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by Rick Baker
On Feb 24, 2019
For a month now, I have been writing short thought posts sharing quotes from Dirk Schlimm, who will be CFFB's special guest and keynote speaker on April 26th.
This week's quote from Dirk's book:
“And the fact is that powerful people are often desirous and capable of a large spectrum of contribution; they are not just a “genius”, but a genius universalis.”
So, the powerful people Dirk is talking about are universal geniuses...geniuses with broad and deep capabilities.
Over the years, I have written about such people. Here are a couple of examples, which shed light on the value we will obtain when we understand the wisdom Dirk will share with us on April 26th:
- When we see these gifted entrepreneurs/powerful people in action, we have choices on how we interact with them. For example, we can accept their unique strengths and choose to help them. Or, we can criticize their shortcomings and choose to undermine their efforts and even fight them. I favour understanding powerful people's strengths and complementing their strengths with our strengths. To accomplish this, we must control the 'littlenesses in our natures'. Here's a thought post with more details - 'Controlling the common littlenesses of human nature'.
As we spend time thinking about how we can achieve our goals while working with powerful people, we find ourselves drawn into the territory of heroes.
Now, that is energized territory!
by Rick Baker
On Feb 17, 2019
Here's another quote from Dirk Schlimm:
“The genius, who sees opportunity with outside-the-box ideas, gets easily frustrated if he or she feels surrounded by others who only see obstacles. A powerful person with a big idea is likely to feel that he or she is right and will grow impatient with naysayers.”
This quote triggers some questions...
Do you know many people who think of themselves as innovative/creative thinkers? Do you know people who consider themselves out-of-the-box thinkers while you see them under dimmer lighting?
Do you know many people who get frustrated when other people inject obstacles? How do you feel when others naysay when you raise what you believe to be good ideas?
Spirited Leaders have a philosophy that can be summed up in 5 words: People Don't Like Receiving Criticism. We also say, "Constructive Criticism is an Oxymoron".
Now, we know some thick-skinned people can accept and respond well to criticism...for these rare few, constructive criticism is not an oxymoron. However, implicit in Dirk's quote, it is highly unlikely people who possess and exhibit a level of genius - powerful people - will respond well to naysaying. So, when you find yourself facing such a powerful person consider better strategies than voicing criticism that will likely be received poorly.
If you must voice criticism then plan its delivery carefully.
Dirk explains how this can be done in his book.
by Rick Baker
On Apr 10, 2017
As a child I was admonished to be respectful and take care not to hurt other people’s feelings.
In general, that’s OK advice. Regardless, I have found it fails as a general rule.
Yes, sometimes our honesty hurts other people. Children often make innocent comments that adults find inappropriate. For example, children notice and comment on differences in people’s appearance and that can be very embarrassing for adults, especially parents. So, with fear of hurting other people’s feelings in mind, early in life many of us learn to place our natural [accurate and innocent] thoughts on hold and keep them to ourselves. Later, as we become less child-like [and more adult-like] we learn to adjust our communication in ways that conceal our true thoughts and replace them with adult-acceptable messages.
Now, as this 21st Century continues to unfold, it seems feelings are reigning near supreme.
Are feelings going to undermine honesty?
Considering other people’s feelings:
Where should lines be drawn between honest expression of thought and suppression of expression?
Are we doing a good enough job teaching children they and other people have the ability to control their reactions to other people’s words? In fact, with some education and effort each of us can learn self-control, including control over our feelings…are we teaching that to our children?
Are we providing education that opens minds to thickening skin?
by Rick Baker
On Oct 18, 2016
Crows: I am very fond of those majestic birds.
I know many people do not see the majesty in crows so they view crows as nuisances...for some reason I have never shared that viewpoint.
Crows take care of their old, frail family members. [If you want to learn more about crows and their aging parents go on-line and search 'crows caring for parents'.]
