I would like to share a powerful concept that has worked for me: under-promise, over-deliver.
I was having a chat with a friend the other day and he told me that the only way he could move forward in life is to 'suck up' to his bosses. Haven't we all heard that one before? Kinda our excuse for everything isn't it? And it let's us get away feeling good about ourselves! "I'm not moving forward in my career but it's ok, I have my dignity and I'm not a suck up!" Yeah. Sure. But think about it. This can't be really all that true or every successful man is nothing more than a brilliant 'suck up'! So is it really about sucking up?
I've talked about reframing in another chapter. It's our right to reframe because it's up to us to decide how to perceive the things that come before us. I offered him a powerful reframe - it's not about sucking up, it's about the ability to 'under-promise and over-deliver'. Powerful statement right there, and it worked for him!
My family went out to a small Thai restaurant a week ago. My wife made the reservations and informed them that my lovely niece and nephew would be coming and we'd need baby chairs.
That restaurant wowed us. We're definitely going back, and it's not because of the food.
When we arrived, we noticed that the two baby chairs were at the best spot possible, away from other human traffic. And best of all, they had given them a bowl and a spoon each with Disney characters on it. How wonderful! It made our day. We're going back.
When was the last time you were wowed? Didn't it feel great? Didn't you tell yourself,"That person made my day!" But when was the last time you wowed someone? When was the last time you under-promised and over-delivered? When was the last time you wowed a student or a colleague? What's your excuse? Hopefully it's not the same as that of the colleague you're upset with because she did her bare minimum at work the other day.
The restaurant was neither large nor popular, they just put the well being of those they served ahead of everything else. And somewhat that made the food taste better than it was. I had driven past the restaurant many times not even knowing it even existed. But someone recommended it. I have a hunch why.
I went out for a walk with my wife recently. She wanted to have some Chinese peanut soup from a store near our apartment. She grabbed the bowl and a spoon, and sat down quite a distance away from the proprietress. I didn't even know she was watching. She appeared out of nowhere brandishing a spoon! Caught me totally by surprise. "Didn't know you were sharing," she said, as she passed me an extra spoon.
Wow!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
From Soup To Nuts
I was grading essays with a bunch of my colleagues a few days ago. We do that in our school. We sit together and grade the essays from each others' classes. It ensures accuracy and consistency. Great system, try it in your school if you're not doing it already.
A colleague of mind then asked out loud to all who were present,"Has anyone heard of the term 'from soup to nuts'?" No one had heard of it before. He quieried our head of English. She wasn't sure either. Another fellow colleague blurted out,"Google it." Brilliant idea. But no, someone reached for the dictionary instead. He didn't find it in the dictionary. No points to you for guessing that right! The phrase in the essay was underlined, with the other errors that were underlined in bright red ink, standing out for all to see.
But would you know, someone actually Googled it. And not surprising, he found it. The idiom 'from soup to nuts' is a commonly used term to convey the meaning of 'from beginning to end'. Not anyone of them knew that. But they could have, if they'd had listened to the earlier advice to check it out on the internet.
"Yup, I Googled it and it led me to somewhere in Wikipedia. The term exists," he told all of us.
"But Wikipedia is not a reliable source," someone retorted with her know-it-all voice. Guess someone's been reading the papers recently and noted that some academics have disallowed the use of Wikipedia in citations of academic research essays. But that's not the point is it? The fact is, there's this staunch belief that our collective wisdom as teachers is so strong, so powerful. First, our collective wisdom meant that it didn't have to be checked. A rudimentary check among all those who were seated sufficed. Then we decided that our collective wisdom actually beats the collective wisdom of Wikipedia!
We know that the collective wisdom of teachers is not always correct. That's not the point of my chapter. We need to remember that like our students, we are learning. But that shouldn't surprise us. After all, being a teacher is not about teaching, it's about learning.
