Synthesizing Happiness
Dan Gilbert at TED.
See also Are you sacrificing the real now for an illusory future?
The Hardest Battle
To be nobody-but-yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.
–e e cummings
American Poet (1894 – 1962)
Group Agreement
For a group of people to work smoothly together, each member must understand what constitutes agreement. This understanding is often left in the background, unexamined, as everyone assumes their standards match those of other people. Fundamental to the success of the executive off sites I conduct is helping the group make these assumptions explicit so that everyone is playing by the same rules. If, in fact, everyone has the same standards, we finish this step quickly. If not, time invested early to clarify the ground rules saves a lot of time (and upset) later.
There are two essential parts: clarity and verity. First, everyone must be clear on what is being agreed. Second, the group needs a way to know if agreement has been reached.
#1) What’s the deal?
- Clarity: Details of the agreement
- What, how, when ,who, where.
- Explicit standards of (more…)
How does executive coaching work?
Coaches are in the business of helping people to reflect on their assumptions and behaviors. Then we help them to widen the space of possibilities as they formulate life choices, make interpersonal decisions, set strategic directions and sometimes, simply, know better who they are.
Yet, when it comes to making important long-term behavioral changes, the transformation is often slow to come. Why is it so hard to put knowledge into practice? If real learning means that people transfer knowledge into action, what’s missing? How do we best facilitate this growth for our clients, turning mental states into personal traits?
–Dr. Marcia Reynolds
The Water We Swim In:
A New Look at Cognitive Evolution
[Complete article is here, on page 2.]
Creative Conflict
I heard one CEO executive coaching client summarize the tremendous value of his coach’s listening and probing by saying, “This is where I come to get my answers questioned.” Top executives, especially those operating in a strong corporate culture, can find themselves in an echo chamber where everyone seems to be saying the same thing, thereby confusing their mutual agreement with reality. It is the most “obvious” assumptions that most severely constrict our thinking.
Gentlemen, I take it we are all in complete agreement on the decision here,” he started, and everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “Then,” he went on, “I propose we postpone further discussion of this matter until the next meeting to give ourselves time to develop disagreement, and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about.”
–Alfred Sloan
GM 1923-1956
Crisis of Scarcity?
Are we now “in crisis” and “entering an age of scarcity”? You can see anything you like in a crystal ball. But almost without exception, the relevant data–the long-run economic trends–suggest precisely the opposite. The appropriate measures of scarcity–the costs of natural resources in human labor, and their prices relative to wages and to other goods–all suggest that natural resources have been becoming less scarce over the long run, right up to the present.
The Ultimate Resource II: People, Materials, and Environment
–Julian Simon
University of Maryland, College Park
Managing Meetings
Solid, basic advice on better business meetings from a business psychologist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is here in a column Reid Hastie wrote for the New York Times. Key pointers:
- Set Explicit Objectives
- Consider Opportunity Costs
- Grade the Convener
I would add:
- Use a Professional Facilitator (If the stakes are high enough).
Creating the Organization’s Values & Vision
I tell my CEO executive coaching clients, prior to the executive offsite, that the CEO can dictate the values statement, perhaps with some team input on word choice. If the organization’s stated values are not entirely consistent with the CEO’s personal values you are in for a rough ride. The CEO must embody and have an emotional commitment to the vision, so it largely comes directly out of him or her, too. I like to start the offsite at a dinner where the CEO clearly and emotionally states the values and vision. Then, with those guideposts, the team can get to work on strategy, tactics, milestones, etc.
A question naturally emerges when I suggest this sequence: what about the executives who do not share the CEO’s values or vision? This helps smoke them out early and by “out,” I mean resigning from the company. Any compromise on values is a step into the abyss, what Bion called “non-work.”
Goal Setting Works
There have been more than 110 goal setting experiments conducted in the laboratory and in organizations in just the last twelve years. Ninety percent of these studies obtained positive results for goal setting. This makes goal setting one of the most dependable and robust techniques in all the motivational literature. … A recent study of high and low productivity … found that goal setting and deadlines were the single most frequently mentioned causes of … high productivity. [page 6]
Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works!
by Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham
See also Managing Yourself with Specific Measurable Results, on this blog.
Brain Rules: Use your head
“Tiny proteins called BDNF are created when you exercise and act like Miracle Grow for your brain”
–Dr. John J. Medina
University of Washington School of Medicine
Our next President agrees, “Physical fitness yielded mental fitness, Obama decided, and the two concepts have been married in his mind ever since.” Washington Post 2008 12 25
See also, my post Take a Hike!
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