This is my 15th of 16 lessons from 16 years in business. This post will actually reference many of the others in this series. If you would like to read the introductory post, you can do so here.


While the original plan was to publish this post yesterday, and #16 today, the 16th, I've chosen to unveil the biggest lesson live on our online streaming video Party today at 3 pm ET (Watch and get the full details).

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Then, I'll post that final lesson here this weekend. But for now, lesson 15.

Lesson 15 is about an ability that we all have, all use, and along with opposable thumbs is one of the things that make us different than any other living thing.

We can choose.

We choose literally thousands of times a day - most all of these choices made subconsciously - based on past experience and habit. This is good, of course, because we need not be consciously dealing with many of those decisions or choices in our daily lives.

My lesson is that we become more successful, productive, happier, healthier, more confident, have better relationships, (insert any positive desirable attribute here). When we exercise our ability to choose - taking back from the subconscious some important choices, and in other cases simply recognizing that we have a choice.

As I thought about how to talk about this lesson, I realized that this lesson is imbedded inside almost all of the other lessons. In some it is at the heart of the lesson, for others more on the edges. But choice plays an important role in each one.

#1 The Value of Writing - you can choose to write.

#2 A Leadership Primer on Celebrations - you can choose as a leader to look for places to celebrate and to make it happen.

#3 Some Advice about Advice - you can choose how to listen to and use any advice you receive.

#4 Success is about Relationships - you can choose how to build and nurture your relationships - almost every minute of your day.

#5 The Dangers of Dabbling - you can choose how much - or how little to dabble.

#6 The Importance of Innovation - you can choose to keep the status quo - or you can innovate.

#7 Look. See. Be Grateful - you can choose gratitude.

#8 Four Lessons in Change - you can choose change (it is all around you).

#9 Reading. Why We Should and Why We Don't - you can choose to read.

#10 The Starting Point of All Improvement - you can choose to believe.

#11 Make Work Play - you can choose to work, you can choose to play and you can choose to make work play.

#12 You've Gotta Take Action - you can choose to act.

#13 The Power of AND - you can choose AND.

#14 The Truth About Attitude - you can choose your attitude, yes you really can!

One more thing about each of these lessons. You can choose all of them now.

Right now.

Realize too, that waiting is a choice.

What I've learned, and I relearn it every day (and I certainly don't always get it right), is that we move closer to our potential and make a bigger difference in the world when we choose more consciously and with greater intention.

Actually, it has never been said clearer or better than by Og Mandino is his fabulous book, The Greatest Miracle in the World:

Use wisely your power of choice.

Labels: choice, choosing, decision making

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The other day my son commented that his mother and I were being judgemental. this came after I made a comment about something as we drove down the road.

My immediate response was that I wasn't judging, but making an observation. This led to a spirited conversation in our car about the differences between observation and judgement. The differences are huge and we see them every day. Here are a couple of examples.

"His hair is long." - observation

"His hair is too long." or "His hair needs to be cut." - judgements


"The table is black." - observation

"The table is ugly." - judgement


"She is very skilled." - observation, if based on truly observing the skills being discussed

"She is better than I am." judgement, unless there is factual measurement on a criteria that all agree defines "better."

The conversation we had in our car was more than wordplay or a dictionary challenge. It defines an important concept that we often lose sight of or miss by not thinking clearly. As a leader when developing others, giving feedback or making decisions, we need to be crystal clear on our judgements vs. our observations.

Are you passing judgement on people and their behavior? Whether positive or negative, spoken or unspoken those judgements will have an impact on people's performance (so if you are going to judge, make it a positive one!)

When giving feedback are your statements largely observational or judgmental? If you try to pass judgement off as fact you risk being wrong and setting a stage for defensiveness, resistance or worse.

While we all need to make judgements, when making decisions, especially important ones, it is again important to separate observation from assumption and judgement. doing so will help you make better decisions.


No where right now is it clearer than in the campaign for the U.S. Presidency.

Both Senator Obama and Senator McCain (and in many more cases their spokespeople, surrogates and fans) make statements meant to be interpreted as observations or statements of fact, when in effect they are merely judgements or personal interpretations. Use the time you watch or listen to campaign related activities over the next couple of days to help you identify and sort out observations from judgements. This practice will help you in your life, and perhaps help you sort out the truth from the massive spin that is employed by both campaigns as well as their supporters.

Also posted in Leadership.

Labels: decision making, feedback, presidential candidates, presidential leadership

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In 1919 Leslie Irvin made a decision. He decided to jump from an airplane. He wasn't the first to jump from a plane; and it wasn't even the first time he jumped from a plane - in fact he had been jumping for five years.

But on April 28, 1919, Leslie did something no one had ever done before.

He made a premeditated, free-fall, parachute descent with a pack on his back. After he left the plane, he pulled a ripcord to deploy the chute, and he broke his ankle when he landed. Before this, parachutes were deployed from canisters on the plane. This had become the standard approach in the fledgling flight industry as a safety measure for pilots.

So imagine when Leslie jumped - with no attachment of any kind to the plane - hoping his new parachute would open.

He took the kind of jump that day that most of us wouldn't take - on many different levels for many different reasons. But that jump led this young stuntman into business - a business that continues today as the Irvin Aerospace Company, specializing in parachutes and other life saving equipment.

While Irvin didn't design the new parachute or the process, he did make a critical decision - whether or not he would make the jump. In retrospect, given the short synopsis I have just shared, it seems the jump was absolutely the right decision, yet at the time, I'm guessing nearly everyone thought it was crazy, rash, or just plain stupid. (Can't you just hear Leslie's mother saying, "You are going to do what?")

There are hundreds of decision making tools available; however, in honor of Leslie and his fate-filled jump, here’s a simple acrostic to help you be more thoughtful and complete about the decisions you make - large and small.

JUMP!

When making decisions, you need to JUMP!

Judge
Using
Multiple
Perspectives

You will make better decisions when you consider the situation from a variety of perspectives. What would others think, how would others respond, and what would their reactions be?

The various perspectives you consider in different situations likely will be quite different (perspectives on deciding where to go on vacation versus deciding on which job offer to accept would probably vary widely, for example), but the approach holds.

Whether it's a highly structured review or a quick overview, considering multiple perspectives will provide you a new vantagepoint from which to make your decision.

Uses of JUMP

You can JUMP on any type of decision, but here are some times when JUMP-ing might be especially helpful.

Considering a change? Perhaps your organization or team wants to change a procedure or approach. Rather than taking your own beliefs as your sole determinant, be open and ask questions of others. Consider their perspectives as you consider your choices related to the change.

Leading or proposing a change? Multiple perspectives here is critical both to proposing the best change option and to communicating it successfully to others. You will communicate and lead change most effectively when you communicate it from the perspective of others. You can't do this very well if you haven't taken a JUMP.

Making a critical decision of any sort? Looking at it from a variety of angles will help you make a more informed, and likely better, decision.

Trying something new? Consider the advice and perspective of experts in the area, and perhaps non-experts as well. A multitude of perspectives will offer a more balanced view to consider the risks and rewards to your new idea.

Leslie Irvin jumped from a plane in a new way, something most of us will never do (in a new way or not!). While we'll never know how he made that decision, we all can make better decisions - and honor his spirit - by making a JUMP, judge using multiple perspectives.

Potential Pointer: Decisions are made every day, usually relying on past experience, intuition and quick judgments to decide. Some decisions, especially those relating to new ideas, are better decided after an intelligent JUMP rather than jumping to conclusions.

Labels: decision making, risks

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