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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Optimists pave the paths so pessimists can rule the world

by Rick Baker
On May 16, 2017

Now isn't that a fine piece of ‘mob thinking’...debatable, yet mostly true, and too often rather disappointing. 

Optimists stand out. Their curiosity leads to the creativity of new things that help take the world toward their vision of a better future. Then pessimists figure out how to use those optimist creations to rule that better world, often to serve their self-focused views and needs. 

Optimists favour freedom in its various forms, especially freedom laced around curiosity and creativity

Pessimists favour discipline, rules, and controls.

The common ground where optimists and pessimists can stand together and self-actualize together is – Growth....all entrepreneurial leaders love to build and grow things.

A key to success: find the growth that aligns with both the pessimists’ good habits and the optimists’ interests in new things

No question about it, people are interested in learning how to kill good ideas

by Rick Baker
On Apr 27, 2017

A number of years ago, I posted the following thoughts about how to kill good ideas.

It is interesting to see a number of people liked the contrarian approach. Perhaps we should spend more time communicating about how to kill good ideas? Perhaps that would encourage people to come up with more-creative ways of squashing one another's innovations, inventions, and creative thoughts? Perhaps this could go a long way toward throttling that annoying habit called Curiosity?

Regardless, at least we have 4 proven ways of getting the job done!

 

4 ways to kill a good idea

By Rick Baker
On Oct 4, 2011

As mentioned recently, I read a really interesting book. It taught me how to kill good ideas.
 
Here is a sample of what I learned, 4 ways to kill good ideas:
  1. Fear Mongering…use genuine facts from the past to create a picture of a fearful future You know many people agonize over the mistakes they have made in the past. And they worry horrible events will repeat themselves…causing misery. So, when someone has a good idea and you want to kill it you can try this strategy. Just recall some extremely painful event from the past and express your concern that this terrifying situation could happen again if we accept this new idea.

  2. Death by Delay…one great way to do this is send the idea to a committee 

    Here’s a nuance you can incorporate when you use this strategy. Dig up some abstruse fact from your company’s history. Applaud the idea then introduce the abstruse fact and talk as if you are convinced the idea and the abstruse fact must be addressed by a committee of various intelligent people. Suggest a chairperson for the committee…i.e., suggest someone you know to be a curmudgeon. 
  3. Confusion…inject lots of irrelevant facts and support them with illogical arguments

    Keep a list of irrelevant facts in a file in the MemoPad area of your BlackBerry. Gather these over time, wean out the weakest ones, and replace them as you find really-choice irrelevant facts. Have at least a dozen fresh irrelevant facts ready for use. Then, whenever people come up with ideas pull out your BlackBerry while stating something like, 'What a synchronicity…I was writing some notes around that topic last week'. Then go on to cite a list of irrelevant facts…keep it up until at least one person dozes off.
  4. Ridicule…with a good-natured demeanour and calm voice, assassinate the character of the person who has the idea

    This one should come with a warning: DO NOT show anything close to a negative emotion while you do this. That could backfire on you, making you look like some sort of unreasonable person. CAUTION: this will take practice…if you are real busy then pick another strategy. To pull this one off you must be pleasant and calm. You must prepare your assassinating words well in advance and practice them in front of a mirror so they come across just right. I recognize that is barely an introduction to this 4th way to kill ideas. But, a more-detailed explanation is beyond the scope of this Thought Post.
You may be saying to yourself, surely there must be more ways to kill good ideas.
 
Yes, do not fret; of course there are many other wonderful ways to kill ideas.
 
Footnote
The book I am referring to is ‘Buy-In, saving your good idea from being shot down’, John P. Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead. According to the authors of the book I just read, the average person receives about 10,000 ideas [other people’s plans, demands, suggestions, and proposals] every week. That’s a lot of incoming ideas to deal with. Many people are overwhelmed. Most people figure out ways to kill the vast majority of those ideas. The authors provide some solutions…i.e., how to save your good ideas from being shot down. But, it’s a double-edge sword…you can also use their wisdom to hone your skills at killing good ideas.

Are you too busy to know other people’s businesses?

by Rick Baker
On Mar 14, 2017

Common sense tells us:

  • Most people look for a fair deal, where both parties exchange value,
  • Some people look to cheat others, heads I win - tails you lose, and
  • Some people look to help others, expecting little or nothing in return.

Those three things probably fit nicely in a bell curve, where the norm is business people exchanging fair value with one another.

That's the viewpoint here: most business people do business with one another in an effort to obtain some value and deliver some value in exchange.

People exchanging value - that's the essence of business.

If you agree with that then to grow business you must increase the exchange of value. And, as you work to increase the exchange of value you will do better if you know how both parties define the value they seek and the value they deliver.

Most business people just scratch the surface of value exchange. Sales people tend to know the value they think they're delivering. Purchasing people tend to know the value they think they're receiving. Sales people may make a serious effort to try to determine what the purchasing people want to receive. Purchasing people may make a serious effort to try to understand what the sales people want to receive. But it's highly unlikely their thoughts go beyond those things. For example, sales people do not understand what value the sales people who work at the purchasing person's company are looking to receive or deliver.  And, vice-versa, purchasing people do not understand what value the purchasing people who work at the sales person's company are looking to receive or deliver.

Even worse, sales people do not understand the value the purchasing people at their organization are trying to receive and deliver and purchasing people don't know the value their organization's sales people are trying to receive and deliver.

People tend to know what they want and what they're prepared to deliver in exchange for it. However, they have a much smaller understanding of what other people want and are trying to deliver in exchange for it.

