2Weeks2aBreakthrough

Staying Focused and In Action on Multiple Fronts

Reminder: To generate breakthroughs, it is important to 1) have a compelling goal and then 2) stay focused and in action every day - small daily actions lead to big results.

When I talk to people about generating breakthroughs, I am often asked whether he or she ought to try the breakthrough techniques on just one or multiple goals. I generally recommend starting with one goal that is very important and where if you made a breakthrough in it, that would make a big difference in your life.

I suggest this to learn the techniques, to enable focus, and to develop your breakthrough generation muscles. Once you see the power of staying focused and in action, you can apply these same principles and regimens to more than one goal.

I work with a small grid that I keep on my desktop and laptop. It is simple. A great day is one where I am focused and in action on all the Performance Areas. The right hand column lists major chunks of things I might work on.

It is not important that you understand what I have put in each box - this is my grid and these words are enough to remind me what I need to do to stay focused and in action. Your's will contain the words that cue you for success.

Please note that for each performance area, I have a breakthrough goal. I believe that it is important that we have goals that are compelling, interesting, and in alignment with our notions about what makes a great life. This grid is just a daily reminder to do small things in each performance area every day.

What would your grid look like?

Slapped upside the head - with change

The news is thick with non-news about starlets who get arrested for DUI right after leaving rehab or check in an out of rehab as often as we go to our local grocery store. I don't want to weigh in on specific examples or people, but this - and something occurring in my own life - reminds me of how hard it is to change.

We are so resilient and strong and this makes the challenge of change more difficult. Dissonance is a powerful tool for change but many of us can handle a lot of dissonance without batting an eyelash. It takes a big metaphorical slap upside the head to make any difference at all.

What if the slap does not come and we do not change?

That's when we start doing stupid stuff, I think. Our mind and body is reaching out in ways that are not logical and often not effective.

Yesterday, a guy called in a fake bomb scare at the Seattle airport because he was late to his plane and wanted it to turn around. The result was a big mess at the airport and he is facing possible felony charges. There was an honest moment where his brain told him this was a logical thing to do. Amazing, isn't it?

For many of us, the damage is done a little bit each day - it accumulates and strengthens with time. This is the butterfly effect going the wrong way.

Breakthroughs occur out there - in conversation. So while the vicious cycle might originate inside, I think the answer lies outside. To overcome our negative patterns and deliver the slap upside the head we need, we must engage others.

As I am a strong introvert - this is not always a welcome notion. I would love to sit here and just think harder. Think harder and make changes occur. Think harder and solve my challenges. Think harder and dream up great new ideas. But thinking harder - trying harder - is rarely the answer. And what was I doing just before I decided to compose this post? Thinking harder - it's just so natural for me. Here is a story called The Fly that is a wonderful reminder (relayed to me by Ralph Stayer, friend and CEO of Johnsonville Foods).

The Fly

I’m sitting in a quiet room at the Millcroft Inn, a peaceful little place hidden back among the pine trees about an hour out of Toronto. It’s just past noon, late July, and I’m listening to the desperate sounds of a life or death struggle going on a few feet away. There’s a small fly burning out the last of its short life’s energies in a futile attempt to fly through the glass of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant story of the fly’s strategy—try harder.

But it’s not working.

The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival. Ironically, the struggle is part of the trap. It is impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at breaking through the glass. Nevertheless, this little insect has staked its life on reaching its goal through raw effort and determination.
The fly is doomed. It will die there on the windowsill.

Across the room, ten steps away, the door is open. Ten seconds of flying time and this small creature could reach the outside world it seeks. With only a fraction of the effort now being wasted, it could be free of this self-imposed trap. The breakthrough possibility is there. It would be so easy.
Why doesn’t the fly try another approach, something dramatically different? How did it get so locked in on the idea that this particular route and determined effort, offer the most promise for success? What logic is there in continuing until death, to seek a breakthrough with “more of the same?

Notes from a Session on Catalyzing Breakthroughs

I lead a talk this morning for the Puget Sound chapter of ASTD focused on how we can catalyze breakthroughs in our workplaces and with our clients. I asked the participants to list the small actions they might take that would make a big difference. Here are the actions they listed (forgive me if I don't get the words exactly right due to a misread of someone's handwriting - sorry, there were a couple I could not make out at all). My notes are in the parentheses.

• Talk about goals together
• Co-create goals (love this one)
• Match introverts and extroverts together more
• Reinforce the mission
• Soft skills training (this one needs to get more granular - the small that gets the big)
• Curriculum redesign (yes, the needs to happen, and we need to get more granular)
• Improve communication (more granular - what's one small thing you can do TODAY?)
• Have more one-on-one conversations
• Ask stimulating questions
• Listen actively (yes, this is a bit too general - specifics please)
• Start day meditating
• Connect people intentionally (Yes! Who will you connect this week?)
• Networking (Get more granular)
• Smiling
• Become a subject matter expert
• Speak to people
• Be present (what does that look like in action?)
• Acknowledge the greatness in others
• Acknowledge your own gifts
• Start the day doing something you love (great idea)
• End the day doing something you love
• Be more thoughtful - pause, think about possibilities
• Be intentional - on purpose, clear, focused (Yes, this is good, but we often talk about this without defining what it looks like in action)
• Take risks - say what's not being said (love this)
• Write more thank you notes
• Build and facilitate trust (what does this look like in action, specifics please)
• Talk about what's not being talked about
• Care
• Ask, "what do you need?"
• Show your interest in others
• Be cognizant of nonverbal communication (a bit general)
• Have training participants do little things during training
• check in with people every day
• Help people ID their goals
• Demonstrate a passion for your own goals (and I would add FEEL passion for your goals, not everyone does)
• Help people move to the exciting parts of their goals (what does this look like)
• Lunch n' learn sessions
• Put a table in the hallway, "Ask me"
• Move to self-directed training
• Work on the problems they are currently facing (yes)

Interesting - these are all good things to do. As professionals, we need to challenge ourselves to translate these intentions into small and specific actions. And let's pick the smallest that gets the biggest result (the 5/95 Rule again).

