Category: K.E.E.N. skills

Why We Can Elicit Criticism by Just Being Present

Aristotle said “there is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing“.

criticism and judgmentAgain and again I find that I do my best work when I expose myself. And often when I push myself at the edge, or even beyond the limit of my comfort zone. When it is tough and I feel inadequate, where the impostor syndrome hovers in the background. Of course, that is also where one is more vulnerable to criticism.

What I find particularly interesting in Aristotle’s quote is the relation to being. That simply, being somebody, and being present, necessarily exposes to criticism as well.

There is no doubt that just being there in the world, even doing or saying nothing, does change the world a little. There is no hiding from it. Simple observation does change what is being observed. I know from my coaching practice that sometimes, just being silent, and fully present, can be a great vector of change in people and groups. It can be extremely powerful.

It leads to a reaction from the environment, which will resist, often in the shape of criticism. And that is where be absolutely need to be ourselves, and take the best part of the inevitable criticism.

We are, thus we change our surroundings, thus the surroundings will resist. Be aware that criticism can come also from just being here, and fully present.

Other Fourth Revolution posts on overcoming criticism: ‘What should you do with Criticism?‘ and ‘How can you stop trying to please everyone?‘

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How to Find Your Sweet Spot

I like the enclosed schematics which is very much inspired from the work of Jim Collins (Good to Great, etc.).

circles_of_life
Where is Your Sweet Spot?

What is says is basically that the Sweet Spot you should seek lies at the intersection of what you are passionate doing, what you are good at (word class) and what pays well. There are other possible locations in between these different poles, which are also possible to sustain, with advantages and drawbacks.

Of course, this is not all independent: if you love doing something there are more chances you will become good at it.

You might also decide to combine simultaneously a job (where you are good at it and it pays well), and a hobby (where you are passionate and good at it).

Anyway, this is an interesting framework to classify your hobbies and activities and check there is sufficient balance in your life. Check your activities against it, it might inspire you!

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Why You Should Seek Rejection

“Without rejection there is no frontier, there is no passion, and there is no magic” – James Altucher, in ‘Choose Yourself‘.

Your Rejection is Your DirectionThis is quite an unconventional thought. People fear rejection. Some do manage rejection in a defensive manner so as to achieve certain goals (for example, salespeople). Many people believe that rejection certainly shows that what we try to do is not the right thing, and pushes us to try new directions.

Should we go further, be fully contrarian, and embrace rejection as a welcome hint that we are on the right way? That is exactly what James Altucher suggests.

On the same level as suggesting that we should push beyond our comfort zone, getting rejection requires that we have done something and that it is not conventional. It is a great result – although maybe a bit discouraging – that shows that we are passionately on the path of magic and creation. It just shows that we need to be persistent in our efforts, that we are creating something new.

Seek rejection with passion as you seek to go beyond your comfort zone. Eventually you’ll be recognized for what you are doing. Rejection shows you are on the right path.

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How Joint Teamwork is Key to Success on the Long Term

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships” – Michael Jordan. The star basketball player certainly experienced what he talks about.

winning-JordanOn the long term, team work and collective intelligence is the key to success. Even if on the short term, sheer talent or luck can decide the individual day.

I confirm this observation as well in large project teams. Effective teamwork, lack of a blame culture when there is an inevitable setback, that is what makes victory possible on the long term.

Even when there is a setback, concentrate on teamwork and getting clever about the situation. Let yourself not be beaten by bad luck or insufficient talent. You can still win on the long term, if you rely on the joint effort of the brains of your team.

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How to Change Your Life: Change Your Story

I got inspired by the following sentence: “We all become the stories we tell ourselves” – Tom Asacker in the Business of Belief.

personal story and lifeIt is so true that there is a direct linkage between the story we create for ourselves and our actual life.

Change the story you tell yourself and change. Or, if you want to change, you first need to change the story you tell yourself.

In the end, we become the legend we create for ourselves. To change, we need to create a new legend. That is how we will express ourselves to the world.

If you want to change you life, change your legend, your story first. Change the way you talk about yourself and your life. Promote yourself into the role you dream for yourself. Do it, now. You are worth it.

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Why Understanding Beliefs is Essential to Implementing Change

“What we believe is what we desire, and what we desire is ultimately what we do. It’s the human condition.” – Tom Asaker in ‘The Business of Belief’.

Desire emotionallyThis sentence left me quite thoughtful. Tom Asaker establishes a strong link between belief and action, through desire. Desire necessarily includes an element of emotion, which compels to act. Belief might be what actually brings that element of emotional motivation.

Tom Asaker continues “Effective leaders know that the essential first step to changing people’s behavior is to understand their perspective and embrace their desires and beliefs“.

To change people’s behavior (their daily actions) it is thus necessary to understand people’s beliefs and build from there. It is absurd to try to change people against their beliefs.

