Two-Thirds Through: Taschlich
I wanted to share Sivers’ talk with you, that on the surface seems to contradict our mantra of spelling out our goals. But put in more practical terms, what the speaker warns about is that announcing our goals can diminish the practical drive to work the goals – because we feel relief that we’ve said it. Not unlike new year resolutions, annual performance goals, and gym resolutions. Sivers shouldn’t be interpreted as saying we shouldn’t articulate goals, but rather warning us that we’ll be apt to sigh and put the list away once we’ve satisfied the anxiety.
This dovetails with a book (sent by friend Rodney Brim): Charles S. Jacobs’ Management Rewired, which is often misconstrued to say that feedback does not work. Rather, it’s how the feedback is surfaced and then communicated. (In the end, it’s more of whether the feedback and goals are “organic” – reinforcing the point that we should ask questions, rather than simply cram our own answers down the organization line – though, of course, this is premised on having the time and Socratic skills.)
The common denominator? Neural scientists have substantiated that emotion is the driver of decisions, not the mechanical, rational mba process: in order for me to make a true decision, a true shift, first I must own it, then I must feel an emotional need, a pain, really, to do so. “Objective” reasons often really come afterwards, to shop for the solution (or, for many of us, to justify the purchase to the wife). Emotion is from the latin emovere – to move away from: to relieve the pain, the itch. Emotion also always involves the “I” – all politics are local.
We need emotion to make fundamental shifts, but we also need to not leak the emotional drive by merely talking about it.
So here we are, September: a perfect time to pause and look back, cast away, and cast off.
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