Tag: communication

Risk and reward

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Some people do good work. Some people do poor work. Most people do average work.

And the reasons for that are two: risk aversion and reward seeking.

To do good work, you need to be able to deviate from the norm, find new ways, expand the possibilities. In most organizations, this is a risk, and most people prefer not to take it.

To do good work, you also need to be rewarded and recognized for both the success and the failure. In most organizations, average gets rewarded, and most people adapt.

If you are designing how your team will work, keep in mind risk aversion and reward seeking. And remember that if you do what everybody else is used to do, you (and your team) will probably fall in the middle.

The next meeting

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The outcome of your next meeting is going to be dependent on the following much more than it will be on your communication and argumentation skills.

  • Whether you are usually the one who gives others work to do or the one who takes work away from other people’s shoulders.
  • Whether you are usually the one who points fingers and assigns responsibilities or the one who brings others together to find a solution.
  • Whether you are usually the one who gossips behind other people’s back or the one who stops a gossip the first time they hear it.
  • Whether you are usually the one who does things at their own terms informing as little people as possible or the one who seeks involvement and promotes open communication.
  • Whether you are usually the one who is close to any type of feedback or criticism or the one who appreciates other people’s input and improves based on that.

Superpowers

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Three superpowers that are underestimated and that will get you through most things in life more easily. Plus, a tip on how to train them.

  1. Patience, that is the superpower to give things and people their time, without imposing your view or trying to bend them. You can train this with meditation.
  2. Listening, that is the ability to sit down in a conversation without thinking at what you will say or do next. You can train this by learning about coaching.
  3. Consistence, that is the ability to show up every day, even when no one is watching you or holding you accountable. You can train this with journaling.

Chatting and doing

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A chat can change it all.

It can change the frame, it can shift the narrative, it can move you forward. Instead of getting stuck in your head, seek a chat with a friend, a partner, a family member, a therapist, a coach, a colleague, a decent human being. Talking things through, even just talking about things, is powerful.

Of course, a chat cannot make things go away. So, seek a chat often, particularly in darker periods. And understand the importance of alternating the chatting with the doing.

It’s a fine art.

A lot to do

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If you count the people who need a kind word, who seek somebody who listens to them, who might do with some sort of encouragement, you’ll get to a number that is very close to the number of people that exist in this world.

There’s a lot to do, and you can start today.