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Beware the Distraction of the Bright Shiny Penny

May 16, 2010 By

penny

Photo by skitzitilby on Flickr

Do you sometimes feel like you are running around like a crazy person trying to get everything done, only to accomplish nothing at the end of the day because of distractions? This morning I was cooking biscuits for breakfast. They were almost finished, but needed one more minute. I turned off the oven but left the biscuits in to finish browning and went to my computer to check one thing in my email box. Three minutes later I jerked my eyes off the blog post rant I was reading about Facebook and looked at the oven in horror. I have completely forgotten to take the biscuits out! And the scary thing was that I could have gone on reading for another 10-20 minutes.

Luckily, the biscuits weren’t burned since I had turned the oven off, but the episode reminded me that there are dangers in running from bright shiny penny to bright shiny penny down the path of life. If you are anything like me, you start off the day with great intentions, get distracted by events during your day as you run around to get things done, then end up feeling you’ve accomplished nothing. In the interest of sharing what I am in the process of learning, here are some questions to ask yourself when you are trying to accomplish a task and something threatens to change your trajectory:

Is this a bigger priority than what I was doing?

The distraction might be fun, urgent, or have an impatient person attached to it, but if it isn’t as important as the task at hand then you need to save it for later. Jot it down on a notepad, send yourself an email with the reminder, call your other phone and leave a voice mail. Somehow, find a way to add it to your collection of things to think about later.

If I allow myself to get distracted now, how do I make sure I come back to what I’m doing?

Your reminder might be setting a timer, putting a rubber band around your wrist (you’ll notice it later, I promise) or leaving a big yellow sticky note in a prominent place for when you return. The trick is to find something that will get you back on track when you can focus again on your task.

How much energy or time will reacting to this take?

In the process of chasing every new idea that comes along, you’ll burn off a lot of energy. Is that energy better spent heading toward a specific goal today? If not, enjoy running after your pennies and have a great time doing it. But if following it will take so much energy or time that you can’t accomplish your task today, you need to remind yourself to stay on target.

Today’s Strength Training Challenge

Identify one thing you will accomplish today. You can do more if you wish, but make sure to finish one small piece of meaningful work. If you finish one task that is important and will lead toward a larger priority or goal, you will end each day with a sense of purpose and accomplishment. And you won’t find yourself eating burned biscuits.

Filed Under: Action Steps, Ideas

What Problems Do You Solve?

May 13, 2010 By

Photo by martinofranchi on Flickr

It’s a tough question, but asking yourself what problems you are solving for your company, customers or team is at the root of doing meaningful work. If you can’t answer it, you are not alone. I’ve asked this when coaching people and some look at me with a “deer in the headlights” gaze for a full 30 seconds before stuttering out, “Uh … well … I’m not sure.” Others take a minute to think and then blurt, “Not the types of problems I want to be solving.” Worse, occasionally I get someone who responds, “I don’t think I do solve any problems.” Any of these responses are a problem, but one that can be resolved with a little introspection. Let’s take them one by one.

“I’m not sure what problem I’m solving.”

If this is your answer, you might not have thought of your work in these terms before. You might be of the “ours is not to question why” philosophy, which either means that you are simply doing what you are told or that you are concentrating on the tasks at hand but not the ultimate purpose of those tasks.

If you are doing what you are told, you might be new to your job or company. In that case, starting out without knowing the problems you are solving with your work can be okay for a little bit. As soon as you can, however, start to question your team lead or manager about the impacts of your work. Is developing that website helping the client start a business in a new area of expertise? Or is it replacing a process that used to be done some other way? Knowing the problems you are helping to solve allows you to engage more fully with your work and to come up with new ideas for achieving that purpose quicker, more completely, or at a lower cost. Additionally, you will feel as if you are part of a larger picture and your work will take on new meaning. You will also learn quite a bit more about your company, clients or team when you discover what they are trying to achieve.

If you aren’t new to your position or company and you don’t know the answer, your time to ask those questions is now. Why? Knowing the problems you are solving ensures that your solutions will help resolve the problem. If you don’t know the purpose behind the work you are being asked to do, you can’t apply your own initiative and creativity to resolving it. This means that you aren’t contributing all that you can. You need to shine, and to do that you need to understand the need so you can fulfill it.

“Not the types of problems I want to be solving.”

