Author: whatifconcepts
Better Decisions
Insightful and applicable blog post by Eric Barker. Here is the summary if you need encouragement to read further:
Here’s how to make good decisions:
- You don’t need more info, you need the right info: Clarify the problem and get relevant data, not all the data.
- Feelings are not the enemy: For simple choices, use raw brainpower. For complex choices, trust intuition.
- If you’re an expert in the area, trust your gut: Not sure if you’re an expert? Keep a decision diary.
- “Good enough is almost always good enough”: Trying to be perfect makes your brain miserable.
When We Explain Why
When we tell people why there is a hazard, decision, or rule it creates the opportunity for alignment. We can share in taking responsibility. If we simply state, ‘do not walk here,’ it creates questions. But if we tell people that the cliff is eroded and fallen into the sea then we might agree that it is a wise to take precautions.
FedEx vs Post Office
The Postal Service delivers to every address, every day. FedEx delivers to selected locations when there is something deemed urgent. Some enterprises show up every day and some people find this rewarding, others feel like it is a door-to-door solicitation. Some organizations show up on a less predictable schedule. Some people find this exciting, others deem it frustrating. A question to consider, are you delivering to everyone every day or are you selecting only a few people and delivering something urgent? The postal service and FedEx continue to fill a need, they have different purposes and operating plans.
Partnerships
The building of the transcontinental railroad was a partnership. Two railroad companies, government, investors, planners, engineers, laborers, immigrants, scouts, moving towns, etc. The list of partners is too long for this list. One could imagine a different result had this enormous project been taken on by a single entity. The final result was better because of collaboration and key partners. When we know we are working towards somebody who is approaching us with a shared purpose our resolve is stronger. Obstacles are easier to overcome when we know that there are others working on the same problem.
Our goal should not be to do more alone, rather do more with partners who believe what we believe.
Obstructions
If there were no obstructions than our enterprise would cease to exist. The trans-continental railway unimagined. Exploration of space left on the launch pad. Redesigning a city while honoring those who perished in its previous form would not have taken years. The obstruction is what keep us focused. Just make sure that the obstruction does not distract from the better future you are creating.
What Do You Measure?
I wear a Garmin heart rate monitor watch that measures a vast array of activity metrics. The home screen displays an activity monitor that counts the number of steps I take each day with a goal of 10,000. The screen changes color once I reach my daily goal and offers a satisfying sense of accomplishment. This weekend I exposed a flaw in measuring my performance indicators. I rode my bike for 5-hours exploring the Wasatch Mountains in Utah on Saturday and by days end I was far short of reaching my step goal, but I burned over 3,000 calories on the ride. Then on Sunday, I rode my horse on the trails in Idaho. The counter recorded 13,000 steps by 11 AM, the vast majority were equine generated. I was getting the benefit of Cricket’s efforts and my numbers were highly inflated.
We have numerous tools to measure our progress. High Schools use college placement lists to demonstrate academic rigor. Art Centers showcase the number of children who visit their education programs. Homeless shelters share the number of individuals housed each night. The critical deliberation is deciding what to measure. If I measure my total activity time I get a different result than monitoring steps, however, I miss quantifying the intensity of my workout. I can employ a Train Stress Score but then I may be tempted to divert from my recovery day workout which would score very low (despite being highly effective) to achieve a higher score. If measrement drives activity then we are choosing speed over experience.
Simon Sinek reminds us, ‘Great leaders are willing to sacrifice the numbers to save the people. Poor leaders sacrifice the people to save the numbers.’ If we remember that we need human-centered strategies then measurement become organic. If we are doing the work that matters we will find creative and flexible ways to quantify our impact.
What are you measuring?
New Perspective
Sometimes we need to adjust our perspective to make remarkable experiences resonate with those who share the journey. As Seth Godin wrote, “You probably don’t need yet another new idea. Better to figure out what to do with the ones you’ve got.” Do not abandon your quest, perhaps tell the crucial story from a different point of view.
Where Are You Headed?
My favorite flight tracking app is Flightradar24. The user can enable the camera on their smartphone, point it at the sky and track aircraft overhead. It is nearly instantaneous and shows the departure and arrival cities, type of aircraft, flight number, altitude, speed, and how far away the plane is from the user’s current location. Imagine the images near a large international airport?
How often have we walked into an enterprise and wondered what is going on? Is there a plan for the future or is everyday a replay? Perhaps in high tourist areas iteration works as long as one keep an eye on the other vendors and make sure to quickly plagiarize any new merchadise that might appear in their competitor’s shops. However transactions in these shops are usually one and done. If we are trying to generate loyalty we must to be able to provide something vital for the customer’s journey. We must be remarkable to the point the person who engaged us years ago immediately recalls us when recounting their interaction.
Winters ago my Mom went into a western ski resort shop specializing in Native American jewelry. She commented on a particular bracelet and the employee said they had a much bigger selection upstairs. They showed her to the second floor where the employee produced a wooden box from under the display case which was filled with an assortment of recreational drugs. In surprise, my Mom acknowledged there was some misunderstanding, thanked the employee, and exited the premise. The jewelry shop’s purpose, first floor for customers of design, second floor for recreational customers. It was uncertain as to which one was more profitable or the primary purpose.
If an outsider were to point their attention on your enterprises, would it be evident where your cause was headed and for what purpose? The vast majority of the overhead flights I track do not capture my interest. Occasionally, I will find one that make me dream a little and I will track its progress on the larger map, its journey suddenly part on mine.
Whose imagination have you captured? Where are you headed with their dreams?
Intentional
This morning a blueberry fell to the floor from my spoon and rolled somewhere out of sight. I spent a few minutes searching before it was corralled. I was amazed to find the berry four times further away than the immediate area underfoot where I located my initial reclamation effort. The search and rescue annoyed and amazed me. If I had dropped the blueberry intentionally in hopes that it will roll away like a bouncy ball and it had just landed flat I would have been disappointed. However, I found myself aggravated because this blueberry traveled far beyond what I thought was possible.
How often do we under/over-estimate an object’s potential? Fundraising campaigns intended to raise millions fall silent despite a sophisticated marketing campaign. A blog post finds an audience even though the topic was a random observation. A passing comment at a conference spurs a new organizational strategy. Or, a single discouraging look brings us down.
Our intentions and reality rarely play on the same scale. We should anticipate serendipity, surprise, and lack of correlation. If we embrace a culture of inquiry then we might ask, ‘what else might this be,’ when unanticipated events appear. Perhaps we might spend more time preparing for a broad range of results and less time selecting the spot to place our soon to be won trophy.
What-if-concepts 