Infinite Self

I started reading Stuart Wilde books about 9 years ago.  Over the years I’ve been steadily collecting them.  I love the content and I also enjoy his writing style.  The book I’ll be re-reading this summer is this one, Infinite Self.  I’m not going to say what it’s about or why I think you should read it.  All I can say is that every single time I’ve read this book (and yes that’s more then once) it’s got me thinking, I mean really thinking, my brain whirring and making new connections, and that’s what growth is all about.

 

 

Fault finders should be fault menders

Perhaps there is something in the water, but just recently several people have had conversations with me about their colleagues and bosses finding faults only. 

Ranging from the general “No matter what I do they always find something wrong with it/missing.”

To the specific “Last week I handled an incident, kept the company legal and product on the shelf, what do I get, 3 people wittering about some administration I haven’t done.. no thanks for working your weekend or we appreciate this and when can you do Y for us…just people with nothing better to do than find faults.” 

Now these people are bright, self starters, they’re talented and committed, just the sort of people you want to keep in an organisation.  They regularly go the extra mile without creating a song and dance.  But now they seemed to be tuned in to people only telling them what they’re doing wrong / missing.  A case of too much stick and not enough carrot. 

In each case we talked about the intentions behind the person finding fault.  Was it well intentioned, did they care about the way it was received, did they take time to understand why?  Or were they having a prima donna moment, feeling all self righteous because they’d been able to point out something that had been missed/not done yet/ was wrong.  In other words were their ego’s running away with them.

As a teenager if I was having one of my moments pointing out everything that was wrong, my mum would just say “fault finders should be fault menders” and then ask me how I was going to put everything right.  I of course would point out that actually none of this was my fault and so why should I have to do anything to put it right.  Eventually I realised that if I didn’t want to help and put things right I should keep my ego to myself.

As a leader what’s your praise to fault finding ratio?  You’re setting the tone, are your staff following suit?

Let’s face it if you whip your donkey hard enough it’s either going to stop or bite you - and you wouldn’t believe the number of people who are surprised when this happens.

Are you suffering from ‘hamster wheel syndrome’?

I discovered 'Hamster Wheel Syndrome' about 10 years ago when working in corporate life, but what is it?  It's when you're busy, busy, working so hard and you can't stop or slow down.  You're working to keep up rather than being in control of what you do.  

You see I had a hamster at the time and there were occasions when she'd get a bit carried away in her wheel, the momentum would get so much it would take over, she ended up running to keep up and would flip out and land with very little finesse in the sawdust.  Being curious or sad, I used to watch to work out what caused it to happen.  I realised that having put the work in to get the wheel going, it took at lot less effort to keep it going, but on the occasions it took over then it consumed a lot more effort and concentration to stay in the wheel. 

Even more curious or sad is that I noticed at work that some people seemed to be like hamsters in a wheel; and that things had tipped and they were now peddling to keep in the wheel because if they didn't they thought the consequence would be a less than elegant moment.  "I have to do this… I have to complete that…and if I don't do this then the boss will be cross…and I still have 3 days emails to read…and…and…"

And how in control to you feel?  Or are you responding to the system to stay in the system?

Now when my hamster's stamina or concentration would fade, she'd flip out of the wheel.  In a work context you see people burn out, get stressed out, but prior to that you see their motivation and their productivity drop.  Basically you see their energy and concentration levels fall.  So as a leader how good are you at helping your staff manage their energy and concentration levels? 

What the tip of the tongue tells us about the brain

You know the feeling that something is on the tip of your tongue? It offers deep insights into the nature of the mind.

read more | digg story

…and don't you wish at times you could defrag your brain like you can your computer.

Turn your business around

There are figures that say UK businesses are going under at the rate of 34 a day and apparently that’s pretty good going, so how do you make sure your business doesn’t become a statistic.

Human beings seem to have a natural tendency to not face in to their ’stuff’.  Entrepreneurs and business owners can also have a hard time facing in to the fact that things aren’t going as planned, and even if they do they can kid themselves in to thinking that they can sort it out - all by themselves.  Well to a large extent, the being able to make things happen and move mountains all by yourself, was one of the things that got the business off the ground.  Then there are times when asking for help before a business enters crisis phase is a good idea.

Then once you’ve done that check that no one, and that includes you, is messing with your head and chucking the word ‘failure’ around or even at you.  Yes there is a reason(s) why the business is where it is, and hindsight will be a wonderful thing, but this is all part of learning and growth.  Neither of which are always pleasant or pain free.  If you read the biographies of many successful entrepreneurs you’ll find they have their fair share of t’shirts bought and paid for hanging in the closet.  I certainly wouldn’t be building the business I am today if it hadn’t been for both the things I got right and the things I’ve made a right pigs ear of.

The ostrich move only looks good on the ostrich (and even then I’m not sure).  If things aren’t going the way that you want them to ask yourself what have you not been paying attention to - cash flow, the market, your leadership - to suggest 3 common areas.  Then find someone who can help you improve in that area.  In the meantime remember why you started your business, what you want the future to be and find the fun.  Enjoyment, motivation, laughter, they were all then when you started this venture, as the leader you owe it to yourself and everyone else involved to reconnect with those traits again.