Category: Making a Difference

Noticing the Artwork

Posted on by Carl Weber

Painting by Iain Young

(Image Courtesy of Iain Young)

At work we are conducting an experiment.

By “we” I mean me and another coworker.

By “experiment” I mean we are messing with stuff and watching for results.

The Background

Throughout the building there are various framed photos, paintings, or prints: Artwork. This artwork appears in offices, hallways, and conference rooms. This artwork includes outdoor scenes, rivers, fields, and the occasional abstract image. For the most part, the artwork is pretty nice, and every person in the building has artwork within their view.

The Experiment

For the past 6 months on Friday afternoons we have been moving the artwork.

Seriously, every few weeks or month we take a minute or two when others have left for the weekend and we swap out the artwork.

When the first Monday arrived, we were beside ourselves, hardly containing the laughs thinking about what will happen when someone notices the change.

Months pass.  Artwork moves. No one notices.

That moment never came.

We even coached a few people while in a meeting where two breathtaking new images appear in a small conference room.

“Wow, this room has such a nice feel today.”

“Oh yeah, maybe the cleaners dusted recently.”

The Conclusion

We move through life and have things to do. We become familiar with our surroundings. We keep our heads down. We fall into routine.

When this happens, we fail to notice the artwork: the small beautiful changes around us.

It happens to all of us.

But we can try.

For the next few weeks, slow down. Lift your head and look around. You may just start noticing the artwork all around you.

Moon and Sun

(Image Courtesy of Another Daughter: Keep painting kiddo!)

What is in it for you?

Posted on by Carl Weber

We all need to earn a living right? There is work to be done and bills to be paid. Unless you are the heir to some fortune; we get up each day and head to work.

But money is not always the primary motivator.

A sense of accomplishment, making a difference, helping others, learning a new task, leading a project, or creative expression tend to be higher on the list for many people.

While coaching someone recently, they paused and asked a direct question.

“What is in it for you?”

Their question made me think about my own motivation and why I do what I do.  I thought about my sentence, or the guiding articulated reason behind a lot of my actions. It helped me develop a reply.

“Helping talented people find the right position that fits who they are.”

But their question was more profound than they perhaps imagined. It remained with me long after our time together. The question spurred others.

Why do we blog?

Why do we consult?

Why do we coach others?

Why do we create?

Sure sometimes it is to make a living, but not all of our hard work generates income. Except for a few rare cases, blogging doesn’t create cash-flow. Not all consulting is on the clock and billable. Not all coaching arrangements come with an invoice. Creativity is not always for the pursuit of an immediate reward.

If you are interested, Dan Pink does a great job of explaining some insight into what motivates us in his book Drive, and below is a 10 minute video summary of the book.

As you contemplate “What is in it for you?” Understanding your motivations and even your sentence may be a good place to start.

Let Me See Your Calendar

Posted on by Carl Weber

Often we wrestle with getting certain projects or activities completed. There are times I wonder if procrastination should be elevated to some sort of art form. The level of creativity that abounds when avoiding certain tasks is nothing short of a masterpiece.

If procrastination was art, I would be Picasso.

This procrastination can permeate through simple tasks and projects, down into our roles both personally and professionally. What starts off as a delay in painting a room or cleaning up your desk, can become putting off coaching employees or participating with your family. One day you wake up to a mountain of unfinished projects, ideas, or roles.

I was listening to a speaker give a talk on what it takes to be a good leader, and one of the keys was following through on certain tasks. When coaching others, this speaker often listens to leaders talk about the things they would like to do, and then says a simple phrase.

“Let me see your calendar.”

The speaker then challenges the leader to show them in their calendar the time the have scheduled to work on that project, and where the deadline appears. Reluctantly, the leaders typically respond that those ideas or projects are not in the calendar. The desire was present, but not the mechanism to create the action needed to complete or make progress on these tasks.

Instead of shaming the person being coached, the speaker then simply works to find dates and times in their calendar and holds them accountable for completion.

I am trying the same approach with myself and others. While coaching a few individuals recently, I realized how much we all need this encouragement and accountability. A few days ago during a coaching session, I realized that there was a project that I had put off for about 12 months. The project itself would take about 1 hour, but there was some sort of procrastination mountain standing in my way.

This morning I spoke that simple phrase, “Let me see your calendar.”

There was space, and the project was scheduled and completed. One simple phrase and the project came off the stalled idea mountain and is now a reality. Imagine the results if we use this simple phrase with ourselves and others.

Try it out, it may just Change the World.

I still have work to do…

Posted on by Carl Weber

About a month ago, I attended training on a new tool to help match individuals to a job, or to help coach them on a deeper level. This new tool can identify someone’s capacity in various attributes, and how they view the world, understand systems and people. The tool doesn’t stop at the outside world.

This new approach also takes a peek at how you are doing on the inside. Do you understand and balance your various roles, do you see your future as bright or muddled, and are you moving forward or just hanging on.

