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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Here's a good habit: test your Decisions against the Values you hold dearest.

by Rick Baker
On Nov 11, 2020

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

You will find decision-making becomes easier and 'less conflicted' when you develop the habit of testing your decisions against your personal values.

Other people will find it easier to understand you and your decisions if they perceive alignment between your decisions and your values...that is - the values you express, which are consistent with the character you exhibit.

Here's an investment with high ROI: spend time thinking about and planning how you delegate work.

by Rick Baker
On Oct 1, 2020

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Some people, oblivious to the impact of their approach to delegating tasks, just delegate what they delegate

Some people plan their delegation of tasks and adjust their approach to fit the person who will receive the delegation.

One of the above approaches breeds success; one of the above approaches bumps into success every once in a while.


Tags:

Delegation & Decisions | Thought Tweets

Do not assume the purpose behind your instructions is obvious.

by Rick Baker
On Sep 20, 2020

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

We cannot assume the purpose of our thinking is obvious. We cannot assume the purpose of their thinking is obvious. And, we are far better off over-communicating about the purpose behind out thoughts, ideas, and requests than under-communicating about them.

 

Tags:

Communication: Improving Communication | Delegation & Decisions | Thought Tweets

Some things are urgent; some things are important; very few things are both urgent and important.

by Rick Baker
On Sep 17, 2020

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

The vast majority of important things are not urgent and so they can be postponed. And unfortunately, on a regular basis, that's exactly what most people do.

Tags:

Delegation & Decisions | I'm too busy! - I don't have time! | Thought Tweets

Good leaders repeat messages so good followers don't repeat errors.

by Rick Baker
On Sep 16, 2020

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

"I have a dream"...followers remembered because Martin Luther King Jr. repeated.

Tags:

Communication: Improving Communication | Delegation & Decisions | Influencing | Thought Tweets

We are too tolerant of conflict!

by Rick Baker
On May 29, 2017

Are you better off following prescribed step-by-step conflict resolution processes designed by 'the experts' or drawing on your innate talents to resolve conflicts? Perhaps, for some people, there is merit in using someone else's detailed approach. However, how often have you seen that work in real life situations?

We should draw on our innate talents to resolve conflicts.

I have never seen canned processes for conflict resolution work in real life situation. We cannot be someone else so what would cause us to think we could use someone else's approach to conflict resolution? To the extent we find ourselves in situations of conflict we know we are at least partially responsible for our predicament [if not fully responsible]. We didn't follow someone else's steps when we walked our way into the conflict situation...so, we should not expect to be able to follow someone else's logical steps to find our way out of the conflict situation.

Often, we find ourselves in situations of conflict because:

1. we lack self-confidence and, as a result of that, we behave either too timidly or too aggressively and

2. we are too lazy to figure out how to avoid conflict or nip conflict in the bud when we know it has commenced.

We are too tolerant of conflict.

Some people even promote conflict in the workplace because they view it as a good, healthy, and productive way to communicate, make decisions, and delegate tasks.

That's interesting in many negative directions!

The results conflict promoters achieve at their businesses prove it is a high-risk-low-reward strategy. If that strategy ever worked it certainly has fallen out of vogue in recent decades. For example, under our Bill 168, we want people to feel secure at work. I expect Abraham Maslow would have supported this approach.

The reality is, some people – mostly people lacking self-confidence - either enjoy conflict with others or see it as a necessary component of work [and possibly life]. What can we expect from these die-hard conflict consumers and conflict distributors? Certainly, we cannot expect them to buy into following someone else's prescribed steps for conflict resolution. These people cannot follow such steps because they lack the innate talents required to avoid or resolve conflict.

And, if people possess the innate talents required to resolve conflicts then they can and should find their own natural ways to avoid and resolve conflict.

Either way, there is no need for experts to prescribe conflict resolution processes. These prescribed processes do not work because people either cannot follow them or do not need to follow them.

People need to understand themselves, work continuously at building and maintaining their self-confidence levels, educate themselves about innate talents and interpersonal interactions, and exercise self-control. These are the routes that lead to conflict avoidance and conflict resolution.

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