When embarked on a change project, first understand people’s beliefs. And build change on them.

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How to Thrive Personally through the Upcoming Societal Changes

‘Middle class’ disappears as a result of the Fourth Revolution. We have also described the society issues we are facing with  the disappearance of ‘middle class’ and how we can resolve them. In this post we will examine the consequences of this event from an individual perspective.

Middle class becomes poorer

While society needs to find solutions to deal with the increased inequality which will necessarily happen as a result of the Fourth Revolution, what should an individual do to be more certain to be part of the people who will benefit from the change?

“Choose to commoditize your labor or choose yourself to be a creator, an innovator, an artist, an investor, a marketer, and an entrepreneur. I say “and” rather than “or” because you have to be all of the above. Not just one” says James Altucher in his book ‘Choose Yourself‘.

Choose to be creative. It is a skill that can be trained and developed, and you should start now. On the long term, developing your creativity and being able to show it to the world is the key to your success in the Collaborative Age.

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Why Perfectionism Kills Schedules; and Reasonableness Saves Them

“Perfectionism kills schedules; reasonableness saves them” is a quote from Gerald M Weinberg in ‘More Secrets of Consulting‘. I find that this is pretty true from any project, be it personal or professional, be it small or large.

grass-cuttingIt is always a constant battle to keep people from the decreasing yields of additional analysis, workflow definition etc to keep to the 80% of information that is really needed to take the right decision and move on.

It is possibly the fear to take a decision that drives most of us to be excessively perfectionist in gathering all possible data, when the issue and the possible solution is already visible for a long time. And this problem does not improve in our age of Big Data and possibilities of unending data mining!

Fight perfectionism and excessive analysis. Be reasonable, overcome your fear, and act.

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What is the highest courage?

“The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is” – John Lancaster Spalding

mask2Authenticity is the toughest and at the same time, possibly the most rewarding action, in particular in social environments.

What prevents us from appearing as we are? Social pressure, personal pressure, time pressure…

First start being authentic in safe environments, with people you know and that know you very well, and progressively extend it to other social situations.

Do it. It is worth it.

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How to overcome the 5/ 15/ 80 rule

The 5/ 15/ 80 rule states that “we enter any given assignment knowing 5 % of the relevant information. A further 15% of the information is that which we know we don’t know. And the 80 represents the 80% of the relevant information that we don’t even know we don’t know” (from Jon Steel in ‘Perfect Pitch‘).

pixelization
Much information is missing, we can still see the overall picture!

While the first 5+15=20% of the issue is not so scary (we always enter a new assignment with information we know we must seek), the remaining 80% is probably much scarier. This “black matter” will have to be uncovered, piece by piece – that is, if we manage to realize that there is stuff our there we don’t even know we don’t know.

It is similar to the usual cycle of learning: the transition from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence is probably the toughest because it sometimes requires us to overcome our filters and beliefs.

Does it really matter? We can recognize patterns even with only a little bit of information, such as the enclosed picture shows. Thus, provided there is a pattern we can recognize, poor information is not an issue. That is, if our experience and the patterns we have formed over time are relevant.

The issue is maybe not the quantity of information, but to seek if there is any that contradicts the pattern we would expect. If that is the case, it is a sure indicator that there is some stuff out there we don’t know. And then we need to search.

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If You’re not Scared a Lot You’re Not Doing Very Much

This is a quote from Robin Sharma. I feel it is true – although one can debate the “a lot”. There is probably a limit to fear beyond which it becomes improductive.

FEAR - False Evidence Appearing RealAnyway, the truth holds that if you are not scared enough, you probably are not sufficiently outside of your comfort zone. Pushing further the approach, Robin Sharma continue: “Your excuses are nothing more than the lies your fears have sold you“.

When you’ll start doing something that counts, your environment will resist and you will feel, dee within you, that feeling of fear. That’s fine. It means you are starting to move things.

As one of our grand masters said, “Named must your fear be before banish it you can” (Yoda). Name your fear. Look in its face. Defy it. Acknowledge it.

And then move on. Continue what you have been doing.

How scared are you today? If you are too comfortable, it is time to change things around here. When do you start?

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Wish More Luck? Go and Meet People!

“If you never meet anybody you won’t have Luck” says Philippe Gabilliet, an eclectic French business school professor who lately specialized about researching about luck.

You-Make-Your-Own-LuckHis point is that luck is a choice; and that luck is created, or triggered, through more or less random meetings with other people. If you don’t go out and meet other people, you won’t have any luck. Ever.

Think about how powerful this assertion actually is. Luck created by encounters – just like creativity.

Isn’t luck some form or some result of creativity?

Anyway, don’t stay stuck in your comfort zone of people. Go out and meet others – as many as you can. And you will create tremendous luck for yourself. Ready to start?

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