During interesting exchanges, I have the annoying habit of showing impatience on my face. This is especially pronounced if I feel I know what the person is about to say.
There are 2 issues with this –
1. I assume I know exactly what they’re going to say. Alarm bells.
2. I assume there isn’t benefit in allowing them to finish. I often clear my thinking while saying it aloud. It would be hypocritical to think others don’t do the same.
So, my exercise for the day – let people finish.
Here’s the idea from week 3 of the 200 words project from “To Sell is Human” by Dan Pink.
The skill of a radiologist lies in finding abnormalities that the patient and physician aren’t looking for, such as unexpected cysts.
A group of radiologists were provided with reports including the patient’s photographs for 3 months in a row. They were then randomly asked to screen some of the reports from the previous 3 months, this time with no photographs. Radiologists screen a few 100 reports a day and would find it very hard, if not impossible, to remember which reports had already been screened.
The results showed that they were far less meticulous and less accurate without photos on the report. A reminder of the fact that the person on the report is a human being made a big difference to their accuracy.
This practice has been adopted in top laboratories since and is why our photographs are taken when our blood samples are analyzed. Reminding ourselves that our customers/clients/human are human goes a long way in improving the quality of our work.
‘Make it personal – A great radiologist said that he trained himself to look at every scan as if he was looking at his father’s.’ | Dan Pink
I recently spoke to a close friend of mine who is in the middle of a job search. He’d just received 12 rejection letters the previous day and was experiencing that sinking feeling.
That sucks. Waiting is hard. Rejection is harder. But, as I was reminded a couple of days ago – all it takes is for one thing to work out.
When that one thing works out, all those past disappointments don’t matter. It just takes one person to take that leap of faith and give you a shot – give you an interview, sign a check, or give you a job.
So, to all those who are waiting amidst disappointments and rejections, keep at it. Work hard and be good to yourself. All it takes is for one to work out. Good luck.. and most importantly, good skill.
I’d like to share 2 songs that have been a big part of this week – thanks iTunes Radio. Music like this inspires me – they’re both the kind of song you believe you can make yourself – they are so beautiful in their simplicity
It’s easy to complicate music (and life). And we do. It just takes a person who wants to sing. An instrument adds a lot. But you don’t need much more to touch people.
A nice reminder to keep things simple and keep plugging away.
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After a few delays, I am happy to announce that Help2Grow is finally a legal charitable trust registered in India. There is a bit of work to be done so we can get our bank accounts up in the next 2 weeks but, finally, we’re getting set to get to work.
Help2Grow was founded on the idea that we would exist to supplement existing schools and homes for the underprivileged. We recognize that the problem of abandonment is not one we can solve – however, there is a lot we can do to make the lives of those abandoned better. We’re now at a stage where we need to define this vision, mission, and the objectives that follow. It is an exciting time.
As I think about these, there are 3 thoughts that come to mind –
1. Making small progress on big goals. One of the temptations when we get started is to just begin taking action. This is something I’m working actively to avoid – we need to take the time necessary to think about what our goals are. In the absence of this, we will run the risk of making big progress on small goals (“let’s just do something”). There are perfectly good reasons to start small but there are no excuses to think small.
2. Hustle to build a school, not a class. There is a lot of initial excitement among the family and friends involved to get started. We all want to go out and make impact. Another check for us would be to focus hard on building the equivalent of a school – build systems that work for a sustainable organization. And, I think the key word in that sentence is sustainable. Many noble trusts and charities either run out of funds to be sustainable or lose out on the initial good intentions to make sustainable impact. Sustainable funds. Sustainable impact. Sustainable everything needs to be a focus.
3. A culture of narratives. A final thought as we build Help2Grow would be to build in a culture of Jeff Bezos-esque 1-6 page memos/”narratives.” We’ve already initiated this shift in our meetings on the Real Leaders project and in a couple of other places. I’m loving it. Writing forces an incredible amount of clarity of thought. It’s something we need to embed in our culture. We’re not going to have limited funds and unlimited desire to make an impact as we begin. There’s a lot of thinking to be done and then a lot of good work to be done.
It’s an exciting challenge.
This week’s 200 words project idea (coming to you this weekend) was one about how radiologists’ scans became more accurate when they saw patient photographs on their report.
An old co-worker and friend, who received it via email, responded saying the message was apt as she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer last week. She was working on keeping her spirits up and we exchanged a couple of emails. She is as bubbly and positive a person as anyone I’ve met – I am hopeful she makes a quick recovery.
For all those of us who share our thoughts/learnings/fears regularly via these blogs, it’s easy to forget that, every once in a while, we do succeed in making a genuine connection with someone reading the post. Once in a while, we do manage to actually help someone in their path. We may or may not be told when that happens but it does happen.
