Managing YourSelf - Part V

One of the most important parts of business management is managing yourself. It’s not about managing the business but, it’s about organizing your life so you can accomplish the things that are important.

There are five key critical lessons that I have been posting here one lesson for each day. Click here, if you missed Part I on Thursday; here for Part II on Friday; here for Part III on Saturday and here for Part IV yesterday. 

And, now the last lesson in this mini-series:

#5. “Effective executives, finally, make effective decisions. They know that this is, above all, a matter of system—of the right steps in the right sequence. They know that an effective decision is always a judgment based on “dissenting opinions” rather than on “consensus on the facts.” And they know that to make many decisions fast means to make the wrong decisions. What is needed are few, but fundamental, decisions. What is needed is the right strategy rather than razzle-dazzle tactics.”

The best decision makers don’t make many decisions. They focus on the ones that are important and the ones only they can solve. How can they do this?

Most situations are generic and have a standard solution. Once you understand this and know the standard solutions you can cut through the easy problems and focus on the few unique problems that really require effort.

The effective executive does not need to make many decisions. Because he solves generic situations through a rule and policy, he can handle most events as cases under the rule; that is, by adaptation. “A country with many laws is a country of incompetent lawyers,” says an old legal proverb. It is a country which attempts to solve every problem as a unique phenomenon, rather than as a special case under general rules of law. Similarly, an executive who makes many decisions is both lazy and ineffectual. The decision-maker also always tests for signs that something atypical, something unusual, is happening; he always asks: “Does the explanation explain the observed events and does it explain all of them?; he always writes out what the solution is expected to make happen—make automobile accidents disappear, for instance—and then tests regularly to see if this really happens; and finally, he goes back and thinks the problem through again when he sees something atypical, when he finds phenomena his explanation does not really explain, or when the course of events deviates, even in details, from his expectations.

Managing YourSelf - Part IV

One of the most important parts of business management is managing yourself. It’s not about managing the business but, it’s about organizing your life so you can accomplish the things that are important.

There are five key critical lessons that I have been posting here one lesson for each day. Click here, if you missed Part I on Thursday; here for Part II on Friday and here for Part III yesterday. 

#4. “Effective executives concentrate on the few major areas where superior performance will produce outstanding results. They force themselves to set priorities and stay with their priority decisions. They know that they have no choice but to do first things first—and second things not at all. The alternative is to get nothing done.”

Getting things done is not enough. You must get the right things done. What is most important? Focus on that.

To be effective is the job of the executive. “To effect” and “to execute” are, after all, near-synonyms. Whether he works in a business or in a hospital, in a government agency or in a labor union, in a university or in the army, the executive is, first of all, expected to get the right things done. And this is simply that he is expected to be effective… All in all, the effective executive tries to be himself; he does not pretend to be someone else. He looks at his own performance and at his own results and tries to discern a pattern. “What are the things,” he asks, “that I seem to be able to do with relative ease, while they come rather hard to other people?”

Come back tomorrow for lesson #5.  _/|\_

Quantum Physics of Belief – Intuition

In the last couple of articles in this Quantum Physics of Belief series, I was specifically discussing the usefulness of utilizing our instincts in making decisions that align our personal and organizational values to succeed at work.

Neuroscience shows that instinct plays a leading role in all types of decision-making. Our traditional ways of learning and thinking also favor the rational mind, leaving our potential for “intuitive intelligence” untapped. Intuitive Intelligence helps us activate the profound, yet often intangible, interaction between instinct and play.

Listening to the silent voice inside your head gets portrayed in movies and books as the evil part of man's mind that turns mild-mannered citizens into lunatic killers. Business people have even seen intuition as some mystic hocus pocus nonsense that has no place in effective decision making in the executive or entrepreneurial world. It's no wonder that many of us have been conditioned to ignore that voice and only listen to outside signals as our measurement of effectiveness to the actions we take in life.

We tend to think that rational decisions trump gut decisions, that hierarchy is necessary, and that logic rules all. The reality is that intuition and instinct—as imperfect as they may seem—are our most valuable untapped skills and the keys to unlocking creativity, understanding consumer decision-making and performing our best at work. Therefore, let us take a look at why gut decisions are more than guesses and why our typical approaches to decision-making are not in sync with how the human mind really works.

