Moments — what made today great(?)

I am still not sure if "what made today great" should be followed by a question mark.

Why do I even bring this up?

Well... mostly it's because I am part of a book club where the membership is younger than me, most definitely smarter, and I've taken on the role of "token old guy"* — now I find myself half way through the book The Beauty of Discomfort by Amanda Lang. 

As you may have gleaned from the title, this book offers a perspective on how discomfort can be a benefit for personal and professional growth. One of the points that has come out of the book thus far is that people are happier when they are grateful — it is pointed out that by actively recognizing what made your day great, you will better understand why you should be grateful (and from there be happier).

And this is where the "questionable" question mark comes into play. The author suggests you should ask —

What made today great?

It is a fine question to be sure; it is a nice reflection and does force you to search for even the smallest event to be grateful for.

I will have to say though, it just doesn't seem right. It just comes across as more consideration than action — something to ponder passively instead of identifying your actions for the day "straight up" (which hopefully align with the grand goals of your life). I believe the issue I'm dealing with is that it should be a statement and not a question.

What made today great was...

This is more deliberate, more conscious, and reflects mindfulness by design — there is a greater sense of action and movement. By no means do I believe using a statement compromises the concept of being grateful and the benefits that come from it. I actually think it makes everything much more concrete — a tangibly that offers up the day by day progress of moving forward. I'd like to offer up an example to celebrate the season if I may:

"What made the weekend great was..."

• I worked out, and flipped a truck tire 300 times
• I helped decorate the family Christmas tree with my father and daughter
• I kissed a beautiful woman in the snow
• I had dinner with my oldest friends to celebrate the season and our friendship
• I watched the latest Star Wars movie with my daughter 

I am very grateful, and I am very happy.

Why wouldn't I be — it was a great weekend (full stop).

iamgpe

* Every club or team needs a token old guy — we are sage, opinionated, and if you ask nicely we'll probably buy drinks.

The messaging of an idea... feedback — PART 4

As Renée Cormier and I continue to work our way though "The messaging of an idea" (in an attempt to offer perspective and build discussion to get really good at it) I received a comment on my last blog post.

Lisa Gallagher had offered some perspective on presentations and mentioned she had hoped I would have offered an example of a "good one" — due to confidentially agreements and sensitivity to people's privacy it is actually easier said than done. Recently though I was speaking to an associate of mine and he had no issue with me using one of his recent presentations as an example. He is always looking to promote his business, expand his social media strategy, and is always looking for feedback (which it seems scores a solid 20).

What I am including here is a video of the presentation, which does move the conversation from simply about the format and structure of a PowerPoint slide deck to something bigger —

• How is the presenter using the slide deck?
• How are his abilities as a speaker?
• What is the utility of using a PowerPoint slide deck for a video
• What about the video itself
• Et cetera...

The Presentation —

To Lisa's original request, if you want to consider the slide deck itself it would be best to mute the video and follow the presentation through from beginning to end — overall I think this is a rather "tight" slide deck that tells a story, identifies the important points for consideration, and it isn't much of a leap to envision the narrative of the presenter.

But of course a slide deck does need a presenter, and this expands the considerations for optimizing the messaging of an idea, and starts to scratch at the modes (channels) that can be used to that end —

• What the presenter says and how he says it.
• Considerations as to when you expand to different modes of messaging.
• Managing your resources to get the most you can without compromising your message.
• Is what you are doing aligned with your strategy?
• Et cetera...

In the end thought it's just a PowerPoint deck, and although it has lots of utility, messaging an idea is much more than simply having a slick, tight, PowerPoint presentation, and presenter.

And now to the point of all of this (other than getting Lisa her slide deck example), which is the importance of getting constructive feedback; something needed to progress your idea. Feedback is how you pressure test your idea (or whatever you are presenting) to ensure it can withstand the real world. That feedback is then used (in context with your objectives and strategies) to ensure your messaging is exactly what you want (or need).

Having given Renée a heads up that a simple question would be coming her way, I will ask it now — "So Renée (and anyone else for that matter), can I get your thoughts on the presentation and the video, as well as your constructive feedback?" 

There is courage in asking for feedback, and it is important to appreciate two things in doing so —

1) There is never any growth without feedback.

and

2) “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” —Teddy Roosevelt

iamgpe

The messaging of an idea... solutions and problems — PART 3

As Renée Cormier and I continue to dig deeper into "The messaging of an idea" (which I might add Jerry Fletcher called an arduous task), we have been spending a fair bit of time discussing and debating how to approach it — because as Jerry suggested it's a big and meaty topic. I'm of the mind set that we build our efforts organically using our original posts, incorporating our ongoing discussions, people's thoughts and insights, as well as any comments that come our way. I think the jury is still out as far as Renée is concerned. 

In a recent discussion, the point about not letting an idea be a "solution looking for a problem" came up — and somewhere in the discussion Renée asked, "What do you do when your solution has problems?". She then reached for a blue sticky note in her bag, wrote on it, and stuck it on my computer. Triumphantly she said, "There... there is your next blog topic". 

 

"What to do when your solution has problems?"

I am almost certain someone, somewhere, is thinking that it can't be much of a solution if it has problems right out of the gate. Although that may be true in a perfect world, in the real world there are two truisms that you need to consider — there is no such thing as perfection and there will always be problems (some big and some small). 

Recognizing this, there are two considerations that come with this question... one has to do with messaging and the other does not; although it does influence the messaging of your solution (aka idea).

Understand the problems that are associated with your solution —

Although this is not directly associated with the art and science of messaging your solution, it does influence what you have you say, as well as how you are going to say it. It is extremely important to understand the problems that will impact how you will make your solution a reality — and I will say it is much easier said than done. It's crucial to look at your solution as objectively as possible, understand its strengths and opportunities, and understand its weaknesses and PROBLEMS. There are two outcomes in doing this: 

• An understanding if your solution can really solve the problem.
• A prioritized list of the problems your solution has to work through (from biggest to smallest).

In doing this you will — 1) determine if your solution is viable and 2) identify (and understand) the problems you need to work through for the best solution.

As I say, this can be very difficult to accomplish when you look at your solution in the cold, stark, light of reality — we humans are notoriously optimistic and sadly this has given birth to the saying, "He's living in a fantasyland".

Messaging a solution that inherently has problems (and they all do) —

"Be honest and transparent — full stop".

I suppose I should elaborate a little. It is always best to lead with the strengths and opportunities associated with your solution, and of course minimize your weaknesses and problems — that's just good "selling". This is not to suggest that you should ever misrepresent yourself, but rather acknowledge this is an aspect of managing how you present the problems that come with your solution.

It is important to do two things here : 

• Without apologizes, be clear what the problems of your solution are.
• More importantly, have a plan to overcome any major problems (and if you can't, see above).

Oh, and something else...

When you are actually presenting your idea (and solution) make sure you listen to what people are saying, the questions they have, and the challenges they make. Your audience is not just trying to understand what you are saying, but experience has shown, also try to help solve the problems your solution may have.

And one last point since I'm on a roll, and it's a very important one — if you ever find yourself saying "they don't know what they're talking about" after your presentation, then there is a very high probability you are living in a fantasyland.*

Just sayin'.

iamgpe

* I know this to be true because I've heard it said before.