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Letting go of the need to keep up

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There has never been a better time to learn.

There has also never been a harder time to feel knowledgeable.

Every day brings a new AI model, a new tool, a new framework, a new podcast, a new research paper, or a new «must-read» article. For those who are naturally curious, it’s easy to feel that they are constantly falling behind.

If you treat it as a race, you are playing an impossible game. Knowledge today is expanding faster than any individual can absorb it.

Yet many still carry the expectation that they should keep up.

We open one door that leads to a new one, and then to another, leading to an infinite path, that is no longer related with what we started looking for. 

Letting go is not giving up

Letting go doesn’t mean losing curiosity.

It means accepting that attention is finite.

No one can master every AI tool, follow every trend, or become an expert in every emerging technology.

The goal is not to know everything.

The goal is to know enough to create value.

Making space

Choosing what to ignore is becoming as important as choosing what to learn.

In an age of unlimited information, the real skill may not be learning more. It may be learning to let go, … the pressure to keep up, the fear of missing out.

Expertise never meant knowing everything, just the opposite. You can be knowledgeable about many topics, but focus.

Giver or taker, which one are you?

Publicado en leadership, organizational culture, Sin categoría, teamEtiquetado como , , , , , , Deja un comentario

In the previous post Explanations, motives and timing. Actions talk about us, we took a look at the «Why, When and How»  that defines our truly personality. In today’s post I would like to elaborate a bit more on the Why, on its impact on us and what surrounds us (colleagues, organizations, society). As an essential ingredient of that «The Why» we see two different kinds of people:

Takers: Who are self-servers in there interactions: What can you do for me?

Givers: Most of their actions are based on a What can I do for you?

So, givers, they take the worst part in the P2P business of interaction between givers and takers. They put a lot of effort. They spend a lot of time trying to improve the team at a high cost for them. Bad for them, good for their organization. They are the key stone for team building, for collaboration and great motivators. But, be careful and remember that they need to be handled with care mainly when they are surrounded by Takers, because we can lose them. They can get frustrated.

We dedicate a lot of time and energy to our organization, there is a lot of us on their success or failure, on the speed of change, … And because we never leave a 100% our personal life out of the workplace neither who we are (behavior=our moral compass + our mood + background + a response to others actions + many other things) we can not afford loosing givers on the way.

Adam talks about 3 possible ways that will create a «net» of successful givers:

  1. Protect them from burnout
  2. Encourage help-seeking
  3. Keep the wrong people off the bus

I highly recommend you watching this TED Talk by Adam Grant, enjoy it.

 

Explanations, motives and timing. Actions talk about us

Publicado en attitude, Sin categoríaEtiquetado como , , , , 2 comentarios

Ultimately, we all do and don’t do things for a reason. The «When and Why» behind our options capture the attitude towards the rest. Reflects who we are.

Why? What you tell to yourself or what you say when someone asks you…

  • I love doing it
  • I have to
  • It’s the right thing to do
  • I have been told to …
  • Someone must face it
  • I am better than XXX
  • I will be recognized for…
  • I have never done anything different
  • No one has thought about it, maybe it works
  • It can be done in a different way
  • I have come up with a great idea
  • We do it every day
  • ….

When? Is it  a one time action? Are you always like this?

  • Only when we are asked to
  • Every time we face the same situation whether or not we are being watched
  • Just when we know/think that someone is looking
  • We are just looking for the occasion to be noticed. We provoke it.

We decide our moves, our adventures.  Because, we always have a choice. Are we in? Or do we let it go? When in, are we a 100% in? Every single time? Rarely? It depends?

Attitude is the sum of many things. A constant in our behavior.

What defines us, make us «classifiable» (if you love labels) is the regular «Why» we tell others + the truthful reason behind our action (that can be sensed), + the «When» and, of course, the «How».

Where do you fit? What drives you?

 

Inner voice vs. pros&cons. Ready? Fight!

