Author: alearningaday

When versus how

We are conditioned to think in terms of cohorts or classes. It is a consequence of our industrial system of education. We move from one level to the next when we’re the right age. It matters less how we did.

This system breaks down once we finish our education. Suddenly, we move from a world largely governed by “when” to one governed by “how.” But, it is easy to keep asking ourselves “when” questions.

Personal “when” questions: Is it the right time to get married or have kids?
Professional “when” questions: Am I getting promoted too late? When will I catch up to X person who seems ahead of me despite being in a younger cohort? Did I choose to go to graduate school too late?

It is helpful to internalize two truths. First, there is no right time. Our lives and careers only make sense in retrospect. At this moment, all we can do is focus on doing our absolute best. Most of the good and bad stuff that happens to us is unplanned and, often, based on chance.

Second, how we do things matter a lot more than when we do them. It doesn’t matter if you are older than your cohort if you are the absolute best performer. It is how we do things that opens up opportunities for the next stage. And, whilst “when” implicitly has us focusing on everybody else, focusing on “how” keeps our focus to ourselves – a more productive and much happier place.

Finally, and most importantly, all time wasted on thinking about “when” is time taken away from “how.”

Two sided tools

Humans invented the Axe around eight thousand years ago. It was one of the most powerful tools ever invented. And, its foremost use was cutting wood. While it went a long way in easing early human effort, it also had a dark side.

The Axe also became a powerful weapon when humans fought each other.

Many millennia later, tools and inventions continue to have a two sided nature. Overdosing on life saving medicines, for example, can kill us.

Similarly, technology analyst, Benedict Evans, shared a headline yesterday that likely brought a smile to the face of anyone reading it. Macedonian entrepreneurs have been making money by creating more than a hundred fake pro-Trump sites and sharing them on Facebook. As Ben Evans pointed out, try explaining that headline to someone ten years ago. Yes, we can use social media to connect with each other. But, we can also use it to waste huge amounts of time reading stuff that isn’t real.

All of this is a lovely reminder as we walk into our work desks today. We have an unparalleled array of technology and tools at our disposal. We could use these to learn, ship and make a positive difference. Or, we could be among the millions who only get to experience their other side.

It is on us to choose.

The dangers of innate talent – The 200 words project

(continued from parts 1, 2, 3, 4).
In the many examples mentioned in past weeks, we’ve seen that “talent” is developed by deliberate practice. If you were wondering if it applied to sports, Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” starts with an interesting insight into how sports talent is picked. Gladwell analyzed data on professional athletes to show that the overwhelming majority are born in the second half of the year. Since this means they fall in the older half of the class, they tend to be physically better developed in their age group when they are young. This gets them selected for intensive practice and the rest is history.

Ericsson’s research supports this – for some sports, one could speculate about some minimum talent requirements – e.g. height and body size. Beyond that, however, practice seems to trump everything else. We also have strong reason to believe that early practice shapes our physical and mental attributes. So, we might be born with a preference for music over sports, for example. But, that counts for little if we don’t practice it.

And, therein lies the dark side of the innate talent hypothesis – believing in innate talent, we tend to write kids off before they have a chance to practice.

Nobody questions that Mozart’s achievements were extraordinary compared with those of his contemporaries. What’s often forgotten, however, is that his development was equally exceptional for his time. His musical tutelage started before he was four years old, and his father, also a skilled composer, was a famous music teacher and had written one of the first books on violin instruction. Like other world-class performers, Mozart was not born an expert—he became one. – Anders Ericsson

—
Source and thanks to: Peak by Anders Ericsson

Obvious to everyone else

There are times when we do things for reasons that, despite what we might claim, are obvious to everyone else.

We might say we didn’t mean to be mean or selfish. But, everyone else might feel your intentions were obvious. It happens to most competitive people. They act ridiculous in the heat of the moment and find some justification for their behavior. However, their friends always see through it.

This isn’t limited to individuals. Companies do it too.

For example, when Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone, it was obvious to everyone outside Microsoft that they were missing the point.

When Slack recently took out a patronizing full page about Windows and told us it was their way of showing they didn’t care, most of us believed otherwise.

Recognizing this dynamic is a useful skill. It is when everyone around you either rolls their eyes or indulges you with a “Suuuure.”