A colleague of mind then asked out loud to all who were present,"Has anyone heard of the term 'from soup to nuts'?" No one had heard of it before. He quieried our head of English. She wasn't sure either. Another fellow colleague blurted out,"Google it." Brilliant idea. But no, someone reached for the dictionary instead. He didn't find it in the dictionary. No points to you for guessing that right! The phrase in the essay was underlined, with the other errors that were underlined in bright red ink, standing out for all to see.
But would you know, someone actually Googled it. And not surprising, he found it. The idiom 'from soup to nuts' is a commonly used term to convey the meaning of 'from beginning to end'. Not anyone of them knew that. But they could have, if they'd had listened to the earlier advice to check it out on the internet.
"Yup, I Googled it and it led me to somewhere in Wikipedia. The term exists," he told all of us.
"But Wikipedia is not a reliable source," someone retorted with her know-it-all voice. Guess someone's been reading the papers recently and noted that some academics have disallowed the use of Wikipedia in citations of academic research essays. But that's not the point is it? The fact is, there's this staunch belief that our collective wisdom as teachers is so strong, so powerful. First, our collective wisdom meant that it didn't have to be checked. A rudimentary check among all those who were seated sufficed. Then we decided that our collective wisdom actually beats the collective wisdom of Wikipedia!
We know that the collective wisdom of teachers is not always correct. That's not the point of my chapter. We need to remember that like our students, we are learning. But that shouldn't surprise us. After all, being a teacher is not about teaching, it's about learning.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Dreams
I've spoken to many on the importance of having a vision of your goals. But at times the whole process seems so contrived, techinical and foreign. Will it work?
If this sounds like you, read my chapter on visions again. Does it sound vaguely familiar? Think back. Way back. You've done it before, many times, not knowing that you were doing it.
It's familiar cos we've done it before. Kids do it every day. Think back to when you were a kid. You did it as well. This was how you made visions of your goal although now it sounds silly to you.
Remember when your goal was to get that toy fire truck? (what was your favourite toy?) You could see it in your head, see yourself playing with it. You could hear the sounds it made, you could hear that conversation that ran through your brain, and best of all, you could feel that emotion that you got. And you had all of that even though you didn't have that toy fire truck! But not surpringly, with that vision, you tried you very best to get it! Every waking moment was about getting that toy fire truck! Everything you talked about was about that toy fire truck! People didn't want to talk to you cos all you did was talk about the toy fire truck! And not surprisingly, one day, you did!!
A goal, became a wild vision, became reality.
In simple terms please...
Those were dreams.
It worked for you when you were a kid, it will surely work for you now.
Dream.
If this sounds like you, read my chapter on visions again. Does it sound vaguely familiar? Think back. Way back. You've done it before, many times, not knowing that you were doing it.
It's familiar cos we've done it before. Kids do it every day. Think back to when you were a kid. You did it as well. This was how you made visions of your goal although now it sounds silly to you.
Remember when your goal was to get that toy fire truck? (what was your favourite toy?) You could see it in your head, see yourself playing with it. You could hear the sounds it made, you could hear that conversation that ran through your brain, and best of all, you could feel that emotion that you got. And you had all of that even though you didn't have that toy fire truck! But not surpringly, with that vision, you tried you very best to get it! Every waking moment was about getting that toy fire truck! Everything you talked about was about that toy fire truck! People didn't want to talk to you cos all you did was talk about the toy fire truck! And not surprisingly, one day, you did!!
A goal, became a wild vision, became reality.
In simple terms please...
Those were dreams.
It worked for you when you were a kid, it will surely work for you now.
Dream.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Resources for that Dream Team
Being a faculty member, I have often had to sit thru 'Envisioning Exercises' on how we can 'position' our school so that we can achieve even greater heights. Great stuff, but it just doesn't work.
A good deal of those attending are not 'with it', they just don't see how this 'corporate nonsense' fits into a school setting. "We're just different." And they shout to themselves, BOHICA! (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again!)
Reality check - your school is no different from any other organisation. It's no different from the supermarket down the road, the mall down town or the factory where your neighbour works at. It's all the same. Many brilliant and hardworking people, working towards a common goal with the rest of their team. This corporate nonsense is not corporate, it's not nonsense. It's just organisational theory or more specifically ways to bring your or any organisation to new heights.