This answer points directly to a mismatch between you and your role or between you and the type of work you are doing. If you are in the wrong role (look into Belbin team roles for more info), you will feel as if you are not able to be authentic in your work. If you are expected to lead the team but you hate conflict and you just want everyone to get along, you might be better off using your natural skills of mediation and community-building to shape the team into a tighter working group. In an opposite situation, if you are constantly butting heads with others on the team (or even your team lead – yikes!) about how things “should be done” you might be cast in the role of follower when your natural strengths are leadership and your commanding presence. Recognizing that the role you’re being asked to fill goes against your authentic tendencies is the first step in changing your situation. The second is learning how to communicate your authentic style, and the third is figuring out how you can change your role to one that suits you better.

If the role you occupy on the team fits you but you still feel unfulfilled in your work, you are probably doing the wrong type of work. Do you love working with tangible problems and objects, but feel pressured to focus on concepts and ideas instead? Do you love initiating new projects and getting things started, but find yourself being asked to create repeatable processes that can be applied over and over again? Are you naturally drawn to people, but expected to work on systems or tools? These are the questions that will help you determine the work that will seem meaningful to you and will help you find the work you were meant to do.

“I don’t think I do solve any problems.”

If this is your response, you are likely developing a solution for a problem that either doesn’t exist or isn’t a high priority. This can easily happen when you have a new idea to do something and you get so wrapped up in it that you haven’t taken the time to think through who will use it or how. In the small Texas town where I grew up, they called this “fixing what ain’t broke.” You might want to change a process to be more efficient, but if your changes don’t save a lot of time or money they will not be adopted and you will be spinning your wheels on creating a solution without a problem.

Today’s Strength Building Challenge

Take a few minutes during work today to identify the problem you are solving with the work you do. If you can’t come up with one, keep asking questions until you get an answer. Yes, it takes time – but it’s time well spent.

Filed Under: Action Steps, Developing Strengths

3 iNtuitive Tricks to Boost Your Memory

February 23, 2010 By

elephant

Photo by digitalART2

Is there someone in your life who seems to effortlessly fly through training classes, courses and tests? Who can volunteer to speak the morning of a Toastmasters meeting and deliver a speech that would take you a week to prepare? Who can reply to a surprise question from the boss at a meeting with a perfectly coordinated reply that actually makes sense?

As I read Scott Young’s guest post “How I was Able to Ace Exams Without Studying”, I was struck by how the ideas he suggests to boost memory come naturally to many iNtuitives (greens and blues). The post is definitely worth a read, and here are three tools he suggests that I use every day. You can apply them, too – no matter your personality type.

Metaphor

How do you describe complex or unfamiliar ideas to others? Okay, now how do you do it so that they understand?

I was first exposed to the value of metaphors when I read Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. In the book, Chip and Dan Heath describe the power of making an idea stick by comparing it to something the audience already knows.

For example, one of my family members owns some farmland and was offered a chance to purchase the easement that cut through the property. I was given a copy of the offer letter and my six year old, ever inquisitive, asked what the letter said. How would you explain it?

I ended up talking about two birthday cakes – one with a strip of sand running across it and the other without. I asked him which he would rather have. Of course, he said he’d choose the cake without sand. I then explained that this easement ran through the land, splitting it in two and making the easement part of it unusable. Suddenly, a six year old could understand the impacts of a real estate decision.

Harness the power of metaphor. Exercise your ability to compare complex ideas to simple ones. Communicate those ideas to others using comparisons and see whether you see the light of understanding dawn in their eyes.

Mind Mapping

Do you get writer’s block when you sit down to write that article, that report, that research paper? Blank paper (or a blank screen) can be awfully intimidating. Even trying to write an outline can be a challenge. Insert the power of mind mapping.

Mind mapping, simply put, is creating a diagram of circles and lines to brainstorm ideas. You start with one central circle and write the main idea inside it. Then draw a spoke and another circle and, in it, the first related idea that comes to mind. Then the second – either related to your second circle or as another branch off the main idea. As new things come to you, you simply add circles and connecting lines. If you use paper and pen (or pencil), as I often do, you will end up crossing out or erasing lines and connecting the circles in many ways as you re-organize your thoughts. If you do this a lot, you might want to invest in an online mind mapping tool or software like MindManager by MindJet.

