Setting Goals

I sat down to record some goals yesterday with a colleague of mine, and he said, “What happens if I don't meet these goals?”. I found that to be a very interesting question because that seems to be part of the resistance of setting goals. When we say out loud what we want to accomplish, then we create a fear of falling short what happens.

As we move into 2019, I challenge you to really look at your beliefs around setting goals, and how you’ve set goals so far in your life. For some of us, I think that setting goals has been an opportunity for us to be shamed, or to feel insignificant, or we failed or have fallen short of meeting them, and then felt bad about ourselves as a result. If so, setting goals may have become an unpleasant experience. As a result, you may have adopted the mentality that if you don't say it out loud, and you don't set the expectation, then nobody knows that that's what you wanted to accomplish. You know it in your head, so if you fall short, you’ll redirect, and you don’t really have to share it. Your mindset keeps you from sharing, but sharing your goals makes you more likely to achieve them.

So, what is your mindset for setting goals in the new year? What is possible if you refocus your mindset and say, I'm going to set goals and I'm going to make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound) goals. We like to add Excitement and Reinforcers to create SMARTER Goals. It basically means you are creating specific goals that you are excited about and you are not only measuring these goals, but you are celebrating the success of completing the goals. You know the when, where and how around your goals! 

My second challenge to you is to look at them from the mindset of: If, for any reason I don't meet this goal, I am going to learn from it. I'm going to evaluate my goals every month, track where I am, and evaluate what’s working. Sometimes I may find I’ve learned a lot, I may have learned what's not working through not reaching my goal, and that's okay. Because if I learn what's not working, it helps me focus on what is working and what will work.

An example is- I will set the goal of wanting to have two new clients every quarter for 2019. I put together a smart strategy for what that goal is going to be. So, my goal is specific I want two new clients, right? It's attainable, I can do it. It's measurable. I'll know if I have two new clients. It's realistic for me to get to new clients. It’s time bound, I said the first quarter. I'm definitely excited about it because I love the work that I do. And when I achieve it, I will have a celebratory lunch with Adam.

I invite you to set some smarter specific goals that you can really start to look at in the new year and I'm really excited to hear about your progress and know that it's going to be a really, really great year.

Words Create Worlds

David Cooperrider often says, “Words Create Worlds,” and I believe they do. From studying appreciative inquiry and practicing it in my own life, I know that the words I choose matter.

That’s why I am so surprised that so many people say things like, “Well, you know, it’s because the millennials… <insert negative comment here>. I have heard everything from they are lazy, entitled, rude, selfish, have a poor work ethic, etc. Regardless of the date ranges you prefer, you are talking about more than 80 million people. I’m not sure how it became acceptable to talk despairingly about 80 million people, but somehow, I seem to hear and read about people doing this all the time. For anyone that is either participating in this behavior or accepting it in others, I have one question – What do you hope to achieve?

Can you think of anytime throughout your career or life that you talked badly about someone and their behavior improved as a result of it? What would we say if we heard our teachers were talking to children in classrooms this way? Would we believe the teachers were encouraging the children to become better? What do we want for this generation in the work place? Do we want them to take our companies on to bigger and better places? Do we want them to continue innovating and finding cures to diseases? Do we want them to eradicate poverty and help with global warming? If so, why aren’t we encouraging them to be their best?

Can you imagine if we changed our language highlighting their strengths? What if the story became that they are better equipped to create technology for affordable solar energy and digesters? What if we talked about their caring attitudes and their desire to have meaning and purpose? What if we welcomed what they had to offer and how it complimented the other generations? Do you think they’d live up to the new story?

If ‘Words Create Worlds’, I challenge you to find the words that create the world you want to live in.

Appreciative Inquiry is Not Reasonable

In Chapter 3 of The Power of Momentsby Chip and Dan Heath, they refer to Forrester’s research on customer satisfaction. Forrester has built models on the financial value of customers and has shown that very satisfied customers spend more money with you than less satisfied customers. On a scale of 1-10, the very satisfied customers were identified as a 7. They go on to say that if you focus on the customers with a satisfaction of 4-6 and work to improve their experience, it is better for your business than fixing the issues of customers with a satisfaction score of 1-3. In other words, you should not focus all of your energy and budget on your most unhappy customers, but rather on your neutral customers. 

This research validates how important it is for organizations to focus on using the Appreciative Inquiry framework in their planning and business processes. Appreciative Inquiry is inclusive and will generate energy and help create the mechanisms necessary in your business to move neutral customers to very satisfied customers. This will happen through customer ideas, employee ideas and the shared energy in your organization to reach a common goal that everyone works on together. If you have not experienced the Appreciative Inquiry process, it can be difficult to understand how valuable it is.

Chip and Dan Heath refer a little to that in The Power of Moments when they talk about reasonableness. They state that often times we don’t create memorable moments because it isn’t reasonable. That’s also what organizations say when we talk to them about having an Appreciative Inquiry summit and including their staff. They say it isn’t reasonable to shut down their company for an entire day, or to pull half of their organization out of production to create an inclusive plan. They say it isn’t reasonable to invite their customers into their planning processes, or to even let competitors know what they are planning. It may not sound reasonable, but it is remarkable, and it produces results.

