Category: K.E.E.N. skills

How Self-Help Approaches Can Be Summarized

I liked this quite ambitious post ‘Every self-help book ever, boiled down to 11 simple rules‘. And as we speak of apparently a $11 billion self-help industry, that’s even more ambitious!

Here’s a summary of those eleven points reworded by me

  • take a small step at a time – change should come in small chunks
  • visualize where you want to get to
  • struggle is good because you need to get out of your comfort zone. It will necessarily be scary
  • be emphatic and take some time to judge people
  • contemplate your mortal nature to act with a sense of urgency
  • be playful in change, cultivate your specificities
  • help others and be useful in life
  • avoid perfectionism, which leads to procrastination. Just ship to the world
  • accept human limitations and play the long game recharging your batteries when needed
  • write down objectives and do lists
  • don’t just read, go out in the world and try

I am not sure this summarizes all self-help books around but it is certainly a good try. And like me you’ll find probably a pair of points that are worth remembering now because we may not have been sufficiently careful about them in the recent past.

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How Opportunity Is Always in Existing Gaps – At the Edge of Our Comfort Zone

I very much like this post by Valeria Maltoni: “Opportunity is in the Gap Between What you Know and What you Don’t“.

“The longer you can hold yourself in the space between what you take for granted and what could be next, the more you can learn about potential futures. That’s where the opportunity is.” Valeria Maltoni continues by recounting how she was able to unlock substantial business opportunities just by getting different departments or diverse people communicate at a higher level. The previous gaps between departments or people could easily be transformed in substantial opportunities.

Opportunity is always in a gap between two different and diverse ecosystems or environments. The point made here is that it is also between what we know and what we don’t know, where we need to rely on others and develop ourselves.

In any case, opportunity is not just where you are right now. Get up and seek to exploit those gaps at the edge of what you know and are comfortable with!

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How to Identify Clues That the Universe Points Us to a New Direction

One nugget from the book ‘What I Know for Sure‘ by Oprah Winfrey: “One of my greatest lessons has been to fully understand that what looks like a dark patch in the quest for success is the universe pointing you in a new direction . Anything can be a miracle , a blessing , an opportunity if you choose to see it that way.”

What I find interesting in this quote compared to the usual ‘the universe is pointing you to where you should go, just pay attention’, is the concept of the “what looks like a dark patch“. It is interesting because it highlights how the difficulties, or possibly the failure areas, can be also seen as signs that we need to change the way we do things or the way we look at things.

How often do we identify a difficulty and try to find a way around it. Maybe we should pause for a while and wonder whether this is not a clue to something we should do differently.

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How to Overcome Bias in Project Estimates by Involving Generalists in Systemic Reviews

To finish our current series of posts on our exploration of the excellent book ‘Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World‘ by David Epstein, I noted how the concepts developed about generalist vs specialist also applied in the field of project definition. It takes generalists and a diverse set of viewpoints to test the adequacy of a project definition file and associated estimate.

“Bent Flyvbjerg, chair of Major Programme Management at Oxford University’s business school, has shown that around 90 percent of major infrastructure projects worldwide go over budget (by an average of 28 percent) in part because managers focus on the details of their project and become overly optimistic. Project managers can become like Kahneman’s curriculum-building team, which decided that thanks to its roster of experts it would certainly not encounter the same delays as did other groups. Flyvbjerg studied a project to build a tram system in Scotland, in which an outside consulting team actually went through an analogy process akin to what the private equity investors were instructed to do. They ignored specifics of the project at hand and focused on others with structural similarities. The consulting team saw that the project group had made a rigorous analysis using all of the details of the work to be done. And yet, using analogies to separate projects, the consulting team concluded that the cost projection of £ 320 million (more than $ 400 million) was probably a massive underestimate“

“This is a widespread phenomenon. If you’re asked to predict […], the more internal details you learn about any particular scenario […] the more likely you are to say that the scenario you are investigating will occur.”

This is why we observe again and again the immense benefits of having independent reviews of projects by people having a generalist overview and not emotionally involved with the project to get an objective feedback. While this is what we promote, the fact that this review is systemic and performed by generalists is also an essential part of the value delivered. I will highlight it more in the future.

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How Humans Will Crush Machines in Open-Ended Real World Problems

Following our previous posts (‘How Learning Approaches Must Be Different in Complexity: Upending the 10,000 h Rule‘) let’s continue our exploration of the excellent book ‘Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World‘ by David Epstein. Beyond putting in question traditional learning techniques, and more generally pointing out the limits of specialization, he makes the point that in an increasingly automated world, the generalists that have a broad integrating picture are the ones that will be in demand.

“The more a task shifts to an open world of big-picture strategy, the more humans have to add“. “The bigger the picture, the more unique the potential human contribution. Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialization. It is the ability to integrate broadly.” Reference is made here to open-ended games or infinite games compared to closed or finite games that are won by specialists (refer to our post ‘How Important It Is to Distinguish Between Finite and Infinite Games‘)

Therefore, “in open ended real-world problems we’re still crushing the machines.” This distinction between simple and complex, open and closed problems is really essential in defining the approaches that are needed and the competencies required.

Human’s strength is the capability to decide in complex open-ended problems, and this is what we need now to put emphasis on in terms of education, career and recognition.

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How We Need to Continue Creating Even Without Recognition

This post by Seth Godin ‘Creation/recognition‘ reminds us of the sometimes huge time gap between creation and recognition.

“There’s often a significant lag between the creation of something useful and when the market recognizes it. That’s an opportunity for speculators and investors, who can buy before the recognition happens.” And this applies to all fields of creation, from start-up companies to artists to writers to experts in a specific field.

