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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Two human abilities rise above all others: intelligence and self-control.

by Rick Baker
On Jan 3, 2017

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Every human being possesses the seeds of intelligence and self-control at birth. To a certain degree, and the degree varies from person to person, we develop these two abilities over time. The amount of intelligence and self-control we develop determines the extent we are able to express our strengths. 

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STRENGTHS: People-Focused for Success | Thought Tweets

Talents, Routine Tasks & not-Routine Tasks

by Rick Baker
On Jan 2, 2017

  

 

Talents are innate. They are the substances that define us and make us unique. They are our traits and characteristics; they guide/dictate what we do and stand to explain why we do what we do.

If we dig deep enough and study our Talents then we understand why we feel how we feel when we perform Tasks.

The Gallup Organization teaches Talents + Knowledge + Skills = Strengths.

Malcolm Gladwell teaches – even the most Talented people must spend about 10,000 hours to develop master-level skills. I have emphasized that by inserting the word ‘Practised’ in front of skills.

Napoleon Hill taught the importance of ‘Specialized’ Knowledge, in contrast with General Knowledge as provided in libraries. Today, of course, knowledge is much more available to one and all. So, what was Specialized Knowledge today will be General Knowledge – say, in Wikipedia – tomorrow. This is what I call global commoditization. We must be on a continuous quest for Specialized Knowledge in order to keep ahead of the global pack. And, of course, in addition to being curious we must be inventive.

I have inserted Opportunities into the Strengths equation.

Without OpportunitiesTalents & Strengths will be wasted.

Business leaders are in the best position to provide Opportunities.

And, that’s exactly what they must do.

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Driving on the Talent Track

by Rick Baker
On Dec 30, 2016

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Talent as: “a special ability that allows someone to do something well”.

To get on the Talent Track, it is important to understand Talents are not what we do well. Talents are closely linked to why we do things well.

Talents are the 'substances' that define us and make us unique.

As Simon Sinek might say – "Talents are about our Why rather than our How or our What."

We all have the ability to deliver treasures. We just need to find the ways to free up our treasures. Our Talents are our keys. Only when we understand our Talents do we know how to use our keys to unlock our treasures.

When we take the time to investigate and understand our unique set of Talents we gain several advantages.

As examples, when we thoroughly understand our Talents we improve our ability to:

  • clarify and express our personal Values & the Rules that are most sacred to us,
  • ability to clarify and express our Vision...Purpose...Mission [if you like to use that word], and
  • define meaningful Goals

And there's one more extremely important thing: when we thoroughly understand other people's Talents we improve our ability to understand what makes them tick...and that allows us to drive on the Talent Track.

 

Trust is a fragile thing.

by Rick Baker
On Dec 28, 2016

Trust is a fragile thing.

Two people share trust then one of them perceives an injustice and trust quickly comes into question. Whether the injury is 'real' or not, when the injury is perceived it is quite normal for the person who feels injured to retaliate...to seek revenge. Then trust is lost and anti-trust takes hold with a powerful appetite for growth.

The key to sustaining trust often sits at the point where one party perceives the other has done an unjust/unfair/unkind thing. At that point of recognition there is still opportunity to remedy the situation quickly and easily...at least relatively quickly and relatively easily.

When a perceived injury happens, the offending party may be oblivious. In many situations the real problem is the injured party has too-thin skin. Too-thin-skin and victim-thinking are common human frailties. These frailties are the consequence of lack of self-confidence. In other situations, the offending party may not be attentive or observant or empathic. Regardless of the reason, when one person perceives injury at the hands of another the offending party may be oblivious. The gap between of perceived injury and obliviousness is enough to fan the flames of distrust and revenge is, often, the natural conclusion. I say 'natural' because revenge isn't something reserved for the wicked and maladjusted. Revenge is in the genetic fabric of most human beings.

Revenge does not have to happen.

Revenge is like any other bad habit...it catches us, it gets repeated, it digs a deep habit-rut, then it owns us until the day we decide to work to overcome it. 

The best way to overcome revenge is to recognise it is not deviant behaviour. It is a natural behaviour that doesn't work too well in our current society. And, it is something a person can control if that person wishes to control it. First, we must identify the breeding ground for revenge. Revenge comes to life when we perceive offensive behaviour in others. So, we can nip revenge in the bud if we stop and think during the 'I-feel-offended stage'.

We can be more trusting and cut the other person some slack. We can accept our self-biased tendencies. We can accept our tendencies to protect and bolster our own ego. We can choose to understand these tendencies cause us to over-react to other people's actions and cause us, regularly, to perceive offence where none exists. And knowing these things we can choose to ignore that little voice that tells us "That person just injured me." When we choose not to be injured revenge-thinking will not arrive. 

As the saying goes, "You can act offensively but I don't have to feel offended." Even if another person is truly offensive, we do not have to feel offended. It is a choice. If we choose to not feel offended then revenge-thinking will not arrive.

Controlling egoic biases & refusing to be offended: we have these two ways to reduce/remove the need to feel revenge.

When we practice these two ways they become good habits, good habits that breed trust between us and other people.

Trust is a fragile thing - we can choose good habits that sustain & build it.

‘Real trust’ requires no thought; ‘Synthetic trust’ requires much careful thought.

by Rick Baker
On Dec 27, 2016
Simon Sinek wrote, “Trust is like love. Both parties have to feel it before it really exists.”
 
I read Simon’s ‘daily inspiration messages’ and from time to time his thoughts cause me to stop and think. For example – the above message immediately struck me as worthy of thought…because I immediately disagreed with it and felt a need to think through my views and why they contrast Simon’s.
 
I do not believe trust has to walk on a two-way street. 

Certainly, trust often does. And – no question or argument - trust is a wonderful and powerful thing when it is reciprocated. However, I don’t think it has to be reciprocated to ‘really exist’. 

It seems to me states of mind including belieffaith and trust are very close relatives and:
  • we can believe in something or someone without them necessarily reciprocating; we believe in our heroes while the most of them do not even know of us let alone believe in us
  • we place faith in people and God/gods while not necessarily expecting he/she/they has/have faith in us; perhaps or likely we think expectations are placed on us, but we do not go as far as thinking our extension of faith is reciprocated
  • we – some of us – are trusting by nature and we trust people until they prove themselves not worthy of our trust; regardless - our extension of trust seems real to us
Now – about comparing trust and love
 
Here’s one thought: Many great poets, storytellers and songwriters have banked on the reality of unrequited love. 
 
Now – about reality and what really exists…
 
Here are a few thoughts: ‘perception is reality’ and ‘perception is not reality’…obviously this is confusing territory...if we want to draw reality into our discussions we must be prepared to enter the realm of philosophers, brain scientists and physicists. 
 
The moral of this Thought Post… 
 
‘Real trust' requires no thought; ‘Synthetic trust' requires much careful thought. 'Real trust' is much better than 'Synthetic trust'. In reality, neither 'real trust' nor 'synthetic trust' are real: rather, they are perceptions...perceptions in singular brain-minds. 

#BoxingDay Ernest Seller's barber is an ex-boxer. Ernest is at the barber shop with him now...about to get an uppercut.

by Rick Baker
On Dec 26, 2016

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Not sure why we celebrate boxing every year on December 26th...anyhow...it always reminds me of when Ernest Seller was a kid and wanted to try his hands at boxing...when Ernest took boxing lessons he found he had a problem with his hands....the ref kept stepping on them.

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Ernest Seller | Humour | Thought Tweets

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