Once you recognize it, fixing it requires us to be courageous enough to evaluate our narrative. The narrative is what convinces us that the story makes sense when it is obvious to everyone else that it doesn’t.

When in doubt, always examine the narrative.

Daring greatly, dude

I just listened to this excerpt from Brene Brown’s book, “Daring Greatly.”

I remembered a conversation that I had just had with a guy in his very early twenties. He told me that his parents sent him link to my TED talks and he really liked the idea of Wholeheartedness and daring greatly. When he told me that the talks inspired him to tell the young woman he’s dating for several months that he loved her, I winced and hoped for a happy ending to the story.

No such luck. She told him that she thought he was “awesome” but that she thought they should date other people. When he got back to his apartment after talking to his girlfriend, he told his roommates what had happened. He said, “They were both hunched over their laptops and without looking up one of them was like, ‘What were you thinking, man?’” One of his roommates told him that girls only like guys who are running the other way. He looked at me and said, “I felt pretty stupid at first. For a second I was mad at myself and even a little pissed at you. But then I thought about it and I remembered why I did it. I told my roommates, ‘I was daring greatly, dude.’”

He smiled when he told me, “They stopped typing, looked at me, nodded their heads, and said, ‘Oh. Right on, dude.’”

Aside from making me smile, this story was a lovely reminder of the power of framing. It moved from “What were you thinking?” to “Right on, dude” the moment he framed it differently.

There is rarely good or bad. It is how we choose to frame it.

Purpose and appreciation

Building a culture is hard. This is so because of two reasons. First, there seem to be so many other things that need to get done. And, second, it isn’t clear what you should focus on. There seem to be way too many factors that go into building a culture anyway. While both are true, we all know that there are ways to simplify seemingly complex problems. And, my attempt at simplifying culture building is to simply focus on purpose and appreciation.

Dan Pink’s excellent book, Drive, beautifully synthesized human motivation to 3 ideas – autonomy, mastery and purpose. I’ve begun to believe that it is missing a fourth – appreciation. We care about being appreciated. A lot. There’s a saying that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers. And, I’d hazard a guess that the managers who people want to leave are often managers who don’t appreciate what their people do.

So, why leave out autonomy and mastery in culture building? As an organization grows, I think it is hard to emphasize autonomy and mastery. Autonomy can get in the way of process. And, process becomes critical as we grow to ensure a consistent experience to customers. Balancing between autonomy and process isn’t easy and is a constant struggle for mature organizations. So, I think it is something that needs to be solved for by managers and leaders at an individual team level.

As far as mastery goes, I think it makes sense in some contexts and doesn’t in others. For example, companies work hard to allow for internal movement so people don’t feel stuck in certain careers. Certain career paths may be viewed as stepping stones to others. Again, I think of mastery as something we work on a manager and team level. In some teams, mastering the craft should be the key focus. And, in others, it should all be about gaining relevant skills and moving onto do other things.

My gut says that if we can focus on purpose and appreciation in our organizations and homes, we’ll be able to solve for most of the problems that culture helps solve. And, while more organizations are attempting to do better with appreciation, most are a long way away from improving the sense of purpose.

Thirty per cent

For most of us, sleep takes thirty percent or so of our available time on the planet. Every person has his/her ideal amount but, for the most part, thirty per cent is a good approximation. So, for nearly all of us, it is the one activity that accounts for the largest portion of our time.

And, yet, for years, we sold sleep short. You were a loser if you slept eight hours. After all, the high achievers were getting by on two hours of sleep a night.

This has changed a fair bit over the years. Research has confirmed the obvious – it is smart to sleep well. So, there’s been more conversation around sleeping well over the past few years.

I’m still amazed it took us so long to catch up, though. By all accounts, I wake up every morning blown away by the effect sleep has. Aside from physical rest, it completely recharges every internal battery. A good night of sleep brings with it a certain optimism about the day ahead. Dreams help us resolve the many the untied knots during the day. If you’ve ever decided to sleep on a problem, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

It isn’t easy to just fall off to sleep either. Sleep typically works best after mental tiredness. It also requires us to learn to let go of worry. And, it helps greatly to have the right environment and a good evening shut down routine. A good night of sleep is hard earned. And, it is, by every account, a wonder activity.

