Are You Expecting Perfection?

Signs of this include beating yourself up for taking too long, not learning something on the first try, or horrors you make a mistake. These expectations of perfection are flawed perspectives you have chosen. Studies have shown people make more mistakes than they realize, yet we learn, survive and thrive.

Was working as an appraiser, visiting different properties and getting lost occasionally. Have an excellent sense of direction, so was really bothering me. The loss of time and daylight (to take pictures) were adding stress. Took a little time to think it through. Realized I was being unreasonable. Was always going somewhere new, and maps were not perfect. Of course I was going to get loss.

Based on that insight, realized I was getting Paid to be Lost. Still got lost occasionally, but no longer bothered me. My expectations had changed.

 “Give yourself a break, humans make mistakes and are often wrong.” – Steve Amos

Real life will be messy, customers & bosses will be demanding, spouses will not understand, and children will be children. Demanding perfection of yourself  (or worse others) will drive you crazy and make people avoid you. It is a way to be miserable.

Look around. Central bankers do not manage the economy. Leaders of nations react to events they can’t foresee. Predictions of the future are notoriously wrong. Why should you be perfect?

 “The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” ― Tom Bodett

Stopping Shootings

This is off topic for a business problem solving blog. The shooting at schools like Umpqua Community College is a problem not being solved. Look at cities that have shootings every weekend.

Lets not make light of this. Any shooting is a tragedy to someone. Am praying for the victims and their family & friends. No one knows the pain they are feeling.

This is a good example of how people react versus thinking. Lets make a law. Has anyone ever checked if laws work? One of the cities with the strictest laws is Chicago. 2,332 shooting victims by October 2^nd. Detroit is another disaster with strict gun ownership laws. Neither city is a place would want to live.

How about the safest city in the US? No guns right? Wrong. Plano has high gun ownership with liberal carry laws. Challenges the ban all guns assumption in some proposed laws.

Lived in Texas when the new permits were being issued. Predictions were blood in the street with hundreds of shootings. What happened? Crime went down 10% each of the first 3 years. In the 3^rd year there was a shooting involving an owner with a permit. A classic case of self-defense where the permit holder tried to back away from someone intending to harm them.

What is missing here? The pundits were sure more guns meant more deaths. Reality is the problems are complicated, not straightforward, and causes not well understood. Proposing solutions without research does not work.

Look at potential causes: Disaffected males, gangs, drug money, mental health, lack of male role models, recruiting by terrorists, and suicide.  

Suicide is one of the major causes of gun deaths, and often used to inflate gun violence statistics. One thought is some public attacks may be males who want to commit Suicide by Cop.

Disaffected males are probably the main cause of violence. They may be unsuccessful with jobs and relationships. Mental health issues may be a cause or result of isolation.

Isolated or disaffected males are vulnerable to recruiting by gangs and terrorists. The lack of adults, particularly men, in their lives have them looking for alternative families. Predators will recruit them to support their cults.  Lone wolves are the hardest for law enforcement to stop.

The financial element cannot be ignored for these organizations. The incentive of big money and power draw young men into crime cartels.

What can be done to prevent violence?

First care about and talk with people. Get involved with young adults. The most difficult and unlovable person probably needs someone to talk with the most.

Evil can be prevented by letting people know their ideas are not healthy. They should not consider making people pay for their sins. Most criminals slowly graduate from small crimes until they graduate to major crimes. Interventions do stop misbehaviors from growing to crimes committed.

Mental health care has to lose its stigma. Stressed out people do not make good decisions. Have seen estimates 20% to 25% of adults experience mental illness. That makes it normal. First responders have to be trained how to keep mentally ill calm and get them into treatment.

Start by greeting everyone you can today, and being a role model for others. Talk with people different than you - age, color, dress, hair, politics and religion.  Anyone you meet. Kindness, listening, and caring have to be our calling card.

If someone is a danger to themselves or others, don’t hope it will go away. Intervene and notify authorities if necessary. It is up to us to make this world safe.

Salary Bump vs. Experiences

Someone questioned which are you more interested in, a professional experience or a salary bump? Which would you like now?

Having been unemployed and entrepreneur know about being flat broke. There are times in your career where a salary and a bump can really make a difference in your life. Having enough to pay for the basics and save is absolutely essential. Life without enough is absolutely stress filled.

One concern is the lack of savings and retirement savings. Too many do not have emergency funds and tap retirement funds at great penalty. This will cost your future, and delay your ability to retire.

Too many do not put anywhere near enough into 401Ks, and there is no 100% secure way to turn savings into income. The post pension generation will have issues that the Traditional generation will not feel with their pensions.

For your career experiences (even at a low pay) do pay off in the long run. You need to have experience to move up. Classes alone do not match experience.

For a contrasting thought, Jeffrey J. Fox wrote “Always take the higher money. The more you are paid, the more responsibility and opportunities will be given to you.” In addition he points out all raises are based on percentage of your salary, so a higher starting salary benefits you over your career. See “How to Become CEO”.

We need to manage both our careers and budgets with long term planning. The reasons I live well within my means is to have flexibility to explore options when they arise.

Day by Day Success

Success is built day by day. It does not appear magically overnight. The overnight successes you see on the news come after years of hard work.

What should be on your daily to do list?

•       Care about others
•       Listen & take feedback
•       Work on the important projects
•       Learn something new
•       Be 1% better than yesterday
•       Take Action
•       Repeat often

Build your success today.

Conceptualization The Most Important Skill

 Business (and life) is hard. Conditions are always changing. New customers have new needs and desires. Competition is always getting better and offering lower prices. Keeping your job requires flexibility, intelligence, persistence, quality work and caring. Knowing what needs to be done next is key to your success.

Abstract thinking is called Conceptualization. Defining conceptualization is subject to disagreement by experts and there is no degree in it. Probably because the uses vary depending on need.  Meridian Webster defines conceptualization “to form (an idea, picture, etc.) of something in your mind.” Math is a form of conceptualization.

Seeing what needs to be done next (planning) and problem solving are where you will see conceptualization applied. My usage has been developed through process planning, project management, and new product development. Visualizing 3D plus motion helped my engineering career.

Conceptualization is understanding how pieces fit together in a whole big picture. Then by manipulating the pieces you can optimize or improve the whole. Steve Jobs is famous for his visualization of how the future of technology should work and integrating existing technologies for the benefit of users.

Because the brain both thinks visually and in language, this is hard to teach. Different techniques have been developed to help us organize work for efficiency. Storyboards, Mind mapping, 5S, Lean, WIP boards, spreadsheets and project management all relate to conceptualization. Depending on your profession there are others you can use.

The best way to develop your skills is to apply them to your work. Albert Einstein called Imagination more important than knowledge. Users of conceptualization are found everywhere and often do not have the right degree. Presenting this skill through resumes is often unappreciated.

Yahoo Finance: “This one uberskill will always keep you employed”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/this-one-uberskill-will-always-keep-you-employed-172655122.html

“the ability to see how the elements of an abstract whole fit together and to identify problems that need to be addressed before others do.”

My Best Work

My best work is when I "Ask the right question".

This implies deeply looking at the issue(s), talking with those involved with different viewpoints and departments, looking at the systems, and understanding potential causes (Thinking Slow & Systems Thinking).

May not have the answer, but asking the right question(s) focuses us on changes that have results.

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices..." William James

What is your best work?