Category Archives: persistence

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workplace obstacles

Workplace Obstacles, You Decide How You’ll Navigate

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What do you do when you encounter workplace obstacles? Did you ever wonder why they are there in the first place?

When someone needs to drive a forklift truck through the warehouse or stock yard, does the business purposely place obstacles in the route?

If you’re hired to write code for a new specialty software application, does the hiring agent instruct you to do it without access to a computing device?

If your goal is to bring in more sales, does the business reduce marketing and advertising efforts?

Every day people are striving to accomplish a goal. They’re also faced with obstacles or roadblocks that challenge the path forward.

Should you resist? Fight it? Should you figure out how to navigate it?

Right or Wrong

Does right or wrong matter?

It seems that like beauty, right or wrong may be in the eyes of the beholder.

Certainly, there are rules, regulations, and privileges. Driving is a privilege. Speed limits are a rule.

For many things there are so-called grey areas. Circumstances or situations arise and judgement calls need to be made. Do you use your best judgement or just adapt regardless of your position on the matter?

Navigation and adaptation are key.

Workplace Obstacles

There will always be obstacles. Rain occurs on wedding dates.

Some one or some thing will become an obstacle in your path.

Workplaces are full of navigational challenges. It seems they are increasing and standing in the way of the true mission.

In the end your perception of right or wrong, fair or unfair, probably won’t matter much. It is how you’ll look on the other side.

Think carefully about decisions you’ll make. Find the balance for navigation.

Makes decisions that keep you on track, not stopped or stalled.

Sometimes the hardest part is understanding the true goal.

There often is a difference between how it works and how it looks.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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learning more

Learning More, Are You Doing It Regularly?

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Are you in the habit of learning more? Do you find pleasure in learning, or do you feel forced?

There is the formality of learning. Go to school, attain a high school diploma. Go to college and attain an advanced certificate, a degree, or maybe go all the way, maybe even multiple times. We might label this as formal education.

What about other forms of learning?

Are you reading?

What about writing, composing your thoughts, tightening your words and message, creating an illustration or meaning for others. Can you do that and is there learning involved?

What about podcasts, YouTube, or other digital tools, are you using them?

And of course, we can’t forget about experience. Experience may often be summarized as on-the-job experience, or even information passed down from others, and put in to practice by someone not so experienced.

The concept of being an apprentice has been around for centuries. Apprentice reportedly originates from the word aprentiz which is an Old French word that means, “someone learning.”

What have you learned lately? Are you still learning?

Learning More

Formal education matters. Your definition of formal education, not so much.

Is there any value to learning something that on the surface you really aren’t interested in knowing?

In most traditional college or university settings there are pieces of the curriculum that don’t really interest those in pursuit of the degree. Yet, they are in the curriculum because there is a connection to the future. A bet or a chance that discovering something about the topic today, will pay off.

These are all elements of what might be labeled formal education. They are not necessarily a specific requirement to meet today’s need, but one of value for the future.

The quest to learn more often develops at a young age. The childhood erector set might one day produce an engineer, or a telescope, an astrophysicist.

You might also have learned from Grandma or Grandpa. How to treat people, how to be respectful, or even how to plant a garden or bake a pie.

Discovering things through interest may be learning. It probably doesn’t feel forced.

Formal learning provides a structure and ideally creates a well-rounded outcome.

Regardless of how you do it, do it regularly.

It’s for children and adults.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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broken projects

Broken Projects Seem Like Part Of The Process

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Have you experienced broken projects? Perhaps things didn’t go as planned, perhaps a mistake or two, maybe things snowballed and sunk the whole thing?

Estimates are often given by service providers. The estimate represents their best guess on how the project will unfold.

The party receiving the estimate expects it to be at that price or less. Within the time frame or faster.

Market value often determines price. The most volatile price on the restaurant menu may simply list, market price.

The need of the vendor is to sell the product or service and at the same time attain some level of profit margin. Selling in volume may be a strategy, or selling something very unique at a higher price may be a strategy.

