Smart Stuff 4 Work

One of The Oldest New Problems

One of the most significant problems I hear about in my consulting practice is: “I never have enough time to get everything done.”

I thought of that comment the other day when I was looking for a solution to one of my problems. Here’s a recap of the steps I took to solve the problem: I jumped on Google and found a chat area on the topic I was exploring.

Then I quickly struck up an electronic conversation with a guy in Duluth, Minn., who had experienced a similar problem. He directed me to a guy in Australia who marketed an item for $99 that looked as if it would solve the problem. Shipping to the U.S. was capped at $20, so it initially appeared that I could take care of my problem for $119. I ordered the item from the Australian’s website. PayPal automatically converted my payment in U.S. dollars to Australian dollars, so it actually cost me $125.74 to purchase the item.

That was fine, because I originally estimated that it would cost about $300 to solve the problem. The Australia guy promptly shipped the item – I received it in about a week – it worked – problem solved. All things considered, I spent about 15 minutes on my around-the-world journey to find a solution to this problem.

If it were possible, I wonder how long it would have taken me to find and implement such a solution in the 1800s? This is just one example of how much quicker we can get things done nowadays. What’s going on with the “not enough time” issue? Given the modern technological conveniences, why aren’t most people absolutely awash with time?

I’ve got to make a trip to Oregon soon. It will take the better part of a half-day to get out there to take care of my business. Were I making the trip in the 1800s, I would have to plod along the 2,170 mile Oregon Trail in a Conestoga wagon for four to six months.

Along the way, I would see an average of 10 graves per mile of others who tried to make the trip before me. The trail would be littered with grandfather clocks, pianos, books, dishes and other cherished possessions that prior travelers abandoned for various reasons. A relatively safe trip of a few hours, compared to a perilous journey of four to six months.

I can understand why our ancestors might complain about not having enough time to get everything done; it seemed like a real problem in those days. I’m not sure us dang modern-day whippersnappers with all our new-fangled inventions haven’t created our own time shortage problems.

The fact is – that is exactly what it appears that most of us have done. The good news, it is a highly solvable problem. If you have read my articles in the past, I have offered many solutions. I’ll continue to do so – if I can find the time every week.

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

May 24, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Johnny Pawn’s Indecision

When Johnny Pawn (not his real name) was very little, his parents made decisions for him. Since Johnny was just a baby at the time, this was a good thing. They were good-hearted, caring people and only wanted the best for him.

Then the day came when Johnny decided he wanted to make some of his own decisions. He was still very little, but that was OK because the decisions he wanted to make were very simple. However, his parents decided it would be best if they kept making even simple decisions for Johnny.

For example, one day he decided he was not finished playing with his little toy car and was not ready to put it away. He wasn’t paying much attention to the toy at the time, but his intention was to get back to it in a minute. His parents felt otherwise, and decided it was time to put the toy away. Johnny was still too young to talk, so he couldn’t explain in words to his parents that he would rather leave the toy out where he could see it and play with it when he felt like it.

After repeated attempts to get his parents to understand his decision, he gave up and accepted the fact that it must be time to quit playing with the toy.

Events similar to this happened more often as he got older. He noticed that if he accepted his parent’s decisions sooner rather than later, it pleased them immensely. He decided that, in general, it was probably best to go along with everyone. Overall, his strategy worked well for him except for the ongoing feelings of frustration.

As John got older, he got better at pleasing people. He was an excellent student and made excellent grades. Because of his stellar academic performance, he got a great job when he graduated from school and went to work for a top firm in his chosen field of expertise. He was quickly labeled a fast tracker.

Basically, he figured out that all he needed to do was “keep his nose clean” and please the people who made promotion decisions. He eventually became manager of his own department. It was the “New York, New York” of departments. If he could make it there, he could make it anywhere in the firm.

In less than six months, John’s world crumbled. The departmental bottom line plummeted. Workplace warfare broke out among his staff. Employee turnover skyrocketed. To make matters worse, the most talented people left and only the mediocre people stayed.

