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by Rick Baker
On Jun 1, 2011
That’s not a complaint.
It is simply a fact.
I know this because I cannot stop myself from observing people, listening to them, and watching how they react to other people’s ideas and requests.
Now, like most ‘blog sites’, our Thought Post site provides readers the opportunity to rate our Thought Posts. Our site has little stars at the bottom of each posting…readers can select and enter 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars, or 5 stars.
Generally readers do not rate our Thought Posts. That’s typical of blog sites, unless maybe the person who does the writing is really, really gifted. [I aspire to that…and…clearly I have some work to do…but…I digress.] It seems a posting must really annoy or really resonate before people take the time to rate it.
It is interesting to note, the Thought Post about getting rid of Scarcity Mindset received 2 ratings: one was 1 star and one was 5 stars…so, the average is 3 stars. Now, I assume the person who rated it 5 stars liked the posting and agrees with its message.
But – what about the person who gave the 1 star rating?
- Perhaps, this person agrees we should work to get rid of Scarcity Mindsets but thinks I did a poor job of delivering that message?
- Perhaps, this person disagrees with the message and thinks we should not get rid of Scarcity Mindsets?
- Perhaps, this person thinks something else?
We will never know…unless the person provides comments to clarify.
I do know scarcity mindsets permeate many business environments. So, I will keep writing in an effort to help folks understand the problem so they have a chance to fix it before it causes too much damage.
During the last 2 weeks, people have talked to me about 3 separate instances of scarcity mindset in the workplace. When people describe their situations they usually do not use the words ‘scarcity mindset’…people usually talk about the results they see/hear, not the underlying cause.
Perhaps I need to write more clearly…
Scarcity Mindset is an underlying cause…a fear-driven, underlying cause
Scarcity Mindset leads to many poor decisions, inappropriate actions, and workplace stresses
by Rick Baker
On Jun 1, 2011
Sales Tweet #228 Ernest likes this quote, “Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts.” Jim Morrison The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet Of course, Ernest Seller is a big fan of The Doors music. Even though he was ‘Baby Ernie’ at the time, he can remember enjoying Jimmy Morrison crooning and rapping to those catchy tunes…“Come on Baby Light My Fire”…well, that’s another Ernest story. [talk about worst mistakes] Apparently, much to his dear Mom’s surprise Ernie took those Jimmy Morrison words literally…but it’s probably time to let that very understandable Ernest error go without further comment.
by Rick Baker
On May 31, 2011
As many of you know, we buy and give away many copies of the book STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0.
We do that because we believe the Gallup organization has come up with a terrific solution to a problem that has troubled and stalled many people for many years.
The Problem: focusing on people’s weaknesses.
Our exposure to ‘focus on weakness’ may have started in our family home when we were infants or toddlers. Or, our exposure to ‘focus on weakness’ may have started when we met our first teachers. Or, it may have started at the hands of neighbourhood bullies. Or, it may have started when we joined the workforce and received our first performance appraisal. The point is it happened. If we happened to be among the fortunate few who received a balance of positive/supportive feedback to offset the ‘focus on weakness’ then…we are among the fortunate few. Most people have received much more negative feedback than positive feedback. Most people have become accustomed to focusing on weaknesses…their weaknesses, other people’s weaknesses, employees’ weaknesses, etc.
And, that’s the Problem.
The Solution [at least one big piece of the Solution]: focusing on people’s STRENGTHS.
How do we focus on Strengths?
Well, according to all the Gallup research, the key is understanding the innate talents that drive and set boundaries on people’s personalities and people’s behaviour. Each person has a unique set of talents. Each person has the ability to use his/her unique talents to generate great performance of certain actions…not all actions, just some actions.
Marcus Buckingham’s definitions:
Talent: any recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied
Strength: consistent near-perfect performance of an activity...with passion
When we know our talents – I mean when we really know the details of our talents – we have the ability to understand our Strengths and our weaknesses. And, we have the ability to spend as much time and effort developing Strengths aligned with our talents rather than mending weaknesses not aligned with our talents. And – working on areas of Strength delivers more bang for the buck.
When we focus on Strengths we focus on the positives.
