Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Sluuurp...

Steve Pavlina's rockin' the house on his blog this week.  Check out today's post on self-discipline - bring your thirst for learning, and drink up!

My favorite line: 

"But eventually I faced the reality that trying to wait out my life wasn’t working. If I was going to get anywhere, I was going to have to do something about it. And initially this meant tackling a lot of difficult challenges, but I overcame them and grew a lot stronger in a short period of time."

That, my friends, is what it's all about.

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What's your cup of tea?

Last weekend I heard a story from a Monsignor at church, and I kept thinking back on it all week.  I'd like to share it with you.

The story he told is about a woman named Hannah, and it goes like this:

A bald, emaciated man lay in the hospital bed exhausted and weak after a bone marrow transplant for leukemia.  His nurse tiptoed in.

“Mr. Jensen. I am your nurse, Hannah”.  He barely nodded.

Hannah checked his vital signs, and asked,  “Would you like some soup?”

He shook his head, no - "I just want to sleep," he said.

Hannah came back later with medication.  He took it and sank back against the pillow.  Hannah offered him the paper but he did not want it. Feeling defeated and concerned, she left.

She went to the nurses’ kitchen to pour herself a cup of tea.  Then she changed her mind, grabbed the large teapot, and placed it on a tray with some toast and two cups.  Then she headed for Mr. Jensen’s room.

“Would I be disturbing you if I have my tea here in your room?" Hannah asked.  “I would like to watch the news, if it is all right.”

“Not at all,” Mr. Jensen said, but he was clearly taken aback.

Hannah turned on the TV, then poured herself a cup of tea.  “I brought an extra cup, if you would like some,” she offered.

“Maybe I will have half a cup,” he said.

Jensen and Hannah watched the news in silence, until he nodded off.  As she got up to go, he asked, “Are you in tomorrow?”

“I am, and I will have tea with you again tomorrow, if you would like.”

“Yes, I would like that” he answered.

The next night Mr. Jensen had two cups of tea and a piece of toast – his first solid food in a month.  The third night he and Hannah talked about their families, their hometowns, their lives outside the hospital.  The fourth night, he got out of bed and sat in a chair.

A few days later, Hannah found Mr. Jensen’s room empty.  He had recovered enough to go home to recuperate.

Some time later Hannah was downtown shopping when she heard a familiar voice.  “Hannah it is good to see you”, said Mr. Jensen, as he gave her a big hug.

“This is Hannah, “ he said, introducing her to his wife.  “She saved my life with a cup of tea”.

We have lots of opportunities to make a difference in others' lives.  Most of these happen (or don't) based on spur of the moment decisions in our hearts and minds.  

We all know that productivity is the collective result of small actions. Don't underestimate the power of small gestures of kindness, either.

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Can you trust your gut?


In Malcolm Gladwell's 'Blink' we're exposed to the concept of "rapid cognition," which describes how people often make very accurate, snap decisions based on very little input. This is a concept known as "thin slicing."



Of course, I was curious so I've been reading up on the subject.  I discovered that this phenomenon has been the subject of a number of 'thin slicing' studies in which subjects are exposed to tiny snippets of information and measured on how accurate their snap judgements were.  It seems that, in many cases, our rapid cognition works remarkably well.



In the article "Thin slices of life," Lea Winerman describes a 1993 study at Tufts University in which researchers videotaped 13 graduate teaching fellows as they taught class. They then took 3 random 6-second clips of each teacher, and combined them into one 18-second silent video clip.  They showed the 18-second clip to students who did not know the teachers, and asked them to rate them on 13 different variables (such as "accepting," "active," "competent," etc.)



These scores were then compared to the end-of-semester ratings on the same 13 factors from the teachers' actual students.  The researchers were shocked at how accurate the test subjects were at predicting how good the teachers would be, based on these small, random video clips.



This is interesting data, and indicates that you should really listen to your gut.  However, this is an area where I think the principle of "trust, but verify" applies.



Consider this:  I also read another study in which a bunch of hiring managers were asked to select the best candidates for positions based on standard interviewing techniques.  The applicants were also put through structured testing to evaluate their "fit" based on a number of criteria.  Some applicants were hired based on test scores, and some were hired based on the managers' traditional hiring tecniques.



The hiring managers were all experienced, and all thought they could do a better job than some structured test in selecting the right people.  However, a year into the study, the group hired based on test scores was significantly outperforming the group hired using traditional interviews (as measured by job performance, team fit, results, and whether or not they were still employed by the hiring company).



In the article I read, they summarized it by saying that people often hire on "gut" but end up firing on things that may not be apparent at the gut level.  These things tend to be persistent personality traits, work ethic issues, and other aspects that may not be apparent in short, structured interactions.



So, to sum it up, I believe you can trust your gut, but your gut feel may not be sufficient for some decisions.  When you're making a major decision like hiring people to join your team, verify that gut feel.  If structured testing is an option for you, use it.  If not, spend more time checking references, use team interviewing, probe for experience and situational "stories" which might indicate issues that will surface over the long term.



 Trust, but verify.

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