Failure Is Fine

Have you ever beat yourself up for getting something wrong?

Do you procrastinate because you want it to ‘look perfect’?

The pursuit of excellence in our lives is a noble effort and one we should always strive to obtain. Yet closely linked to excellence is disappointment and malfunction. In fact, if you look at the biggest ideas, the real game-changers, they all have something in common. They are born from, or are honed by, one common denominator; failure. The oft-used quote from Thomas Edison his most famous invention, the light globe “I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” applies, because without those 10,000 prototypes then success would not have been achieved.

Just like a baby learning to walk, failure is the predecessor for success. Imagine if when a baby fell down, we encouraged that child to not attempt to walk again; to not try...it is ludicrous. We encourage that baby with all our persuasive power to try to walk even though the inevitable result will most likely be another failure.

We learn through mistakes. We hone our skills in pressures of defeat. We discover desire and drive through falling short. Playing it safe is not only a soft option, it is also contradictory to our humanness.  

So today we ask you to wage a war on perfectionism.

Perfectionism is an insidious ideology that leads to so much stress in our lives. It leads to procrastination that can at best be time-wasting, at worst, debilitating. So dare to fail and in doing so, you will bring success one step closer.

Darren & Alison

Invite your friends and colleagues to sign up to our newsletter

Are you followning us on twitter? @pragmaticideas

Have you checked out www.darrenhill.com.au?  Check it out and leave your lasting impression.

---------------------------------

THE GIFT:KKaren Schulz: On Being Wrong

Karen Schulz is the author of 'Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error,' and writes 'The Wrong Stuff.' a Slate series featuring interviews with high-profiled people about how they think and feel about being wrong.

Don't cut what you can untie

Most businesses, organisations and managers understand that their work (and it’s success) is directly tied to the relationships we build and maintain. 

Relationships by their very nature are not static entities; they form, they develop, they change, they adapt, and sometimes they end. 

There are situations in the workplace when these changing relationships are met with an abrupt finish and bridges are burnt in the process.  This severity of cutting off a relationship makes it really tough to reestablish connection and inclusion. When something is cut, it loses its structural integrity and introduces new ‘weak spots’. 

One example we see this happen all too often in workplaces is around the announcement of someone’s pregnancy. It is not uncommon for someone going off on maternity leave to feel like they are no longer included in the teams activities or decisions, they are left out of key meetings and can be treated as though they are no longer part of the organisation, well before their leave commences. To the point where if treated this way and made to feel unvalued, some may not ever return from maternity leave at all. This is a significant loss for the team from both a relationship and an economic point of view. It’s just one of many examples.

The reality is that most relationships at work can adapt, change, or even end with mutual respect if the time is taken to work through this transformation.  

It’s the difference between ripping open a present or carefully unwrapping it. If ripped what’s left is simply rubbish, if given patience and time the wrapping can be reused again. 

In your key relationships this week make sure you invest the following three elements: 

1. Time - take the time to carefully sit with and untie any issues that you may have avoided;
2. Respect - like complicated knots, sometimes if we respect it we can understand better how to untie it in a way that keeps each party’s integrity in tact; and 
3. Self - invest your authentic self into the process. Be sincere and honest rather than saying or doing what you think you ‘should’. Don’t simply give it part of your attention, give it the best of your intention. 

Take a deep breath, invest the time, because you never know where or when that relationship may evolve. 

Note: We certainly acknowledge that there are situations that even with the investment of time and patience, the knot is too tight, messy, tangled, and complicated to untie and a swift cut is needed. Just don’t make this the first step.

Thanks for spending this time with us

Darren & Alison

Invite your friends and colleagues to sign up to our newsletter

Are you followning us on twitter? @pragmaticideas

Have you checked out www.darrenhill.com.au?  Check it out and leave your lasting impression.

---------------------------------

THE GIFT: Tell the Whole Truth

Clinton Korver, a serial entrepreneur, is CEO and founder of DecisionStreet which builds online tools to help consumers make informed life decisions.  In Tell the Whole Truth, Clinton explores why we lie.  Understanding the casues of our temptations will help us overcome them.

The one KPI all business success is built upon

Key performance indicators or KPI’s are a part of the vocabulary for most corporate work efforts these days.

We measure so many different areas of our work through KPI’s; from days off to daily tasks, from customer complaints to customer service. The type and number of KPI’s that can be attached to the measure of success within a business can be mind-blowing.

Yet there is one key performance indicator all successful sustainable businesses are built upon. 

How often the people smile. 

It really is as simple as that. 

You will notice we use the word ‘sustainable’, because success can be achieved without a smile, but to be sustainable over the long term, you need to like or even love what you do. The best indicator of liking of loving? It’s a smile.

Interestingly there is a body of evidence to support smiling as something worth pursuing. In this weeks gift (below), Ron Gutman shows you will achieve greater levels of success, experience improved task satisfaction and even live longer if you smile. It is funky, funny, and ultimately commonsense...it’s worth smiling about.

Smiling with you,

Darren & Alison

Invite your friends and colleagues to sign up to our newsletter

Are we friends yet? Find us on Facebook.

Have you checked out www.darrenhill.com.au?  Check it out and leave your lasting impression.

---------------------------------

THE GIFT: Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling

Ron Gutman reviews a raft of studies about smiling, and reveals some surprising results. Did you know your smile can be a predictor of how long you'll live -- and that a simple smile has a measurable effect on your overall well-being? check it out here.

Complex Problems Require Simple Solutions

Are you facing a complex problem at work or home?

Maybe you have recently taken on a new project that seems incredibly daunting.

Perhaps you are embroiled in personal conflict that seemingly has no end.

These sorts of situations are incredibly complex. There are so many variables and an almost infinite amount of possible solutions or risks. At these times it’s tempting to employ complex, well researched and highly conscious problem-solving strategies. Unfortunately this is too often the wrong decision-making process when tackling complex problems.


Consider this simple equation:

Complexity (problem) X Complexity (strategy) = Complexity² (solution)

The more complex a problem, the greater the need for a simple solution. 
 
Gerd Gigerenzer, best-selling author and Director at the Max Planck Institute urges consideration of simple problem solving strategies as evidenced in his recent studies of clinicians diagnosing severity of coronary attacks. Gigerenzer’s team viewed the difference between the heart disease predictive instrument (a highly complex chart that relied upon over 50 probabilities and long formulas) and the use of a fast and frugal tree (a system which uses simple yes/no answers) when considering if patients should be admitted to ICU.
 
The results were mind-blowing. The fast and frugal tree not only ranked better than the complex and highly sophisticated heart disease predictive instrument; it blew it off the charts!
 
In this case, knowing when to admit patients showing symptoms of possible heart failure to ICU (very complex problem) was best answered by some simple yes/no questions rather than a complex mathematical computation.
 
So next time you are faced with a complex situation, ignore the trend towards complexity in your problem solving (which just multiplies the overall complexity), and employ a simple solution. It’s quicker, easier, and far more likely to produce the best results.

Warm wishes, 

Darren & Alison

Invite your friends and colleagues to sign up to our newsletter

Are we friends yet? Find us on Facebook.

Have you checked out www.darrenhill.com.au?  Check it out and leave your lasting impression.