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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Thought Tweet #892

by Rick Baker
On Dec 17, 2013

Thought Tweet #892 Machiavelli taught: What you acquire with difficulty you retain with ease...and vice-versa.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

So, in the big picture, struggle is a good and necessary thing. Struggle, in its very nature, contains obstacles and problems. 

It is true - opportunity does ride on the wings of adversity.

So, sustainability too rides on the wings of adversity. 

Tags:

Solutions & Opportunities | Thought Tweets | Wisdom: Surviving the Test of Time

Thought Tweet #860.5

by Rick Baker
On Nov 1, 2013

Thought Tweet #860.5 You wanna lead, you gotta read.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

The Pharaohs and high priests of ancient Egypt knew that.

Abe Lincoln knew it...

"A capacity, a taste for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, a facility, for successfully pursuing the (yet) unsolved ones."

"All I have learned, I learned from books.

You should know it too.

 

Thought Tweet #859

by Rick Baker
On Oct 31, 2013

Thought Tweet #859 Few situations provide the opportunity to do big things; all situations provide the opportunity to do small things.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Business leaders want people to get it and they want people to step up.

Business leaders want illustrations of insight and exertion of confident action.

Those are the things business leaders want to influence.

Tags:

Business Contains Only 3 Things | Influencing | Solutions & Opportunities | Thought Tweets

Taking SWOT to an even better place

by Rick Baker
On Oct 28, 2013

STRENGTHS: The Gallup people presented Strengths as a combination of Talent, Knowledge, & Skills. Talent is not enough on its own. It must be coupled with Knowledge. We clarify that the Knowledge must be specialized, focused, and consistent with what it takes to achieve goals. Talent coupled with Knowledge is not enough...it is essential that Skills be practised until tasks and processes are mastered. Only then can one possess and vent Strengths. On top of that Gallup wisdom, we added Opportunities. That's where leaders fit in. Leaders recognize Talent, provide access to Knowledge and training & development in the form of practising. In this way, leaders provide the Opportunities for the development of Strengths.

P=2S+O: Bosses exist to delegate tasks and processes and manage the people who do those tasks and processes. That being the framework for business, bosses really don't want to hear Problems. Bosses only want to hear Problems when the Problems are used to introduce Solutions...and, every once in a while, Opportunities. That's the P=2S+O philosophy. That's why we created the P=2S+O tool.

SWOT is a strategic planning tool developed a couple of generations ago. It can be used to sort thoughts about business processes & business situations. And, as was recently brought to our attention by Don Peart, SWOT can be used to sort thoughts about people.

Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.

The thinking around SWOT's application for business Processes & Situations is on the record. Just Google 'SWOT' and you will find much theory and practical advice.

The first 3 thoughts that came to me when Don Peart talked about applying SWOT thinking to People were:

  1. There's a lot of common ground shared by SWOT and our definition of personal Strength.
  2. P=2S+O is a practical tool, designed to cause people to focus on Solutions while keeping their minds and eyes open for Opportunities.
  3. When recruiting we could use SWOT thinking as an umbrella over our definition of Strengths and our P=2S+O philosophy.
Here's the picture...

 

There are many possible ways to apply SWOT thinking to People: recruiting, training, etc.

...more to follow

Put your foot down...say "No" to "No"

by Rick Baker
On Oct 15, 2013

Beliefs: some good, some not-so-good

Beliefs intertwine with perceptions and patterns in your brain. Then beliefs manifest their influence, acting as your 'internal filters'. These filters guide your view of the world. These filters guide your behaviour. Your beliefs become deeply-held in your subconscious mind. From that strong base, your beliefs generate your habits…some good, some bad. Your beliefs determine your appetite for new things, your attitude toward change, and your ability to replace bad habits with good habits.

Do you know the true nature and depths of your beliefs?

Have you taken the time to 'dig deep' and understand your most-powerful beliefs?