The next time you are faced with a blank screen, a timeline, and a product to create, give mind mapping a try. Watch your ideas take shape as your mind jumps from related idea to related idea, unencumbered by outlines or hierarchical bullet points.

Use Mnemonics

Ever take piano lessons? How did you learn the scales? Does the phrase “Every Good Boy Does Fine” ring a bell (for the notes E, G, B, D and F)? How about math class? Did you memorize the order of operations by the phrase “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” (for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition then Subtraction)? If so, you used mnemonics to memorize material.

Acronyms are one of the most common uses of mnemonics. If you are like me, you go to the store often and return carrying all sorts of stuff – yet forgetting the one thing you went to the store to buy. Next time, try using an acronym. For instance, a list like milk, eggs, apples and bacon might create the word BEAM.

Never underestimate the power of an acronym.

Why do I say that iNtuitives often use these tools naturally? Because people who use iNtuition the most usually take in data by understanding connections or fitting it into the big picture. Painting word pictures (metaphors), connecting ideas and relating concepts (mind mapping), and creating word puzzles (acronyms) are natural strengths for most iNtuitives. Those who prefer Sensing (golds and reds) will benefit from using them too.

What helps you remember? Have you applied anything from this article? Let me know in the comments below.

Filed Under: Action Steps, Ideas, Personality

5 Steps to Get Unstuck

January 17, 2010 By

stuck car

Photo by Alan Vernon

One of the reasons we read blogs is to pick up jewels of information that we can apply to our own lives. I just read something that sparked an Aha moment for me. Like many Aha moments, this ideas was not new in and of itself – but I had never applied it to the area of my own productivity before. As Charlie Gilkey writes in his blog www.productiveflourishing.com:

“A warrior who steps on the battlefield knows that he will fight. An alcoholic who steps into a bar knows that she will drink. In both cases, it’s possible that they’ll have the self-discipline not to do what they are disposed to do, but the far wiser option for them is to avoid the battlefield or the bar.”

For weeks now I’ve been struggling with how to build more content for my blog. For weeks I’ve been sitting down at my computer with the intent to write, and winding up an hour or two later having read a lot of terrific posts from other people but with no content of my own to show for it. What’s the problem? I’ve been trying to do one activity in an environment that I’ve long used for other purposes.

I use my time at the computer to read information, not to write it. So I’ve been fighting two upward battles – the battle to begin generating content instead of reading it and the battle to write in a place where I’ve been accustomed to reading.

What have you been struggling to do? Try this 5 step process to gain traction on that activity:

Step 1: Identify the core problem
The problem you think you have isn’t usually the real problem. It’s just a symptom. Dig a little. Use the Lean Six Sigma process of asking 5 why’s. Personal Example: What’s my problem? I can’t seem to get started writing blog content. Why? (#1): I have massive writer’s block. Why? (#2): Every time I sit down at my computer, I end up having read a lot but not producing. Why? (#3): I get so distracted by other tasks I should be doing or interesting links and RSS feeds that I never get around to writing. Why (#4): That’s what I’m used to doing at the computer. Why? (#5): Because I’ve built a habit around surfing for new ideas at the computer, not writing while I’m there.

Step 2: Generate solutions
Brainstorming and coming up with different approaches is something I excel at, so this was fun for me. Some people might struggle. If you find yourself struggling, reach out to someone who always seems to want to try new things and ask them to brainstorm with you. Or ask me a question here in the comments and I’ll try to help you generate possible solutions. Working my way through my own problem above, I get:

  • Knuckle down. Forbid myself to do anything else online until I’ve written at least a draft post.
  • Change the venue. Start writing longhand, at least for the draft, so I can’t get distracted. Type it in later and edit it at the same time.
  • Go with a strength. My muse seems to wake up in the car on morning drives to work. Carry a digital voice recorder to capture the ideas and then transcribe them later.
  • Give up. No one is counting on me to generate content – except myself. If it’s not coming naturally, don’t force it. When something comes along that I can’t NOT write about it, start.

Step 3: Choose An Option
This blog is all about using strengths, so it should be no surprise that my favorite option was #3.

Step Four: Act
This is the step I have the most difficulty with. If you are a Red or a Gold, this could be a strength of yours. I naturally use the Head method for approaching problems (find out more about the Head, Heart, Hands method at www.creatingminds.org). However, if I’m going to take action on something I do best when I just something and change gears as needed along the way.