Businesses in particular, especially in times like these, tend to exert control and logic at the expense of creative thinking.  However, some leading companies are going against the grain by tapping intuitive intelligence to win customers and profit. Here are some examples: Google does by getting the most from their teams with a paradoxical work culture; Hermès does by attracting customers with everything instinctual instead of rational price; Virgin America does by redefining customer experience to reinvent the airline industry.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Intuition as: "The knowledge from within; instinctive knowledge or feeling without the use of rational processes."

Intuition is not about extrasensory perception (ESP), a sixth sense or anything mystical or metaphysical. You know that sudden flash of insight that comes out of nowhere? It's that sense you get or decision you make without really thinking about it; it just comes to you. That's your intuition.

In reality, it doesn't come out of nowhere. It is about data, gathered by your five senses, being recognized by everything your subconscious mind is aware of. And it is aware of everything.

Instead of dismissing intuition as an unfounded and irrational impulse, genius level success requires that you learn to accept and respect this voice, as it is your natural talents talking to you.

But do you really listen to it, or do you scoff at the idea that you actually pay attention to your inner voice? That intuitive voice is your guide, the one thing that you can truly count on that is always looking out for your best interest… if you choose to listen to it, not intercept the message, and ACT on its direction.

It’s very easy to let your voice of intuition be clouded by other things. Fear, desire, self-doubt, and rationalizing are all some of the many types of intuition blockers. Instead, trust that your intuition is your personal guide to the correct path for you at all times. Not just when your intuition falls in line with your thoughts on a subject. Turn off whatever limiting beliefs that may be overpowering your intuition.

Perhaps it’s your belief that intuition is just ‘mumbo jumbo’. It is easy to believe this because intuition is not thought of as a concrete thing. It is based on nonverbal things, feelings, unconscious thought, and instinct. This is definitely not a description for people who define things in black and white. Intuition is often looked at as gray. But it is not. Intuition is basically a synopsis of information that has been taken in through all of the senses, memory, subconscious, and reasoning.

When your intuition speaks to you do you hear it? Do you know how to identify it? Your intuition typically kicks in when you are quiet. Many people find answers to their questions in the dreams, or when meditating. Others find them “out of the blue”, when they are not looking for them. Many “feel” the right thing to do, or what the next course of action should be. There are many ways that your intuition will speak to you, and everyone’s intuition is unique.

How does one learn to trust their intuition? Like everything else, if it is practiced it becomes second nature. Allow yourself to consciously ask for the answers to something that you are seeking and write down the results when they occur. Visualize you unlocking a door and seeing your answer tumble from within.

Through repetition and proof, your confidence in your intuition will grow and it will become second nature to trust it automatically. Armed with this knowledge, you can engage in imaginative play to discover new solutions to even today’s most complicated challenges.

This is easier said than done, though. Just as we are taught not to trust our subconscious mind as much as our conscious one, we are also taught to go with what we know, not what we feel.

Great athletes are often quoted as saying, "If I have to think about it, it's too late." Even those people that most of us would assume must be very logical and rational turn out to be very much driven by their intuitions.

Albert Einstein's genius for conceptual thinking was much more a feeling for him than a rationalization of the facts. So intuitive and pure was this talent, that he once wrote, "There is no logical path to [truth]. Only intuition, resting on sympathetic understanding of experience, can reach it."

This level of trust in intuition is not unusual for any of the modern day geniuses we studied either. Most had a very hard time attempting to explain their decisions in a literal sense. They just knew how they felt and what things they saw clearly or not. Their level of intuition and willingness to trust their gut is extreme.

Learning to trust your intuition will be one of the more significant journeys you will take to reach genius levels in every aspect of your life. Think about the times in your past when you trusted your "gut" more than your brain or perhaps the times you responded to a situation or question effectively without having to think about it.

That, my friends is your intuition. It is what you need to listen to.

“The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do, they use their intuition instead, and the intuition is far more developed than in the rest of the world… Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work. Western rational thought is not an innate human characteristic, it is learned and it is the great achievement of Western civilization. In the villages of India, they never learned it. They learned something else, which is in some ways just as valuable but in other ways, is not. That’s the power of intuition and experiential wisdom.” ~ Steve Jobs

Quantum Physics of Belief – Trusting Gut Instincts

In the last couple of articles, I was specifically discussing the usefulness of utilizing our instincts in making decisions that align our personal and organizational values to succeed at work.