John’s boss fired him. When John asked why he was being fired, his boss said, “John, we’ve already been over this many times. Your inability to make a decision has created utter chaos in your department.”

Like many people, John failed to escape the gravitational pull of some of his childhood experiences. What did you learn as a child that is no longer serving you as a leader/manager? What are you going to do about it?

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

May 17, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)

How to Avoid Getting Whacked

I recently read something interesting in a book titled “The Biology of Belief” by Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. In the chapter “Growth and Protection,” Dr. Lipton discusses how the human body generates and uses energy. Lipton is a cell biologist and for some reason, his comments about allocating energy to the various growth and protection systems of the body reminded me of the game Whac-A-Mole. Whac-A-Mole is a simple game. Moles constantly pop up through holes and you whack them with a mallet. Unfortunately, there are several holes, many moles and only one mallet.

So what does Whac-A-Mole have to do with human energy use? Imagine that whacking a mole with a mallet symbolizes how we respond to a request for energy. After all, it takes energy to swing a mallet and whack a mole. According to Dr. Lipton, we all have four major growth and protection systems or energy using moles that may pop up and need to be whacked at times. The body needs energy for: the fight-or-flight system that deals with external threats; the immune system that deals with internal threats (viruses, germs, unwanted bacteria); the cell replacement system; and the energy replacement system.

Just as you only have one mallet in Whac-A-Mole, you only have so much energy to allocate to the various systems. Therefore, if one system is drawing too much energy, the other systems cannot do their jobs. For example, if your fight-or-flight system needs constant whacking because you habitually operate under a lot of stress, there is little energy left over to fight off internal threats, replace worn out cells and generate new energy. It is the human body’s version of a deadly zero-sum game. Keep rushing around, multitasking, overloading, under-relaxing and embracing other stress-generating activities and you will eventually whack yourself. Yes, we all need some stress to function properly; but we don’t need to play Whac-A-Mole with our lives. I don’t know about you, but I want my immune, cell replacement and energy-replacement systems to have all the energy they need to do their jobs.

It is important to remember that the fight-or-flight system is an energy hog. It will take whatever energy it needs to deal with external threats – real or perceived – with or without your approval. Remaining energy, if any, will be allocated to other systems. So to have enough energy for all the systems to function properly, you must consciously place a high priority on activities that restore your energy. Think about it, I am basically giving you a legitimate reason to goof off and spend time on your hobbies.

Once you identify a good hobby – a hobby that help you restore energy – devote some time to it each week. Schedule this time just as you would schedule time with your boss, a staff member, a client or prospect. Take care of yourself and leave any whacking to Tony Soprano and his friends.

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

May 10, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Going From Preaching To Prospecting?

Two of the most successful sales professionals I have encountered had one thing in common – they were both ordained ministers before they pursued careers in professional sales.

In one case, the former pastor of a small country church generated millions in revenues, and millions in personal commissions, in a single year. Being a curious person, I asked the super-selling reverend to tell me about the secret to his success. I not only wanted to know how he did it, I wanted to know how he made it look so easy. He said, “Come on over to the house tonight, we’ll have supper and I’ll tell you all about it.” For those of you not from the Deep South, “supper” typically refers to the evening meal. A meal that is usually served well before the sun goes down and long before anyone should be eating an evening meal.

After an enjoyable meal, the reverend ushered me into his den and pulled out a book titled “Pastoral Counseling” by Seward Hiltner. As it turned out, it was the book that helped him make the millions in sales. He explained that as pastor of a small church, he frequently had to deal with the worst of human experiences – death, divorce, abuse and other forms of human conflict and drama. Therefore, many ordained ministers spend a lot of time learning about something called pastoral counseling. And pastoral counseling teaches you that the first order of business in dealing with situations where emotions are heightened is to reduce stress.