When we focus on the positives…people like it…and people tend to embrace positive change.
Footnotes:
by Rick Baker
On May 31, 2011
Sales Tweet #227 "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." Einstein
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Good Questions are a, perhaps even the, key to excellence. Good Questions [to oneself] can maximize Self-knowledge. Good Questions can lead to excellent communication…and life-long relationships. Good Questions can lead to excellent Sales Performance. A link to more thoughts about “ Good Questions”.
by Rick Baker
On May 30, 2011
Sales Tweet #226 Ernest tried an interesting exercise: for a day, he tried to remove the word ‘BUT’ from his vocabulary. The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet The problem is he picked the worst day to try it. The day started with a meeting with his favourite Client - Mr. Kaye. Ernest was explaining the positive-communication idea he had learned to Mr. Kaye. Ernest said, "I learned BUT is a negative word. We need to remove the word BUT from our vocabulary. We will communicate better if we replace the word BUT with the word AND. " When Mr. Kaye heard that he said, "OK Ernest, I am going to give it a try...here it goes...If you don't stop annoying me, Ernest, I am going to kick your AND."
by Rick Baker
On May 27, 2011
I think we should focus on strengths.
We should spend time working on our strengths rather than our weaknesses.
So, I have been captured by the good work the people at the Gallup organization have done to create STRENGTHSFINDER.
I own copies of all the books written by Marcus Buckingham and by Tom Rath…and I am re-reading all of them.
While doing this re-reading, I was slowed down by one section of Marcus Buckingham’s book ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths’. Marcus talked about brain neuroplasticity and he had a strong view that brain neuroplasticity is overrated. His words made it clear he knew the facts – ie, the 2001 facts – about brain neuroplasticity. He knew about neurons and lost-limb work [I immediately thought about Ramachandran], etc.
Marcus made it clear he thought people were overestimating the value of using ‘brain plasticity’ activities/exercises to create better results at work. He stressed, at the very least, this is an inefficient way to go about self-improvement.
Rather, he recommended [I am using my own words here]:
- Focus on Strengths…that’s the best place to improve one’s performance
- When the job/role requires it, patch up Weaknesses…or work around them if that is possible.
Also, Marcus talked about:
- Talent Themes…how they are innate and cannot be changed
- Values…how we can choose to adjust them [and adjust our character]
Marcus Buckingham got me thinking.
First
I believe people only do 3 things.
I believe if we boil things down then people only do 3 things:
- Good Habits
- Bad Habits
- New Things
That’s it. Whether I do things voluntarily or in reaction to some unknown drivers in my involuntary back-up systems, whether I do things in reaction to subconsciously-driven emotions, or whether I logically plan out things and do them…every single thing I do can be sorted into one of 3 categories:
- Good Habits
- Bad Habits
- New Things
Not to get too bogged down in detail [assuming it isn’t already too late], some examples:
- I breathe whether I want to or not…that’s a Good Habit because it tends to keep me alive
- I look both ways before I cross the street…that’s a Good Habit my Dear Mom taught me
- I eat too much ice cream…that’s a Bad Habit because it removes my ability to buy smaller belts
- I have trouble getting to sleep…that’s a Bad Habit because it wastes time, annoys me, etc
- I read books…depending on the book that’s a Good Habit [re-reading Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’] or that’s a New Thing [when it is my first reading of the book]
- I took the STRENGTHSFINDER test…that was a New Thing that led to some Good Habits
- I read plenty of books about the brain: de Bono, Ramachandran, Doidge, Schwartz, Amen, Glynn, Lynch, Maltz, Ratey, Robbins, Calvin, Begley…etc, etc
Here’s the point
Yes - I read plenty of books about the brain and I am specifically interested in reading about brain neuroplasticity.
Putting Marcus Buckingham’s thought together with my philosophy about Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things…
Is that a Good Habit or a Bad Habit?
What if I asked Marcus Buckingham, “Marcus, is that a Good Habit or a Bad Habit?”
I wonder if Marcus would say, “Rick, that’s a Bad Habit”.
I wonder if Marcus would say, “Rick, that’s definitely a Bad Habit because you are not focusing on one of your Strengths!”
Ouch!
Footnotes
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