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.
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