According to studies, the first idea to solve a problem is not always the best idea. We need to be comfortable coming up with many ideas.
We habitually stick to one idea that we automatically discount other ideas.
Let’s take juggling as an analogy. The first lesson in juggling is dropping the ball a hundred times. The juggler needs to get desensitized to drop the ball.
To come up with good ideas, we need to break out of the habit of just coming up with one idea.
Practice coming up with at least ten ideas for a problem every day. It does not matter if the idea is good or bad. We are building our idea generation muscle.
Inputs matter. If you have the same inputs or information, then your ideas will be limited. Expose yourself to different inputs.
When in a meeting, debating over a problem using the same set of data is fruitless. You will still come up with the same set of ideas.
An idea is a connection between the different things we know. The more the input variety, the more ideas you can come up with.
According to studies, the first idea to solve a problem is not always the best idea. We need to be comfortable coming up with many ideas.
We habitually stick to one idea that we automatically discount other ideas.
Let’s take juggling as an analogy. The first lesson in juggling is dropping the ball a hundred times. The juggler needs to get desensitized to drop the ball.
To come up with good ideas, we need to break out of the habit of just coming up with one idea.
Practice coming up with at least ten ideas for a problem every day. It does not matter if the idea is good or bad. We are building our idea generation muscle.
Inputs matter. If you have the same inputs or information, then your ideas will be limited. Expose yourself to different inputs.
When in a meeting, debating over a problem using the same set of data is fruitless. You will still come up with the same set of ideas.
An idea is a connection between the different things we know. The more the input variety, the more ideas you can come up with.
You may have heard the saying, “learning is like the growth of plants: it takes time, effort, and patience.” Well, that saying is especially true when learning new things.
In today’s world, there’s a lot of pressure to be good at what we do. We’re constantly told that we need to succeed in our careers, relationships, and personal lives. And if we’re not good at something, we’re made to feel like failures.
But learning is a process – it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, effort, and patience to learn and succeed. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t know everything right away. Instead, keep practicing and learning, and you’ll get there in no time.
Learning Is Like the Growth of Plants
When it comes to learning, you must think of yourself as a delicate little plant. Just like plants need time, water, and sunlight to grow and thrive, you need time, effort, and patience to learn and grow.
You cannot expect to plop in front of a textbook for a few hours and emerge as a genius. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, learning takes time, dedication, and hard work. But if you put in the effort, you will eventually see results.
So remember, don’t be discouraged if you don’t learn everything overnight. Learning is like the growth of plants – it takes time, effort, and patience.
The Process of Learning Is Similar to the Growth of Plants
Learning something new can feel like you’re stuck in the dark, wondering when the light will come on. It’s a process that takes time, effort, and patience. But, just like plants need water, light, and soil to grow, you need the same things to learn and grow.
To learn something, you need to be exposed to it repeatedly. You also need to give it time and effort – and don’t forget your patience! Sound like too much work? It is, but it’s worth it in the end. When you finally see that light turn on.
Application
Let’s look at the screen and use the analogy of driving. When you are challenged to learn something new, you will be at the first pillar, where you are unconsciously unskilled. The first pillar means that you are not skilled in driving and cannot perform the skill unconsciously. For example, you attend driving lessons for a few days.
You will now gain insight into what driving is all about and the skills needed to be a safe driver. You now move to the second pillar. You are now consciously skilled. You know the skills required. However, you need to be very conscious or aware of every move you make in driving. The skills still need to be burned to muscle memory at this stage.
At this point, you have a choice. You can practice the driving skill you learned or choose public transportation. You now have an option to either master what you learned or disregard it. With practice, the level of your skill improves. You are now consciously skilled.
You now have a choice. You can continue practicing the skill to achieve mastery or stay where you are. If you continue practicing the craft and reach an expert’s proficiency, you move to the last pillar. This is because you are now unconsciously skilled. Your skill is so high from practice that it becomes second nature to you. You no longer need to be conscious about using what you learned.
Your facilitators, like myself, are responsible for getting you to the first two pillars. It is your responsibility to reach the last two pillars. Your teachers and facilitators can teach you all the best practices in the world. However, it is purely your responsibility to use it consistently. It is you who will primarily benefit from the skill. The other beneficiary of the benefits is your team members, your department, and your management. However, that’s on you.
Summary
Learning is like the growth of plants. Learning something new, like plants, takes time, effort, and patience. But unlike plants, you can’t just sit there and wait for learning to happen – you must actively seek it out. Therefore, we must continuously practice what we know.
Question:
Have you ever tried to learn something new and totally from scratch in the past? How was your experience?