Writer's Block?

Any writers out there hoping for a breakthrough? I'd like to recommend this book from Victoria Nelson called On Writer's Block. It is out of print, but you can get inexpensive used copies from Amazon.

I saw Victorie speak at my MFA residency last week. Smart and funny writer...

When things mean too much.

I have been in Port Townsend all week – attending my residency for my MFA program (this is #3 out of 4 residencies, over half way there!). Although my purpose here is not to be a business consultant or coach, I am finding it difficult to turn off that side of my brain.

Like in any organization, there are politics, cliques, and show-offs. Politics surface, bubble and boil when people fail to turn down their need to control and look good. Think about it – that’s why things get political. Show me a dialogue with the words, “ought,” “should,” and “I,” coming from both sides and I will show you politics.

There are a lot of emotions swirling about here this week. Some people are sensitive about their own needs and others feel the need to represent other students (vicarious control). I find this funny and then it becomes tiring because everyone is an adult and can take care of themselves.

At the root of a lot of these emotionally charged conversations is meaning. If someone gets to read their work and another person does not, we assign meaning to the selection. If a faculty member offers a suggestion to one writer and not to another, we attach meaning to being the focus or not the focus. If no one sits at our breakfast table, we create a story about what this might mean. We often assume people are thinking and feeling thoughts and beliefs that they are not.

I think it is useful to notice the meaning we have assigned to daily events and actions. Often the meaning does not fit the situation and is a source of unnecessary stress, feelings of low esteem, and politics.

This is a long post that essentially says, "chill out and don't worry so much."

Individual and team drama destructs and destroys excellence (Not passion, drama, there is a difference. I love passion).

Don't Get Lost in Translation

My publisher sent me a note and told me that Two Weeks to a Breakthrough is going to be translated into Japanese. I find this very cool and can’t wait to see the translated version. There are a lot of things I really admire about the Japanese culture.

I welcome the fact that there will be a new version of the breakthrough conversation. I have no control over the translation. And some concepts translate better than others.

I don’t define success by the accuracy of the translation, but by whether the resulting book is helpful and useful to readers.

This notion of translation affects many aspects of our lives. The conversations we have with our friends, kids, and partners. The translations of meaning that occur at meetings. The messages people hear when we present our points of view.

How might our daily communications change if we focused on the helpfulness of the message instead of whether people hear exactly what we intend.

I was listening to a writer do an amazing reading of his work. After the reading, someone asked him a question about writing for the audience and what he intended to communicate. He said that he had no interest in communicating and that’s not his goal. He would like him writing to move people.

Interesting distinction.

Introducing Go Moto

I have started blogging for the Seattle P.I. (Post Intelligencer). My PI blog is called Go Moto and it is about motorcycling. If you are interested in motorbikes or riding, check it out here!

Sure, I already have a lot of things going on, but I said I wanted to explore the ways I can combine my interests of writing and motorcycling. And this is a great way to do this! I will be posting on Go Moto 2-3 times per week.

I am coming along well with Motorcycle Yoga. I need to get a personal trainer to review my exercise suggestions (he or she will be the technical advisor for the book) and ensure that they will affect the muscle groups in the way I have described.

Surprise!

When was the last time you surprised someone (in a positive way)?

We all love surprises, don't we? And it is pretty fun to plan surprises too. Why is that?

A surprise - some nice action done when someone else is not expecting it - is a pure and sweet way of showing someone you care or that he or she has touched you in some way.

Sometimes surprises are small gifts or they might be good deeds or artistic creations.

Surprises can catalyze breakthroughs, but don't do them with that aim in mind. Don't do surprises with any aim, other than to make the person feel happy and appreciated.

Let's all surprise someone this week. Have fun with it!

Post Tour Tour

I just put up a post on Management Craft about some upcoming trips and events. If you live in Seattle, Baltimore, White Plains/NYC, Albuquerque, Birmingham, or Ft. Myers, head over and check out the details.

I am exploring ways to keep the momentum up from the tour. I want to continue the in-person conversations about breakthroughs. Perhaps I will do some mini-tours, 2-3 day trips based from Seattle or Albuquerque. I need to get back to consulting work too, which has been piling up a bit and which I need to do to fund all these great adventures. That said, let me know if you would like me to visit your town, company or association.

Hey Jodee, I think I might need to come back to Fargo - I get more emails from people from Fargo than any place else I visited on the tour! Also, due to a storm rolling in, I did not get to visit the giant buffalo in Jamestown and need to do that. It's the biggest!

Are you still flapping? Drop a comment or email and tell me how you are doing. I love it!

Flap, flap.

What's Your Bottleneck?

My pal Dwayne, over at Genuine Curiosity, has written this intriguing review of the book, The Flip Side, by Flip Flippen. Sounds like a great book for people who want to focus on the actions and habits that will best enable their success. If you feel a bit constrained, you might want to read what Dwayne has to say and then pick up the book.

I was going to say that because Dwayne is one smart cookie, I trust his recommendation. But the word "cookie" sounds a bit feminine. What's the masculine version of cookie? Brownie? Scone? Hamburger? Pickup truck?  Anyway, he's never lead me astray with book recommendations, so hop on over and check it out.