Razel Pasco’s Post

The problems with flat out The desire for 11 is proof that we often want to go all the way to ten. While 11 is silly, there is a lot of pressure to give our all. But there are problems. The first is that if you try to sprint an entire marathon, you’ll hurt yourself. Systems can be stressed for short periods, but they burn out much more quickly if we overdo it. The second is that a system running flat out needs constant attention. This attention distracts us from all the alternatives, strategies and shortcuts that present themselves along the way. When we’re at maximum all the time, there’s no acceleration or deceleration, both of which create opportunities for change and growth. The hypervigilance required to go at full speed gives us no room to breathe or even improve. And if we’re at a full sprint, we’ve robbed ourselves of the flexibility to turn it up, right at the moment when it’s most needed. ~ Seth Godin

When anxiety is high and morale is low, kindness isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. Being kind doesn’t only benefit the people around you; research shows it also benefits your own mental health. Here’s how to be kinder at work.

Complex or complicated? Complicated problems have a solution, and the solution can often be found by breaking the complicated portions into smaller pieces. And complicated problems often have an emotional component, because there are parts of the problem we don’t want to look at closely, or deal with personally. If you’re lucky enough to be handed a complicated problem, know that effort and guts can often get you where you’re going. If it’s not a problem, it might be a situation. A complicated situation has no clear solution, no win-win, no easy way forward. It’s simply a situation to be dealt with. But this is very different from a complex problem. Complex problems aren’t actually problems at all. They are non-determinate systems, systems that change based on how we engage with them. Push on one part of a complex problem and a different part will change the system. Healthcare, climate and technology systems are all complex problems. When facing a complex problem, it helps to embrace the fact that we’re dealing with a system that shifts over time. One where the rules and the solutions evolve in non-predictable ways. Some ways to dance with the complex: 1. Name it. If you and the team understand you’re dealing with a system, you won’t fall into the trap of treating this the way you treat other problems. We can’t fix systems until we see them.2. Blaming the complex for your little piece of the problem isn’t really helpful. Instead, we can choose to sign up to work on the entire problem, not just a symptom.3. Don’t turn away. We’re hesitant to sign up to deal with problems that seem difficult to solve. And yet, as our world becomes ever more connected, this is precisely what we’re called on to do.4. One way forward is to isolate part of the system if you can, and turn that part into a complicated problem that we can figure out how to solve. And then learn, evolve and repeat. ~ Seth Godin

 The Jenga situation When an organization first sets out to have an impact, it discovers that it has no customers, no clients, no constituents. So it shows up, it makes an offer and it listens.The early days are exciting. Customers are seen and heard and served. Variations are created and value is produced as problems are solved.In the early days, the most celebrated employees are the ones who figure out what someone needs and then determines a way to fill that need.Once the organization gains traction, it’s possible that a short-term profit maximizer will join the team. They push to treat the customers as replaceable flanges, almost identical, income opportunities to be processed. And the employees? They are expenses, not part of a team.Kids play a game called Jenga. In it, identical wooden sticks are built into a tower, and you win the game by removing sticks without having the tower fall over.It can seem like the fastest way for a stable business to increase profits is simply to remove some sticks. Process more flanges with fewer expenses. Lower overhead, measure the easy stuff, do it faster.A simple service business example to prove the point:Labcorp had a valuable idea: blood tests at scale, well-priced and convenient for doctors and patients. A nationwide chain meant that doctors didn’t have to wonder about instructions being understood. Offices in medical parks meant that patients didn’t have to go to the hospital for something that hardly needed a hospital. A large number of patients would mean that the organization would have the resources to build better calendaring and reporting software.And then what?Take out some Jenga pieces. Why bother with a receptionist when you can staff the entire facility with just one tech? If people have to wait an hour or two, no big deal. Don’t worry so much about turnover–simply give people too much to do, and if they quit, hire someone else. Customer service? Well, you can put up forms and offer surveys, but there’s no need to actually read them…The Jenga situation is contagious. Once a competitor starts doing it, there’s pressure from short-term shareholders for you to do it as well. The profits that motivated growth become the entire point, a race to the bottom with no winners.But then, often when one-too-many Jenga pieces are removed, or when technology shifts, the tower gets too shaky and someone else builds a competitor that starts the process all over again.The biggest challenge a marketer at a big company faces is the specter of industrial short-term thinking. Going along with the bean counters might be the worst marketing mistake you can make. Beans aren’t the point of the organization, they’re a side effect.We spend too much time dealing with shaky towers. The resilience of people connecting, of organizations evolving, of service and clarity and generative work is far too important to be threatened by a few hustlers who insist on measuring the wrong thing. ~ Seth Godin

Review the following rules for success. Think about them. Reflect on them. What on this list gets your attention? Know your values and live your values without compromise. Be elite at connecting, communicating, and collaborating.Turn off the TV and read good books.  Harness your emotions and make them work for you, not against you. Embrace your strengths and use them with confidence.Be relentless about learning, growing, and getting better. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. When you make a mistake, learn from it. Be a solver, not a complainer. Step up and do the hard, scary thing you have been avoiding.If you use social media, use it sparingly and wisely.Stay away from negative people (in-person and online). Focus on what matters and filter out everything else. Seek feedback and learn from it.  Embrace change.Have an attitude of gratitude.

Wherever it is found, poor listening does great damage to communication and the effective exchange of information and ideas. Poor listening hinders the sharing of thoughts and feelings. It weakens organizational culture and undermines performance. It cripples teamwork and collaboration. It sabotages marriage and parenting. Poor listening damages any relationship, personal or professional. Better listening, on the other hand, makes everything better.To really hear and understand what someone is saying requires an open heart and a disciplined mind. There are layers to what someone is thinking and feeling, and to actively listen requires peeling back the layers. That kind of listening can be difficult and time-consuming work. If you care, you will do the work. If you don’t care, you won’t do the work.