Sometimes, marketing can be a tricky subject for most companies. The jargon and the skills needed can vary a great deal. One basic principle in Marketing is attention. Marketing begins with getting the attention of your target market. If there is no attention, then there is no paying customer. There is a second, more challenging approach. It’s similar to the principle of Blue Water marketing. A more effective method is creating demand for your product or service. Think of Apple or Samsung; they do awareness campaigns for their products. However, every once in a while, they introduce a product they hope will generate demand. Recently, until I got the Samsung Fold 4, I never thought that my iPad would get replaced by a more practical gadget. Now, with the Fold 4, I find it more convenient to work from my phone than my tablet. I don’t need to bring an extra gadget when I leave home. Samsung created a demand for a phone that brings the practicality of a tablet. After I got my Samsung, I seldom brought my tablet with me. What about your company? How are you creating attention or demand with your product or services?
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When entering my mid-forties, I noticed that some of my former schoolmates were stuck in the past. It seems that the glory days of the past were so joyful that it’s a place where some escape and others stay. However, there are also a few that lives too much into the future. They often talk about this fantastic future. If you think about it, there is only one place that we need to be in and focus on, and that is today. Living well in the present and giving it all you have creates beautiful memories and a bright future. It’s only by focusing on the now we can make a difference. What about you? Do you spend most of your time in the past, in the future, or the present? Why?
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I have observed hundreds of managers and employees over three decades; one thing is for sure. People are creatures of habit. How we tackle the little things is the same way we tackle the bigger things in life. What about you? Can you be trusted with little things?
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Have you ever wondered why there are disagreements? Why do you think it’s so hard for others to see what you are seeing? Why is it so hard for some people to understand what you understand and know what you know? It’s because disagreements are rooted in opinions. We all have thoughts. We must learn to respect the opinion of others.
For one thing, nobody can claim that they know everything. That’s simply silly. There was a time that everyone agreed that the world was flat. They were all wrong. What about you? How accurate are your opinions?
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Everything that happens to us has no meaning. That’s right; they have no meaning on their own. There is no real meaning to why something good or bad happens. It’s simply an event. We give importance to events. It’s us that puts a label at events. We decided to tag an event as good or bad. What about you? Which tag do you often use to describe the circumstances of your life?
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A good friend of mine was asking me how to conduct product meetings. So here is what I shared with him. I hope that you find it useful as well.
Before calling for a meeting, please consider the following:
1. If you have something to announce that does not require interaction or feedback, consider sending an email announcement instead.
2. If you want to ask something simple from a group of people, consider using a group chat instead.
3. Carefully select the people you want to be present in the meeting. Are they all expected to contribute to the discussion? Invite only people who need to be present at the meeting.
4. If you need people to represent their departments in a forum, it would be practical to call in just one representative.
5. If you are using presentation material, please send the deck 48 hours before the meeting. Sending it ahead will save you time. Attendees can come prepared with their builds and questions.
6. Advise the participants on the goal of the meeting and the agenda. People can best add value to a meeting if they know its purpose.
In the meeting
1. If you are the facilitator of the meeting, you are responsible for controlling the discussion. Stick to your agenda.
2. Get to the meeting venue 15 minutes before a face-to-face meeting. If it’s online, log in 5 minutes early.
3. Listen attentively.
4. If you are in an online meeting, be mindful of your background noise. Make sure your mic is on mute when you are not speaking.
5. If you are the facilitator of the meeting, start and end the session on time. People have other work to do.
6. Keep the meeting on point. When the discussion is going off-topic, call the attention of the group. Write down the off-topic item and return to it if there is a spare time at the end of the meeting.
7. If the meeting is essential, have someone take the minutes of the meeting. This discussion can be classified into two groups; agreements and actions. For actions, ensure a deadline for each item and a single accountable person.
8. End the meeting by quickly recapping the action and agreement.
After the meeting
1. Send the meeting minutes within 24 hours so people can recall what was agreed upon and what actions they are assigned.
Note: You can measure the effectiveness of the meeting using a very brief survey. The survey is advisable for people whose role (usually C-level executives) is predominantly to add value in meetings. It is good to know how effective your meetings are.
You may find the link to the survey I use for my meetings as an example:
We all have our ups and downs in life. What makes one person different from another is the point of view. To most, we look at life as something happening to us. We tend to take things too personally. We view things as bad luck or unfortunate faith. However, there are a few of us that looks at life differently. We accept that events are part of living in this world. It’s neither good nor bad. We are not singled out by life. How we choose to look at life’s events makes the difference between a joyful life and an awful one. What about you? How do you take life’s ups and downs?
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Too many companies have untrained leaders that fail. 