Risk and Honesty

Risk and honesty are not welcomed or encouraged very often and this is practically true in organizations (business included). It takes a great amount of risks to face honesty in the face. Here are a few quotes about honesty.

“We must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy” George Bernard Shaw

“There is only one way to find out if a man is honest—ask him. If he says ‘yes,’ you know he’s crooked” Groucho Marx

Toastmasters Speech

I've heard it said, "practice makes perfect". Practice paid of for me yesterday as I did my fourth (CC4) toastmasters speech. But instead of saying that practice makes perfect I would rather say "practice make better".

Among three other speeches delivered I won the best speaker award for the evening. I did record the speech with a camcorder so that I can analyze it for improvement or just to see were I did well.

Beside the objectives for the speech, which are given in the Competent Communicator manual from Toastmasters International, I work in the speech tips written by Tim Ferriss here. He says we should be able to answer two questions in a speech, which are:

A. What’s your point?
B. Why does it matter?

It worked well for me and I plan on using this approach again.

In the future I plan on posting my speeches here (via www.youtube.com) but this one I wont, because the topic is not relevant for this blog.

Laziness

“It is the least lazy among us who are most aware of our laziness” ~ Scott Peck

Generally I find that most people don’t like to explorer their laziness much less talk about. It is part of what Carl Jung called “the shadow” the part of us we don’t want to live up to. Laziness is much more then simply physical laziness. Mental and emotional laziness are far more destructive then physical laziness.

In our modern age people rely heavily on science and logic (judgment). This holds equally true for secular and religious people. It is after all the age of reason and over determination. Carl Jung cautioned against it and said we would benefit from integrating spirituality and exploring our unconscious. A good start to this would be to face our laziness. It has been highly beneficial in my life.

I’m currently studying group consciousness and how it affects organizations. It is a true frontier. I have been observing that if the executives in an organization are lazy in their approach the whole organization is lazy in its approach. I defined this type of laziness as mental laziness (thoughtlessness). Organizations have “shadows” and can only be faced if the people on top are willing to go there. The first place to start is by exploring norms, mottoes and myths in an organization. Generally the destructive norms, mottoes and myths in an organization are in the unconsciousness, collectively and for the individual.

Eliminating the Unnecessary - Simplifying

Jim Estill wrote on simplifying communications in his blog a few days ago. As I consultant with businesses (or people I should say) I value simplicity and it helps me to be effective.

I've been reading on the power to simplify recently and came across this quote:

"I don't give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would die for the simplicity on the other side of complexity."

The quote may sound theoretical but it is not. It is not speaking of simpleminded answers like we so often want and strive for, rather the clarity that comes when one has eliminated the unnecessary (not just in speaking but in thinking as well) so that the obvious will be expressed simply.

Here is part of Jim's blog post:

"A large part of good communication is simplification. Keeping things short, clear and to the point makes communication work well. People understand it better and remember it better."

"Part of the goal then is to learn how to simplify. Making things easier and simpler is smarter. This is a true art that we all should work towards."

I like how Jim ends it....simplifying is an art indeed!

Be Optimistic

I recently came across a few quotes on optimism:

"An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?" ~Michael de Saint-Pierre

"for myself I am an optimist—it does not seem to be much use being anything else." ~Winston Churchill

"When pessimists think they're taking a chance, optimists feel they're grasping a great opportunity." ~Anonymous

New Community in Business

Beth Jarman and George Land write the following about community in business in an essay titled Beyond Breakpoint: Possibilities for New Community

We are sure that within the hearts of vast number of people rests a deep yearning for communities that celebrate the magnificence of our diversity. The natural pull we are experiencing is to evolve past where we presently are. It requires courage, boldness, and deep commitment. Guillaume Apollinaire put into words what we think could happen if we dared build new communities:

Come to the edge, he said.

They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, he said,

They came. He pushed them

and they flew.

Experiential Learning

Learning can be experiential or passive. Experiential is far more effective but also more demanding. For example, communications (discussion, listening) can for the most part only be learned experientially. I've been part of lectures and motivational talks where much was said about listening and so far I have yet to see someone walk away saying, "wow from now on I will be a much better listener." Community is experiential learning. I have see people in community become better listener and thinkers (that is if it is a safe place were people are real with each other). It is the experience which will lead to a transformed person. For more on community click here

On the other hand I've been part of training where a company spent thousands of dollars to learn project management for the staff. For the most part every one seemed to be enthusiastic about learning and participating in the discussion. But after the training, it was a different story. No one ever mentioned the training and neither did the training become a reality for the company. It was a passive learning experience. Of course there were more reasons involved why the training did not become a reality.

In the Encarta® World English Dictionary experience is defined as: "Involvement in something over time: active involvement in an activity or exposure to events or people over a period of time that leads to an increase in knowledge or skill."

Quote of the day

"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit, and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these."

~Susan B. Anthony