Truth

Dig deep enough before making decisions

decisionsDon’t make decisions based only on where you are; make decisions based on where you want to be. Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is quoted as saying, “We are not a product of our circumstances, we are a product of our decisions.”

Your circumstances do play a part in your future, but only to ground you as you decide what to do next.

Jonathan Schaeffer, the creator of computer chess programs, calculated that there are 197,742 different ways that the players in a chess match could play their first two moves. When you expand that to the first three moves the possible outcomes becomes 121 million. In chess, as in life, your decisions don’t end when you first decide, but continue through each step as you evaluate what’s next.

When faced with choices, before you decide, commit to settle for nothing less than knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Today we have the ability to receive more information than at any time in history. Take care to evaluate what you know before deciding where to go.

“It is the brain, the little gray cells on which one must rely. One must seek the truth within – not without.” – Agatha Christie’s famous detective Hercule Poirot

Invest the time it takes to be the best. How long should you think and evaluate options before you decide? It depends on the potential impact of the decision and the level of experience you have in the area. A greater chance of impact and a lesser degree of experience require more time. Stay with it until you feel that you have the ability to make the best decision possible.

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”– Albert Einstein

Pay attention to how the facts fit together. The first step in decision making is a knowledge of the facts. Next comes an understanding of why the facts are what they are. Most important is to obtain the wisdom to apply what you now know and understand to make the best decision possible. This comes from broadening your view through other people and other similar decisions that have been made.

“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” Marilyn vos Savant

Profit from your analysis. You will never have all the answers needed to make a perfect decision. Don’t let that stop you from asking as many questions as reasonable to make the best decision possible.

“I don’t pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.” – Arthur C. Clarke

Hope – It’s not what happened, it’s what’s going to happen.

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Every day we deal with success and disappointment. We often spend time wringing our hands over what didn’t work instead of investing our time planning to repeat what did work. Hope is not just a wish that things might somehow work out. Hope is something deep inside that points us forward to reach for what we know can be.

How does hope work? Why does hope work? Read on for the three reasons you should hope.

Hope doesn’t leave. Hope isn’t a passing thought, or something you have to earn. We were made to hope for a future, therefore you already have hope and will always have hope – you just need to tap into it.

Hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality.

Hope doesn’t quit. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall down, hope never throws in the towel. Hope doesn’t guarantee success at each step, but it enables you to take the next step towards success.

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hope doesn’t look back. Hope only works in one direction – forward. There is no reverse, in fact there isn’t even a rear view mirror, only an enormous front windshield so you can see all of the possibilities.

“A whole stack of memories never equal one little hope.” – Charles M. Schulz

Remember, hope isn’t concerned with what happened, only what’s going to happen.

Leaders: What steps do you take when success seems to be a thing of the past?

steps to successYour team used to be a success.  Every project was delivered on time and under budget.  Team morale was high and you were the “Go-To Team.” You don’t know what happened but success now seems out of reach.

Here are three quick fixes that you may be tempted to try:

1-Just do more of what you are already doing.  It might not be working now, but maybe more of the same will bring success.  Grow more, spend more, centralize more, decentralize more.

2-Just ignore any negative data and amplify the positive data.  And if you don’t really understand the data find away to make it positive.

3-Just do something big and bold:  change the entire leadership team, launch a bold but untested strategy, dive into a radical transformation, roll out a hoped-for blockbuster product.

In his book Why the Mighty Fall Jim Collins shared stories of companies that tried these quick fixes.  You can tell from the title of his book that these companies did not achieve success.  Quick fixes never work for long term success.

“The elevator to success is out of order.  You’ll have to use the stairs…one step at a time.” – Joe Girard

Here are three steps that you should take to return to success:

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Leaders: Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

20130613-194535.jpgLet’s be clear, this isn’t a lecture on honesty; of course we must always tell the truth, that is a given. I am talking about leaders being open with real issues and real choices that need to be made. Your teams have a right to know what they are up against. They have a need to be part of the decision making process. They also have the best ideas about how to approach the issues.

Tell them what has happened. Tell them what is happening. Tell them what is going to happen.

But, before you jump right in and tell the truth, follow these three steps:

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