EFFICIENTLY LOST or HERE’S A LOLLIPOP
Sunday, October 14, 2012 § Leave a comment
Increasing efficiency can be fun. I suspect it’s deeply ingrained in our instincts. Say you are washing the dishes after a party. Starting randomly, within a few seconds you might be looking to set up a little assembly line, optimizing around quick, simple and repeat movements.
There are shelves of books about efficiency gains. “Read your email only once an hour,” and “schedule time to think,” might be tips you read. Most are valid techniques. They are a red-herring for most though. Some of the most efficient people I know are also the most ineffective. They are slaves to their systems of efficiency and often have completely lost the plot on what they are working for in the first place. They go home with accomplishments such as:
“I have no unread emails in my inbox.”
That’s fantastic! Here’s your lollipop as a reward.
Efficiency goals that are dependent on external events are the worst. “No unanswered emails in my inbox at the end of the day,” sounds like a worthy goal of responsiveness. The consequence of it is that you lose all control over where you are allocating your time – you are reflexively reacting to an unfiltered onslaught – any asshole takes your time.
If you are finding yourself looking up efficiency tips, or worse, you are already caught up in some manic system, I suggest you meditate on what’s lacking in your motivation and your clarity about your goals.
Efficiency is worthy, if it makes you more effective. If you are clear on your mission, efficiency comes about organically. Everything sorts itself naturally into an order against the question “how does it support my objective?”
R-E-S-P-E-C-T or I KINDA LIKE YOUR HAIR, DONALD
Thursday, March 29, 2012 § Leave a comment
Etymologically “respect” is made up of looking back at someone. It’s about regard for past actions. Respecting you means I know what to expect from you. It’s the consistency of your actions. Is it sufficient to be consistent? No. Someone who is consistently late will not be respected for always being late. But we might say, “I respect you for always being on time”, or “for always trying to be honest with me.” It’s about something that takes effort.
When we see someone very successful we might be inclined to respect them. We don’t respect them for their achievements though; we respect them for what we assume they did for their success. It’s not the result we respect, but the effort and discipline that lead them there.
You can’t respect Donald Trump for having countless buildings in NYC with his name on it. I might respect him for sticking to his hair-set-up though – because I have to assume that it takes emotional commitment to keep it that way, given how much fun he is made of because of it. We are respected for the effort that we put into something, especially when it is related to emotional integrity. Getting respect begins with respecting ourselves – doing what we think is right is a commitment that we keep to ourselves. It takes conviction and courage to act with integrity.
When we achieve success without courage and conviction, it is not fulfilling. Getting lucky gives us a short-term boost of joy, but doesn’t provide us with sustained self-respect and content. Society is better at celebrating achievements than integrity. That’s confusing: We might imagine we need achievements to be successful, respected and liked. But it’s the other way around! Our success should be defined by the respect that we get – from ourselves first and foremost. Commercial success has a great chance of following that personal success.
Success is not a prerequisite to respect; respect is the prerequisite to success.
We earn respect from ourselves and others when we courageously do what we believe in.
Respect Donald, respect!
I DON’T HAVE TIME TO…
Monday, March 12, 2012 § Leave a comment
“I didn’t have time to…”
“I wasn’t able to…”
“I didn’t manage to…”
…is never true.
A: “I didn’t have time to do X.”
is short-hand for
B: “I didn’t set my priorities such that I accomplished X.”
It is largely understood that we mean B, when we say A. It nevertheless is not at all the same.
A is passive and avoids the idea that we have a choice in the matter. “I really wanted to, but I didn’t have time.” We might hear back, “oh poor you, you must be so busy.” A is more comfortable, because it is convenient to think that we didn’t have a choice and if it wasn’t our choice, nobody can blame us.
B is the harder path: First, we have to confront the fact that ultimately, we are making all choices in our lives. Second, it breaks with convention and confronts the recipient explicitly with the fact that we chose not to make time. It’s not just harder for us to say, it’s also harder for the recipient to hear.
If you don’t allow yourself to say A, you will find yourself reconsidering your priorities and who sets them. And where you are communicating your priories, you will find a refreshing honesty in your relationship – something to build on.
Business Buddhism 