Before we can sit through an envisioning exercise for your school, I want to talk to you about an envisioning exercise for yourself. Yes, you! Sounds absurd but it worked for me. You are a company, you are an organisation. Yes you are! And you deserve all that comes with it. "Hogwash!" you say. "What's my corporation's name? What's it's address? What's the brand of the product?"
The corporation's name is your name, it's address is your address, and the brand of the product, well, again, it's your name.
Steven Covey talked about similar ideas in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, more specifically in his chapter on First Things First. I believe that there is a resource on his website that guides you to writing your vision statement. Go give it a try!
Once you have that vision, go figure out the resources that your corporation will need. Huh? My corporation? Yes, your corporation! If you name's Bill, then you are Bill Inc. Work with me on this one. You'll see!
If you were running a real corporation, you would naturally go out and get those resources, you would get HR working on hiring the right people, you would tap on those people you already know are winners in their own right, you would get yourself and your team attending some top end management courses, you would get the office space in order.
Why not with MyName Inc.?
Get people on your team. Find out who you'd need to help you get to that next level. If you're a student, perhaps you need a better tutor. I tell this to all my students, you hire the tutor, the tutor does not hire you! She's on your team. Fire her if she's not doing her job well but replace her with a better one. If it's your teacher, well, think about it, but if it's really her, try to get yourself transferred to another class or enrol in another course. Time is a commodity that cannot be replaced. Do NOT work with people who waste your time.
Maybe you're working really hard on a project that you know will bring you to greater heights. Maybe you're soaring at work but the home front isn't taken care of and you're beating yourself up about it. Hire a good babysitter for your kids. Get reliable domestic help. Get weekend help if you can't get it every day. If you know people who need the extra cash and they can help you out with errands or chores, hire them. If you can't afford the time to get your shirts washed and pressed, ask a friend if she knows a good laundry service. Money spent can be earned. Time spent is gone forever.
Get your resources in order. Your dream team is not just about people, it's also about the resources you have at hand. Get a day planner. Most people I know don't have a good day planner. Either that or it's a really expensive smartphone that had entries made into it for a few weeks after it was purchased. Then it was forgotten! Sounds familiar? Some have more than one day planner and information is everywhere! Information that is everywhere is nowhere. Get it all in one place. Go get other resources like books, subscriptions, anything you think that will get you one step closer to that goal. But don't just get it, make sure what you're getting is essential and is helpful. A fancy PDA that takes an hour to figure out each time you want to make a day entry is not worth it. Go with pen and paper instead.
Get the information and knowledge you need. There isn't really much to talk about on this one, it's self explanatory. Surround yourself with the type of people who are 'out there', who have the same drive and determination that you do. The honest sort, and the sort that shares. Ask them what they're reading, not just the title, ask them what they've learnt. Go get the book if you can. Subscribe to publications that will help. Then read them. A must for all, educate yourself, continually improve yourself. Kaizen. I've always said, being a teacher is not about teaching, it's about learning. Go back to school, enrol in courses, learn new skills just for the heck of it. Ask Steve Jobs. When he stopped being a drop out of Reed College and became a drop in, he attended a calligraphy course. That's why we now have great font! He didn't know it would come in useful, it just did. Luck favours the prepared mind.
The final tip I'd like to give you to build the resources for your dream team is to burn some bridges. The Art of Strategy by Dixit and Nalebuff is a great book. Grab it if you can. It talks about how burning bridges can sometimes be an effective strategy. I've used it often. Many corporations have some of their bridges burnt, they just can't dump it all and go back where they came from. Make a wild commitment, tell all your friends, tell all your colleagues, tell all your schoolmates, tell your boss, tell your teachers, tell your principal! Get rid of that thing you can fall back on. One tip I gave my students - "Buy your mom a cane. Tell her that if you don't get an A, she can use the cane on you. You will get that A!"