These beliefs, your strong-and-deeply-rooted beliefs, govern your life: deep beliefs are the roots of your greatest joys; deep beliefs are the roots of your darkest fears.

Your deepest and most-strongly-held beliefs aid your efforts toward certain goals while they resist your efforts toward other goals. In these ways, your beliefs are fundamental to your life. They are fundamental to how you feel during your life and they are fundamental to whether or not you achieve the success you desire.

Where did your beliefs come from?

When it comes to questions like this, all of us are students. None of us know with certainty why or how we have beliefs. Yet, certain things make sense to us. As examples:

·         We perceive things and our perceptions of those things are taken to our brains

·         Our brains file vast amounts of information in memory, for future reference

·         Our brains like to simplify our lives so they sort things into patterns/concepts

·         With repetition bits and pieces of information solidify into bigger pieces and then into patterns

·         Diversity of perceptions expand and complicate perceptions, building a hierarchy of sorted/related patterns [and concepts]

An illustration...

When we are infants we hear our parents say the word "No". That's an audio perception. As our parents repeat the word "No" we learn "No" is an important part of our lives. Simple repetition of that spoken word causes neurons in our brains to construct deeper "No" pathways. Recognizing the importance of "No", our infant brains begin to build a "No" pattern. Our infant brains quickly pick up diverse perceptions that will feed into the "No" pattern. A parent may show an angry face while saying the word "No". The visual body language signal and the verbal sound signal send 2 separate messages, both of which feed into the growing "No" pattern in our infant brains. We notice/perceive that different situations precede our parents’ "No" messages. We perceive more diversity, more repetition and the "No" pattern becomes stronger, deeper, and more-nuanced. Even as infants we have a very broad and deep understanding of the word “No”. We recognize its sound, we recognize what it looks like when it is written, we recognize the facial expressions and the various forms of body language that accompany the word “No”, and we know the word “No” is expressed to us as a result of a wide range of different situations.

We learn our parents are not the only ones who deliver "No" messages to us. Other family members, to varying degrees, deliver "No" messages. We meet neighbours who have little people of their own and both those neighbours and the toddlers they bring into our lives add more "No" to our perceptions.

Why all this discussion around the word “No”?

That question begs the questions…

Do you understand how the pattern/concept “No” has fed negatives into your belief system?

Do you understand the extent the pattern/concept “No” throttles your efforts toward your desired goals & success?

Do you understand how to go about repairing the damage the word “No” has done to you belief system?

Are you willing to make an effort to find out?

That wasn't a perfect storm, it was another rogue wave.

by Rick Baker
On Oct 2, 2013

About 20 years ago, a business colleague was on vacation in Cabo San Lucas with his young family. While walking along the beach, he and one of his sons were swept away by a rogue wave. They drown. Instantly, a vacation became a nightmare. When I heard the story, I thought – what an unfortunate tragedy. As details were confirmed, we learned the beach my colleague’s family happened to walk along was known for its rogue waves. Warning signs were posted. If you Google ‘cabo san lucas rogue wave’ you will find numerous articles about the area and the inherent risks.

Yet, year after year, people drown at Cabo San Lucas.

It’s not like it’s a perfect storm situation…it's not like freaks of nature are conspiring against you to bring you down.

No, it’s a rogue wave situation. It’s not about freaks of nature. It’s about situations that recur with some level of predictability. We may not be able to predict with accuracy when they will occur, however, we can predict with accuracy that, sooner or later, they will occur. And, as is the case in Cabo San Lucas there are warning signs. While you may not be familiar with the territory or the situation, others are.

In business, we have rogue waves. They appear in the form of business cycles and market trends and in the form of aged accounts receivable and toxic employees. These rogue waves of business have their warning signs. And, if you turn your back on those warning signs then you do it at your peril.

The question is…

In your business…

Are you blaming bad results on perfect storms?

And…

How many rogue waves does it take to catch your attention?

 

[Some people wouldn't recognize a rogue wave if it slapped them on the back.]

Tags:

Solutions & Opportunities | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich

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