During the training, the instructor eventually passed out our results throughout the room. My little table of four slowly received the results and each person began flipping through the pages to gain some insight. Somewhat guarded, we all peered at the pages occasionally glancing at the others at the table. Eventually we shared the results.

Despite the individual variation, there was one theme. Each person at the table had a good handle on other people and how to help them (most were consultants or HR professionals), but all of us could use a little work on ourselves. I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy and my Narrator seemed to try to tell me that unless I get my own act together, I shouldn’t be telling others how to improve.

In the far left corner of the room, there was another consultant. This consultant has been working with individuals and companies for almost 43 years. When speaking or providing insight during the session the room hushed as if everyone in the room wanted to let the words and insight of this wise sage penetrate our minds. It was amazing and intimidating at the same time.

This consultant called me yesterday. Mostly because of my half-joking statement at the end of class when each of us was asked to say what we learned the most during the training.

“I learned that I need to be coached by you” I said speaking directly to that consultant.

It got a laugh, but imagine my surprise during our call. When we were discussing some of the potential areas I may need to develop and work on, I heard the following.

“You know Carl, when I read my own results and report, I realize that I still have work to do.”

It was reassuring that someone who has worked with others almost as long as I have been alive still has work to do and their development journey is far from over.

This conversation reminded me that there are two paths.

One path makes a bold statement.

“I have it all figured out and I will tell you how to make your life, career, job, and world better.”

The second path echoes the simpler statement I heard while on the phone.

“We are on this collective journey together. We still have work to do and if some of the insights we learn help us…great. Let’s see where this takes us.”

I still have work to do, and I look forward to this journey together.

Badfriend.com

Posted on by Carl Weber

badfriend

Have you ever had that friend that just drifted away? You stopped calling. They stopped calling. Weeks pass and evolve into months. The next thing you know, years pass. When you reflect on the relationship, there were no major fights or arguments, but time creates this sort of distance between you. That distance becomes a larger and larger incentive not to pick up that phone, or send that text. Even worse, when you mount the courage to send that message, it is not returned and your efforts are in vain.

While reconnecting with a close friend recently (it had been years without calling or connecting) we talked about ways to prevent this in the future. Both of us need to commit to calling, texting or emailing each other. It makes it harder that this particular friend is 1,824 miles away so the odds of bumping into each other at the local market is pretty slight.

In order to ensure that we stay connected, we came up with an idea for a website and service for anyone who needs a little help being a better friend.

In the spirit of creating funny domain names, we called it badfriend.com (it is not a real site…yet).

Here is how it would work.

You sign up on the website and identify your friends. Your friends are either already members or you can invite them to the service. There are various levels of connection services that help remind you to send that email or text. You can initiate that conversation through the website or app, and automatic reminders are sent to remind you to connect with your friends. You would have your own email address @badfriend.com and the system would send your friends notice when you were not meeting your requirements as a friend.

If you do not connect regularly you are charged a penalty.  However, if you do connect with your friends you earn points. These points enter you into a lottery for cash prizes, similar to the experiment that VW did with speed camera in Sweden.

Relationships are not always easy. Being a good friend takes work. Imagine how amazing it would be to have a website and app managing it all for you and creating the right incentives and penalty.

Until then, it is up to us to make the decision to stay connected, pick up that phone, or send that message.

If it has been a while since you called or connected, you can always start how I initiated my conversation with this friend:

“Hi, this is Carl@badfriend.com, I am sorry for not connecting, lets start again.”

Pick one friend, the one that was once close but time has created distance. It won’t be easy, but pick a day within the next week and connect, it may just be worth it.

20,000 Views: 20,000 Thanks

Posted on by Carl Weber

20,000 visits

Today is a milestone: 20,000 views on the blog. I am blown away by this whole blogging phenomenon and how each of us can spread ideas across the globe. Blogging made me think about the printing press and how when it was introduced it created fear because it would mean anyone could print their ideas…unedited and uncontrolled. Those same detractors would never have been able to fathom the ability to spread an idea across the globe in a single click.

This milestone could not have happened without YOU! I am humbled and honored to be in this space and have people who connect with this attempt to Change the World.

Thank you to my wife and editor who puts up with my anxious “did you read/proof it yet” seconds after I send her the draft.

Thank you to my daughters who provide inspiration and material and generally put up with me. Together we have conquered fear, hikes, our first race, and you provide things to hold in my pocket when I am away.

Thank you to friends who provided ideas, thoughts, and even artwork for this blog.

Thank you to my Mom and the Navy for helping to shape and mold me.

Thank you to Talin Orfali, a Canadian writer who followed and encouraged me early on.

Thank you to the people from over 139 countries who recently visited. Most of you were looking for something else, but it is flattering.

Thank you for everyone who was looking for a trophy cup image or sporting cup event, but found the cup post by accident. (Search “Trophy Cup” on Google Images)

Most of all Thank YOU for reading, encouraging, and helping me develop some thoughts around helping to Change the World.

Who knows, it just may work.