For example, it is difficult to get people to communicate effectively when they are in a stressful state of mind. So, pastoral counseling teaches you to postpone trying to solve any problems until you have spent time reducing stress and getting everyone involved in the discussion in a more comfortable, relaxed state of mind. Hiltner’s book was full of ideas on how to do just that. One of the ideas emphasized the importance of “staying present and in the moment” if you are the counselor. Here is a quote from page 44 of the book (which I still have because he gave it to me):

“The minute a counselor becomes more interested in something else, like a general truth, a moral principle, or next Sunday’s sermon, than he is in the parishioner, the counseling begins to go off the track.”

A current version of such a book would probably advise you to, “Ignore your cell phone when meeting with a parishioner.” Anyhow, Reverend Stay-in-the-Moment told me that he simply incorporated all the ideas from the pastoral counseling book into his approach to sales. He made people very comfortable and relaxed with him long before trying to sell them anything. After learning this, it became fascinating to watch him work. He was a master at reducing stress, building trust and putting people at ease. The bottom line – you might want to listen to and observe preachers a little closer if you want to be a better closer.

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

May 03, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)

You Teach What You Allow

The next time you catch yourself complaining about co-workers’ behavior in the workplace, pause and think, “Am I doing something to teach or encourage those around me to behave in this way?” In general, we teach what we allow.

Perhaps one of the most common forms of teaching what you allow is allowing people to frequently interrupt you when you are trying to focus on your important priorities. I certainly am not suggesting that you treat your co-workers rudely; however, it is totally appropriate to tell them you are busy at times and ask them to come back later (your boss might be an exception to this rule – but maybe not). Otherwise you, in effect, teach people that it is fine to interrupt you at any time for any reason.

One of the benefits of a little daily planning is that it will help you be very specific about why you cannot spend time with an interrupter. You can specifically point to the project you are focusing on and ask them if what they need is more important. Their request for your attention might be more important on rare occasions, but in most cases a reasonable person will likely honor your request and come back later, if at all. If you have no specific plans and do not clearly prioritize your work, odds are you will be fighting off squeakiest wheels or randomly handling things as they become more urgent. In this state of mind, you will almost always default to the interruption. It will probably seem like a welcome relief. If you are not careful with this teach what you allow stuff, you will teach people that it is fine to miss agreed upon deadlines, to show up late for your meetings and generally ignore other agreed upon commitments.

Some people take things a step further and actually invite people to interrupt them. A candy dish or interesting trinket on your desk within easy view of people passing by serves as bait to some people. These things, in effect, invite people to come in, have a snack, play around with your trinket and visit with you.

All this becomes especially troubling when you take over new responsibilities. Pay close attention to what your predecessor allowed (tardiness, long lunches, excessive socializing, etc.). It is best to go ahead and clarify how you plan to operate differently as soon as possible after you take over. It probably will not help you win any popularity contests if your predecessor was overly lenient; however, after a few days of allowing behavior that you disapprove of, most people will assume you are OK with it. Here is an interesting saying that a friend of mine shared with me years ago, “Absence of criticism is implied approval to most people.”

No one wants to work in a draconian environment, so I am not implying that you should never socialize or that informal interactions are not important in the workplace. As with most things in life, reasonable boundaries are important.

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

April 26, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (2)

World Changing Starts at Home

World World changing is a fairly common goal among human beings, and I personally think being thought of as a world changer would be pretty cool. When people ask me what I like to do with my time, talent and energy, I could cleverly work being a change agent for the world into the conversation by saying, “I write books, watch some TV, play guitar, change the world, enjoy good meals, and drink a little wine from time to time.”

Yes, I think being a world-changer has a good ring to it. It is a nice conversation starter.

As cool as it might be, world changing sounds like a pretty big task. However, I do have one idea that I think makes world changing simpler: Change yourself – and your world – before you even think about trying to change the rest of the world. The primary benefit of starting with your world and yourself is that you can actually change these things. It is difficult enough at times to change things you can control, so why not stick with these things and quit trying to change things you cannot control?

