Idea for reflection – 20
Shuttlecock V
Life is about
not knowing,
having to change,
taking the moment
and making the best of it
without knowing
what’s going to happen next.
– Gilda Radner
Posts tagged ‘Personal Development’
Sep 18
2 Comments
Inspiration on the way to the weekend
As I look ahead to the weekend, I recommend discovering inspiration by seeing the world through one photographer’s lens: visit Petsy Fink at Braided Moments. She is a photographer from Europe that attended the summer intensive at Rocky Mountain School of Photography. You can see her slide shows by clicking on the links on the left.
What are the things that inspire you to look beyond your day-to-day duties?
The view from the middle
When I start a new project, all of the possibilities are ahead, full of energy and potential. The plan is pristine. The strategy carefully laid out. Then the hard work begins. And the hard work is interrupted by other projects, telephone calls to return, lunches to review other projects, and on … and on. Some of these interruptions are deadlines that must be met to deliver on time, keeping the business on track. Others are necessary for building relationships and ongoing work.
Skyscape VII
I can get to the end of a day or week, look back, and feel as though I haven’t finished anything. I’m in the middle – a wilderness where uncertainty and ambiguity reign.
Rosemary Kanter’s line is, “Everything can look like failure in the middle.” In the middle of the wilderness I encounter obstacles, discover my assumptions are faulty, and can be tempted to give up. If I give into this temptation, I automatically fail. It is up to me to find a path around or through the obstacles – to persist and preserver.
Churchill’s quote comes to mind, “Never give in.” While I’m in the middle, I’ll keep the faith. Afterall, life itself is a work in progress. I’ll believe in the process and look forward to living into the outcome.
Idea for reflection – 19
Grand Teton Thunderstorm
In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time—literally— substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it.
– Peter Drucker
Aug 27
Did you pass Time Management 101?
Yes! I know how to make to-do lists. I schedule a specific time in my day to return telephone calls. I have my e-mail flagged for follow-up. I use my Blackberry to keep my Inbox cleaned out on evenings and weekends. Great! … but …
For all of our time management strategies, there are never more than 24 hours in each day. While we are busy trying to manage our time, it goes by apace. Everyone gets the same amount. The truth is: Time is something outside of our control.
Is it possible that we need to stop trying to manage our time better and start managing ourselves? Try keeping a tally of how often you are distracted by another e-mail or text message. Or keep track of how many times you start a task only to take a phone call. Or tally how many times you postpone doing something you value like spending time creating a new work strategy, connecting with friends and family, or going on a walk. What if you intentionally disconnected for 30 or 60 minutes to focus on an important task or to have a significant discussion?
What if we stopped blaming our inability to manage time and started actively managing our selves?
All the world’s a stage
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts.
– William Shakespeare
How many roles have you played already this week? Boss. Cook. Parent. Spouse. Manager. Friend. Janitor. Child. Clear roles and responsibilities keep business processes and families running smoothly. Yet the paradox is that rigid roles and rules can cause processes to collapse and malfunction under changing conditions. Keeping the roles and responsibilities simple permits flexibility and adaptability when needed.
Understanding and acting out our roles and responsibilities requires a personal commitment to behaving with social intelligence. The phrase “social intelligence” has become “business speak”. I will define it as first having a personal understanding of ones own values and philosophy coupled with empathy and compassion for others along with the ability to communicate effectively and influence others.
In other words, each of us is more than the hats we wear in any given situation, more than the job title, more than a relationship. If we seek to know and act on our core values and philosophy or way of being in the world, we can participate more easily in all of the different roles life offers us. If all the world is a stage and we are the actors, perhaps the key, as the airline flight attendants say, is to secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others.
Aug 24
Idea for reflection – 18
Many people are surprised to learn that in twenty-seven years at UCLA, I never once talked about winning. Instead, I would tell my players before the games, “When it’s over, I want your head up. There’s only one way for your head to be up, and that’s for you, not me, to know that you gave the best effort of which you are capable. If you do that, then the score really doesn’t matter, although I have a feeling that if you do that, the score will be to your liking.” I honestly, deeply believe that in not stressing winning as such, we won more than we would have if we had stressed outscoring opponents.
– John Wooden
Where are you investing?
Success … maybe
Idea for reflection – 17
Aug 24
Where are you investing?
This question is not about dollars. I’m asking about where you’re investing your time and energy? Do you set goals? Do you set the Jim Collin’s type of goals: Big Hairy Audacious Goals? I’m not opposed to goals and objectives, but I would argue that we too much time being invested in achieving the outcome.
We invest a lot of time and energy into desired outcomes – losing weight, exercising more, winning the promotion, building a great team, <you fill in the blank>. But when we invest our time and energy into a particular outcome, we set ourselves up for anxiety, loss, and even despair. Why? Much of the time we don’t reach the goals we set, either as individuals or organizations. Life doesn’t seem to obey our commands to turn out a certain way. The influence of innumerable variables most often produces unexpected outcomes.
I’ve been thinking about this and understand that we all need goals, hopes, and dreams for Life and well-being. But rather than investing in the outcome, I believe that we need to invest well and with intention in our actions and the process along the way. We can seize the day, enjoy the journey, befriend what comes along the road. Investing in good process and right action allows us to achieve success every day that we act with integrity and do our best.
It’s about how you got there. Not what you’ve accomplished.
– Yvon Chouinard, CEO, Patagonia
Yellowstone Wild Flowers
Aug 11
Success … maybe
There are days when I have difficulty deciding whether a project or workshop is working or not. On other days, I can spend time worrying about whether a decision is good or bad. Or something happens that seems frustrating and upsetting. Often the this story that I encountered a few years ago from Wisdom Tales (p.35-36) comes to mind:
A farmer’s horse ran away. His neighbors gathered upon hearing the news and said sympathetically, “That’s such bad luck.”
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The horse returned on his own the next morning, and brought seven wild horses with it. “Look how many more horses you have now,” the neighbors exclaimed. “How lucky!”
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The next day, the farmer’s son attempted to ride one of the wild horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. “How awful,” the neighbors said. “It looks like your luck has turned for the worse again.”
The farmer simply replied, “Maybe.”
The following day, military officers came to town to conscript young men into the service. Seeing the son’s broken leg, they rejected him. The neighbors gathered round the farmer to tell him how fortunate he was.
“Maybe,” said the farmer.
Success is often judged by comparing it to the outcome we expected – which is subjective. Circumstances cannot always be judged good or bad. Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
When things don’t seem to be going the way I hope for I often ask, “What is working well here? What do I need to keep? What do I need to let go? What lessons can I learn?”
Success? Failure? Maybe.
Friesen Group 