This month we’ll be highlighting a recent article by Tony Schwartz called “Four Destructive Myths Most Companies Still Live By”

“Myth #4: The best way to get more work done is to work longer hours.
No single myth is more destructive to employers and employees than this one. The reason is that we’re not designed to operate like computers — at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time.
Instead, human beings are designed to pulse intermittently between spending and renewing energy. Great performers — and enlightened leaders — recognize that it’s not the number of hours people work that determines the value they create, but rather the energy they bring to whatever hours they work.
Rather than systematically burning down our reservoir of energy as the day wears on, as most of us do, intermittent renewal makes it possible to keep our energy steady all day long. Strategically alternating periods of intense focus with intermittent renewal, at least every 90 minutes, makes it possible to get more done, in less time, more sustainably.
Want to test the assumption? Choose the most challenging task on your agenda before you go to sleep each night over the next week. Set aside 60 to 90 minutes at the start of the following day to focus on the activity you’ve chosen.
Choose a designated start and stop time, and do your best to allow no interruptions. (It helps to turn off your email.) Succeed and it will almost surely be your most productive period of the day. When you’re done, reward yourself by taking a true renewal break.”

Take a break people! Give yourself the time to rest, energize and reset your body and mind. Maybe even take a few minutes to play! When you consider the impact of this with the Myth #1 on multi-tasking, you can see why so many people are burned out so early in their careers. If what you’re doing isn’t working, try anything else!

This month we’ll be highlighting a recent article by Tony Schwartz called “Four Destructive Myths Most Companies Still Live By”

“Myth #3: Creativity is genetically inherited, and it’s impossible to teach.
In a global economy characterized by unprecedented competitiveness and constant change, nearly every CEO hungers for ways to drive more innovation. Unfortunately, most CEOs don’t think of themselves as creative, and they share with the rest of us a deeply ingrained belief that creativity is mostly inborn and magical.
Ironically, researchers have developed a surprising degree of consensus about the stages of creativity and how to approach them. Our educational system and most company cultures favor reward the rational, analytic, deductive left hemisphere thinking. We pay scant attention to intentionally cultivating the more visual, intuitive, big picture capacities of the right hemisphere.
As it turns out, the creative process moves back and forth between left and right hemisphere dominance. Creativity is actually about using the whole brain more flexibly. This process unfolds in a far more systematic — and teachable — way than we ordinarily imagine. People can quickly learn to access the hemisphere of the brain that serves them best at each stage of the creative process — and to generate truly original ideas.”

Gone are the divisions between ‘creative’ jobs and those that are more ‘routine’. We are continually challenged to innovate in every area of our companies. While people may prefer one way or another, we all have the ability to think with both sides. Check out this TED talk for a deeper look into this subject.

This month we’ll be highlighting a recent article by Tony Schwartz called “Four Destructive Myths Most Companies Still Live By”

“Myth #2: A little bit of anxiety helps us perform better.

Think for a moment about how you feel when you’re performing at your best. What adjectives come to mind? Almost invariably they’re positive ones. Anxiety may be a source of energy, and even motivation, but it comes with significant costs.
The more anxious we feel, the less clearly and imaginatively we think, and the more reactive and impulsive we become. That’s not good for you, and it also has huge implications if you’re in a supervisory role.
As a boss, your energy has a disproportionate impact on those you lead, by virtue of your authority. Put bluntly, any time your behavior increases someone’s anxiety — or prompts any negative emotions, for that matter — they’re less likely to perform effectively.
The more positive your energy is, the more positive their energy is likely to be, and the better the likely outcome.”
Energy or attitude is like the wrapping a gift comes in – ask yourself, are you a box that someone would want to open right now? People generally do business with people that they like and want to be around. The energy or atmosphere that we create around us has everything to do with generating synergy on our teams. Notice what environment your mood creates – test it out!