This applies within companies. This applies between companies. This applies between people.

Some years ago we addressed this with our Clients' Clients Philosophy.

Here are the starting-point questions …

  • What value do you want to receive from people at other companies?
  • What value do you want to deliver to people at other companies?
  • What value do other people in your company want to receive from people at other companies?
  • What value do people in other companies want to receive from other people in your company?

***

People who possess an ongoing curiosity around questions about what other people value have the opportunity to excel in business, to excel in interpersonal relationships, and to deliver and receive tremendous value.

Some people are too busy. So, they don't get these things…and they don’t get most of the other things they want.

In support of self-consciousness

by Rick Baker
On Feb 27, 2017

In our lexicon self-consciousness has a weakness connotation.

We have been conditioned to think of 'self-conscious' people as timid people, people who cower under negative self-images.

Let's give this another think.

Better still, let's replace it all with constructive thought.

Self-consciousness is a good thing:

  • It means the person is giving some thought to self...it’s an acknowledgement that thinking about self is an important thing to do.
  • It means the person is aware of self...it’s a foundation upon which self-control can grow.
  • It means the person is growing knowledge of self…it’s the vital step toward self-improvement.

Like all other skills self-awareness, self-control, self-knowledge and self-improvement require guidance and relentless practise. And practise leads to mastery of skills when its guidance-system is housed in an educated, open and self-conscious mind. So, self-consciousness leads to strength in thought and action. Conversely, strength cannot exist when self-consciousness is absent.

Never should we assume self-conscious thought and awareness is only directed toward the negatives. For each of us, self is the essential ingredient. We ought to be conscious of that. And, we ought to wrap that consciousness in constructive mindsets, allowing as little room as possible for negativity.

We face an awesome choice – we can choose to accept self-conscious thought as the recipe for finding our most-positive things…like our talent, our courage, our confidence, our conviction, & our curiosity.

Mistakes are Stepping Stones – the question is, To Where?

by Rick Baker
On Jan 18, 2017

Indiana Jones reminded us that you don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step. A journey of a thousand miles always starts with a single step. And we know a single step can be both one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.

When we take steps, sometimes we miss the desired landing spots. We make missteps and mistakes and, unless we stop moving and doing, chances are very good we will always make missteps and mistakes.

Sometimes missteps signal inattentiveness; sometimes missteps signal inventiveness.

In the first case, our bodies are used to stepping along without help from our conscious thoughts. When the ground in front of us throws us a curve or presents a new wrinkle, our feet are caught off guard. In response to this new information our feet can misstep, stumble and sometimes cause us to fall. In most cases, our missteps are not deemed to be failures. In most cases, they are accepted as little errors, human errors. Now, of course, that does not apply if we are talking about a misstep from a tightrope over Niagara Falls. Regardless, generally speaking missteps happen and we dust ourselves off quickly and move on. We are skilled at this because we have been doing it since we were wee babies…venturing out with our first steps.

‘Venturing out’: Those words bring us to the second case. Sometimes we intentionally venture out into new territory and even into dangerous territory, exploring and inventing. Some people do walk tightropes, sometimes even over Niagara Falls. Other people take steps to climb mountains, even the tallest and most-treacherous mountains. And some people even go as far as the moon to take a small step. These shoes worn for these adventuresome steps are laced with invention. And, regardless of planning and precaution, sometimes missteps happen. Missteps that happen under high-risk can be catastrophic. Regardless, often, missteps under high risk are not catastrophic. They are informative. They clarify the wrong ways to step, move, do things.

Missteps and mistakes are stepping stones. Far more often than not, they take us to better places. We must not lose track of that. We must not lose curiosity or the spirit that drives exploration and invention.

Discern, then Do - and make a Difference

by Rick Baker
On Dec 21, 2016

Nike says, "Just Do It!"

While that may lead to better health, more energy and more fun it sure creates inefficiencies when it happens at work.

The tech gurus used to say, "Fail quick, fail often" and maybe they still say that. While that may promote curiosity, experimentation and learning it also can create havoc in the typical workplace.

Putting these sorts of slogans/advice together we have experienced a groundswell of advice promoting action without sufficient consideration of the appropriateness of that action.

In the old days, business consultants presented "Ready, Aim, Fire" analogies to help business people understand the need for thinking before doing...paraphrased, "Ready, Aim, Do". That advice was meaningful, specifically because it included the concept of 'aiming', which of course brings to mind pictures of 'aiming at targets'.

Business targets and goals are important. If in doubt, just ask any business consultant…or your boss…or your CEO. Targets and goals help us clarify where we want to go.  With the end-point in mind we can figure out how we want to get there. Specifically, we can figure out what needs to be done to get there.  Similarly, we can figure out what we don't want to do because we recognize some actions will not help us get to our goals.

While that all sounds simple enough, most people in business don't do it.

Most people do not test their actions against their goals.

Put another way, the 80/20 Rule applies: most business people spend most of their time (perhaps 80%) doing things that do not take them toward their goals.

Here are two practical tools that can be used to improve your “Ready, Aim, Fire”:

 

Personal Organization Tool #1

To be accurate, Pareto inspired tools like the one above. He recognized that in many situations 20% of the 'causes' generate 80% of the 'effects/results/outcomes'. The key message here is: when it comes to doing things, be discerning so you increase the likelihood your performance of work will deliver the results you desire.

 

 

Personal Organization Tool #2:

 

Stephen R. Covey understood tasks had 2 major dimensions: Importance and Urgency. He designed a simple matrix/grid to help people be more discerning when performing work tasks.

More details to follow...

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.