I judge crows by what I observe them doing in our neighbourhood. Mostly, I see and hear them talking to one another. Sometimes one-to-one, sometimes in groups, which I expect are their families. Sometimes the crows seem to be calling one another, perhaps reporting on their positions or sharing news about food. Other times they seem to be arguing with one another or perhaps they are having family-to-family arguments. When crows communicate with one another they change their 'body language'. Sometimes they seem to be taking slow, deliberate steps. They tilt their heads and extend their necks, perhaps to present their faces more clearly to their audiences? Sometimes, crows' communication antics are comical...as if the crow at centre stage is a cocky teenager overacting in front of his family...parading...strutting his stuff...talking loudly...crowing what he knows.
When I see crows doing this it reminds me of humans who crow when they know.
Some humans cannot help themselves - they have a bad habit - they always crow when they know. They cannot stop themselves from crowing.
When humans crow what they know it tends to be off-putting. It tends to stifle communication and the sharing of important thoughts and ideas.
There is no need to crow when you know. Think before you share your knowledge. When you feel you must share what you know do your best to package it well....and time it well.
And remember Harry Truman's advice, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
by Rick Baker
On Sep 22, 2016
We enjoy solving sticky problems.
Wrestling down sticky problems until they give up their solutions - that's where our people and our family business are at their best.
- we are invigorated by the challenges of new things,
- we are excited about the opportunities that we know rest closely with problems, and
- we enjoy testing and stretching our imaginations.
Certainly, we know we are curious and we know we enjoy new challenges. And we know curiosity leads to innovation and creativity...and interesting experiences...and adventures...and these things help bring new product and service ideas to life.
We enjoy positive feedback from the people we work with and for. Positive feedback about our work energizes our enthusiasm. But, for us, there’s more value in work than generating solutions and receiving gratification from positive feedback.
We enjoy solving sticky problems:
- Curiosity is an important part of our lives – we see value in curiosity – we are driven by curiosity and have embraced it as one of our personal Values. So, Curiosity is also one of our corporate Values.
- Problem-solving mastery is an important part of our lives. We were naturally skilled at mathematics and we were drawn to math and engineering education. And, for us, engineering education provided the opportunity learn and develop problem-solving skills.
- Solving problems opened the door to finding opportunities [opportunities ride on the wings of adversity] and opportunities lead to new solution-techniques, products and services.
Relentless curiosity combined with a huge desire to solve problems – that describes us.
It also explains why…
We enjoy solving sticky problems.
Footnotes:
- Sticky Problems have two forms: people problems [interpersonal issues] and technical problems [information management/processing, including information essential to product design].
- Our family company, Spirited Leaders, focuses on helping business leaders solve sticky leadership problems: interpersonal issues are at the core so solutions for people are the goal.
- Our family company, NeuStyle Software & Systems, focuses on solving sticky technical problems: information management and processing is at the core so software and digital solutions are the goal.
- Spirited Leaders' motto - Inspire People - Influence Action - Grow Wealth!
- NeuStyle Software's motto - Anything's possible when it's digital!
by Rick Baker
On Aug 22, 2016
During a discussion with a friend, the topic of 'victims' arose. I thought it would be interesting to see a written summary of his thoughts on why many people feel and behave like victims...and why they ought to not feel victimized and how they might overcome their victimized mindsets. While my friend did not agree to provide his views in writing, he [in a very succinct explanation] said people feel victimized because they have not fully grown up...they are still children.
When he said that, I immediately thought of Berne's Transactional Analysis: people behaving 3 ways – like Children, like Adults and like Parents.
It seems to me everyone behaves like a Child from time to time. Sometimes, certain situations trigger pre-programmed Childlike behavior. In particular, when dealing with their Parents people can assume Children’s postures and communicate in ways that fit the Child’s role. Sometimes, accumulated stresses and strains cause people to resort to Childlike behavior…I suppose this is an avoidance or escape mechanism. We see Childlike stubbornness in workplaces and, from time to time, we see business people taking Childlike tantrums. Sometimes, for some people, sense of humour kicks in and humour can be quite Childish…I’m thinking of that picture with Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out at the cameraman.
Yes – likely my friend is right – People behave like victims because they have not fully grown up. Victims, in effect, are grown-ups who hold childlike mindsets. For one reason or another, they have not developed an accurate perception of the ‘human condition’. They hold on to misguided views about ‘fairness’ and ‘locus of control’. They have not developed ‘coping skills’. They don’t understand themselves and so they have limited ability to understand other people.
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