Disposable ink pens versus a one-of-a-kind painting. Sell a few hundred thousand pens and you have a business. Sell a single painting and you have a business.

What happens when the project breaks?

Broken Projects

The exact project that you planned for seldom happens. The person or organization providing a project quote has considered many factors when formulating price.

Pricing often includes a little fluff or a buffer. When things go really well, profit is realized. When things go really wrong it could mean financial hardship.

The goal then is to make the project as successful as possible. Beyond just checking the box, and making the customer feel good, there should be something left over. A pay day for the business and persons involved.

Projects often break, but do they break within the bounds of the fluff and buffer? Do things pile up, pile on, and strain the success?

The best bet may be not to undersell.

Competitive pricing or market price doesn’t mean what is provided is exactly the same. It means that it is estimated and fits within a frame.

Enter with optimism. Minimize breakages. Celebrate projects that work.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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competence evaporates

Competence Evaporates Unless You Adjust

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Is it possible that competence evaporates? The process of losing your skill or an area of expertise over time, does it happen?

Assume you are a master sales person. You thrive on in-person, face-to-face interactions. You read the body language, tell a story or two, and ask questions about family and life right after a brief discussion of the weather. Your competence at selling is high.

Then a pandemic emerges and you can’t be with people face-to-face. Now it’s an avatar, an email, or a text message. You still believe you have high competence in selling, only every skill you once used to sell is nearly obsolete.

Evaporated, gone, useful perhaps, but the environment for selling has changed dramatically. The future means you may have to close the deal differently.

Competence Evaporates

The skills you build across time are earned. Often, earned the hard way, by hours and hours of doing, learning, and repeating.

Developing a high level of competence in any field doesn’t happen overnight.

Many people call themselves coaches in the workplace. Coaching is a profession that takes decades of careful practice and patience to hone the craft. You can read some books, watch some videos, and even go through specialized training, perhaps one-day earning an advanced certification.

Across time the methods shift. The social trends ebb and flow. The way of doing things slides.

Like a few drops of saline in a petri dish, things start to evaporate.

The competencies you acquire may be the foundational skills you need to move forward, yet many people hold on to those hard-earned methods for far too long.

When you want less evaporation of your competence, you’re going to have to do something new. You’re going to have to explore different things.

It’s a chance, and some risk, but getting left behind while you watch things evaporate isn’t ideal either.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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easy momentum

Easy Momentum, Is It Affecting You?

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Have you been anticipating easy momentum? It’s the concept that as time goes on, things get easier. Does this happen?

If you start a new exercise program, it may seem difficult at first. The expectation is that it will get a little easier if you stick with it regularly, across time.

Start a new job, it may be similar.

Put on a new pair of shoes, they may need to break-in.

Often our expectation of momentum is that once things get rolling, it will all get easier.

Is this a good perception or just a foolish lofty expectation?

Easy Momentum

If you were born in the U.S. in the early 1900s and lived at least 80 years or so, things probably got better. You survived the Spanish Influenza, the Great Depression, and witnessed technology improving lives. At least, this is the perception of onlookers.

Is the perception real?

The perception of history may be different from the mindset of those actually involved. The hardship may linger, the fear and expectations of change may not seem attractive, and the reflection in books or other media may be misleading.

Many people grow up with an expectation for improvement.

Things will get easier. Life will get easier.

Momentum is often considered a good thing, even inspirational. Once something starts, it is difficult to stop.

In sports, if you win one game, and then the next, you may start some momentum. Does that make the third win easier or more challenging? It may depend on your perspective.

In life, or in your career, as days, weeks, and months lead to years and decades does it get any easier?

Some might say, “yes,” while others argue, “no.”

Your perception of what is happening around you will have a lot to do with your expectations.

Onlookers often have belief different from those who are participating.

Momentum is often a game changer but it doesn’t necessarily mean it gets easier.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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best stories

Best Stories Are Not a Necessarily a Good Tactic

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Do you work from the best stories? Do you ask someone how they attained a promotion, got the job, or closed the sale?