So that would be it, your resources for YourName.inc.
1. Get the right people, you pay them so be demanding
2. Get the physical resources you need, the right ones
3. Get the knowledge you need, the kind that moves you further
4. Burn some bridges, don't give yourself an escape route
Get these resources in order and you're on your way to the next step of reaching your goals.
A good deal of those attending are not 'with it', they just don't see how this 'corporate nonsense' fits into a school setting. "We're just different." And they shout to themselves, BOHICA! (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again!)
Reality check - your school is no different from any other organisation. It's no different from the supermarket down the road, the mall down town or the factory where your neighbour works at. It's all the same. Many brilliant and hardworking people, working towards a common goal with the rest of their team. This corporate nonsense is not corporate, it's not nonsense. It's just organisational theory or more specifically ways to bring your or any organisation to new heights.
Before we can sit through an envisioning exercise for your school, I want to talk to you about an envisioning exercise for yourself. Yes, you! Sounds absurd but it worked for me. You are a company, you are an organisation. Yes you are! And you deserve all that comes with it. "Hogwash!" you say. "What's my corporation's name? What's it's address? What's the brand of the product?"
The corporation's name is your name, it's address is your address, and the brand of the product, well, again, it's your name.
Steven Covey talked about similar ideas in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, more specifically in his chapter on First Things First. I believe that there is a resource on his website that guides you to writing your vision statement. Go give it a try!
Once you have that vision, go figure out the resources that your corporation will need. Huh? My corporation? Yes, your corporation! If you name's Bill, then you are Bill Inc. Work with me on this one. You'll see!
If you were running a real corporation, you would naturally go out and get those resources, you would get HR working on hiring the right people, you would tap on those people you already know are winners in their own right, you would get yourself and your team attending some top end management courses, you would get the office space in order.
Why not with MyName Inc.?
Get people on your team. Find out who you'd need to help you get to that next level. If you're a student, perhaps you need a better tutor. I tell this to all my students, you hire the tutor, the tutor does not hire you! She's on your team. Fire her if she's not doing her job well but replace her with a better one. If it's your teacher, well, think about it, but if it's really her, try to get yourself transferred to another class or enrol in another course. Time is a commodity that cannot be replaced. Do NOT work with people who waste your time.
Maybe you're working really hard on a project that you know will bring you to greater heights. Maybe you're soaring at work but the home front isn't taken care of and you're beating yourself up about it. Hire a good babysitter for your kids. Get reliable domestic help. Get weekend help if you can't get it every day. If you know people who need the extra cash and they can help you out with errands or chores, hire them. If you can't afford the time to get your shirts washed and pressed, ask a friend if she knows a good laundry service. Money spent can be earned. Time spent is gone forever.
Get your resources in order. Your dream team is not just about people, it's also about the resources you have at hand. Get a day planner. Most people I know don't have a good day planner. Either that or it's a really expensive smartphone that had entries made into it for a few weeks after it was purchased. Then it was forgotten! Sounds familiar? Some have more than one day planner and information is everywhere! Information that is everywhere is nowhere. Get it all in one place. Go get other resources like books, subscriptions, anything you think that will get you one step closer to that goal. But don't just get it, make sure what you're getting is essential and is helpful. A fancy PDA that takes an hour to figure out each time you want to make a day entry is not worth it. Go with pen and paper instead.
Get the information and knowledge you need. There isn't really much to talk about on this one, it's self explanatory. Surround yourself with the type of people who are 'out there', who have the same drive and determination that you do. The honest sort, and the sort that shares. Ask them what they're reading, not just the title, ask them what they've learnt. Go get the book if you can. Subscribe to publications that will help. Then read them. A must for all, educate yourself, continually improve yourself. Kaizen. I've always said, being a teacher is not about teaching, it's about learning. Go back to school, enrol in courses, learn new skills just for the heck of it. Ask Steve Jobs. When he stopped being a drop out of Reed College and became a drop in, he attended a calligraphy course. That's why we now have great font! He didn't know it would come in useful, it just did. Luck favours the prepared mind.