Most executives did not get to where they are without keen instincts. When the time comes to make a decision, a leader relies largely on his or her gut – that is simply a fact of life. We would not suggest that gut instincts ever be taken out of the decision-making process, but there are times that process can be strengthened by objective analysis to reduce the risk often involved with extremely important judgments.

All of us use the experiences we have built throughout our lives as the basis for our gut instincts; we often chart a course of action without considering the logical components of those actions. You need look no further than today’s bitterly divisive, toxic political environment to see examples of unbridled gut instinct kicking logic and reason to the curb.

But gut reactions are not limited to large-scale, sweeping applications; they are an everyday occurrence. On your drive to work today, you more than likely reacted to some sort of traffic development, such as having to swerve out of the way of a reckless driver impinging on your lane. You didn’t have time to logically and coolly consider all of your available options. You had to make a move, so you made it.

Some of today’s most advanced neuroscience research suggests that our brains act in a similar manner even when making decisions in much less stressful scenarios. Many times, people unconsciously weigh emotional tags associated with memory rather than consciously weighing the pros and cons of a particular decision in a rational manner. We feel before we think.

It is ludicrous, obviously, to argue that business leaders should always disregard their instincts and make critical decisions solely on a logical, objective basis. You cannot ignore your gut, nor should you. Your instincts frame the manner in which you look at a particular decision. They have a massive influence on the options you choose to consider and how you gather data. They even help determine what people you listen to and what people you largely ignore. Even when you tell yourself you are going to be cool and rational, you can never completely discount your instinct.

However, it is imperative that you protect your decision-making process from long-held biases. Doing so means learning when you can trust your gut instincts, and when you need to take a more analytical course. Here are some suggestions how to make that vital distinction.

Drawing upon experience can be a powerful way to ensure sound decision-making. The subconscious mind relies on the recognition of patterns. If we have an ample amount of applicable memories that we can scan regarding a certain important decision, the better chance we have of making the correct decision. Chess masters, for example, have a huge bank of memories they can call upon regarding whatever situation occurs during a match. That is why they can make crisp, correct decisions in as little as six seconds.

Just because we have a bank of memories to draw upon does not mean they will help us make a sound choice. There have been plenty of terrible decisions based on a wealth of experience when that experience was not applicable to the particular situation.

You can have all the experience in the world, but it is not only useless if you did not learn the right lessons, it can be downright crippling. If you do not receive productive feedback then it is easy for you to take decisive action and automatically feel good about it. If you don’t have frank, honest feedback – basically, when you are surrounded by “yes men” – then it will be nearly impossible for you to receive any kind of objective assessment on past decisions.

If those past decisions were bad, and you rely on past experience in making those bad decisions, that will only lead to even more bad decisions and more after that. “Yes men” are a pox on clear-headed, objective and effective decision-making. If you have people filtering bad news or protecting you from it, you are doomed to making one faulty judgment after another. Take a long, hard look at the people around you – if you are surrounded by sycophants, your enterprise’s downward slide will only continue to get worse.

Do we trust our brains and rational thinking when making important decisions? Or do we make better decisions based on gut instinct and emotions? Recent research on the process of decision-making has brought to light surprising conclusions that contradict conventional wisdom.

Research published in Science, indicates that effective, conscious decision-making requires cognitive resources, and because increasingly complex decisions place increasing strain on these sources, the quality of our decisions declines as the complexity of decisions increases. In short, complex decisions overrun our cognitive powers.

On the other hand, the researchers argue, unconscious decision-making–or intuition or gut instinct–requires no cognitive resources, so task complexity doesn’t degrade its effectiveness. This seemingly counter-intuitive conclusion is that although simple decisions are enhanced by conscious thought, the opposite holds true for complex thinking.

Two pertinent questions are: What accounts for a complex decision and what accounts for a good outcome to that decision? Studies of the criminal justice system show that people value less the legal system’s outcomes, as much as the opportunity to see justice done. So the outcome is a matter of perspective.

While researchers disagree on the best way to make complex or strategic decisions, they bring to light for leaders the importance of both rational, logical thinking and subconscious intuitive or gut thinking.

Quantum Physics of Belief – Insightful Instincts

For the past few weeks, I was writing about quantum physics and business research to explore the correlation between the science of consciousness and patterns in the business world, to suggest innovative ways of using this wisdom to lead and succeed in a business environment that is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. It’s generally considered good business practice to make decisions based on data rather than on our instincts. People usually believe that information holds the key to an objective and therefore superior answer, whereas our instincts introduce a subjective and therefore inferior perspective. However, we habitually believe this only because we have not learned to use our instincts with accuracy. Among other things, they are useful in choosing our teammates and partners.

