All posts by steve@kerrzone.com

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Secret Information

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The foundation of political maneuvering uses information to enhance your power.   In these cases I refer to politics as methods or tactictics employed within an organization (public or private)for purpose of effecting control (i.e., power)

Secret Information

The security level assigned to information is used to determine who can view it.   The use of classification is  intended to allow the holder of the information a fair and easy way to control it’s use.

Conceptually the information could be misused.  The problem is restricting the availability of information can protect but it can also harm.

In some cases, information may be withheld from you in order to enable the holder to manipulate you to achieve their personal goals.

For Example

If your address was considered secret, and you called for emergency assistance but passed out before giving your address.  The first responders asks the phone company for your address but it is withheld because it’s secret information.

Not having your address in the wrong hands does make sense, however as noted, having the information withheld in some situations could be disasterous.

Sharing Ideas

I have always believed the best approach is to share as openly as possible.  In this way you can avoid the situation where the witholding of information has negative impacts.

Of course you could share information that causes you harm ( like your credit card number and PIN).  The really harmful information you should withold is typically relatively identifiable.

Using information to manipulate events in your favour might have some value, but is it ethical?

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Passive Clarity

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Everyone benefits from clarity.  When the crafter of a message and the receiver both interpret the content identically, it is intuitive to assume the result is more positive than otherwise.

The message can be delivered directly (forceful clarity) or indirectly (passive clarity).  Whichever technique is used the most critcial attribute is clarity.

Clarity

Clarity in communication occurs when the message is logical, consistent and easily understood or comprehended in a consistent way.

Crafting a clear message is a skill that takes effort, patience and most importantly practice.  To learn this skill you must use it repeatedly and use ongoing coaching to attain high levels of performance.

Forceful Clarity

In this case the message is directive.  It is typically one sided (your view) and mainly intended to illicit a partcular response/behaviour.  The key to forceful clarity is delivering the content in a way that is readily understood and brooks no misinterpretation.

Passive Clarity

This communication style is collaborative and indirect.  It is the most difficult to practice but also can be most rewarding.   I equate passive clarity to leading from behind.

In this case the message is understood and reinforced without actually directly providing the content.  In these cases the others figure out the message, the approach and how to achieve the goals without being told directly.

This is a very self motivation focused approach.

Balance

Forceful and passive clarity are best used in balanced conjunction with each other.  As a leadership skill, the use of self awareness enables the leader to achieve the most effective balance between how clarity is imparted.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Interpreting your reality

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Technically a subjective viewpoint is your view of reality while and objective one is factually based.   Objective perspectives should be consistent among a large group while subjective could widely vary.

Perhaps though, perception is reality, that is what you perceive and so believe is true.  Reality is what you believe it to be.  Contrary opinions to your perception are incorrect.

The world is mine

Philosophically if your reality of the world is based soley on your interpretation than it’s all about you.  If this applies to everyone humans would be unable to interract effectively.

Hence, we have  social rules.  As groups we define culture and imbed the associated rules into our behaviour through governance practices.  For example, this is done through implementation and enforcement of laws.

Addittionally and more importantly, our social groups define a cultural norm which is implemented through the process of having common beliefs and values passed from elders to their young.

So we can perceive our own reality but these perceptions are limited  by  cultural values for the common group good (the pack mentality) embedded in us from birth.  (Some don’t adhere to these values, but most do).

So our reality is all about us, within the constraints of the value systems we are nurtured with and the laws we need to adhere to or suffer consequences.

Does objectivity exist?

If reality is subjective, it  begs the question, does objectivity exist beyond an English word in the dictionary?  Can we ever say, our interpretation of anything is fully fact based?

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Whats Next

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Are you ready for whats next?  This is a subtle variation on the boy scouts motto, “ always be prepared”.

Over the last couple of years I have posted on a wide variety of topics.  For my posts In the area of philosophy, personal excellence and leadership there are often recurring themes.  Similar concepts but different (e.g., leading from in front/ behind).

I recognize constant change and improvement are a key tenants underlying the road to success associated with these topics.

