Category Archives: Decision Making and Analysis

The earlier you start on this, the better for your career

Procrastination exacts a heavy price. And there is one area of life in which delay is particularly costly.

Stephen Covey writes of “quadrant two” activities in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Quadrant two is the area devoted to those important things in life that we never really seem to get around to doing. They are important, but they are not urgent.

Planning and goal setting are good examples of quadrant two activities. What could be more important than defining a vision of success and knowing where you’re going in life? But most of us do not take the time to plan our career and write down goals.

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The Number One Way to Influence Others

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt that a sales person really understood your needs?

I once made a large purchase with no regrets. In fact, the sales person made me feel great about handing over lots of my hard-earned money.

What was the key to this sales person’s success? Why do I want to work with him again?

I walked away feeling that I had been understood. He was able to get inside of my head, figure out my needs, and deliver a set of complex services that satisfied me.

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How to Keep Idealism from Ruining You

“Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist–someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations.” -Peter M. Senge, “The Fifth Discipline” (p. 146)

A number of years ago I noticed a distressing pattern in my life. Despite my best efforts to “make things happen” in business settings, relationships, and other areas, I was continually disappointed. Nothing seemed to work out as I had hoped.

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Here’s How I Changed My Driving Habits in 21 Days

I previously detailed the painful experience but happy end results of my recent vehicle incident.

But that was not the best part of the story. The best part was the life-changing experience of changing my mindset and actions behind the wheel.

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Simplify and Focus

My theme words for this season of life are simplify and focus. I even jotted these words on a note and hung it on my wall next to my computer at work. Every day in every way, I think: simplify and focus.

As Richard Koch demonstrates in his book about the 80/20 principle, complex is ugly, but simple is beautiful. Additionally, the Heath brothers show the value of simplicity in Made to Stick, which I’m re-listening to on drives to work.

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Here’s How I Saved Myself Almost Six Hundred After-Tax Dollars

It was a Friday evening, and I was looking forward to an enjoyable evening with friends. I simply had to navigate the roads safely to my intended destination. Simple enough, right?

Just when I thought I was in control of my destiny, I managed to get myself into quite a predicament. The good news is that I took away several valuable lessons from my experiences.

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Take Ownership of Your Career, Revisited

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Now is the time for you to take ownership of your career.

Elaine Pofeldt wrote an excellent piece on Forbes on this theme. She says: “Skip the long list of resolutions this year. If you really want to take charge of your career in 2014, you only need to make one: Stop delegating control of your career to others.”

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The Power of Simplifying

I was recently talking with a professional who was trying to sell me a service. She showed me how it could potentially save us a modest sum of money.

The main thought I came away with was, “Will this make life easier for me? Will it increase or decrease the workload and burdens that I have to bear?”

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“This is how we’ve always done it”

I was recently surprised by a question about a simple, routine business process. For lack of a better response, I calmly blurted out the familiar retort, “I’ve always done it this way.”

Initially, I wondered why only just now I was being asked about the process. I was taken aback. After all, the process seemed to work fine and no one had complained in the past. However, I refrained myself from being affronted or resenting the question. In fact, after my initial response, I paused and became more reflective.

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To Get Good Advice, You Have to Ask for it the Right Way

One of my teachers once said, “I always think I’m right, but I don’t think I’m always right.”

Think about this for a moment.

Each of us tends to believe, at any given point, that our thoughts and actions are correct and justified. That said, we have to acknowledge that we have been wrong or mistaken at times.

I recently sought advice from several people on how to deal with a challenging situation. Gratefully, I chose to follow the advice of the person who essentially told me to be calm (rather than tense), objective (rather than making assumptions and jumping to conclusions), straightforward (rather than playing games), and proactive (rather than passive) in seeking a resolution. The advice was bound to work very well, and I’m grateful I followed it.

We can be wrong for various reasons — our judgment can be clouded by blind spots, tunnel vision, or negative emotions — and it is wise to seek a wide array of counsel. The more important the decision, the broader and more sophisticated the counsel should be. In business contexts, good counsel comes from attorneys, accountants, bankers, and other advisors. In career contexts, good counsel can come from professionals with more experience who have successfully navigated the path you are treading and avoided pitfalls along the way.

Word to the wise: I have avoided disasters by seeking and following advice. And yes, I have gone through painful “learning experiences” by foolishly presuming that I was smart enough and didn’t need to heed counsel.

That said, getting good advice is not merely a matter of asking. You have to do so correctly.

Overcome your counselor’s resistance to sharing candidly. Personally, I follow the simple rule of avoiding giving unsolicited advice. If someone does solicit my advice, I try to discern whether the person is serious about receiving my real opinion. Often people are seeking affirmation for what they have already decided to do, in which case it is counterproductive to share insights. I avoid entangling myself in pointless arguments with unteachable people who are already persuaded of their course of action.

I am not the only one who follows these simple principles of giving advice judiciously — they are commonsense for anyone who understands human nature — so make sure you convey sincerity in seeking advice. If you do not, the person you are asking will probably discern that you are not serious and will not give you real advice.

Give all the necessary background information. Do not succumb to the temptation to slant the scenario in such a way that the counselor is inclined toward giving the opinion you hope to get. Be sure to give all the relevant details so that you can get the most benefit from the opinions of an objective outside party. For example, if you are asking how to resolve a conflict and you only share about the faults of the other party in your conflict, your counselor will not be able to advise you appropriately on remedying your own faults. You have to demonstrate a level of humility, honesty, and integrity that conveys you are serious about getting to the truth — even if that means admitting you were wrong in the past.

Ask open ended questions and listen for answers. Be ready for surprising answers and words that you do not want to hear. You might have to reexamine your assumptions and change your course of action. If you are not ready to do this, don’t bother wasting your words and others’ time by asking for counsel.