Publicado en attitude, Sin categoríaEtiquetado como , , , 6 comentarios

Every day we chose, we decide. When the issues we deal with are familiar, simple, we go for it unconsciously. But when we face an important decision, we need some help. And for that we have our inner voice. And she will start telling you: you should do it, don’t accept it, move away, take it, leave it, buy it… In a quiet or loud way.

So here you are, in doubt, uncertain about the «what if», the scenario you will have after the decision. And you decide to write a pros&cons list. You do it because there is a conflict between your nature (or your status quo) and what that «rebel» voice is whispering (or shouting, who knows).

Ready for a good fight? Go!

Round Resultado de imagen de round 1 box

You have already made a decision. You make a pros&cons list just to confirm, reassure yourself or to have moral support.  You will find as many pros or cons (depending on what it will imply) as needed. And the main, true reason will be written there.

Round Imagen relacionada

There is an opportunity, you did not go for it. It just appeared, unexpected. The Inner voice says: why not? it can be fun. even though it’s scary I should give it a try. But, hold on… it’s disrupting your easy going life. So you write a list just to see if  the answer will show up there. Pros, cons.. pros, cons.. and after a while looking at it, you decide, also listening to your voice. In fact, you were always in Round 1, but .. needed to check there was nothing too strong to start the adventure.

Round Resultado de imagen de round 1 box

You are too afraid of what is different, you are averse to risk…. Or you listen to who is too conservative and don’t want to see you explore. But you still write the list. But it be of any help? You will work too hard on cons. You will shut up your inner voice trying to convince her that staying where you are is the more reasonable thing to do. Cons where very strong…  Better not to move. And you will regret this moment in the future.

 

Years ago, when facing multiple-choice exams we were said not to re-read too many times what we would mark. Read, decide, go through it once more and continue.

Making choices in life is a similar thing, hesitate if you want, re-read, listen to your inner voice. Decide. You will not regret it. You explored, balanced and moved on. Do not allow yourself to reach «round 3».

 

Weaving your network. Weaving your web.

Publicado en attitude, leadership, Sin categoría, teamEtiquetado como , , Deja un comentario

When we talk about » our network», we usually think about it from a professional perspective only. But it is far more than that, it is a personal web formed with family, friends and occasional contacts not directly related with our profession or daily activity.

The network we have created is part of a greater thing, part of a Web, a “personal spider web”.

Built during years through different phases, in the earlier steps of creation, the family ties. Then, kinder garden, school, college friends. And finally those who we meet during our professional life. There is an invisible line that connects us with each of them.

 Our webs can be classified into two types:

  • Concentrated:

Tight&Strong links with and between the different constituents. We care about each of them (of course in different ways…). Its configured by those who inspire us, who teach us, … We dedicate to them time, to connect, to listen, we then, strengthen the link. Being at the center of this cobweb means that if we jump we will gain momentum, in case of troubles we will find help. As per its structure our web can do the same for others.

  • Dispersed:

 Widespread web, weak tights. We can care but we can’t dedicate enough time or just care about the number of constituents, no matter what. If we do not take care of each thread, if we don’t check out and fix when a problem arises, the quality declines. And finally, it can break.

 A concentrated web is more effective, from a professional and personal perspective. We should pay attention to what matters, and take care of it. Ensure that the invisible line is strong. By that, any time that the other’s web grows ours will do so.

 Every time we meet someone, we have the opportunity to include him in our network.

Forsake the fear. Work on happiness.

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Fear is something that we all experience in our life. Don’t be paralyzed, don’t comply. Take action.

 

When you remain in silence despite disagreeing with what is being said, you keep running in circles, you do something that you do not like, read during a presentation instead of interacting with the public, you are conservative in your approach to a problem solving issue, you do just as you are told or copy from someone who is average, it’s because of fear. And fear, always takes away a piece of happiness from us.

