All posts by steve@kerrzone.com

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Constant Change

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When things are made different whether a behaviour, an object or a physical transformation,  a  change has occured.  Of course change can range from small to radical and every measure in between.

Both small and major changes occur around you every day from the instant you are born until death.  Given all the possibilities for things to alter, from the color and make of the car you own to the way you think both conciously and unconsciously (e.g. a bias) change is inevitable.

Pace and Value

Change will occur, but how much, how fast and what order of magnitude will the impact be?  Will the change result in immediate satisfaction, dissatisfaction or will it be neutral.

Alternatively the impact of change may take some time to become apparent.  The future result of a change could be both unexpected and surprising (unexpected is usually a surprise but not necessarily).

What you can do about the pace and impat of change varies and certainly you can embrace changes, resist or ignore them.

Things are changing, so I can do what I want

Whatever change is, one thing it is not; an excuse to behave any way you want.  To say, I behaved badly because things are changing does not fly.

Whatever motivated a particular behaviour,  future change is only valid as a motivation if the possibilities, impacts and rationale are at a minimum communicated inadvancd.

For example to say I acted this way because things are changing is a pretty lame excuse.  If things are changing why not indicate what the anticipated change will be, why it will impact the way you behave  and then act?

Seems like a reasonable and effective sequence to me.  If you behave badly because you are arrogant and self centered, blaming bad behaviour on the fact things are changing is pretty weak.  After all things are changing all the time.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Leading through Ambiguity

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Sometimes things are not clear and can be open to more than one interpretation.  These situations are ambiguous and the resulting confusion can be challenging to work through.

I often comment about leaders as facilitators and being a catalyst to group success rather than directive; however, ambiguity is a circumstance where effective leadership can make a real difference (and lack thereof a real detriment).

Leading from the bottom of the pyramid

I strongly believe, as a broad practice, leaders should not be in front most of the time.  I subscribe to  the inverted pyramid, where the tip of the pyramid, representing the heads of a organization, is at the bottom .

This concept focuses on releasing the power and capabilities of everyone in an organization (represented by the pyramid) rather than focusing on the few so called leaders.

Leading from front

That being said there are times when  leaders should live up to their title and lead, that is get out in front (i.e., flip the pyramid).  When an ambiguous situation needs to be addressed, typically confusion reigns.

By definition ambiguity includes  multiple views and perspectives largely leading to analysis paralysis.  If no one takes charge, successfully achieving the intended goal will probably only result by accident.

Leading directly, providing clarification and defining the course of action is sometimes the best approach.  This behaviour should be used sparingly, the power of the group should be leveraged most of the time, but when the group is in dissarry, the leader must guide.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Delegating Upwards

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A very common, albeit often unconcious, human behaviour is tossing the ball.  Also known as releasing the hot potato, back at you or in the case of organizational behaviour – delegating upwards.

I see this behaviour in many forms, for some people it is a habitual behaviour while for others it is just a natural sub-concious reaction like flight or flight.

A strong leader with a solid foundational understanding of management (getting things down through others) typically has the skills to prevent this type of behaviour (and uses them).

I am amazed

It never ceases to surprise me how many persons in position of granted authority do not have the ability to counter the passing of the ball back to them (maybe an okay practice in rugby or international football, but organizationally, I wonder!)

More suprising still, is how many jobs are advertised for with the need for a “self starter” or “evidence of strong personal initiative”,  yet settle for less.  It is clearly recognized these beviours form the underpinning of a high performing team yet somehow accepted they are rarely found so settling for the best available is okay.

As I have noted in the past, an exceptional leader does not actually lead from the front in the traditional sense, but rather guides and facilitates the team to act for themselves.

A highly motivated team enables the leader to guide, adjust and support while enabling the most qualified to actually complete the work.

So take a look at yourself, do you toss back at your leader/manager or steam ahead with confidence and belief that you can do it better? It can be a very satisfying approach ( or you can just say “ not my job” and relax.  .

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Who are you?

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To truly understand who you are,  you must first understand how others see you.

This is not a riddle but rather intended to highlight the fact that whatever you think about your own personality, maturity or behaviour what really matters is the perspective of other people.