So, this note is a thank you to the many bloggers whose blogs I read. Your posts do connect with me from time to time and, at the very least, make me think and question every single day.
Thank you for taking the time to make the connection.
A friend shared the graph describing a thanksgiving turkey’s well-being the few months before thanksgiving. Your current state feels great – you are being fed well and you live a good life. This gets reinforced with time and you have every reason to feel better and better about yourself and life. Until..
Source: whywereason.com
We have many many great examples of turkeys in real life – the company that was oblivious to the fact that it needed to change it’s business model or be disrupted, the executive who thought of himself as indispensible, the insensitive wretch who thought their financially dependent partner could never leave him/her, and so on. Why?
1. They get fat with the joys of success.
2. They get complacent and stop looking over their backs.
3. They begin ignoring the signs of the road ahead.
We have suckers on most tables who are simply oblivious to what’s going on – not because they are incapable but because they choose to ignore the signs and ask – why am I so lucky?
A healthy dose of cynicism is very helpful in avoiding the turkey’s fate. My weakness is that I’m not cynical enough. Life experiences and a focus on “a learning a day” have taught me to focus on the positive – so much so that it’s become a part of who I am. A touch of positive delusion is a useful skill – it enables you to take more risks, fail more, and still ensure you stay happy. That said, there’s a balance to be had between a positive attitude and some healthy cynicism. This bit of cynicism does come with experience and it’s something I’m learning to pay more attention to.
So, if you’re feeling great, that’s great. But, guard against being carried away for too long. Extreme emotions dull our sensitivity to obvious signs. Remember the turkey. Stay lean and mean. Don’t drink your own kool aid and get cocky. Stay alert. You’re only as good as your next game.
Don’t be the turkey.
The Real Leaders Project 2014 edition is here. We have an exciting new year planned for you. We kick-start the year with an interview with Elim Chew, founder of Singapore Street Wear Brand 77th Street.
Aside from being one of Singapore’s respected entrepreneurs, Ms Chew was recently honored as a Forbes Asia Hero of Philanthropy. She sits on over 20 boards and committees of public service, youth and community organizations and has been inspiring students, educators, and budding entrepreneurs for many years now. Thanks, Ms Chew, for finding time for us!
As always, my favorite snippets –
“In the early days, it was a lot of human interaction that led to word-of mouth. In those days, we were the only street fashion wear. It was about being who you are and what you love – if you want to be quirky, then you be quirky – that attracts attention. We became friends with every customer, we know their names and their stories.”
“Kids as young as 9, 10 and 13 are building apps and starting companies. Today, it is about how early you start. There is a lot of knowledge out there that you can learn from. I feel everyone should start as young as they can. If you want to be a chef, start cooking at home for your family and scout the internet for more. While reading is one thing, self-improvement and implementation is another.”
(On motivating young employees) – “I believe that this is a generation that is driven by purpose. You need to show them the purpose. Why are they in retail? Why are they social entrepreneurs. Why are they professionals. In this environment you see the people doing their part of retail. We show them the importance of their initiatives, the vision of helping the poor, the vision of taking an idea to implementation and becoming successful. And usually, its not about the money (Money is great) but the process is so much more motivating.”
“The reason for my success is the number of hours I put in ever since I got into the workforce – I worked everyday. And over the years I have gathered the experience and practice in everything that I do today. However there is a little bit of talent that helps with the starting phase. And that little extra effort you put in affects the olympic record you can break, no matter what your level of talent is.”
The full transcript, as always, is on RealLeaders.tv. Thank you, once again, to Ms.Elim for taking the time!
Sometimes, it’s helpful to remind ourselves that we ought to stop over-thinking things.
Stop over analyzing the ideas, the plans, the timing, and the environment. The conditions will never be perfect.
Just go out. Pick up the shovel. Do the work.
Here’s the idea from week 2 of the 200 words project from “The Everything Store” by Brad Stone.
Amazon.com, in an unprecedented move, added a feature in 1995 allowing customers to review books they bought. Until then, books were only reviewed by critics and not by readers. As was expected, some of the early books were trashed by multiple readers. Bezos then got a call from an irate book publishing executive who said Amazon’s job was to sell books and not trash them.
Bezos recalls that he and the team decided then that their job was not to sell things, but to help customers make better purchase decisions. This principle has guided Amazon’s decision making since. A similar big call that Amazon made was to include used books in their book catalogue. Again, this provoked an outcry from authors and customers (and even internal executives) but Bezos was convinced that it helped customers make better decisions.
The learning for me – when you set out on a new project, figure out your most important stakeholder(it could just be yourself), define your guiding principles and focus intensely on it.
“What’s dangerous is not to evolve.” | Jeff Bezos
A Learning a Day 