The final fact I’ll leave you with on this topic was also cited in The Power of Momentsby Chip and Dan Heath. “There is nine times more to gain by elevating positive customers than by eliminating negative ones.” Appreciative Inquiry will allow you to elevate positive customers, create a strategy to elevate neutral ones, accomplish whole system change, and have a remarkable experience in the process. It might not be reasonable, but it is profitable.

Hump Day as an Opportunity

What Does Hump Day Mean?

This expression has long puzzled me. The definition says “Wednesday, regarded as the midpoint of a typical work week”, and then goes on to say this – “it’s hump day and perhaps the toughest day of the week for you.” Now, why would Wednesday be the toughest day of the week?

As I think about this, I’m confused. It feels like we’re celebrating, or at least condoning a relationship with work, school and life that somehow devalues the week and praises the weekend. I heard someone say last week, “I live for Fridays!” and I thought, “what about the other six days of the week?”

The New York Times published an article stating that a heart attack was 20 percent greater on Mondays for adult men and 15 percent greater for adult women, which they had initially blamed on the stress of returning to work but said additional factors may be involved.[1] If we believe returning to work on Monday can cause so much stress that it effects our health, then why aren’t we looking deeper into this? I would also think additional factors that could contribute to the increased heart attacks on Monday could be or our coping habits we’ve developed for escaping from the work week, which can include excessive drinking, smoking, partying, eating, exercise, tv watching, etc. I wonder what would happen if we started working to seek the opportunity in this situation to make changes?

I know some businesses include employee wellbeing in their cultures, and I’ve read about a lot of organizations that are looking for ways to create a healthier employee. I wonder what might happen if we reshaped the problem as an opportunity using the framework of appreciative inquiry?

What might the landscape look like if we asked a question like –

• How might we structure our company culture so that employees look forward to coming to work and feel valued and respected here?

• What if we asked the employees that question in groups with managers and CEOs?

• How might it create whole system change to recreate the work day, the space, and the policies and procedures?

• What if the solution is not to fix what we have, but to explore what might be without the limitations of the current structure?

When I started working, we didn’t have computers. You got mail in a mail room, and we used carbon paper to make copies of the things we wrote. You’d think things were very different then, but really, they weren’t. We sat in workspaces similar to the ones available today, we worked the same types of shifts, had the same types of bosses, and dealt with a lot of the same issues. It feels a little like the world changed, and we just keep adjusting our old system by layering and layering new things on a foundation that isn’t big enough or strong enough to support it.

When I read about education, the comments are very similar. The current structure of having kids sit at their desks for hours and hours a day and then do hours of homework at night isn’t meeting the demands of the future workforce. Businesses need their own training departments, and Corporate Universities to give employees the skills necessary to work. What might happen if we included Universities and schools in that same conversation I referred to earlier with employees and managers and CEOs? Is it possible we could look for community solutions to create foundations for success?

In a world with so much opportunity, it seems very limiting and sad to stop one day a week and say, “Today is Hump Day, let me climb to the top of this very small hump and slide into the weekend,” when I could be saying, “Today is Wednesday. I wonder what mountain I could climb today?”

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/14/health/14real.html

You Were FIRST – Why Aren’t They Celebrating?

Have you ever been to or seen the clips of that race where the runner was in first place, saw a teammate fall, ran back to help them and they hobbled over the finish line together with the entire crowd cheering them on? There is so much energy in the moment. The crowd is watching and almost willing the duo to finish strong, while the stronger runner is smiling and focusing on one goal – getting their teammate over the finish line. Someone actually won that race – they crossed the finish line first – but in our story, we focus on the runner who went back for their teammate. They become the real winner.

That is what an Appreciate Inquiry session feels like.

When the executives sit around a conference table and plan the goals for their organization in a strategic planning session, they go for the win. The employees sit in the bleachers to watch the race, hear the results, and then receive the plan for their training practices and workouts, but they don’t get to participate. How enthusiastic would you be to workout and prepare for a race that you weren’t going to participate in? You can have the t-shirt from the race, but no entry and no number.

The Appreciative Inquiry framework is inclusive and asks your employees to train for a race that they are very much a part of and want to win. They are included in the training plan, the workout plans, and assigned coaches to help them reach their potential. In this process they have the opportunity to go back and help a fellow runner get across the finish line and they feel the glory when they get across themselves. Instead of being in the bleachers, they ask their family, customers, vendors, competitors, and community to watch as they give it their all and show what they are capable of, and when everyone is there cheering the on, the executives hold back and offer support to help everyone win. In this process, everyone can win together.

What does your planning process look like? Are you including your employees, vendors, competitors, and community? Do your employees have a voice, or do they just nod their heads and say things like, “They said we have to…, or “Apparently the new process is…,” which lets everyone know that they’ve been told to do something they do not believe is in the best interest of the customer or the organization.

