by Caroline Leach | Apr 20, 2016 | Learning
Heading into Peet’s this morning for coffee, my mind was going a mile a minute thinking about the day ahead. Meetings to attend. Calls to make. Actions to complete.
An unexpected ray of sunshine brightened my morning as I approached the store. A fellow coffee aficionado I’d seen there from time to time shared a thoughtful compliment with me as I walked by.
Wow. It made me pause. It made me smile. It brought a whole new aura to my day.
It reminded me of some wise words from Tony Schwartz, writing about appreciation in Harvard Business Review. “Feeling genuinely appreciated lifts people up,” he wrote.
He was talking about the workplace specifically as he advocated looking for opportunities to notice what others are doing right and being appreciative for their contributions.
This could be a positive twist on “if you see something, say something.” If you observe someone doing something great, take the initiative to recognize them for it. It could be a member of your team, a community acquaintance or the person standing next to you in line.
You never know what a difference you could make in someone’s day.
A colleague of mine, Andy Bailey, role models this at work. “Start every meeting with recognition,” he says. There’s a transformative power in beginning with gatherings this way. People feel more valued, the tone of the meeting is lighter and the time together becomes more productive.
Scott Adams takes the concept further in How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. “Adults are starved for a kind word,” Adams wrote. “When you understand the power of honest praise, you realize that withholding it borders on terminal. If you see something that impresses you, a decent respect to humanity insists you voice your praise.”
Hear, hear!
by Caroline Leach | Apr 19, 2016 | Learning
Don’t you love a good paradox? Or what seems like a paradox?
In my April adventure I’ve been reminded of a few things.
First is that the key to establishing a new habit is to do it daily. That way it becomes automatic. It doesn’t require a great deal of thought or effort. On day 19 of my adventure, I’m almost at the magical 21 days to establish a habit. Except that science may tell us there isn’t anything special about that number after all.
The elements of my daily dozen that I’ve enjoyed most of all? Posting to this blog. Spending more time with family. Studying Spanish.
Second is that by attempting to do too much, not everything gets done particularly well. Now that I’ve experienced the power of multiple habit formation, I may set one area of focus for each month. One new habit at a time. Smaller, more manageable steps.
It reminds me of what Seth Godin said about N-1. He asks a powerful question. Rather than squeezing in one more thing, how much better could you do if you did one less thing?
by Caroline Leach | Apr 18, 2016 | Learning
Ever feel overwhelmed by a big project? How to scope it? Where to begin?
This is a great time to take a page from David Allen‘s playbook. The creator of Getting Things Done advises to note the next action that needs to be taken.
Because life really is a series of small steps that add up to big things. And somehow, that first action builds momentum for the next action, and the next and so on.
It reminds me of visiting a prospective middle school with my son. The science teacher wrote an acronym on the board: WTDWYDKWTD.
He asked who could tell us what it meant.
Huh?
That’s what he said he was teaching his students to do.
Unfortunately, or perhaps not surprisingly, no hands went up in response.
It translated into “What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do.”
What a brilliant concept. Because how many of us know exactly what to do, every moment of every day?
Often, though, we know a lot more than we give ourselves credit for. A few questions can help.
- What is known about the situation?
- What is the goal or the problem that needs to be solved?
- Can that be related to a similar scenario?
- What is unknown that would be helpful to know? How could that information be obtained?
- Could a small pilot be conducted to test a theory at how to proceed?
- Has someone faced a similar situation who could give helpful insight?
- What is the worst thing that could happen? How could that be prevented or mitigated?
- What is the best outcome? How could you make that happen?
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