The final tip I'd like to give you to build the resources for your dream team is to burn some bridges. The Art of Strategy by Dixit and Nalebuff is a great book. Grab it if you can. It talks about how burning bridges can sometimes be an effective strategy. I've used it often. Many corporations have some of their bridges burnt, they just can't dump it all and go back where they came from. Make a wild commitment, tell all your friends, tell all your colleagues, tell all your schoolmates, tell your boss, tell your teachers, tell your principal! Get rid of that thing you can fall back on. One tip I gave my students - "Buy your mom a cane. Tell her that if you don't get an A, she can use the cane on you. You will get that A!"
So that would be it, your resources for YourName.inc.
1. Get the right people, you pay them so be demanding
2. Get the physical resources you need, the right ones
3. Get the knowledge you need, the kind that moves you further
4. Burn some bridges, don't give yourself an escape route
Get these resources in order and you're on your way to the next step of reaching your goals.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Visions
I'm going to borrow this one from one of my favourite authors, Robin Sharma. You can find this content in his books and some of his podcasts.
How do you achieve your dreams? Well, as Sharma advises, first, have a vision of this dream. Second, take this vision and break it down into goals - 10 yr goals, 5 year goals, 1 year goals, 30 day goals. Third, go figure out what resources you will need to get you there. Fourth, take some daily action - ask yourself at the beginning of every day, what action would I have to take today to get myself one step closer to that goal.
In this chapter, I am going to talk about the first step, having a vision.
The three major things that we can run in our brain - Pictures (Visual), Sounds (Auditory) or Feelings (Kinesthetic). These are either internally or externally generated.
Find time, preferably by yourself in a quiet space (or your favourite spot where most of your brilliant ideas get generated) and sit there and visualise the goal. Sounds kinda 'duh' but it's true.
I didn't really get this point till I had some time off in March this year. I went to an offshore island by myself with supplies which would last me about a day. I brought my sleeping bag, water, a tent, food and a change of clothes (that I didn't have the chance to use!) and a book - Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. While the book was great, it wasn't the turning point. The turning point came from those hours of being alone and having the space, time and quiet to think. No interruptions, no mobile phone, no email. Just a comfortable spot, a canteen mug of coffee and my thoughts. I did more good to myself in that one day that I have done in the past few months.
I wouldn't really advise having to go live in the wilderness for a day to generate a vision for the future. A quiet room, scented candles, soft music, whatever gets those brain juices going.
When you are in that 'zone', first picture what things would look like should you achieve your goal - Visual Internal. Your vision might be inspired from a previous experience where you won something or was wildly successful. What did you see, what did you look like? Or it might be gathered from other sources that you've seen, like on TV or watched when you were young and at school assembly when a schoolmate gave a wild performance and got a standing ovation. Picture what it looked like.
What do you think you would hear when you finally achieve that goal you've set for yourself? Cheers, shouts, your name mentioned in a stadium, fans going wild, praises from your mom? Those Auditory Internal stimuli add to your Visual Internal stimuli to make a richer vision of your goal. Throw in something else, Auditory Digital. Auditory Digital stimuli are things you tell yourself, the conversation you have with yourself everyday in your brain. Now what sort of conversation would you be having with yourself when you finally achieve that goal? Would it be,"Hey Bill, you've finally made it!" or would it be,"Now I've arrived!" or would it be,"It's just the beginning, watch out, cos I'm coming!"
Now you've added about 3 stimuli to your vision - an actual Visual picture in your brain (hopefully not a still picture but a blockbuster movie, in HD colour!), an Auditory Internal stimulus consisting of the sounds you would hear (surround sound in this movie!) and an Auditory Digital voiceover, the sort of stuff you would be telling yourself once you've reached that goal. (this movie has a narrator as well!)
Add a fourth, add a Kinesthetic Internal stimulus, add an emotion. The best movies bring out emotions. If you don't believe me, check out this ad. It made me view the company different because whenever I saw their sign at a petrol pump, I just had a different emotion than before! Wild!
