Tag: self-improvement

Multiple versions

FabrizioLeave a comment

We are ready to go great lengths to reinstate order in our life when someone or something does not adhere to our version of the world.

If somebody does not behave the way we expect, they certainly have some hidden agenda. If something happens that we have never experienced before, it’s probably a mistake or somebody trying to frame us. Even when we witness – with our own eyes – something that does not fit with our story, we just go to what we know, and try to make it big enough that the anomaly can go unnoticed.

The moment we are put in front of the facts, the moment we realize that there’s actually nothing wrong, the moment we accept that multiple versions of the same world coexist at any given time, that’s a moment to cherish. It’s the moment when we open up, when we are welcoming, when we grow.

We just have to make sure that moment does not at an horrendous cost.

And if it does, apologize.

Do, measure and adjust

FabrizioLeave a comment

There are many different ways to address any case. Unfortunately, you probably have resources (attention, money, energy, motivation) to try one or two of them at the same time.

The point is then to avoid lengthy discussions about which way is the better (not to mention pointless scenario-building that change the rules of the case), and put some effort instead in identifying what successfully addressing the case looks like.

And then just do, measure and adjust.

Downtime

FabrizioLeave a comment

The things you do during a period of downtime determine the success of what you will be doing when things get going.

Rest and recharge is an important piece of it, yet it’s only a piece nonetheless.

Downtime is an excellent moment to be delivering your best work, to free yourself from constraints of time and pressure, to explore new venues and new ways, to connect with that person you should really talk to, to give that speech that can change a bunch of minds.

Most things move in cycles, and work is not different. Take advantage of the space you are given to make sure you are ready when it’s most needed.

Bullet points

FabrizioLeave a comment

Why are bullet points still used in presentations? And what about flow charts? Diagrams? Crammed 11-points text? Evocative pictures that have no relationship with what is being told? Tables that touch the margins of the slide? Icons choosen after googling “icons”? Paragraphs used as scripts?

A presentation is for the presenter, because it helps them refining their thoughts and ideas, making them digestible and appealing, preparing them for further elaboration and improvements. And it is, of course, for the audience, who has allocated time on their calendar to give the presenter attention.

Make the extra effort, the rules for a decent presentation are not rocket science. And they apply to yours too.

Unfair practices

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you are victim of an unfair practice.

You can point the finger, call the perpetrator names, shut them off and strengthen the relationships with those like you, tell yourself and others a story of unfairness and one-sidedness, and demand a change.

Or you can extend your hand, empathize with the motives, see if perhaps in similar circumstances you might have fallen in the same trap, start a conversation around identities and opportunities, prove day after day that the practice is not only unfair, also counterproductive, and be an agent of change.

I have been on both ends of the spectrum, I have changed my mind along the way, and I can still see that there is a solid argument one way and the other.

I can also see that it’s a choice you get to do.