You must act. You must do something, even if you end up failing. You will learn something new by trying something new, and that will only lead to a more positive outcome than not trying anything would have.

This is where my personal example ends because I have just worked through steps 1-3 above. I will report back on how this worked once I’ve put it into action. Or you will be able to tell because you will soon see more content on this blog!

Step Five: Reflect
Again, not a strength of mine, but I do not question the value of reflection. It’s only by reviewing the result, the lesson(s), and the way forward that you get better over time. Personal Example: I will set a reminder on my task list to prompt me to assess where I am in generating content in two weeks. Look for more info then!

Here are 5 points to notice about my personal example that I hope help you as you are using the steps above:

  • I kept generating solutions even after I figured out one that would work or one that I liked
  • I chose the one that felt the most “shackles off” (find out more about this simple way to evaluate your options by using Martha Beck’s Shackles Test)
  • I didn’t say choose THE one, just choose one (if it doesn’t work, you can test another solution)
  • I chose an action style that feels natural to me (I’m a Quick Start person)
  • I set a milestone date and made myself accountable

Let me know how it goes in the comments below. How can I help?

Filed Under: Action Steps, Finding Passion

Guessing a Personality Type in 5 Steps

August 29, 2009 By

Photo by vox_efx

Did you ever wish there was a way to know a person’s personality type at a glance? In our romantic relationships, our family, our career – we are always seeking ways to interpret behavior and understand it. If they had brown eyes it would mean they preferred Sensing (living in the present, taking info in through the senses) or if they had green eyes they preferred iNtuition (looking toward the future, figuring out how things fit into the bigger picture). Wouldn’t that be easier, though maybe a little boring?

Unfortunately, there are no physical characteristics that correlate with personality type. But there are ways that you can guess a person’s preferences based on their behavior. Here are some behaviors that will give you clues to someone’s preferences:

1) How quickly does the person respond to a question? (Introversion vs Extraversion)

When you ask a question, does the person start talking immediately and sound like they are almost thinking out loud? Or do they take a second or two to compose a response, and then give a complete and well thought out answer? People who prefer Introversion need to consider things internally before responding, while people who prefer Extraversion truly NEED to think out loud.

A discussion between Extraverts seems like chaos to an Introvert – people talking over one another in a jumble of excited speech that rambles all over the place. A discussion between Introverts seems way too calm and … dare I say it … boring to an Extravert. Calm, reasonable discussion with time enough between responses to drive a train through.

And pair an Extravert with an Introvert? That’s where Introverts often get short-changed because the Extravert will blurt all their thoughts out and keep on going, while the Introvert seldom gets enough conversational white space to craft a reply, much less say it out loud.

An instructor in a type training class once told us, “If you are an Extravert talking with an Introvert, ask a question and then STOP TALKING for a count of 10. You’ll be surprised at what you will learn.” I’ve found this to be very true and I’ve used it often enough that my husband, delightful Introvert that he is, will sometimes ask me, “Are you counting?” after I ask him a question and am uncharacteristically quiet afterward.

2) Do they talk and think about what’s happening now or in the past, or do they talk and think about what’s going to happen next? (Sensing vs iNtuition)

People who prefer Sensing are all about what’s going on in the situation NOW. Not the future impacts or possibilities, but what is real at this moment.

Ever watch the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan? In my opinion, he could be the poster child for Sensing – he’s always reminding dog owners to live in the present instead of thinking about what might happen or what has happened before.

That’s not to say that the owners on the show are not Sensors – Sensors often base their opinions of what is happening now on their experiences in the past. Again, the key is that they base their behavior on experiences and not on visions of what could be. Those who prefer iNtuition, on the other hand, are often accused of looking at the world through rose colored glasses or living in their head.

Ask a person to describe a common household object like an apple, and the Sensor is likely to describe what is – “This apple is red, it has a long stem, there’s a little soft spot here on the top …” Ask an iNtuitor, and the response is likely to be something like, “Oh, this apple is just like the one my Grandma used to use to make pies. I remember those apples, sweet and crisp, and how my Grandma used to peel for hours in the kitchen while …” and so on. Get the idea?