I invite you to consider the power of an inclusive process and whether you want your employees to run the race or watch it.

What is Energy Management?

Energy management is a system for thriving among the demands of modern living. Today’s world is 24/7- work never stops and the boundaries between work and home may be blurred. Between being constantly connected and working long hours, we may find it difficult to find the time to take care for our health, spend quality time with loved ones and do the things we enjoy! Humans are not machines, though sometimes our work environments assume we operate like them. Humans are designed to work in a cyclical, rhythmic way that requires periods of rest to renew energy in between times of exertion.

 Managing energy is an alternative to managing time. Maybe you have tried systems of time management before, but nothing really changes in your ability to get things done. Maybe you even feel stretched thinner than ever. Managing time does not take into account that in order to show up and be fully engaged in what you do, it is important to manage your own energy.

Consider this scenario: You have decided to commit to an exercise routine and schedule a run outdoors after work. You have good intentions, but every day you come home from work too late and too tired to actually lace up your sneakers and hit the pavement. You were managing your time, but weren’t managing your energy in a way where you could actually follow through. Managing energy would look more like scheduling your workout for a time when you know it makes sense for your energy levels. This might mean running in the morning, which could even increase the energy levels you feel during the work day!

 Energy Management takes into account that humans are complex systems of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual energy. When we can care for, build awareness around and tap into these energy sources, we equip ourselves with the tools for a highly-engaged life. When we are highly engaged, we are “physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritual aligned” (Loehr & Shultz). This new paradigm of high engagement requires a fundamental shift in how we view our lives! Effective energy management allows us to allocate our resources to the tasks that are most important and create healthy habits that result in abundant energy.

 That’s why I developed the Energy Management course. How might learning to manage your energy create a positive shift in your own life?

What I Learned from Stephen Covey

About fifteen years ago, I had the great opportunity to travel to Sanford, Florida and get certified in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I was sent to get certified to come back and train the workshop in my company. It was an awe-inspiring, growth opportunity for me in so many ways!! If you want people to point out any mistake you ever make – facilitate something like the 7 Habits workshop. It raised the bar so high on the expectation of how I would react in any given situation that I started working at home about 50% of the time to sharpen my saw. It sounds funny to talk about it now, but the employees at the law firm I worked at would analyze my reaction to things in every situation after they attended this workshop. The work is powerful and I am still striving to do my best in the habits today. Stretch goals!

Some things I still find to be amazing about that experience is that a) the habits are still relevant in my life and b) it wasn’t anything new. Stephen Covey didn’t invent the 7 Habits, he merely studied human behaviors and principles. He crated the package, but all the information he covered was available long before he wrote the 7 Habits.

So, what did I learn from the experience? I learned that your vision and values create the framework, roadmap and compass for you to get where you are going. I learned that if you don’t take care of yourself and consider your needs, you won’t be able to help others, and I learned that the most important thing that I could do in my career was listen. I’ve taken this learning with me everywhere I’ve gone and I’m still working on getting better at it today.

I found that the real power from the workshop was not the information that was covered, but the questions that were asked. The reason the workshop was so powerful was because it asked you – What do you want to achieve in your life? What is the most important thing for you? What do you want to be remembered for? How do you spend your time? It was the power of imaging yourself in that light that handed the reins over from the facilitator to the participants. It wasn’t about the workshop, it was about you.

The Website

I’m not sure if you’ve ever gone through the process of creating a website or not, but it is a great opportunity to define what it is that you are, as well as what you are not. It has given me the opportunity to really look at how to present Positive Impact Force to the outside world. I think I would have had an easier time going through Monet’s paintings and finding one that captured the essence of this company. Finding words to explain something that is bigger than you have proved quite difficult.

I did create some art to help me in the process, but still, at the end of three long weeks, I summarized the company with a set of inquiries instead of statements. I realized that we’re not really a company that is offering specific services, we are a company that is offering inquiry. Our force is group of experts on related cultural topics, and our goal is to implement the best of what each of our individual clients can be. We are the reflection of our clients. Our inquiry process allows our clients to determine what their vision is and our force of talented individuals come together to help create that vision as a reality. Since I do not know the vision of the client, it is hard to define our services as a specific solution. We are more like walking on the path with you to create a positive impact with your vision.

Since my background is in learning and development, and I know we can offer many solutions for specific learning needs, it has been an interesting journey to transform from problem solver to inquirer. We study works like Conscious Capitalism and Everybody Matters and build those principles into the fabric of our work with clients who know that their businesses do and should have a positive impact on the communities that they serve.

I had a colleague ask – “How are you going to make them do it?” I thought long and hard about that question and I realized we’re not going to make them do it. Nobody is going to make them do it. Positive Impact Force wants to work with clients who want to do this work. His follow-up question was, “What type of client is the right client for you?” That response was easy, “We are looking for clients with great vision that believe that their people are important and want to invest in a strategy for sustainable growth over time.” He mumbled something like, “Good Luck”, and smiled with his big grin. I don’t think it will take luck, just a few compassionate CEOs with great vision.