Simple choices can change trajectories. Consider what might happen if we were to…
> Choose to be authentically present
> Learn something new, continually
> Help someone — anyone — every day
> Challenge dogmas and question assumptions
> Contribute more than we consume, freely
Seems doable. Just imagine the shift…
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
Folks who work in the trades have many kinds of tools at their disposal. Some of the tools are quite pointy and/or extremely sharp. Scalpels used by surgeons and picks used by jewelers come to mind. On the other hand, some tools have wide reach and are, by design, not all that sharp. The blade of a grader tractor or that of a “mudder” who works sealing sheetrock are examples, designed fill rather than dice.
Similar tools are available to those of us who ply our trade in the arena of social interaction. Sometimes our words and actions require precision and sharpness. At other times, they call for us to be smoothing rather than cutting or whittling.
Just as artisans in the physical trades, those in the professions of human interaction are wise to have all kinds of tools in our tool chest.
Even more important is knowing when to use those varying kinds of tools for optimal outcomes and peak performance.
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
Leaning into betterness requires introspection and reflection. Both of those processes are facilitated by asking some questions that need substantive answers from us:
What am I doing?
Why am I doing it?
Should I keep dedicating time/effort/resources to doing it?
If so, how might I do it better?
Works for our improvement as individuals. Works for our improvement as organizations.
BUT, only if we do it with fidelity, and a commitment to make any changes that our answers compel.
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
Team members work most energetically when they feel empowered. Oddly, some folks in leadership end up squelching that energy and enthusiasm (often not intentionally, but it occurs nonetheless).
How do leaders sometimes throw cold water on the vibrant and robust performance of a team?
Change is inevitable. We may think we can deny, ignore, or stop the evolutionary process, but….
The misperception of being in a stable and non-fluid environment is similar to feeling like we are “still” when sitting in our recliner. It might feel like we not moving, but that is most certainly NOT the case:
Even when we think we’re in a static state, we aren’t. And never will be.
Not a bad idea to learn to be adaptive to the change(s) coming our way.
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
Lao Tzu provides powerful guidance to us: “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”
In our busy lives of commitments, deadlines, supervision, data inundation, cluttered calendars, it is easy “drop” any or all three of those mindsets that Lao Tau proposes.
While “simplicity, patience, compassion” are critical elements for our general health and wellbeing, Compassion is the one that has the most impact on those around us, the folks we love, care for, live and work with.
Compassion delivers several reciprocative benefits to us: Kindness, Connection, Caring, Forgiveness, Encouragement. Each one we confer becomes a force multiplier for both the giver and the receiver.
An added BONUS: To show Compassion costs us nothing.
But, oh, the benefits!!!
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
Just take a look. When you’re at a ballgame or in the grocery store or at your house of faith.
Observe how different the noses are on each of the faces. Or, the differences in the shape of the ears. Or, the varying heights of the folks in attendance. The differences are vast, beyond enumeration.
Yet, they’re all people. We recognize them as such. Why? Despite the incalculable differences, we are more alike than we are not.
Organizations have the same alike vs different dynamic.
Efforts at improvement (whether with individual people or in organizations) yield the best results when customized and personalized. Otherwise, they fall flat. Fad diets are a case in point.
A deep commitment to continuous improvement is, however, a pervasive commonality (alikeness) of high performing people and organizations. Duly noted.
Saddle up…
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
High functioning organizational teams are the result of many variables. Here are some of the important elements that go into that complex melting pot:
The people I admire most live in a constant state of challenge. They challenge themselves daily to get better at both the things they already do well and those areas where they still “need a little work.”
These folks make a habit of getting better, every day, on purpose.
The best teams and organizations I know behave in the same way. Today’s successes are celebrated. Tomorrow, they turn their attention and effort to doing better work or providing more exemplary service.
These folks make a habit of getting better, every day, on purpose.
Complacency is an insidious disease. It slowly diminishes individuals, teams, and organizations. But it does so only when we choose to quit challenging ourselves.
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.
How often do we feel like we run off into the ditch in organizational work. More often than not, our getting into the ditch has to do with the complexities with which we are dealing. As one of my mentors is fond of saying, “There’s a whole lot of ways to get it wrong, and very few to get it right.” The more complex the issue, the more “wrong ways” there are to deal with it.
As leaders, we are wise to keep our effort/attention on the BIG PICTURE, the worthy outcomes we pursue. We also own the responsibility for managing the attention/effort of the entire team in that regard.
How can we effectively deal with the inevitable complexities (and stay out of the ditch)?