Quick notes to help you get more done in less time. . . next week.
The perception issue:
- Techniques for FIT
- Being Human
- Random Stuff
Techniques for FIT
- FIT as a concept accepts contradictions. Like, there's no such thing as work/life balance, you can do work you love and make money, etc. FIT just asks you to acknowledge them.
- Your people's perceptions are their realities. Their perceptions are built on what they look for. For example, ask them what they look for in a leader, you may be surprised at what you hear.
- Extremes lead to wonder and inspiration. Just think of Canadians getting off a plane in Jamaica in February.
- Perceptions are built on what you're looking for. Catch your people doing "right" and reward them for it.
Being Human - Finish it
We're busy.
It's not unusual to have five or six competing priorities with immediate deadlines.
To keep yourself motivated, finish something. Focus on one thing and finish it. Think about a firehose, it has a nozzle that can spread a fine mist over a large area, but that nozzle can also be focused into a single stream that blows holes in walls. Be the stream.
Research at Harvard backs it up. From The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work:
"People’s inner work lives seemed to lift or drag depending on whether or not their projects moved forward, even by small increments. Small wins often had a surprisingly strong positive effect, and small losses a surprisingly strong negative one."
Next week, take your list, pick a project, and finish it. Big or small, just finish it.
Random Stuff
I'm getting a lot of questions about China and it's hard to describe everything I saw, felt, smelled, and heard.
It's an amazing place.
And they have Pizza Huts. Lots of them. Along with KFC's.
The KFC's were easily absorbed into Chinese culture because they love chicken. The Pizza Huts took on a new form.
I'd describe it as sit-down-semi-casual-fine-dining.
I may have never experienced this but my traveling companions announced "no more Chinese food" on day 4 and I obliged. I could draw a Venn diagram to show you, and I should have taken pictures, but the Chinese Pizza Hut website does a fine job of demonstrating what I'm talking about.
I miss it already.
