Month: July 2013

I ask this question all the time.

“What’s your favorite ____?”

 

“What’s your favorite salad?” “What’s your favorite book?” “Who’s your favorite professor?” “What’s your favorite class?”

Asking this question to people who know what they’re talking about provides insight that you would otherwise not have. They’re the experts, and you are now seeking advice and counsel from the experts, even if it’s just a normal person. We’re all experts in something. And we need to learn from other experts. That waitress is an expert in the restaraunt’s food, so go ahead and ask her advice.

Seek wisdom in big and little ways by asking this question.

You’ll get deep insight on things from experts, and you will learn about things that you would never otherwise hear about.

So add this to your vocabulary and ask it a lot: What’s your favorite ____(you fill in the blank – on everything)?

 

What is one of your favorite things? Favorite food, class, website, etc.

Tell me! I wanna learn! Comment below and share with me.

I have been thinking about this one question a lot for the last week and a half.

What do you want to be known for?

 

Why do you need to ask this?

This is such an important question to ask yourself. Asking and answering this question can define how you live your life. By figuring out what you want to be known for, it allows you to then start living those characteristics out.

You’re going to be known for something. Why not figure out what you want to be known for and then start being known for that through your actions.

What do you need to do?

Ask. Answer.

• Ask this question of yourself.
  • Ruminate on this question for a while.
  • Let it soak through into you and touch all parts of your mind.
  • Think about what you are already known for. How would your friends describe you? Maybe use these as starters. Or as things to stop being known for.
• Answer this question.
  • After thinking about it, then start writing down what you want to be known for.
  • Just starting listing characterisitics, attributes, words, things. Whatever.
  • Then narrow it down. Narrow it down to 5 or 10 key things.

Now that you know what you want to be known for, go start living it out! Embody those characteristics in all of your actions. In time, others will come to know you by these things as well.

 

Me:

I thought about sharing what I want to be known for, but I don’t want you to just copy the same things.

But I’ll share with you the #1 thing I want to be known for: Being a follower of Jesus, a man after God’s own heart.

I’d encourage you to make that your #1 as well. (For more info on who Jesus is and why you should follow him, click here.)

 

What do you want to be known for? You’re already known for something, now define it yourself and go live it!

Why is one of the most important questions that you can ever ask about anything. Asking this will help you to really understand things at a deeper level.

As you keep asking why, you’ll get closer and closer to the root cause of something. Knowing what causes that one thing which causes that other thing which causes that core thing let’s you then be able to really get at the root of something and not just hack at the branches, the things that won’t produce real change.

Try asking why 7 times today. That may sound silly, but you most likely don’t ask it that many times already. Try it out. You’ll see that things will make more sense and you’ll understand more things. You’ll get real change in time.

Why. 7 times. Today.

Have you ever found yourself typing on your computer and you realize that all your letters are wrong because your hands were in the wrong position?

But then you put your forefingers back on the ridges on F and J on the keyboard and you can type normally again?

Well I think this can happen in life too. Think about it. The ridges on the F and J are like reminders to keep you on the right track for typing. They help center you, and it makes it so you do the right things and don’t mess up.

In life, I think we need these reminders too. We may begin to get sidetracked or start doing something we shouldn’t or we get our priorities wrong, but if we have some reminders in our life that will put us back on track, it will help us immensely. Put some “F and J ridges” in your life so that you can be reminded of the right things to do.

Some of my “F and J ridges”:

• Quotes I put up in my room
• My Wheaton College lanyard to remind me of how blessed I am to go to school there
• Sticky notes at work
• Memorized Bible verses
• A big sheet of paper filled with things I’m thankful for
• My laptop screensaver picture depicting one of my girlfriend’s favorite paintings

What are your “F and J ridges”?

 

I recently finished one of the most impactful leadership books I’ve ever read. It’s called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, written by Patrick Lencioni. It’s a must read.

The main idea is that to make a company successful, you must have healthy teams that function well together. Being a functional or dysfunctional team is what separates top companies from their competitors.

This books lays out the five most important dysfunctions that teams struggle with and actionable steps on how to fix them.

Book Summary:

Background:

It’s written as a fable, which makes it easier to connect with.

Instead of just being theoretical, it makes it practical as you see a story of how to put these principles into practice.

Story:

It goes through the story of Cathryn, a recently hired CEO in charge of turning around a failing Silicon Valley technology company called DecisionTech. By all indicators, DecisionTech should be light years ahead of its competitors, yet they’re behind two of its competitors in both revenue and customer growth.

The reason why: the executive team is so dysfunctional. Once Cathryn steps in and teaches the five dysfunctions of a team to the executives, they are able to understand the dysfunctions and start acting differently. Then the company starts turning around and hitting their targets.

At the end of the fable, Lencioni breaks down the model into more concrete practical steps for how to stop being dysfunctional. He gives tools for team assessments and actionable steps for each dysfunction, so it would be a great thing for your team to work through.

 

The five dysfunctions quickly defined:

Dysfunction 1: Absence of Trust – Team members who aren’t willing to be vulnerable with each other will have no foundation to build trust on.

Dysfunction 2: Fear of Conflict – By not trusting, there is no ability to engage in unfiltered debates of ideas or thoughts. The team is left to petty discussions where people don’t express how they actually feel.

Dysfunction 3: Lack of Commitment – By fearing conflict and not airing their opinions, team members won’t buy in and commit to the team’s decisions.

Dysfunction 4: Avoidance of Accountability – If the team isn’t committed to the decisions that have been made, then no one will want to call their peers on decisions that seem unaligned with the plan.

Dysfunction 5: Inattention to Results – When there is no accountability, then team members will start to put their individual goals above the collective purpose and results of the team.

Changing those dysfunctions can seem deceptively simple, yet they can be very powerful if actually enacted by teams.

 

Think back to teams you’ve been a part of. Which has plagued your team the most?