We were all born with natural instinct. We cried when we were hungry; babies were not taught to cry, but it was an instinctive response to their physical need. Emotion calls on instinct too. The flight or fight response to fear is one most of us have experienced and, with the adrenaline pounding through us, we know the reaction was not the result of a calculated decision-making process.

Our natural instinct is used most in sports, drama, music and other non-academic activities. It tends to be suppressed as we mature. Instinct, or intuition, remains in us as adults, but is usually underdeveloped and under-recognized. You have surely had the experience of meeting someone new in both personal and professional situations - and having a "gut feeling" about them; or when walking into a room and sensing the "vibes" - good or bad. This is your instinct piping up, giving you a chance to "trust your gut" and "listen to the vibes."

Instinct is insight based not on reason, but on awareness. When we allow it back into our consciousness, we can become more effective in many areas of life, including our role as a leader. Allowing it back calls for a heightened sense of openness to our self and others.

"He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened." ~ Tao Te Ching

Using your instinct in your role as leader means developing a keen awareness of your team, colleagues, and clients as individuals, and recognizing that not only is each person different, but they are different from you. It means understanding what they go through on a day-to-day basis and yields insight into their strengths and weaknesses. Using your instinct, you are able to walk into a meeting and be aware of how others are feeling and reacting around you.

An effective leader blends strong leadership skills with this empathetic awareness, guiding others to meet challenges and opportunities for their own benefit and the benefit of the organization. When such a leader takes the time and effort to know all employees personally on this level, the results in employee morale, empowerment, performance, and retention are excellent.

Your staff and colleagues define you as a leader by what they see you do. Your actions are based on your decisions and your decisions can be influenced favorably by your instinct. As a good leader, you can use instinct in making decisions that align your personal and organizational values and lead to your desired outcomes.

FIVE Signs That Say you are NOT Business Savvy

Do you own or lead a business? If so, you will need to do a lot of background work before you can be successful in your professional venture. The very first diagnostic activity is whether you have good leadership skills. Here are five signs that say you should NOT be a business owner – do you recognize any of these as describing you?

1.    Non-existent communication skills – when you run a business you need to know how to communicate effectively. This is the first and the last of not just good but great leadership skills. You need to be a people’s person. If you are a grouch by nature, an introvert, it is very doubtful that you would be able to develop a successful network or a worthy customer base.

2.    You cannot decide – a good businessperson can and is often required to take split-second decisions; hard decisions. Are you good with taking decisions? This is a very important trait among leadership skills without which your business will definitely flounder and fail. If you are an indecisive person, forget about being a business owner.

3.    You are an ‘I, me, myself’ type of person – leadership skills are a must if you want to run a business successfully; and not into the ground. For this you need to have a basic humility about yourself so your employees would feel motivated to work; which in turn, would attract more business. If you are an egotistic maniac, you will not last too long in this field.

4.    You cannot face unpleasantness – possessing good leadership skills does not mean that the path to success is all milk and roses. As the head of your business, your employees and customers would often create unpleasant situations that require confrontations and arguments. Are you afraid of unpleasantness or confrontations? If yes, business is not your cup of tea.

5.    You are not ready to work hard – leadership skills do not come by wishing for it; neither does success. It takes hard work, great efforts and a lot of time. Do not, for one single moment, think that because you are the owner and head of your business you can cut yourself slack. On the contrary, as the head and leader you would often be required to put in double the efforts of others. You need to be disciplined about your business, which in turn will motivate your employees to give their best. If the leader is lazy, the employees will follow suit. The result would be a disaster for your business.

No one is born with any of these leadership skills. The good news is that anyone can acquire these skills. It is never too late to seek help and set yourself up for success.

Decisions and Motivation

Everyone makes decisions differently and is motivated or driven by different things. Being aware of and understanding these differences are really important when managing employees or creating relationships.

Over fifty years of scientific research has revealed that there are three distinct styles of decision-making. Each of us can make decisions in all three ways, but we tend to develop a preference for one more than the other two. This preference becomes a subconscious force, affecting the decisions we make on a daily basis and shaping how we perceive the world around us and ourselves. The three decisional styles are personal, practical, and analytical.