Can you change someone else? Changing is a very personal choice. No one else can make the decision to change for you, and you cannot make the decision to change for others. In the end, every individual on the face of the planet must decide what he or she is going to do about a suggested (or ordered) change. If you study history you know that a lot of people have been ordered to change by some fairly impressive and influential people … like kings and queens. And quite a few have weighed the consequences of not changing (like beheading) with the pain of changing. Many changed. But others decided to accept pain, grief and even death rather than change. Patrick Henry is most famous for illustrating this concept in a speech to the Virginia Provincial Convention in 1775: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Lucky for Patrick, it turned out to be liberty.

Can you help someone else change? Perhaps, but probably not in the way you might think; not by focusing on them, but merely by living the changes you choose. That old saw, “Actions speak louder than words,” is a very accurate theory. You influence others most by your actions, the choices you make and the changes you accept in your life. Therein lies the secret to world changing. If the change you desire is worthwhile, perhaps others will see the positive effects of the change in your life and want to join the club.

How do you eat an elephant? You take one bite at a time. How do you change the world? You deal with one person at a time. And that person is you. Be the change you want to see in the world and watch it spread among the other people in your circle of influence.

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

April 19, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (1)

The History Of Your Behavior

They say those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I believe this idea applies personally and it is true in your business life. If you want to go to the next level in your career, whatever that means for you, it’s a good idea to explore the history of your behavior and look for significant behavior-shaping people and events. Behavior related to people and events that have so far helped you succeed; and behavior that might be limiting your success.

Sometimes I work with people who are struggling with a bit of, shall we say, self-defeating behavior. Nothing serious, just little miscellaneous pesky behavioral issues that place limitations on the person’s true potential – the kind of issues that prevent salespeople from selling as much as they should, managers from managing as effectively as they should, etc.

When trying to identify these issues, I sometimes ask my clients to complete the following simple exercise: Divide the history of your life into five-year increments. For example, if you are currently 43 years old, label nine sheets of paper representing the five-year blocks of time that make up your life (0 to 5 years old, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40, 41-43).

Consider the various blocks of time one at a time and make notes on two things: Who were the most significant people in your life during that block of time and what were the most significant events in your life during that block of time? Dump all your thoughts out on the sheets of paper. Things related to good people and bad people – good experiences and bad experiences. Do not try to analyze anything at this point, jump dump it all out.

Once you have notes on all the people and events, then go back over the pages and think about the lessons learned (or not learned) from all these people and events. For example, did you learn to be organized, methodical, messy, spontaneous, cautious, daring, controlling, accommodating, detached, compassionate, creative, and so forth and so on.

By using this exercise, I have helped people identify the root cause of many forms of self-defeating behavior. For example, overly critical parents might cause someone to consider the price of a mistake too high. Maybe the parents meant well, but perhaps they were a little too forceful on the issue of “anything worth doing is worth doing right.” Everybody likes to get things right the first time, however, it is not always possible to do so. Part of learning and growing involves experimentation – which by definition involves trial and error. So people sometimes try too hard to get things right the first time. And this leads to unhealthy perfectionism – and this leads to procrastination, one of the most common forms of self-defeating behavior.

Have fun with the exercise. See if you can identify people and events that shaped your behavior. Understanding the source of such behavior often helps you minimize or eliminate it.

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

April 12, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Multiple Right Answers

My spouse and I had the opportunity to visit a very nice resort on an island in the Caribbean. The resort had many fine restaurants, pools, shops and other recreation areas. It also had a matrix of paths and sidewalks connecting the various facilities.

We were vacationing with friends who had visited the resort before, so the first few days we just followed them around. I kept getting the sensation that I was going in circles (or actually more like squares and rectangles). I also noticed that occasionally people walking behind us would take a different path and end up ahead of us.

I certainly don’t believe you have to walk the most efficient path all the time, especially when you’re on vacation. Still, I was curious about why our friends consistently walked in the same rectangles to get from point A to point B.