When things go well for us, we tend to take wellness for granted. If you have a stomach bug or a sprained leg, you might find yourself wondering what a fully functioning stomach or leg feels like. But, you and I have fully functioning body parts on most days and almost never notice them or give thanks. Sleep works the same way.

If you aren’t sleeping well, there’s plenty of resources out there that might help. I hope you check them out and try them. I did so a few years back and it is a gift that keeps on giving.

We all are prone to complain about how there’s little time or energy in our lives. But, with sleep, we have an activity that makes very good use of thirty percent of our time while transforming us and our energy on the other side. It is a wonderful thing.

Science and art

Most pursuits have an element of both science and art. The art is decidedly where things get cool. This under-the-legs shot by Roger Federer, in his prime, is an example of just that.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXB4MApF4Lo%5B/embedyt%5D

He didn’t just attempt it. He won the rally by hitting that audacious shot. In the US Open Semi Final. Art.

Art connects us in beautiful ways. And, it makes sense that we’d all love to be artists making things that connect people.

There is, however, one thing to keep in mind – it generally requires a mastery of the science to get to the art. Every artist is an expert at the basics. We need to understand the natural laws and what we can do with them before we figure out how to coax them to allow us to do creative things.

If you ever find yourself wondering why there are so few artists, it isn’t because of a lack of artistic courage. It is probably because there aren’t enough who do the work to get the science right.

What they remember

Over the years, I’ve heard many people recount memorable meetings with people they considered great. For some, it was a famous athlete and, for others, it was a favorite author or leader. And, I always find it interesting to observe what they remember.

They rarely recount the big speech or the fantastic performance during the game. Instead, they remember the smallest of details. They talk about how the warmth they experienced when they shook hands or how their hero treated everyone around them with respect. I’ve heard how Bill Clinton made everyone in the room feel special. Rafael Nadal is always gracious and respectful to the folks on the side who hand him towels during the game. And, Indra Nooyi, known to be incredibly smart and tough, can give memorable compliments.

I’ve experienced this myself as well. With folks I consider my heroes, it is always the small things that I remember. The big things are expected.

While we all seek to have impact on the organizations we work for, most of us strive to have an impact on the people we work with. It is part of being human. We like to be liked and appreciated.

And, my biggest lesson from the “what they remember” stories is that, in the long run, the big meeting or presentation today won’t have the impact we think it will. It will all be about the small things. It will be how we chose to work, treat people and approach the day.

So, today, let’s stay engaged, pay attention, and commit to doing the small things with extraordinary love. Then, let’s do that again tomorrow.

For, it is the small things that are the big things.

The case against innate talent – The 200 words project

(continued from parts 1, 2, 3).
Researcher K Anders Ericsson has researched expert performance for the past 30+ years. In every case, his analysis has revealed one thread – every innate talent/prodigy story can be deconstructed to reveal “deliberate practice.”

Deliberate practice is practice that is typically guided by a coach that has specific goals, involves continuous stretching of the body and mind and, by nature, is hard. If you’ve felt the challenge when learning a new skill (whether it is a tennis swing or the guitar) from a coach, you’ve tasted deliberate practice. And, behind every great prodigy such as a Mozart or a Tiger Woods, there was typically a coach (in their case, dad) who developed their skills early. These practice techniques have been refined over time to the delight of competitive parents globally. Search for “child prodigy” on YouTube and you’ll notice the increase in the number of child prodigies over the years.

Often, kids with innate talent – be it IQ’s in mental tasks or better physical attributes in physical tasks – may get a head start. But, it doesn’t count for much without deliberate practice.

If innate talent isn’t everything we thought, what are the dangers of the belief?

While there is a huge benefit to starting young, it is only too late if the field doesn’t allow for participation based on age. Today’s octogenarian athletes are fitter than ever before. In 2015, Don Pellman became the first 100 year old to run a 100 meters in less than 27 seconds. – Anders Ericsson paraphrased

—
Source and thanks to: Peak by Anders Ericsson, The deliberate practice research paper

(The 200 words project involves sharing a story from a book/blog/article I’ve read within 200 words)