To some extent everyone is capable of making all three kinds of decisions, but we ultimately have a preference. Here is a simple example of the three in contrast with each other. A person with each style is sitting around a table working on a project together. While the Personal style is focused on the needs of the team members involved and how to best use their talents, the Practical style doesn’t really care as much about the team or if it is done right, he just wants to get it done. Finally the Analytical sees no reason to worry about the people involved or even getting it done if it isn’t going to be done correctly.

We all have different balances of these three styles. That is what makes our decisions and actions different from others. These ways of making decisions and how we use them are at the core of whom we are.

In addition to there being three distinct styles of decision making, people are also motivated to make decisions based on different drivers. Based on the research of Dr. Eduard Spranger and later by Dr. Gordon Allport, there are seven key motivational drivers and they include the following:

§ The motivation to achieve balance, harmony, and find form or beauty

§ The motivation for security from economic gain and to achieve practical returns

§ The motivation to be seen as unique, independent, and stand apart from the crowd

§ The motivation to have influence and control over one’s environment or success

§ The motivation to benefit others in a humanitarian sense

§ The motivation to establish order, routine, and structure

§ The motivation to gain knowledge or discover truth

Imagine how beneficial it would be to know how your team members make decisions and why they are motivated to do what they do. Imagine being able to share that knowledge with the actual team members. Communication, teamwork, and your ability to manage would instantly improve. Results and outcomes would measurably improve. Uncovering how people make decisions and what drives them to do what they do can be uncovered through a simple assessment process. However, the assessment process is only the beginning. A commitment by management to create an action plan on how to effectively use the knowledge to improve team building is a critical second step. Information for information’s sake is—you got it—just information. An action plan to manage with the new information will provide long-term and sustainable results for your team.

Motivation and Process Improvement

“Managers do not motivate employees by giving them higher wages, more benefits, or new status symbols. Rather, employees are motivated by their own inherent need to succeed at a challenging task. The manager’s job then, is not to motivate people to get them to achieve; instead, the manager should provide opportunities for people to achieve, so they will become motivated.” – Frederick Herzberg.


So what does this theory have to do with process improvement? When done properly, motivation is a core component to process improvement, total quality, 6 Sigma, lean, or whatever other description one uses to express this philosophy that according to W. Edwards Deming causes 85% to 90% of an organization’s problems. It has been proven time and time again that “bad processes will always squash good people.”


Typically project members do not go to work with the preconceived attitude of, “I can’t wait to get to work to see what I can screw up today.” Most employees are committed to doing a good job and providing desired results. Very often, however, when management does not see the desired or forecasted outcomes, they begin the search for the bad apples. “Who caused this to happen, rather than what caused this to happen?”


It is our experience that the “what caused this to happen” i.e. a bad process, is more often the actual cause of bad outcomes rather than “who caused it to happen?”. “What caused this to happen” is typically a defective or ineffective process. In the classic sense a process is the series of interrelated steps to complete a task, and this applies to both business (programs/projects) processes and manufacturing processes. Management designs the majority of business and manufacturing processes and employees are instructed and trained to follow them – good or bad. If the process is good then the outcomes are good. However, if there is waste and variation built into the process, outcomes will be neither consistent nor predictable. This lack of predictability causes frustration at all levels within an organization but the frustrations are often magnified at the employee level, because they live within the processes daily. As such, employees know there is a better way to do things, but management doesn’t allow or encourage them to find it. Even if permission and encouragement is given, it is important that it is done correctly. Without the proper understanding and knowledge of process improvement tools to guide the discussions, greater frustration is created during the analysis, the decision process and the improvement phases.


A more effective approach is to provide everyone with the training necessary to best understand and utilize proven process improvement tools and to create a structure to allow project team members to find and eliminate variation and/or waste in an existing process. Giving employees this opportunity is one way to operationalizing Frederick Herzberg’s above definition of motivation. Highly motivated employees who have been given the opportunity to be involved in process improvement will generate accelerated results for the organization allowing them to run circles around their competition. Additionally, the results of process improvement, when identified and implemented by the employees, who are actually doing the work, achieve quick, bottom-line economic gains, greater employee loyalty with higher morale, and more satisfied customers who will be loyal to your products or services.

Entrepreneurial Leadership

Would the sole reason you would be starting your own business be that you would want to make a lot of money?  Do you think that if you had your own business that you would have more time with your family?  Or maybe that you would not have to answer to anyone else?  If so, you had better think again.