So, Every time… you start a project out of your domain, you speak up, you tell others when something bothers you, when you jump into the unknown, you take risks, you question things, you relocate, you ask when you don’t understand, you meet new people, you walk into a room where you know anyone, you change the approach after realizing that the previous one led nowhere… Every single time you do that, you are moving one step further from your comfort zone, without being aware of it. Firstly the feeling of uncertainty, a different kind of fear. Did I risk too much? What will be the outcome? Could I have done better? Ufff…

The more you move, the less you agree with simply being comfortable, with complying. (If it feels uncomfortable, it’s good: post)

And then, one day, all of the sudden you may find or see something that brings back to your memory that old version of yourself. And you realize instead of jumping into the void (as you feared you were doing), you are greater, better. With new fears ahead.

Love for simplicity

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I have written about good manners, about the three pillars that have to be in balance (or at least 2 of the three). We also had the opportunity to read about communication, … in all of them simplicity was present.

Complexity shows up in very unexpected ways. It can be in our personal life, at the workplace, anywhere.

Those who look for simplicity try to keep everything as manageable as possible. Effortless is their mantra, for themselves and for those who are around them. That’s why when they face challenge, when they learn something new, or work on an unknown project, might feel uncomfortable at the beginning. Relying on the small things that make them happy, helps, it makes the journey more bearable. And soon they will be able to make easy to understand for others their project, new work… Things will go «back to their place».

When life is based on complication, when you try to be someone you are not, when you live two lifes completely different happiness requires too many elaborated components. And when the unexpected shows up, you can not handle everything at the level you used to. There is nothing like an «easy support», you need twice the usual effort to keep everything in place.

No one asks for difficulties to come up, we love a quiet, structured (or at least as much as possible) life. What we have in mind, programmed does not usually follow our timing. There are many obstacles, uncertainty along the way.

The more you keep your day to day uncomplicated, the more coherent are the possibles YOUs, the easier will be what comes ahead, whatever it is.

These are some of the very simple things I love: good conversations, hang out with friends, a drink at the beach, slow tourism, family time … What are yours?

Board games and team culture

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What could Organizations, teams and board games have in common?

Starting a new job is like buying a board game. One you have never played to. One you might have heard about or you suddenly saw, read its description, liked and bought. This game, is the company, the organization.

You open the box and you find different stuff: A paper (or where to look at them on the internet) with the rules, indications to know how to get started, the game pieces you will need, and of course, the board.

Let’s talk about «rules». Written Rules are the organization culture, how things are done, what you can and you can not do. If you want to play by the book,to fit, you need to learn and apply them.

What about the «unwritten rules»? Lots of time not everything is on a paper. At some point there was an agreement, what to do when… it was kept for that group of people, for every team they played. This is the team culture. How do we do things around here, what we didn’t know and what we adapted from the written ones. If you want to play, you will need to know them and apply.

When playing in a different group, questions need to be asked, you need observe how others behave, accept or refuse to play under different rules, use your usual strategy or completely change it. And… always have fun. If you don’t, if there is no fun at all, change your partners or play a different game.

Christmas time has been awesome, now we are back to work with new challenges and possibilities.

Enjoy everything that is ahead. Good stuff is just around the corner.

 

One of those few times you felt that «je-ne-sais-quoi»

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Domingo tarde-noche, fin de semana intenso, de regreso de un largo viaje, más de media hora para aparcar y nos esperaba un concierto casi olvidado en la memoria, de un grupo de los clásicos de nuestro tiempo .. baja expectativa sumadas pocas ganas, muy distantes de lo que allí encontraríamos. De repente, suenan los primeros acordes y todo, absolutamente todo lo anterior, desaparece y adquiere, se transforma en un buen rollo increíble, una atmósfera brutal. 

Lo que parecían desventajas, se convirtieron en fortalezas: Sala pequeña, sonido perfecto, solo pista. ¿Catalizadores? Muy buen rollo entre el público, viejos amigos de los grandes éxitos y del grupo, un grupo que conecta con el público y que nunca parece haber perdido la chispa entre ellos.