This month we’ll be highlighting a recent article by Tony Schwartz called “Four Destructive Myths Most Companies Still Live By” Tony Schwartz is the president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything. Become a fan of The Energy Project on Facebook and connect with Tony at Twitter.com/TonySchwartz and Twitter.com/Energy_Project.
“Myth #1: Multitasking is critical in a world of infinite demand.
This myth is based on the assumption that human beings are capable of doing two cognitive tasks at the same time. We’re not. Instead, we learn to move rapidly between tasks. When we’re doing one, we’re actually not even aware of the other.
If you’re on a conference call, for example, and you turn your attention to an incoming email, you’re missing what’s happening on the call as long as you’re checking your email. Equally important, you’re incurring something called “switching time.” That’s the time it takes to shift from one cognitive activity to another.
On average, according to researcher David Meyer, switching time increases the amount of time it takes to finish the primary task you were working on by an average of 25 percent. In short, juggling activities is incredibly inefficient.
Difficult as it is to focus in the face of the endless distractions we all now face, it’s far and away the most effective way to get work done. The worst thing you can do as a boss is to insist that your people constantly check their email.”

It’s so tempting isn’t it? We program ourselves to respond to every ring, tone, sound from our phone, PDA, laptop – whatever. Then we get frustrated with our co-workers when they don’t focus on our projects or when things take longer than we think they should. How often in the culture of our organizations do we inadvertently create unofficial protocols that undermine our success?

Ever noticed how once you have a judgment about someone, it’s easy to interpret all their actions through the filter of that particular judgment? I do. I was traveling recently and was working with a team of people. One of those people I judge as often selfish and inconsiderate of others. While I was working in the office, I noticed that person was doing something that was making a lot of noise. Instead of checking in, asking what was going on, if I could help, moving my workstation or simply asking them to be quieter, I just sat there ‘ignoring’ what was happening. But I wasn’t really ignoring it. Really I was running and rerunning a private conversation in my head that sounded like “I can’t believe they’re so inconsiderate! Don’t they ever think about anyone but themselves?! This is not working! I don’t want to work with this person anymore! They don’t care!” Notice how every conversation I was entertaining validated my existing judgment? I did. I caught myself, after about an hour of mental torture, and said to myself “Wow, you’re really committed to being right about this. How about just getting off it and stop feeding this monster?” That opened the door for some curiosity on my part. When I checked in with the person, I learned that they needed help and didn’t want to ask in case they were ‘bothering’ me. I also learned that something significant was happening in their personal life that was a distraction for them.
My communication with myself is probably the most difficult and most important communication to manage. It impacts how I relate to myself, my world, the people around me, what’s possible and what’s not possible. What are you saying in your head today?

When was the last time you got angry? Been awhile or was it recent? Did you wait until a few ‘little’ things built up and then unloaded? Maybe you’ve decided that communicating anger is not OK. So then what? Many great leaders sabotage their teams but not expressing anger or not expressing in a way that is ‘clean’. My definition of ‘clean’ anger is a clear expression of a specific action or attitude, directly to the person, from a responsible standpoint followed by a curious attitude in order to discover what other information may be missing from my understanding. Now since it’s physiologically impossible to be angry and curious at the same time, be sure that you clearly state your feelings first to release the energy that you are holding. For example, “Joe, I felt angry when you didn’t contact the client by the deadline you set. (Breathe) Can you let me know what happened?”
I have seen many CEO’s get caught in the either/or trap. Either just exploding anger all over anyone, anytime or stuffing it all in and having it leak out in sarcastic comments, influence strategic decision making or turn inward, feeding depression and stress. How can communicating anger be a resource for you and for your team? People probably get the message, whether you say it out loud or just inside your head. Communicating clean anger is a discipline and one that can save you and your team a lot of misunderstanding, frustration and stress. Maybe it’s better out than in!

What have you sold lately? Sometimes I find myself selling a service, sometimes I find myself selling a perspective or point of view, and sometimes I’m just selling my complaints. When I get my mind right, I focus on creating value for the other person instead of trying to sell them something, whatever that may be. Value can ultimately be expressed as a type of service or product but I think it begins with an experience in the moment. When you’re with a customer, client, vendor or co-worker, ask yourself, what would create value for them right now, in this moment? I notice when I focus my energy on value, I find it easier to listen, to understand, to be curious and to engage.