On the other hand, if you start your business for these reasons, you'll have a better chance at entrepreneurial success:

An entrepreneur must have a passion for what he is doing. The important thing to remember is that he will hit lows during the process that will make him question his decision. Belief in the idea is important though, and your passion will keep you going.

You should be able to build a competitive edge in the business. It could be in technological processes, marketing relationships or solutions you offer customers.

Entrepreneurs work hard and are extremely goal oriented. Along with hard work, comes the ability to work unsupervised. It is a critical requirement of entrepreneurship. As a paid professional, often someone can blame the system for not providing either the direction or the resources. As an entrepreneur, you no longer have that latitude. You have to work hard, very hard.

Entrepreneurs are flexible, opportunistic and recognize the power of 'emergence'.

I love this story about IBM and its founder Thomas Watson, Sr. It was 1934 or '35. IBM had built the first accounting machines for banks but in the Depression years, no bank was buying anything. IBM was on the brink of bankruptcy. Watson's wife forced him to accompany her to a social event where he was seated next to a middle-aged lady.

While talking with her, Watson described to her the machine IBM had built. It turned out that the lady was in-charge of the library system in New York City. She told Watson that they were in complete disarray, unable to manage their books, and told him that she would need half a dozen of these! Next day, he sold her five of the machines.

Until that moment, Watson had never thought of his computing devices as machines for tracking books. That one sale pulled IBM from the brink of bankruptcy.

Had it not been for Watson's capability to go with the emergent flow of events - moving from accounting machines to the recognition that he could make general purpose computers - IBM would not be what it is today? We all know that the essence of entrepreneurial ability is about building a future and living in it. Sometimes, it is about 'willing' a course for the enterprise. Yet, things do not always go the way you plan. Destiny tests you all the time, plays pranks and shows tiny openings in a moss-covered brick wall behind which often a whole new world awaits.

When it comes to the success of any new business, you - the entrepreneur - are ultimately the "secret" to your success. For many successful business owners, failure was never an option. Armed with drive, determination, and a positive mindset, these individuals view any setback as only an opportunity to learn and grow. Most millionaires possess average intelligence. What sets them apart is their openness to new knowledge and their willingness to learn whatever it takes to succeed.

So why do businesses fail?

·        Failure to anticipate market trends. Lack of market research when entering new markets, resulting in poor sales and return on investment.

·        Overspending. Or spending too much on frivolous luxuries instead of products and services that improve the bottom line.

·        Poor cash flow control: paying creditors too early, buying too much stock or giving customers payment terms that are too long, late payments and bad debts. These can all lead to a lack of working capital and cash flow problems.

·        Failure to listen to customers. Listen to your customers and adapt accordingly.

·        Lack of innovation. Some businesses never change, but they lose their market share when a new company comes along with a new way of doing things

·        Loss of financial support/investment. If an investor pulls out, you may find it hard to attract another one in time.

·        Reluctance to seek professional services. 

Paralysis by Action

We've all heard it or seen it. The analyzer that needs to run just one more test, develop one more contingency plan before doing anything.  They get so mired in the details that they hesitate to take action.

What about Paralysis through Action? Seems impossible, right? If I'm doing, how can I be paralyzed?

I was talking to an entrepreneur about his decision-making style and it was clear that he was highly practical. The highly extrinsic, or practical, is always concerned with doing. They might just ship a bunch of material to a jobsite and begin working on a house without even a set of blueprints. This entrepreneur owns four businesses - one of them in India - and is constantly involved in his teams' projects and tasks. He's doing a lot, so he should be highly successful. But is he?

Yes, he makes money. Yes, he has four businesses that are productive. Through our discussion, he realized that while he knew he was moving fast down the highway, he really didn't have a clear picture of where he wanted to go. He likened it to going to Rockford from Chicago and taking side trips to Schaumburg, Naperville, De Kalb, etc. He might NEVER get to Rockford!

This is what I mean by "Paralysis by Action."

What do you think? Do you think it can really happen? Any examples?  I'd love to hear them.

Effective Executive and the Listening Skills

Peter Drucker is a highly regarded consultant and prolific writer in the sphere of management and leadership. His classic 1966 work, The Effective Executive, emphasizes the importance of focusing the executive's work load to avoid "wasting time" on non-essential matters.