But, and that’s the main point here, “it’s an opportunity or a trap for creators, who might get disheartened about the lack of applause and upside immediately after they’ve created something.”

The point of course here is not to look outside for recognition, but focus on the art and the purpose to deliver our best. Notwithstanding a possible time lag, if we give our best and continue to improve recognition will come eventually. Let’s not be disheartened by a lack of response of the world to our creations. Our inner fire will not be satisfied anyway. Let’s strive on to change the world.

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How to Deal with Stress

Following our previous post on ‘How You Should Start By Being Cheerful‘, this post by Leo Babauta tackles a related topic: ‘A Guide to Letting Go of Stress‘.

Leo Babuta reminds us what is the real reason for our stress: “Things are out of control, not orderly, not simple, full of interruptions and unplanned events, health problems and accidents, and things never go as we planned or imagined. But this is the way the world is — the stress comes not because the world is messy and chaotic, but because we desire it to be different than it is.”

This is a very important statement, and one that we tend to forget. Stress is generated by the difference between reality and expectations. Since there are quite many things we can’t change in reality, we need to manage our expectations and ideals (the alternative, to alter reality to align with our expectations, is not a sustainable solution).

Therefore the recommended practice is to put together the conditions for self-awareness of this misalignment between reality and expectations, and let go of that difference (more details in the post). And then, “Even in moments of chaos, you can be free, and even appreciate the beauty of the chaos.”

Let’s remember that stress is indeed a misalignment between a messy reality and inner hopes and expectations, and that the solution is to realign both by letting go.

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How You Should Start By Being Cheerful

This excellent post by Gapingvoid makes an essential point about cheerfulness and success. Successful people are cheerful, but actually they were probably cheerful and optimistic quite before being successful.

The research at the origin of this HBR article ‘The Financial Upside of Being an Optimist‘ “found that when it comes to money, optimists are more likely to make smart moves and reap the benefits“. This translates into much more successful financial situations.

Now an important point here is that in this research optimism is not just naive. It is more rational optimism. “We define optimism as the expectation of good things to happen, and the belief that behavior matters, especially in the face of challenges. A rational optimist is able to see reality for what it is, while maintaining the belief that actions can improve the situation“

As the Gapingvoid post summarizes: “Simply put, our ability to stay cheerful and optimistic helps us go the extra mile.” Become cheerful, and stay cheerful and rationally optimistic!

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How You Should Always Give It At Least a Second Try

In Kevin Kelly’s ‘68 bits of unsolicited advice‘, one bit of wisdom about being turned down raised my interest: “Don’t take it personally when someone turns you down. Assume they are like you: busy, occupied, distracted. Try again later. It’s amazing how often a second try works“

This resonates indeed with my experience, and sometimes actually you’ll need to try again for a few more times than just a second one. And it is true that many people having experienced rejection will tend not even to give it a second change. Overcoming this feeling of rejection is an essential skill in society and is becoming even more important as we are all becoming more independent economic actors.

It is quite true that rejection is only a feeling and that many times, it is not just rejection, but that we tried to connect at an inadequate moment; and that this impression of indifference and rejection is just an artefact of other people being too busy to notice.

Next time you’ll feel rejected, brush it away and try a second time. And a third, fourth time if needed, at least until you get a clear reaction.

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How Deadlines Contribute to Avoid Excessive Perfectionism

In this excellent post ‘68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice‘ Kevin Kelly shares his wisdom. Some of those bits caught my eye, such as this one: “Always demand a deadline. A deadline weeds out the extraneous and the ordinary. It prevents you from trying to make it perfect, so you have to make it different. Different is better.”

I find that it is an interesting take about deadlines. Deadlines is not just a way to improve productivity and oblige to be focused on delivering, but also it is a way to make sure we are not too perfectionist.

Perfectionism can have a dark side (it is never as good as it could be, therefore it never gets released to the world). Seeing deadlines as a way to force a good enough quality is an interesting perspective.

Even more reasons now to set deadlines!

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What Would You Do If You Were Not Afraid

I read recently this excellent little book by Oprah Winfrey ‘What I Know for Sure‘. Not living in the US I am not fully familiar with her work on TV but her book is certainly the expression of a very spiritual person.

One of the points she makes is about facing a difficult decision. “Whenever I’m faced with a difficult decision , I ask myself : What would I do if I weren’t afraid of making a mistake , feeling rejected , looking foolish , or being alone ? I know for sure that when you remove the fear , the answer you’ve been searching for comes into focus“

And, more powerful even “And as you walk into what you fear , you should know for sure that your deepest struggle can , if you’re willing and open , produce your greatest strength”

That’s it – always ask the question, what would I do if I was not afraid? And this is certainly a powerful question that can create enormous strength.

I need to remember this more often!

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How to Use Modern Mantras in the Modern World

I like this article ‘To get better at life, try this modern mantra‘. Mantras are short sentences that can be repeated and are used extensively by meditation practitioners, among others. And “modern mantras [are] simple sayings that you can call upon at any time to foster equanimity, compassion, insight, or whatever the moment calls for.”

The suggested mantra suitable to the modern world is “Right now, it’s like this” (the article was written in 2019 but this works quite well even during the Covid-19 crisis!). This mantra helps accept reality as it is.

And repeating the mantra seems to have quite some soothing effect on one’s brains and moods. The practice is this – repeat often in a reflective mode, and particularly when you become upset by something.

Repeat after me: “Right now, it’s like this“! And breathe…

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