¿cuántas veces hemos ido a una presentación, a una jornada de trabajo, a un evento desanimados, enfadados, sin ganas y hemos salido con una perspectiva completamente distinta? Nos lo hemos pasado bien, ha sido interesante, lo hemos disfrutado? Seguramente, pocas, bastante pocas.

Pero cuando ha sucedido esa “magia”, cuando hemos salido con esa sensación de yo-no-se-qué pero ha sido especial, es porque ha habido algo que lo ha hecho distinto. (en algún post antiguo quizás se ha asomado) es, porque nuestra actitud ha cambiado, las bajas expectativas han hecho que bajáramos la guardia de la “negatividad”, la capacidad del sitio era idónea para el ambiente que se quería conseguir, quien dirigía/presentaba el evento dominaba el tema, lo disfrutaba y así lo transmitía, ponía su alma en ello. Si había más de un ponente, se notaba la buena onda entre ellos, la complicidad, la distensión.

Y en cuanto nuestra actitud cambió de preventiva a receptiva, hemos aportado y mucho a crear la dinámica perfecta, a construir ese je-ne-sais-quoi, a pasarlo bien, a disfrutar.

 Cuando uno trabaja duro y pone el alma, el resultado es excelente.

 Pásalo bien, mientras trabajes y cuando no: Work hard, play hard

The 3 Cs of Trust

Publicado en Actitud, Iniciativa, Sin categoríaEtiquetado como , , , Deja un comentario

La confianza se gana poco a poco, a través de nuestros actos en cada una de las tres dimensiones que la conforman y requiere del largo plazo, pero se puede perder en un instante. Pero, ¿En base a qué se construye y cómo la perdemos? La confianza descansa sobre:

  1. Capacidad (Aptitud)
  2. Carácter
  3. Comunicación

Os sonará su descripción o cómo agrupamos los actos que las identifican porque hemos hablado de algunos de ellos en diferentes posts.

En primer lugar encontramos la dimensión de la capacidad. Ésta construye alrededor de aquello que te hace único, que con el tiempo te convertirá en un experto. Sucede o se construye cuando reconoces las habilidades de los demás, la realización de un trabajo bien hecho, incluyes a los demás en la toma de decisiones y/o promueves el aprendizaje a tu alrededor. Es en esta dónde se forja el «seguro que sabe cómo hacerlo»

La segunda, el carácter es aquella que construimos sobretodo al principio de las relaciones, en la que demostramos que buscamos el ganar-ganar, cumplimos lo que decimos, delegamos  y/o gestionamos adecuadamente las expectativas. Es la que demuestra con actos y palabras alineados. Sabrás que has alcanzado su máximo nivel, cuando se piense en ti por ser una persona «en la que se puede confiar, lo cumpliráa»

Y, finalmente, la dimensión comunicativa se construye desde el momento en que empezamos a compartir información, admitimos nuestros errores, damos y pedimos feedback sincero y no participamos en rumorología alguna. Has llegado a un alto nivel de esta dimensión cuando se cuenta contigo por la confidencialidad y porque dirás si algo es correcto o no. Es el momento en el que se puede pensar de ti: «si lo dice…. me lo creo».

Cuando las tres dimensiones no se practican de manera consistente (tema que hemos sacado en más de un post) es cuando la confianza empieza a tambalearse. Y cuando se rompe, normalmente nos retiramos, nos separamos. Y nos cuestionamos ¿Es este el sitio adecuado para mí? Creí que encajaba, que tenía lo necesario. Quizás estaba equivocad@.

Aquellos entornos dónde se ha perdido la confianza tienen unos niveles bajos de energía, pasión y creatividad. Está en nuestras manos el cambiar, romper este círculo si creemos que todavía es posible hacer algo o movernos si realmente, la confianza no va a regresar.