*Each Friday an interesting photo is selected to end the week on.
Walk
Originally uploaded by Joep R.
A lot of people can talk about change.
A smoker saying they’re going to quit is talking change. An alcoholic saying they will stop drinking is talking change. A presidential candidate promising to deliver an administration different from the last is talking change. A manager saying they’re going to shake things up and defy the status quo is talking change. A football coach promising to deliver more wins this year than next is talking change.
Anyone can talk change and nearly anyone does.
The thing about change is it cannot be sustained with talk. It requires action. It requires more than lip service. It requires a change in lifestyle, in practice, in thinking. When you start talking like that, people usually jump off the change bandwagon. That’s when talk of change fades and the status quo lives on.
At some point you must stop talking change and producing change. It’s easy to talk change. It’s a whole lot more difficult to produce change.
Are you busy talking change? Maybe it’s time to start following through on that talk. Produce some results. Go up against the status quo with some positive results. Quit that bad habit you’ve been telling your friends and family you are going to quit once and for all. Follow through on your talk of change.
Wayne Coyne, Flaming Lips
Originally uploaded by chris_saunders
Sometimes the best blog post is a blog post never made.
If you should happen to post though, it’s best to make your point and end it. If you go on and on, your readers will leave. Assuming, of course, someone is reading.
It’s the same way with public speaking. Sometimes the best speeches are the speeches never made. But, if you must stand up and speak, make your point and then sit down. No one likes to listen to someone who likes to listen to themselves talk.
I think I’ve made my point.
*Each Friday an interesting photo is selected to end the week on.
HYPOCRITICAL SIGNAGE
Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyes
In the movie Napoleon Dynamite, the character Uncle Rico revels in his past. Specifically his high school years of football. It’s humorous to watch Uncle Rico talk about his glory days, “Back in ’82…” In real life however, whenever you run across people like this it is sad. They’re stuck and unable to realize the present, much less the future.
In business, they’re not innovating because, “we’ve always been successful doing it this way.” In almost anything you succeed in, it can be tempting to always do it that way and resist change in the future. Even if it that successful way of doing things is no longer working. It’s how status quo’s come into being.
Past success is no guarantee of future success.
Consider:
- If it was, Angel Berroa, Pat Listach, and Bob Hamelin would be household names. Each of them experienced a great deal of success in their first years of Major League Baseball. Each of them won the Rookie of the Year award. Based on their early success, their future appeared bright.
- Revel in your past success and one day you’ll look around and that’s all you’ll have. Past successes.
- Ask Venture, K-Mart, or Woolworths how those past successes are working out for them in guaranteeing future success.
- There’s nothing wrong looking back at previous successes and even use them to help you gain leverage in the present or future. Far too often however, people look “back in ’82″ and want to stay there.
Past success is no guarantee of future success. Innovate, adjust, and grow.
It really is simple to understand. You just have to decide not to get stuck in ’82. That’s usually the hard part.
Originally uploaded by Breath of Life
In any enterprise, when the leadership begins to erode, the followers begin to grow restless. The vision gets lost. Morale dips. Communication becomes scarce. Many grow disgruntled. The workplace rumors soar. Many begin to show up only for the paycheck. Apathy sets in.
Your best employees leave. Maybe they don’t walk out the door, but they grow bitter and cynical. Your best employees don’t have to walk out the door for you to lose them.
It’s a common trap for leaders to become complacent because the notable players are still around. Then one day it all goes wrong. The indecision, the ineffectiveness, the inaction all collide. The notable players (your best employees) show severe displeasure and the next thing you know they really are walking out the door.
This can be reversed. It takes time and a rebuilding of trust, but I do believe it can be reversed.
Some ideas:
- Tear down the corporate structures that restrict innovation and growth.
- Stop promoting mediocrity and begin promoting those who want to make the changes necessary to reverse the ship.
- Identify your visionary leaders. You will need them to regain or possibly even reinvent the vision.
- Stop playing it safe and just going with the flow. Start taking some risks that will give a spark of energy to your employees.
- Realize the importance of team building and who will perform this task best – then put them in place to start building.
- Get your hands dirty and build relationships.
- Invite new ideas into the fold, listen to the new ideas, and then actually implement them when they are worthy of pursuing.
- Quit blaming and start fixing.
- Sweat the small stuff and work your way up to the bigger stuff. It will give you a little more credibility when it comes to the old, cynical hands who won’t want to change.
- Put trust in your employees. Especially in your best employees.
- Be clear on goals.
- Open the doors of communication, but don’t shut them as soon as the negative sentiments come out. Acknowledge them and then fix them.
What are some of your suggestions?
*Each Friday an interesting photo is selected to end the week on.
RUN, RUN! ITS COMING!
Originally uploaded by MerlinsMan
“People do not lack strength; they lack will.” ~ Victor Hugo
There’s a lot of truth in that quote.
Consider:
- You always find time to do the things you really want to do.
- You overcome, though difficult, bad habits when you finally devote yourself to a life change.
- You often make a needed change when the suffering is no longer sufferable.
In many cases, it’s not about your strength. The strength to overcome or grow is there, but the will is a little more difficult to discover.
Some excuses offered up:
- No time.
- Too difficult.
- Nothing will change.
- Cannot change.
- Too old.
- Too young.
- Don’t know enough.
- Cannot make a decision.
- Security is better than risk.
- It is what it is.
- It is no use.
- No one cares.
- It has always been this way.
In the end all these excuses really say is, “I don’t have the will.” The strength is almost certainly there. The will is not.
Of course, they don’t really apply to your life. Right?
*Each Friday an interesting photo is selected to end the week on.
gentlemens outfitters
Originally uploaded by buckaroo kid
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” ~ Sir Ken Robinson
I first watched this presentation by Sir Ken Robinson at TED over a year ago. I’ve since watched it multiple times and his message has stuck with me. It is on creativity and education. He makes a compelling case for the idea that school, within its current structure, kills creativity.
In my opinion, Sir Ken is also one of the more brilliantly entertaining speakers around. I hope you will take a moment out of your busy day and watch. Especially if you currently work in the education system.
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Leave It To Weaver by Andrew Weaver is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at drewmaniac.com.