Knowing Yourself

Being aware of your habitual behaviours (your personality) can be valuable when your perspective on these behaviours matches that of the general population.

Simply put, how you perceive yourself is how you are perceived, ergo behavioural decisions you make are founded on an accurate base.

Unfortunately, the opposite can apply as well.  If your own behavioural assessment does not match that of those receiving the effects of your behaviour, adjustments you make to improve and thus enhance the way others view you, are based on false assumptions

In this case the impacts of your behaviours, and the changes you made to ensure positive impacts, most likely won’t lead to the results you expect/ hope for.

Validation

One of the most difficult things to achieve is an objective validation that your perception about what others think of you is accurate.  Anonymous web  surveys hosted by a disinterested third party can be very useful in this regard but this is not always a feasible option.

For me, this is where the skill of self awareness is really useful.  How you are perceived by others is telegraphed in hundreds of ways from body language, verbal retorts to just basic behaviours ( i.e., what others do or the absense of what they do)

Being sensitive to these signs and consciously analysing them all the time may require a little more effort than reviewing the results of an independent and anonymous survey, but it works.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Personality and Maturity

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Your personality, basically a word to describe your habitual behaviours, is believed to be formed as a result of both nature (neurological development) and nature ( the environment you grew up in)

In general the foundation of your personality, based on nature and nurture, is believed to be set by your early teens.  Your habitual behaviours can change over time but like habits in general, it is usually slow and difficult to do.

Maturity

Maturity decribes growth and advancement in your behaviour.  This is largely based on experience.  The behavioural changes you make as time goes by and you gain maturity can include impacts to your habitual behaviours (personality).

The way a person might typically behave in given situations have been studied and labled as personality types.  The level of conformity, efficiency and effectiveness of overall behaviour is typically used to gauge ones maturity.

While typically personality is considered set at a young age, as you grow older and mature in other behaviors so can your personality mellow and mature.  Personality and maturity can combine to create change.

Continuous Improvement

The point is, although your personality can be an underlying defining aspect of your core behaviour, as you mature it can and will change.  Continuous improvement of your overall behaviour is not only possible, it is desirable.

To coin an old television conmercial for a ladies cosmetic product, your not getting older, your getting better.  Don’t ever give up improving your behaviors, both those you interact with and those you will be interacting with, salute you for continual striving to behave better.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Using your power

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Sometimes you feel strongly about something.  It is as if a message is being transmitted to you.   I used consider these occurences coincidence , as time passed by I have come to believe such occurances may not be random and should not be easily dismissed.

Hot off the press example

I had a doctors appointment today and as I was preparing to leave I had a strong belief it was going to be cancelled.  I checked my email for a cancellation notice.  At that point there was none.

Later, at the doctors office I found my doctor had called in sick and my appointment was cancelled.  I should have gone with my feeling and called the doctors office before I left, would have saved myself a lot of trouble.

A higher power

Shortly after my Dad died a pigeon took roost in the decorative gable of our house.  Both my wife and I felt strongly this was my Dad’s spirit come to watch over us and provide a calming influence.

We have never had a pigeon visit before or after (they are a rare bird in Edmonton, Canada).  The cold eventually got to the pigeon, it died and we gave it a small plot inour back yard.

To this day I know this was my Dad’s spirit and it’s visit has been comforting.

Do I believe in the occult, a higher power, extrasensory perception, I have not been able to proof any of these concepts to my absolute satisfaction, but certainly it is possible even probable that some guiding force is present all around us.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Enjoyment

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Taking pleasure in things leads to enjoyment.  On of my own personal goals is to be in a constant state of enjoyment.  From a practical perspective pleasure can be subjective to a degree (although for the majority there is general consistency about what leads to enjoyment).

This does not mean opportunities for enjoyment are constantly available to everyone, it just might vary.

The Bottom Line

The practice of enjoyment, taking pleasure in things, is a choice.  Simply put, you can control whether you are in a state of enjoyment. It is afterall about perspective and if you perceive life occurrences in a particular way, arguably every thing could have a pleasurable aspect.

Life is a series of pleasurable events, if you want it to be.  Why not?  The fact that stress and distress can worm its way  into our daily routines is always puzzling to me.

