental
• Seem interrogational
• Stymie meaningful exchange

Impactful questions...

• Invite deep reflection
• Lead toward new insight
• Convey value in participants
• Generate safe and productive discourse
• Accelerate learning (individual and collective)

It's not the question mark (?) that holds the magic. The intention of the inquirer makes all the difference. It starts with an assumption of...

"There seems something here we don't fully understand, and might be able to learn together."