Are you using information as a tool for empowerment?

In a recent conversation about use of his Blackberry Barack Obama was quoted as saying "Information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool for empowerment."

The challenge of course is how to move beyond the distractions and diversions of the Internet to such a place of empowerment. Here's a few suggestions - I'd love to know how you manage this challenge.

Aim for humanly possible not technically possible.

Just because it's technically possible doesn't mean it's humanly possible. We can't ever hope to keep up with the technology only manage it effectively. There are still only 24 hours in a day and cramming more hours in on the Internet wont help.

80/20
20% of the effort will still deliver 80 of the information. Therefore notice when the law of diminishing returns kicks in and stop looking.

Move beyond the Information to Knowledge, Understanding & Wisdom
More and more information doesn't lead to increased understanding. It's the evaluation of that information that will provide the insights. More depth, less quantity.

Alison

Alison Smith
Empowering purchasing relationships in their use of information and data

iPhone iPhone in my hand who is the ........

When considering who can help us make comparisons Comparethemeerkat.com comes to mind. Although there are many more out there helping us compare more than meerkats. In fact anything you could wish to compare - finance, food, cars and what are the dating sites if not a means of comparing one potential partner with another. Comparethemeerkat.com has even got an app named iSimples - so there's no getting away from the ability to compare what ever the technology you're using.

Many people who I work with, and I'm not immune either, have challenges around comparisons. Other people are often more this or that than them, or less this or that. With the increase in use of social media the ability to compare ourselves with others has increased dramatically. You don't really need an app to find the evidence to support your own belief about yourself - it's simple - just do a search on google and there you are a list of why you're not good enough........

Hold on a minute I wonder what a comparison app for our skills and attributes would be like......
....see link on RHS in Useful Articles for short story I wrote for those unfavourably comparing themselves with others with a little help from an iPhone app!!

Because we should celebrate our own uniqueness and accept our differences.
Helping you find passion in life.

Alison Smith
http://www.alisonsmith.eu/ 07770 538159 alison@alisonsmith.eu

Lay back and think of England!

From conversations recently I think that's how many of us are approaching life.

Before you disagree could you please just do an inventory of all areas of your life and confirm how many of them you're perfectly happy with.

Work?
Relationship?
Family?
Friends?
Health?
Fitness?
Home?
Hobbies?
Contribution?

How did you get on?

What I've noticed is we do really seem to put up with a lot of what should be unacceptable in our lives. We just say "That's life", "That's business", "That's relationships for you", "That's just the way it is" or even "That's old age for you."

I had a conversation a few weeks ago with someone who was putting their physical and emotional symptoms down to old age. The problem with that is old age doesn't go away and yet the symptoms could. I remember the new lease of life my dad got when at the age of 75 he got his first PC, or how much happier a friend was when she changed her eating habits, or another friend took up a hobby.

Please don't just lay back and think of England and put up with a life that's not making you happy. Identify the symptoms and then explore the opportunities to getting to the other side. There are always many more opportunities than you think.

and that's me now off on holiday for a PC free week - wooop woop

Helping you find passion in life

Alison
alison@alisonsmith.eu 07770 538159
www.alisonsmith.eu

It might look, feel or sound right to you - but what about to them?

The means of the communication is the response that we get. In other words if someone doesn't understand what we're saying or even worse has got angry about it often it's not the message they're reacting to but how we're communicating it.

When we communicate with others we often do so in a way that best works for us. However the person we're wishing to communicate to may have different preferences to us. If we don't change how we're communicating to them we'll therefore often miss the opportunity for them to truly understand our message - we might as well be speaking a foreign language.

The key is understanding the different preferences that exist and adapting our communication appropriately to reflect these. Here's just a few suggestions on the different types of preferences we have.
NB Someone's language and behaviour will often give their preference away once we start paying attention to it.

Look/Feel/Sound
Are they more visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. If visual we'll certainly get a better response if we provide a picture or diagram than a 10 page report. Pay attention to the words used too.
If auditory - words such as clarity, harmony, question, tell etc will resonate with the person.
If visual - words such as vision, focus, insight, perspective etc will provide more clarity.
If Kinaesthetic - words such as feel, flow, balance, hold will enable them to grasp what you're saying.

Achievement/Affiliation/Power
Which of these motivates the person the most. It's certainly worth remembering not to tell someone who's motivated by achievement that what they are doing will help them bond with the team. They want to hear words like success, results, aim, goal etc. Affiliation people want to hear words like harmony, support, share, rapport etc. Those motivated by power want to hear words like control, command, impact, influence etc. Well they do if they're motivated 'towards' these things. You'll have to use others words if they're really motivated 'away from' failure, being alone or weak!

Sameness/Difference
If someone looks for sameness then don't tell them all the ways the new system is different to the old one - tell them the similarities first. If they desire difference give it to them.

Options/Procedures
You'll certainly get resistance if you give a set of instructions to someone who has a preference for options and variety. Conversely telling someone who likes a procedure to be flexible may generate resistance instead.

Detail/Big Picture
Don't jump in with lots of details until you've determined whether they like it - many people only need to know the big picture in order to make a decision, many others want to know the big picture to get an idea of whether they want to hear the detail. Someone who likes details loves it and the more the better.

As our preferences come over in all our communications I wonder what preferences you think I may have? and how could I have changed what I said to make more sense for you?

I thought you knew?

Much is said about how recognition helps with retention of staff and it comes in many forms. For today I'd like to concentrate on the appreciation from a manager of a job well done and how that appreciation is communicated?

Since we often show appreciation as we ourselves would like to be appreciated I'd like to flag to the 40% who know you've done a good job, and don't need to be told, that there's another 40% who need to be told (apparently the remaining 20% do a bit of both). I can assure you that just because you keep giving them the best projects, keep giving them raises and never shout at them doesn't mean they know they've done a good job. I'd even go so far as to suggest that many will continue to doubt they do a good job until they hear otherwise. Just think what that doubt is doing to their performance.

The form and timing of that communication is also important. That is will the individual get more from a public or a private thank you, is it enough to say it or does it mean more in writing? For me I realised that the more the person had gone out of their way to show appreciation the more it meant. So just telling me at the end of a conversation about something else didn't have the same impact as, for example, someone I've never met ringing me within hours of reading my newsletter to say it had had a profound impact on their day.

So please for the 40% who need to know don't just assume they know they've done a good job - tell them.