On our third day, everyone else went to the beach, and I stayed behind to read and do some writing. After a while, I decided to go exploring on my own. Sure enough, I discovered there were many different, and sometimes much shorter, ways to get from one facility to another.

I found it odd that my friends hadn’t followed these more convenient paths, but I just filed that away as an interesting facet of human behavior. I didn’t plan to ever say anything about my discovery. I felt certain I would be strongly rebuked for overanalyzing things while supposedly on vacation.

The next day we were all caught outside in a very heavy rain. As we were trying to quickly take cover, my friends headed down the road that would lead us in rectangles in the rain. Since I knew a much shorter, and therefore drier, way to get where we were going, I said to the group, “Let’s go this way.” Someone commented, “Oh, I didn’t know you could get there this way,” and they followed me and we all arrived at our destination much quicker and drier. And, as expected, I was both praised and ridiculed for my discovery.

What can you do today to try out a new path, or idea, that might improve your business? If you manage others, maybe you can ask them to always bring you at least three options for taking advantage of opportunities or solving problems.

Speaking of sidewalks, apparently when Dwight Eisenhower was president of a Columbia university, two architects presented opposing plans for placing sidewalks around a new building under construction. Supposedly, Ike instructed them to just plant grass around the buildings, wait a year and see where students walked and wore down the grass – and then build the sidewalks on the worn pathways. Too bad the Caribbean resort didn’t think of that.

If you want to get better at thinking like Ike, get a copy of a book titled “Whack on the Side of the Head” by Roger von Oech. You will find plenty of ideas in this book for coming up with multiple right answers.

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

April 05, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is It All About The Money?

Some say money makes the world go around. But in reality, how much does money make the business world go around? And how important is money to the people who make the business world go around?

People like to say, “It’s not what happens to you that matters as much as how you respond to what happens to you.” I think it is a good idea to look at money in a similar way. In other words, money doesn’t matter as much as how you respond to money. You can tell a lot about a person by observing how they respond to compliments, and in similar fashion, money.

Suppose I complimented someone on his or her outfit. They can respond in one of three ways. They can discount the compliment and say something like, “Oh, this old shirt (or blouse), it’s not that nice!” Or, they can milk the compliment by saying something like, “Oh yeah – I only buy the best you know! This was very expensive. I buy all my clothes from only the best stores – blah, blah, blah!” Or, they can acknowledge the compliment by simply and sincerely saying “Thank you!” and smoothly moving on to the next topic.

All and all, option three is probably the expected response with someone with, shall we say, a reasonably balanced psyche and sense of self-esteem.

Now let’s think about money in a similar fashion. If you discover that someone was involved in a lucrative transaction and compliment them on it, they might also respond in one of three ways.

Some people try just a little too hard to discount the importance of money. They pontificate that, “It is not about the money, you know! I don’t do anything just for the money!” In general, the stronger and the longer they discount the importance of money, the more it probably is about the money for them. Other people like to milk the importance of money. They might say, “I make a lot of money, you know! I don’t do anything unless I get paid well for it.” Or these people may actually say, “It’s all about the money, you know.” Others receiving the same compliment might simply say, “Thanks, it was a rewarding experience and I enjoyed being involved with it” and then smoothly move on to the next topic.

Here’s a potential lesson. Sometimes attracting money is similar to attracting a butterfly. If you make too big a fuss about it, money can become quite illusive. If you settle down and neither discount the importance of money nor place too much emphasis on it, money will be more likely to gently land in your bank account and stick around for a while.

Admittedly, I am getting a bit philosophical this week. But it is March Madness – that time of year when attitude is important. Underdogs with the right attitude often beat their favored opponents. So, what is your attitude regarding the importance of money?

Article by Chris Crouch from Memphis Daily News.

Smart Stuff 4 Work is written by Chris Crouch. Chris has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of being productive and is the author of several books on the topic including Licking Your Elbow, Getting More Done, Getting Organized, and Being Productive. He is also the developer of the GO System, a training course for improving workplace productivity.

March 29, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)