At TEDGlobal 2011, Tim Harford gave a powerful talk on the power of making good mistakes.
The Choice You Don’t Know You’re Making
Everyday we make choices as leaders–choices about how to spend our time, who to meet with, what to focus on, and the way we engage our teams. We try to make choices that create the outcomes we desire. Yet, the choice with the greatest influence on achieving the future we want is the one we are completely unaware we are making. What is this choice?
Years ago, we lost a number of large oak trees in our yard during a massive storm. I thought we’d use a bit of the wood for firewood and with a wedge and sledge hammer, I quickly split some logs. I remember thinking how it was much easier to split the wood with a sharp wedge than with the blunt force of a sledgehammer alone, yet how often in life I was content to use a hammer without a wedge.
Results are like the wood I was splitting. They are a lot easier to achieve when we use a sharp wedge–the Wedge of Results. The Wedge is the things we think and do that naturally build on each other in a way that leads to the outcomes we seek. Simply put, the wedge means results flow from action, actions from thoughts, and thoughts from our mindset.
What do I want?
Do you find yourself reacting or creating?
One of the biggest moment-to-moment differences between reactors and creators is where we focus. Reactors focus on the problems in their lives–the things they don’t want. Creators give their full attention to what they want to achieve and the work they can do to achieve it.
© Michael Dales via Flickr
If you feel like your problems are getting the best of you ask yourself, “What do I want?” And use your talents, resources, and passion to create it.
For example, if I’m whining about my boss being unavailable, I need to recognize that I’m becoming a reactor and then ask myself, “What do I want? In this situation, the answer could be, “I want to have people with greater insight give me feedback on my project.” Then I could go and create by recruiting some mentors to give me feedback.
Best wishes for the journey!
Is the Mountain You’re Climbing Your Purpose or Your Distraction?
I live near the base of several mountains and am regularly inspired by their beauty and grandeur. I enjoy spending time in them hiking, rock climbing, and camping. Spending time in the mountains quiets my mind and helps me stay focused on what matters most. When I am there, I often think about my purpose, my mission, and my goals.
Like the photo above, life has many options and opportunities. There are an almost infinite number of summits that we get to choose from. Some are aligned with our purpose and others are simply distractions. Are we climbing the right mountain? Are we on the trail to a place we really want to get to? Does this path represent purpose or a diversion? [Read more...]
What is your strategy?
I recently came across a great article in the Harvard Business Review entitled, ‘Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?’ by David Collins and Michael Rukstad.
Not only can’t most of us say what our strategy is, most would struggle to define the word. The authors discuss three elements of strategy: Objectives, Scope, and Means.
Your sweet spot is where your capabilities overlap with your customer needs in a way that your competitors cannot meet them.
Use the following questions to help clarify your strategy. Then write it down on a single page and leave it on your desk so that it can influence every decision you make.
- What and where do you want to be in 2 – 3 years?
- What does success look like?
- What are the characteristics of your best customers?
- What do you deliver that is hardest for your competitors to match?
- What are the boundaries of your business?
- What is your value proposition?
- What unique combination of activities allows your firm alone to deliver your value proposition?
- What are your best at?
You may also want to check out my post, Peeling Onions – The Power of Why.
Do you have a Sentence?
In a Wall Street Journal (6/27/09) article, Peggy Noonan retold the story of Clare Boothe Luce’s conversation with JFK in 1962
JFK
She told him, she said, that “a great man is one sentence.” His leadership can be so well summed up in a single sentence that you don’t have to hear his name to know who’s being talked about. “He preserved the union and freed the slaves,” or, “He lifted us out of a great depression and helped to win a World War.” You didn’t have to be told “Lincoln” or “FDR.”
She wondered what Kennedy’s sentence would be. She was telling him to concentrate, to know the great themes and demands of his time and focus on them.
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