Drucker's basic model for an effective executive can be summarized as follows:

• one, executives must carefully choose how to spend, and not to spend, their time;
• two, executives must consciously choose what they want to contribute to the organization and ask their subordinates to make such a choice also;
• three, executives must choose people to perform tasks based on their individual strengths and the fit between strengths and tasks - people should not be chosen for whether or not they lack weaknesses; 
• four, executives must deliberately choose long-term business priorities; and 
• five, executives must choose from among all of the alternative opinions offered within their organization.

Drucker's five-part effectiveness model depends heavily on listening ability, particularly steps one, two, and five.


Drucker's step one, choosing how to spend and not to spend time, requires aggressive delegation in order to avoid spending time on peripheral matters. Although he doesn't say it in as many words, it's implicit that his vision of delegation relies on a coaching management style - essentially, periodic listening as subordinates describe their planning and progress - because a direct-control style of management would negate the executive's decision not to spend time on delegated projects.

In step two of Drucker's model, executives ask both themselves and their subordinates what they contribute now to the organization and what they could contribute in the future. According to him, regardless of whether an individual's view of what they now contribute, or could contribute, matches their manager's view, bringing out and stressing the importance of everyone's role as a contributor is essential to the organization's overall effectiveness. (The same general principle is embodied by Covey's and Goleman’s emphasis on self-awareness, as in listening to one's self, and being aware of others, as in listening to subordinates.)

In step five, Drucker emphasizes the importance to the executive of actively seeking competing opinions and inquiring about the basis for those opinions before choosing a course of action, rather than acting on the basis of pre-arranged or tacit consensus. Of necessity, this requires consistently listening with genuine curiosity in order to encourage development of diverse opinions and supporting rationales, rather than simply setting forth proposals and working to build consensus around them.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you follow Drucker’s model in your business?

How the Brain Works to Make Decisions

This is a really good book if you have got the same interest as I in how the brain works to make decisions: How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009).

Here’s what I have learned about the duel between the rational brain and the emotional brain, and how it might apply to sales, business communications and influencing people…

There is a flaw in our thinking habits called the framing effect, which is a part of decision biases called loss aversion. It explains why people are much more likely to buy meat when it’s labeled 85 percent lean instead of 15 percent fat. Also, why twice as many patients opt for surgery when told there’s an 80 percent chance of survival as opposed to a 20 percent chance of dying.

Neuroscientists hooked people up to an fMRI (functional MRI) imaging machine to look at which parts of their brains lit up while making gambling decisions. Here was the gambling game they asked them to play:

Imagine that you are playing a simple game whereby you are given $50 and asked to decide between two options:

1.     All-or-nothing gamble, in which the odds are 40% you will keep the entire $50, and 60% that you will lose everything.

2.     A sure-thing: if you choose this option you get to keep $20.

If you are like most people, you take the 2nd option, the sure $20. Next, they asked people to play the game again. The risky gamble hasn’t changed, but here are the options that are offered:

1.     All-or-nothing gamble, 40% chance of keeping entire $50, and 60% chance lose it all.

2.     Sure thing: but it’s framed as a loss of $30 instead of a gain of $20.

These two gambles are the same, they are just framed differently. In both cases, you walk away with $20 of the original $50. But the different descriptions strongly affect how people play the game.

When the choice is framed in terms of gaining $20, only 42% chose the risky gamble. When it was framed in terms of losing $30, 62% of people opted to roll the dice.

What is interesting here is that they were able to see in the brain: those people whose gambling decisions were influenced by the prospect of losing $30 were misled by an excited amygdala, part of the emotional brain that evokes negative feelings. Whenever a person thinks about loss, the amygdala is activated.

But the others who were not swayed by the framing effect also had activated amygdala, they also experienced negative feelings. They were able to look past their feelings and realize that the options were the same.

What made the difference? They had more elevated activity in the pre-frontal cortex, the rational brain. These people were able to feel their feelings, and choose to ignore them. They were able to make better gambling decisions because they regulated their negative emotions.

How do you regulate your emotional brain so that you can make more rational decisions? Awareness. By simply being aware that our emotional brain is sending negative feelings, we can decide to ignore it. The ability to become aware of our brain’s processes is called metacognition, and it’s a skill that can be developed.

We know when we are angry. Every emotion comes with the ability to think about it, to label it, to try to figure out why we are feeling it. Sometimes a feeling may make no sense, as in the case of this gambling game. We can deliberately choose to ignore the emotional brain.

The question is when to ignore it and when to pay attention to it. We don’t always know or take the time for it. And because emotions can also help us make better decisions, the key is being able to discern.