a Series of 10 — second-order consequences

By my count I am 10 blogs away from having written 500 blogs on my two websites. I thought it might be an interesting idea to write these remaining blogs based on the common threads that have woven themselves through the last 490 I have written — and with that said, “a Series of 10” has come into being.

Cause and effect; action and reaction; push comes to shove — these are all pithy sayings that remind us that if you do something, as a result, something else will happen. If it’s not a universal law it definitely should be. More than ever in our made-up binary world, where instantaneous gratification is the norm, there is this tendency to expect the result to follow the action quickly so we can be done with it and move on. Worse still, in many cases, there is little understanding that there will be consequences past that moment. Actions always cause consequences, and it’s important to understand that consequences echo. There is a second-order of consequences (in a figurative sense) that can ripple for years.

Under this title there are two important messages.

Number One: Things happen when you drive action; if you do something you can expect something to happen. It should be pointed out and you may consider this wordplay, but inaction (commonly known as doing nothing) is a form of action and will also result in a consequence. Although there is a place for inaction, driving action is a more effective way to progress through problems and take advantage of opportunities. Also, you are more inclined to think about consequences (and unintended consequences) when you are initiating something. Part of being proactive I suppose.

Number Two: The results of your actions will echo much longer than you think and will have impact that you may not have imagined. It’s a reminder to look at the results of your actions with a longer timeframe in mind than the situation may suggest. Also, the more strategic the action is, the greater the cascade of continued actions and results that may echo for years — this is where the virtue of patience comes in — some of your actions may take quite a while for the ripples to die down. This helps manage expectations and reinforces the need for tenacity and sticktoitiveness.

A case in point for myself — I started what I affectionately called my city project when I downsized to experience city life and continue developing my boutique consulting initiative. That did happen but I also: redefined what work is for me and how it is accomplished, became much healthier, established better habits for success, changed my life model for looking at the world and now make my way assuming I know nothing. None of it I would have imagined because my view was so short term and as they say, “you don’t know what you don’t know”.

“As much as I am the same, I am different”.

iamgpe

9 more

"The Hardest Worker in the Room"

For those not familiar with a “Word Cloud” it’s the result of a metadata exercise which visualizes text data and is used by marketing for value proposition exercises, messaging exercises, and customer persona exercises (all involving a bunch of important people in a room and sticky notes) — marketing people love Word Clouds because they’re very colourful and kick off a slide deck very nicely. I only bring this up because, as the saying goes, I needed to “set the table”.

At my gym the walls are covered with sizeable words I assume are meant to motivate. They were most likely the result of some sort of word cloud exercise and I can almost see the bowl of candy in the middle of the table used to keep everyone’s energy up.

Excellence. Power. Motivate. Inspire. Performance. Intensity. Powerful. Achievement. Innovate. Elevate. Challenging. Motivation. Competitor. Perfection. Excel.

Coincidently, as I was counting words and scribbling them into my workout journal, I saw a club member walking around with a T-Shirt that bolding stated, “The Hardest Worker in the Room”.

There is a lot to “unpack” here with five or six bunny holes available, so to save us all some time I decided to focus my efforts on this.

Words are important and they drive action; the right words drive the right action and words without action offer little.*

In fairness, I have no idea what the objective of the word cloud exercise was but most of the words on the wall reflect the results that come with the actual training, so I assume they are meant to motivate. As motivators I suppose they work but none of them help me get to my goal; there is much work to be done between the idea of getting into good shape and having cocktails on the beach looking buffed. Words drive action so it is important to have the right words.

Discipline, perseverance, knowledge, resolve, and ownership better frame what is needed to be successful in the gym. And this brings me to my friend in the T-Shirt.

He didn’t look like he spent much time in the gym — he wandered around looking at his phone and I don’t think I saw him do anything (n fairness though, I was spend much of my time working out and scribbling words in my journal). He may have been having a good time being “ironic” but I can only react to what is presented to me, which in this case, was a juxtaposition to what was on his T-Shirt. And in the context of the gym, this represented a complete lack of any credibility or serious competency. A reminder that words and action represent who you are; aligning words and action are crucial.

Sure this is just a fun example of a moment in a local gym but it really isn’t hard to transfer to something more important.

iamgpe

*I suppose I could have just said, “Talk is cheap so get to work” but then I wouldn’t have had any opportunity to talk about Word Clouds or being ironic.

Unless proven wrong, they made the right decision.

Recently I found myself sitting around a table involved in a "hardy and dramatic discussion" about a business decision that had to be made; in the end, this particular decision did not go the way I had hoped. 

Experience has shown me that the decision making process is usually a mixture of "hardy and dramatic discussion", facts and figures, risk tolerance, gut feel and a smidgen of "hope" - And must lead to making an "actual decision"! 

It is always tough being on the wrong end of a decision; at the very least, it can challenge your conviction or belief systems and at the very most, your livelihood. As I reflect back on the dynamics around the table, I thought I would share some thoughts:

• Although decisions are made based on facts and figures (data if you will), the ability to communicate the information is key. It is with effective communication that a clear understanding is articulated, pros and cons weighed, and the risk of making the wrong decision is minimized. The phrase "being on the same page" comes to mind.
• The decision making process is different for everyone; how they process information, the speed in which they make a decision, their risk tolerance, or the circumstances for needing to make a decision. It is important to understand the circumstances requiring a decision, as well as how the people involved make their decisions - This way you can work within their "decision making comfort zone". My experience is when a person is outside their comfort zone they will either delay the decision or default to a "no".
• Once a decision is made you need to respect it, even when you disagree.
• You need to support the decision to the best of your ability once it's made. If you fundamentally cannot support the decision, you need to be clear on your position... there may be consequences, but you will be respected for it.
• Decisions need to be made to drive action; even a wrong decision is preferable to a non-decision or an endless decision making process. You can always "course correct" a wrong decision, but not much can be done with a non-decision. 

As I look back at the decision made around the table, which as I say did not go the way I had hoped, I do respect that it was made; I have also taken on an interesting perspective - "Unless proven wrong, they made the right decision".

So there you have it, I have made the decision to prove them wrong.

gpe