What does it look like to create value for someone? Consider what you’re interested in, looking for, wondering about, the need you’d like to have met – how do you communicate your interest? Maybe you ask directly, hint around, talk around the need. When I am looking for something, when I am clear about my interest, I’m communicating it in a number of ways – verbally, with my body language, by my mood. For example, I recently needed to purchase a new projector. I went to a couple of stores and asked the salespeople about what they had that was portable, lightweight and had high lumens. At both places, the inventory was limited. One salesperson told me that they only had 3 types and then told me where they were located in the store so I could go and look at them. The other salesperson walked me over to the shelf, asked me what I wanted to use it for specifically, how often I would be using it and what price range I was interested in. After talking for a few moments, he said ‘we really don’t have anything like that. You would probably be better off looking online at Amazon, they have a big selection and can ship in a day or two.’ Now, who was paying attention here? The second salesperson may not have made the sale on the projector that day, but he succeeded in creating value for me. Guess where I’m going next time I need something for the office?

How often in your workplace would you say that a breakdown or mistake is directly related to communication? Miscommunication, lack of communication, not closing communication loops is all too common for every one of us. What does it take to have complete, effective communication?

1. Clear intention – what message am I committed to sending?
2. Appropriate mechanism – does it need to be a face to face conversation? An email? A text? A ‘cc’ in my communication to someone else?
3. Checking in – what did the other person hear/receive?
4. Follow up – is the communication complete or is there any follow up needed?

Sometimes the breakdowns appear to be structural – i.e. not having clear roles, procedures or lines of authority in place. That may be a contributing factor. Consider that perhaps all breakdowns are more reflective of the culture of the organization rather than just something external. I know several startup companies that have hired a bunch of independent, self-starters – similar in personality to the CEO and COO. The strengths of the groups are thinking outside of the box, working under pressure, getting things done and creating exceptions to the rules to differentiate their organization. These same strengths, when played out organizationally in the context of communication, often show up as people doing what they want without creating agreement, ad hoc meetings that don’t involve all the team players, moving so fast that they forget to follow up and close communication loops.

What does it take to have committed communication in your organization or in your family? Slow down and get curious, you may be surprised at who’s on your team!

We’re constantly making declarations – we state how we are, who we are, who we aren’t, what our company is about etc… Are the declarations you make opening up possibility? For example: if I declare “I’m not good with numbers”, I’m stating a limitation instead of opening up a possibility. All day long, we attempt to convince ourselves and others about who we are “I’m a structured person” “I’m not a sensitive person” “I’m the bottom line guy” etc… Take a look at your vision, the vision of your organization. Are the declarations that are being made every day by you, your team, furthering the vision or are they undermining the vision? Some families have ‘curse jars’ in their homes – so every time someone in the family uses a curse word, they have to put money in the jar. What if you had a ‘limitation jar’ and a ‘possibility jar’ at the office? Which one would get filled up first?

The language of your team, either limitation or possibility, sets the tone or mood for your business. If it’s set in limitation, people will naturally find reasons for missing deadlines, goals, commitments. If its set in possibility, people will naturally look for ways to make it happen, innovate, create, go the extra mile and keep their word.

Consider your language, your participation, starting anew today. Remember, we are not trains on the track. Up until now things have been a certain way but from now on, they are the possibility we declare. We are able to do the unprecedented – think possibility!

Compare:
1. To consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous; liken.
2. To examine in order to note the similarities or differences of.

Our culture is steeped in comparison. Comparison in itself is neutral, it’s not a bad thing or a good thing, it’s just a thing. The way that we use or relate to it however can have a tremendous impact on our business and our relationships. Consider a sales organization that posts individual sales persons results at the weekly sales meeting. That can be a great tool, a tremendous motivator, a way to publicly inspect what you expect from people. Now consider a member of your team that compares their relationship with you to someone else’s relationship to you. Could that be a set up for frustration, envy, or sabotage? It depends on how people relate to it. The comparison could be a way to measure progress, seek learning and mentorship, or explain what it looks like to have something turn out. It could also become a place for people to hide, be discouraged, create discord, or feed victimhood.

Notice the language in your culture. You’ll often hear comparison directly. Indirectly, it could sound like ‘more’ ‘better’ ‘it’s not fair’ or even subtle put downs or sarcasm. Unhealthy comparison kills teamwork, innovation, and a true appreciation for unique giftings. Pay attention and notice what you hear…and what you say.