At my son's Boy Scout meeting the other day, I was reminded that there are three "anchors" in scouting: duty to self, duty to God, and duty to others. The boys are encouraged to do at least one thing to benefit each area every day.
This is a good way to view various areas of responsibility and it reminded me to keep balance in my life. Each day for the next 6 weeks or so, I will consciously pursue one "hard target" for each of four main areas of responsibility: self, family, work, and community. For me:
- Self involves self-development activities such as exercise, prayer or meditation, writing, learning new skills, and things like that.
- Family involves doing something to improve my home and family life, improving some aspect of my relationship with my wife and kids, etc.
- Work involves taking concrete action toward one of my work objectives, building relationships with people I work with, and other things to help my company achieve its mission.
- Community includes involvement in church activities, my work with the Boy Scouts, and doing things to help others.
Some of these areas may be difficult some days - I imagine I'll be challenged to come up with concrete actions for Family on my upcoming business trip to Europe, for example. I won't stress out, though - this gets back to my earlier post on Intention: I'll approach each day with sincere intent to do something good in each of these areas, then that intention will create the opportunities to do so.
One other qualifier on this - try not to look for simple, "check box" kinds of activities. Instead, try to identify an action that can bring positive forward progress toward a better life for you in each areas.
In my case, I think a focus on conscious completion of at least one substantive action in each of these areas over the next six weeks will be a good thing. Who knows- it may just become a habit!
What about you - what are your anchors? As you think about what you want to do each day, decide on one thing you can do in each of your anchor areas, write it down, and make it happen.
Related posts:
Read MoreRosa's done a wonderful job (and doesn't she always?) of touring the blogs of her community and provided a great snapshot of what's going on. Check it out (and thanks for the nod regarding my post titles, Rosa).
While you're over there, join in on the Managing With Aloha Jumpstart program she's been doing this year. It is a great way to get the zen of her wonderful book - and to get a better feeling of connectedness with her community. She started this in January, but it's never too late to jump in!
Read MoreVarious learning models I've encountered over the years talk about four stages of learning. I just read an article by Peter Bergulnd that reminded me of this - here's an excerpt
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 Learning occurs through repetition. A good way to make sense of this lies in seeing four stages: 1) unconsciously incompetent 2) consciously incompetent 3) consciously competent and 4) unconsciously competent. Let's take the example of a child riding a bike:
- Unconsciously incompetent. The child doesn't realize he can't ride a bike.
- Consciously incompetent. The child tries, but fails in riding the bike. The child knows what he's trying to do but is unable to do it.
- Consciously competent. This is where the child, with total concentration and focus, can ride the bike although sort of wobbly.
- Unconsciously competent. This is where the child, without thinking about it, rides the bike effortlessly. Bike riding, through repetition, has become a task that is natural as a habit - or a morning routine.
Source: Minnesota Technology® magazine, September/October 1999 |
The article has some very thought-provoking information in it, including a technique called the "Twenty Times Concept," which helps you tackle the idea of scalability of practices as your organization grows.
I won't recap the article any further here, since you can -- and should -- click over and read it for free. That said, the article brings to mind an interesting thought about personal development:
Most of my "stretch goals" and my best growth occurs once I become consciously incompetent. This really stimulates my desire to learn new things, and kicks me into data gathering mode. From there, I can systematically identify where my issues are, create a concrete goal, establish a plan and work toward my goal.
Who says ignorance is bliss? Knowing my limitations also enables me to determine where my risks are, and increases my odds of responding appropriately to those risks.
Sure, I want to be consciously competent, then unconsciously competent - but the real fun starts when I become consciously incompetent.
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How many times have you made a plea to someone for something and not gotten what you wanted? The answer may be easier than you think: up your influence.
Upping your influence means bucking your own traditional wisdom and trying a different set of "levers" to make your case. For example:
- If you've been relying on clean, logical arguments to sell your idea, try making an emotional appeal instead.
- If your emotional approach to seeking support from others is falling on deaf ears, try creating a logical business case to convince your audience.
- If you are a calm, collected, quiet person try making a loud, brash, demanding case!
- If you are a noisy desk-pounder, try a quiet, level-toned statement of your case
This can work for a number of reasons, depending on the situation:
- If you are perceived as a certain type of person (logical, emotional, loud, quiet, etc.) taking the opposite stance or demeanor can cause others to reconsider you in a different light. This is particularly effective if others see you as quiet, calm, overly logical, etc. - in which case a loud, emotional posture will help convey passion.
- If your audience is of a certain mindset (logical, emotional, etc.) taking an opposite stance can catch them off guard and put them into a mode in which they are not well equipped to shoot down your ideas.
Give it a try - if your requests are falling on deaf ears, you just might be able to cut through the noise and complacency by upping your influence.
Related posts:
Read MoreLisa Haneberg has just posted the winners of the Best Management Ideas contest over at Management Craft! As one of the judges, I was impressed with the quality of ideas submitted. It has also been fun seeing who the submitters were (we were provided with a list of ideas, but no clues as to who submitted them).
There are some great ideas over there - and don't just read the winning idea - there is a wealth of learning in the whole list.
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