This post considers and explores ideas that can be leveraged on that road to whats next (i,e,,  raising your performance bar)

Managing your Personality

As noted in the past, personality is just the term for your natural behaviours.  Those “go to”  actions that are intuitive and form the core of all your behaviours.

A key ability to successfully interacing with others is being able to alter your behaviours ( outside of your personality) to fit best with the contextual circumstances.  To do this effectively it must be natural, not forced, i.e., your behaviour most be believed.

Forceful/ Collaborative

In the leadership concept, whether you are a natural collaborator (your personality) or a controller, one size does not fit all.  It is important to be able to navigate from a partner to an authoritative resource (exercised earned or granted power) according to what the  situation demands.

In a nutshell the oft quoted critical skill  of self awareness is the lynchpin to this balancing act.  You need to be fully, conciously aware of the situation in real time and balance your behaviour accordingly.

Not easy, but truly the best use of self awareness.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Destructive Criticism

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I was chatting to a colleague today about some constructive criticism they had recently received.  I provided my thanks for the opportunity to rant, and then did so.

There is no such thing as constructive criticism.  I am not sure who came up with the term but lets start our analysis with the definition of criticism.

Basically any expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes, a critical review.  Based on this definition there is little about criticism that appeals to me (particularly when it’s about me).

Constructive criticism is apparently a helpful and good thing for you to embrace because it’s an opportunity for improvement.  It focuses on a particular issue for you to fix.

What a load of crap?

My personal observation is the outcome of so-called constructive criticism is almost always negative.  Hence my own clear and accurate description, destructive criticism.

At least with with criticism you can characterize it as an unhelpful attack by a small minded individual preening their self importance through the use of a subjective personal opinion.

Constructive criticism, because it is couched in the lie that it is intended to be helpful, is simply the knife covered by a cloth so you don’t see it coming right away and so have more trouble defending against it.

Negative, really?

You may question my bold statement that constructive criticism most often fails to achieve the change it is intended for.  I support that assertion with a simple question for you.

Has criticism directed at you, constructive or otherwise, ever resulted in feelings other than anger, fear, dissapointment, agression, defensiveness and the list goes on.

These are uniformally bad feelings which make you feel bad.  Good results come from good feelings not bad ones.  I will end with an exaggeration.

How effective do you think the boxing coach is during a bout when he provides his fighter with constructive criticism.  “You are terrible, this is the worst fight I have ever seen and you deserve to loose.  Iam just telling you this for your own good.”.

Oh yeah, that will motive the fighter to do better, NOT.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Resolve not Fix

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There is a subtle difference between resolving an issue and fixing a problem.  If the issue has a solution, in essence it is settled.  That particular issue is finished.

On the other hand, the problem from which the issue arose is probably not solved.  In this case it is highly likely similar issues stemming from the base problem will contine to arise.

Applying Common Sense

Given fixing the problem will address reoccurrence, it clearly reduces work, re-work and associated costs and reputational impacts.

So, when you are presented with an issue, investigating to determine the problem (aka cause of the issue ) and then fixing it seems to be more logical than fixing related issues ad infinitum.

If it was so Easy

Typically most of us focus on the issue.  The most common question that springs to our mind is, “What is wrong? and How can I resolve it?”, not “Why is this happening?”.

There is of course a sense of urgency and it often seems the value of determining why an issue occured doesn’t outweigh the value of putting the issue to bed quickly.

If the issue reoccurs, (or a similar issue) odds are you won’t even recognize the relationship because you have not associated cause.

The sad part is just shifting the question from how to solve the issue, point in time, to how to fix it permanently is not difficult.  It is however not intuitive so often gets by passed.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Working in Front/Leading from Behind

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Wayne Gretsky, the hockey player known as “the great one” coupled two key leadership atrributes.  The concept of working in front and leading from behind.

These practices are available to anyone.  The behavioural concept is not skill based, in and of itself, although ultimately skill will be need to execute at the level of greatness.

Work in Front

Wayne used to say he anticipated where the puck was going to be, got there first and thus was able to work the puck very efficiently.  In the context of leadership this equates to anticipating the need and acting.

Think of the individual who has twelve strategic requests put before him by his boss and every one was anticipated (like the puck) and completed before being asked.

This is a form of leadership by example.