Maximizing Pleasure

That is not to say every life event provides the same level of pleasure and working towards a goal of maximizing your personal pleasure (not at the expense of others, of course) is both an admirable and obtainable goal.

To some extent it requires conscious control of your emotional well being.  The positive or pleasurable aspects of a thing sometimes require some effort to achieve, but I would argue, regardless of what you are up against, some form of enjoyment opportunity exists.

You just need to both recognize and embrace it.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Commitment

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Dedication to a cause and it’s associated goals implies commitment.    A clear sign of commitment is agreement to complete an action by a specified date.

Do or do not!

Maybe, if, and I will try are indicative of a lack of commitment.  Although agreement to make an attempt (try) is viewed as a commitment by some I am much more conservative.

Yoda, a seminal character in the Star Wars franchise captured my own perspective on this topic perfectly when he said “do or do not, there is no try”.  My view of this is, the doing of something does not preclude failure,  but psychologically this is very different from just trying.

Doing does not equate to trying for me, but rather it is indicative of full unbiased  commitment.  That is, doing it, whether you succeed or fail represents whole hearted committment while trying indicates a recognition you might fail before even doing it.

In this case the committment is only half hearted.

Why Commit?

The power of full commitment lies in the probability of success.  Back to Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, a young Jedi master is seeking to move a large object with the force. He is unable to do so after trying again and again.  Yoda advises him to do or do not, there is no try.  Following this advise he succeeds.

I put this story  down a an illustration that the reduction of the risk of failure, when failure is not accepted as a possibility before you have even started can lead to success.

So the next time you are challenged to do somethings, accept it with a time to complete by or do accept it (fully).  Remember, there is no value in trying, if you are no going to do it, just say so up front.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Capital or Income?

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The past week and a half of market volatility have put a dent in the value of many investment portfolios.  This decrease in value of equities, mutual or exchange traded funds or even bonds has a silver lining for the income investor.

Fixed income instruments or dividend paying equities whose underlying businesses continue to thrive,  still pay the cash out at the defined frequency and rate.  The dividends may drop in a bad economy, but that is not the case here at all.

Markets value of equities, funds and bonds (existing bonds not new issues) are dropping but in this case it is not because the economy is tanking, so income streams are relatively untouched.

 Buying Opportunity

Income has built up or continues from your existing investments, their prices are lower, perhaps even lower than you paid for them, so now is the time to buy and increase your yield.

For the income investor, the amount of capital is almost irrelavent.  The number of shares, units or bond interest rate is all that really matters.  If your portfolio returned $100,000 a year in income, whether it’s value is $1,000,000 or $500,000 you still have your income.

The issue is not paper losses of capital.  If you need the money and have to sell and take a real capital loss, that would be an issue.  Not only do you realize the loss but also reduce future income.

If you can retain enough liquid cash to cover sudden cash needs and meet your regular  income needs from your less liquid  capital investments,  market volatility should not be a concern.  Don’t panic.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Embrace the Unknown

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I was working with a team the other day and one of the participants asked me if I knew what I was doing.  I paused for a moment and then gave the only reply that makes sense to me.

If I knew what I was doing I would not be human, nor would life be as entertaining as it is.  Embrace the unknown – that is truly the root of all enjoyment.

Obviously, at a point in time, for a specific circumstance, it is both beneficial and probably imperative to know what you are doing.  Sometimes it is enjoyable to be blissfully unaware.

Philisophically Speaking

From a broader perspective, considering life, on the whole, do you really want to know the meaning of life?  Theoretically, if you knew the meaning of life you could achieve it and once achieved there would be no further reason to live.

Thus, knowing the meaning of life could, in fact, be deadly.  Extrapolating, admittedly very broadly, not knowing what you are doing can have real benefit.  In fact, in and of itself that could provide a foundation to continue living.

Knowing What you are doing in the moment

Of course, as noted, not knowing what you are doing at the moment would be confusing.  To a large extent, the interpretation of the context of the question is critical.

For example, if you drive a car after having drunk a lot of alcohol,  I might argue, given the severe risk of major consequences, you did not know what you were doing but would have been better off knowing in that case.

On the philosophical plane of existence, taking a note from the Beatles song library, “Tomorrow never knows”.  That is probably a good thing.

So sometimes knowing is good and sometimes more natural not to.