3) How tactful are they? (Thinking vs Feeling)

People who prefer Feeling run everything through a filter of “how will this affect others?” in their heads before taking any sort of action. Even Extraverts, who usually act or speak immediately, will choose their words based on the impact to other people. And if an Extravert who prefers Feeling let’s his mouth get ahead of his head, he’s usually mortified to have caused hurt or embarrassment to others.

Those who prefer Thinking, on the other hand, believe you should just Parla come magni (as Elizabeth Gilbert translates) or “Say it like you eat it.” Thinkers are objective by nature, and believe everyone else should be too. They believe in calling a spade a spade and speaking the truth even if it isn’t so pretty.

That doesn’t mean that Thinkers aren’t considerate of others, but tact is something they learn as they grow and develop and sometimes the lessons come hard. My son, as a 5 year old exhibiting Thinking behavior, strode right up to a preschool classmate and said her new haircut made her look like a boy. The teacher, while trying to comfort the girl in tears, cautioned him to not say things that would hurt someone’s feelings. While discussing this at home, it was clear that my son still wasn’t getting it. “But Mom,” he objected, “it was TRUE!” This is the way with young Thinkers before they take a few hard lessons in forming tact, a lesson that is tough for them to learn because for them truth is the bedrock of understanding.

4) Does a change in plans rock their world or enhance it? (Judging vs Perceiving)

So, here’s the situation. It’s late afternoon and everyone is hungry. Person A says, “Let’s go out to dinner tonight. I feel like eating seafood. Would you like to go to Red Lobster or Joe’s Crab Shack?” Person B says, “Oh, okay. Let’s go to Red Lobster. Want to leave now?” Person A says, “Great! Let me get my shoes/jacket/whatever and I’ll be ready.” A minute passes and Person A comes back ready to leave and saying, “We could also go eat tacos tonight. A friend of mine was telling me today about this great tex-mex place down the road …”

“Wait!” person B says, “I thought we had decided on Red Lobster! Let’s just go there and be done with it. I’m hungry.” Person A, rebuffed, says resentfully “I was just giving you another option. You don’t have to get huffy about it.” Are you person A or person B in this scenario?

If you said person A, you are showing a Perceiving tendency. To Perceivers, the world is in a constant state of flux – and they like it that way. They feel constricted if they are locked into a plan, unable to incorporate new ideas or experiences into the way forward. These are people who roll with the punches, who seem able to adjust to anything life throws their way. Seen through the lens of Judging types, Perceivers also hate to commit to anything and get to a happy ending out of a combination of luck and chance rather than by design.

Are you more like person B? You likely prefer Judging, a behavior of deciding on a clear plan of action and following through on every step. Judging folks are willing to consider options for doing something, but once a plan is in place they persevere through any obstacles and stay on target. They feel flustered when life throws a curveball at them, frustrated if it means changing the way they intended to do something – even if it all ends up okay anyway.

5) Putting it all together into temperament (Golds, Reds, Greens and Blues)

Here’s where you start combining the behaviors above into a personality profile or temperament. Temperament looks at two of a person’s preferred behaviors as an explanation for why they might act the way they do. Full personality profiles are based on all four preferences, including those that aren’t apparent to the casual observer. That is why the broad brush of temperament proves so useful when dealing with the people in your life.

Does your significant other tend to deal with what is happening now in your lives and the nuts and bolts of what needs to happen today to create a happy future? Get stressed when things happen that change plans at the last minute? Feel that it is their duty to stay the course to make sure things turn out right? Your partner is likely a Gold, also referred to as an SJ (Sensing, Judging) or a Guardian.

Does your boss seem to thrive on putting out fires, hurrying around the office like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland muttering “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!”? React to every situation as it arises, trying to resolve it NOW? Talk in terms of striving toward a target or goal rather than laying out a specific plan of tasks to be done? Your boss is likely a Red, also referred to as an SP (Sensing, Perceiving) or an Artisan.

Your Turn

Keep in mind that we’re talking about OBSERVABLE behavior here. Due to how preference combinations affect behavior, you probably won’t be able to guess a person’s whole type by observing a few behaviors. It’s also much easier to read a person’s interaction style than it is to read their temperament. However, noticing patterns like those above will help you interpret how a behavior fits into that person’s personality type and therefore help you relate better to others in your life.

Who have you tried to “read” in your life? Did they claim a type that was different than your prediction? Tell me in the comments!

Filed Under: Action Steps, Personality