Leading from behind

Sticking with Gretsky, while he was known for his play out front he was equaly admired for inspiring his teammates.  This is leading from behind.

Combining leading by example together with leading from behind is a key catalyst to development of a high performing team.  The Edmonton Oilers are surely a good example of a high performing team.

Doing the work of others , directly leading them may be effictive to some extent but combing an example of high performance coupled with inspiring, motovating and encouraging greatness in others is a very powerful path to exceptional results.

Leaders can inspire greatness but a great team is needed to achieve it.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Figure it Out

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One of the things that makes life great is that we both have to figure stuff out and that we can.  Life without challenge or change would probably be boring but the real loss is the pleasure we all feel without accomplishment.

Enjoying the moment of achievement is only possible when you succeed.  Success comes when you address a challenge, figure out how to overcome it, and then do.

Coasting through

The unexpected, uncertain, disappointing, frustrating, saddening are all characteristics of events many think they would like to avoid.  In reality  these occurances are really opportunities and something to embrace.

You will figure it out, we always do.  When you run up against things you need to figure and resolve, remember,  the  satisfaction and pleasure you will feel when the tough stuff is overcome makes it well worth it.

It is trite to say so, but life without things to figure out is not really a life well lived.  I have often commented how my basic personal philosophy is to seek maximum pleasure for myself.

I consider tough events, death, loss, mistakes, unexpected and tough things you need to work hard to get through are a real part of my pleasure seeking.

A life you don’t need to step up and live hard, facing, embracing and overcoming the tough challenges misses out on a lot of pleasure opportunities.

So when the tough stuff happens, go with it, figure it out.  Ultimately you will be glad you did.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Uncertainty

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My crystal ball is a lttle opaque.  I cannot see future events with great certainty.  I can speculate, interpret the data I have available and then predict the most likely result.

Bottom line though is whatever the topic, sports event outcomes, horse racing (a sports event of sorts), my next big success or failure, it is all mostly surrounded by uncertanty.

Navigating the Uncertain

Uncertainty is common and how we manage it is a key skill both for our own personal well being and the well being of those we interract with.

Most importantly do not allow uncertainty to color your emotions.  Fear, anxiety, panic,  and the list goes on, can often be associated with uncertainty.

Unlike the fight or flight reaction initiated by an adrenaline surge, these negative emotions are more likely to lead to a negative outcome.  All of them mask both your ability to analyze the circumstances carefully as well as clouding your judgement.

Uncertainty is best managed through a conscious appraisal of the circumstance.  What you do, first is to think it through.  Reacting without a plan makes it impossible to measure success or failure.

Without knowing whether your approach to uncertain situations is working or not it is not possible to adjust (change course) through anything other than guessing (which is just additional uncertainty).

It is not always easy to pause,  reflect and most importantly plan.   It most certainly requires a strong concious effort to do these things, but it can be done.  The results make it well worth your while.

 

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Embracing Change

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Yesterdays post laid a foundation for a bit of a continued discussion about change.  Given that change is inevitable, the question arises, how can you leverage change to your benefit?

Time proceeds and change occurs whether you acknowlege its happening or accept the results.  A reactive or passive stance basically yields the default results.

By default, whatever the change is aimed at will occur unless you embrace the change, making it your own and thus shaping the results, most likely in a way pleasurable for you.

It is what it is, it just is!

An example of a response to changes response to changes percieved to be outside your control is evidenced by the mantra “it is what it is”.  In essence this is a way of accepting the change by acknowledging its qualities.

Pragmatically,  this can be a good way of moving through difficult changes (e.g., the death of someone close) for which you probably   had no control.  Acknowledging and accepting the event allows you to continue on the path toward future events without getting bogged down or trapped within the changing circumstances.

This is one example of embracing a change, that is practicing a particular  personal behaviour to enable you to work through a change without being overcome.

The practice of recognizing significant impactful changes when you encounter them is a practical way to use the enevitable to your benefit.

The example of using the “it is what it is” is just one behavioural attribute you can leverage, there are many.  The real point of this post is conciously and proactively recognize and deal with the impactful changes that will continue to confront you as you move through your life.

Don’t be complacent, the results can be deadly.