Now put yourself in a zone where you can feel that elation, feel that joy you have brought to yourself, feel that special feeling when your success brings immense joy to other people. What other feelings would you get when you reach that goal? Your heart beats wilder, your blood pumps faster, your hair is on end. Feel it.
So there we have it, taking a simple goal and taking it to the next step of an extraordinarily powerful vision. Better than the best Oscar winning movie that brought you to tears, one that was a full HD colour movie, with surround sound, excellent narration and direction that make you feel like you were in it, and it was done.
How do you achieve your dreams? Well, as Sharma advises, first, have a vision of this dream. Second, take this vision and break it down into goals - 10 yr goals, 5 year goals, 1 year goals, 30 day goals. Third, go figure out what resources you will need to get you there. Fourth, take some daily action - ask yourself at the beginning of every day, what action would I have to take today to get myself one step closer to that goal.
In this chapter, I am going to talk about the first step, having a vision.
The three major things that we can run in our brain - Pictures (Visual), Sounds (Auditory) or Feelings (Kinesthetic). These are either internally or externally generated.
Find time, preferably by yourself in a quiet space (or your favourite spot where most of your brilliant ideas get generated) and sit there and visualise the goal. Sounds kinda 'duh' but it's true.
I didn't really get this point till I had some time off in March this year. I went to an offshore island by myself with supplies which would last me about a day. I brought my sleeping bag, water, a tent, food and a change of clothes (that I didn't have the chance to use!) and a book - Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. While the book was great, it wasn't the turning point. The turning point came from those hours of being alone and having the space, time and quiet to think. No interruptions, no mobile phone, no email. Just a comfortable spot, a canteen mug of coffee and my thoughts. I did more good to myself in that one day that I have done in the past few months.
I wouldn't really advise having to go live in the wilderness for a day to generate a vision for the future. A quiet room, scented candles, soft music, whatever gets those brain juices going.
When you are in that 'zone', first picture what things would look like should you achieve your goal - Visual Internal. Your vision might be inspired from a previous experience where you won something or was wildly successful. What did you see, what did you look like? Or it might be gathered from other sources that you've seen, like on TV or watched when you were young and at school assembly when a schoolmate gave a wild performance and got a standing ovation. Picture what it looked like.
What do you think you would hear when you finally achieve that goal you've set for yourself? Cheers, shouts, your name mentioned in a stadium, fans going wild, praises from your mom? Those Auditory Internal stimuli add to your Visual Internal stimuli to make a richer vision of your goal. Throw in something else, Auditory Digital. Auditory Digital stimuli are things you tell yourself, the conversation you have with yourself everyday in your brain. Now what sort of conversation would you be having with yourself when you finally achieve that goal? Would it be,"Hey Bill, you've finally made it!" or would it be,"Now I've arrived!" or would it be,"It's just the beginning, watch out, cos I'm coming!"
Now you've added about 3 stimuli to your vision - an actual Visual picture in your brain (hopefully not a still picture but a blockbuster movie, in HD colour!), an Auditory Internal stimulus consisting of the sounds you would hear (surround sound in this movie!) and an Auditory Digital voiceover, the sort of stuff you would be telling yourself once you've reached that goal. (this movie has a narrator as well!)
Add a fourth, add a Kinesthetic Internal stimulus, add an emotion. The best movies bring out emotions. If you don't believe me, check out this ad. It made me view the company different because whenever I saw their sign at a petrol pump, I just had a different emotion than before! Wild!
Now put yourself in a zone where you can feel that elation, feel that joy you have brought to yourself, feel that special feeling when your success brings immense joy to other people. What other feelings would you get when you reach that goal? Your heart beats wilder, your blood pumps faster, your hair is on end. Feel it.
So there we have it, taking a simple goal and taking it to the next step of an extraordinarily powerful vision. Better than the best Oscar winning movie that brought you to tears, one that was a full HD colour movie, with surround sound, excellent narration and direction that make you feel like you were in it, and it was done.
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