When you ask someone about their success, they’ll often have a story.

Many stories get embellished over time. The fish gets bigger and the near loss of it because the line nearly broke, twice.

It is a part of human nature.

On the other side, sometimes people are more modest or humble. They may claim they got lucky, had an easier time of it, or knew someone who knew someone.

On the luck side, there may be some truth. However, when luck isn’t managed properly can still result in a bad situation.

Best Stories

When you go to the conference, you’ll likely hear a few stories.

Stories of success, stories of failure that led to success, and stories of how easy it is if just follow this method.

People have been embellishing stories for many centuries.

What is the worst thing you can do?

Likely it may be chasing the shiny object or trying to emulate the story you’ve just been told. Is the story replicable? Has the person who delivered the story embellished the ease, the cost, or the commitment requirements?

Get rich quickly. Sell this product to a bunch of people and then they’ll sell it to a bunch of people and you’ll collect a little bit from each sale. Does that work?

It often sounds attractive on the surface, but underneath, somewhere in that chain, you’re not only a vendor but you’re also the customer. You’re often in the middle of nothing. When your efforts no longer provide value (since a commodity product has widespread availability) you’re not needed anymore.

Listen carefully to the best stories. Ask yourself if it is replicable, can it be done over and over again, or was it a rare circumstance with very unique properties? Will it work for your market? Do you completely understand your market?

When someone tells their best story, don’t miss the question-and-answer segment.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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professional growth develops

Professional Growth Develops From Needing More

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Is that how professional growth develops? Are you seeking more growth but have felt stumped about how to make it happen?

A salesperson sells. They may also be known as an account representative, sales consultant, or even an entrepreneur. Names and titles don’t really matter but getting someone to agree to make a purchase does.

It is also true for personal or professional growth.

Does the organization you are working for have a need for more? Are you willing to give them more? Can you sell yourself and really get them interested?

Problems and Needs

It may start by understanding the problem. Whenever there is a need, there is a problem to be solved.

When we feel hungry, we may say that we need food. Then we seek a food vendor.

It is true for many things, yet there is often an emotional decision involved in the process.

If we say that we need a new car, it doesn’t really tell us about the problem. Is it that you need transportation or are you looking for luxury, fuel economy, hauling or towing capacity, or something really sporty?

If there is a feeling of need, there is the opportunity for a sale.

Professional Growth Develops

When it comes to your professional growth you may feel like there is a lot of competition. Many people are jockeying for the same position or promotion. However, a competition problem may not always be the case, in some cases, potential hiring managers just aren’t sure that there is a need, or they aren’t exactly sure how the pieces fit.

Jockeying for position in the case of competition is a very different stature from helping the organization recognize the additional value you can provide.

It shifts from, “I’m better because,” to “here are things we can do if.”

Your professional growth may not depend on beating out the competition, it may depend on you being compelling enough to spark the idea of need.

More education and more experience are often helpful. At the same time, they may not be what is blocking you from advancement.

When the hiring manager or CEO develops a need, they’ll seek to fill it. That is exactly where you need to be.

Be the solution. Sell it.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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offer something

Offer Something, When You Believe It’s Good Enough

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Only when you believe it’s good enough. Are you ready to offer something? Do you have the skills, have you completed the homework, and is your audience ready?

It’s true for the emerging leader and it’s true for the entrepreneur. Is there truth in it for your audience?

In the workplace your audience might be your boss or peers, it could even be your direct reports. Are they buying what you’re selling?

A shove to the face that you are doing good work doesn’t typically go over so well.

In fact, it may be counter-productive to your success. Saying that you’re doing good work in the hope of gaining buy-in might work, but it is much more powerful when they see it for themselves.

Customers are skeptical. They’ve been sold a wrongful bill of goods before and they’ve often vowed to not get taken advantage of again. If you’re proving yourself, more will likely join in. If you’ve overextended your reach and your attempts to tap into a bigger market fall flat, they may not see the value, yet.

Maslow insisted on the importance of self-actualization in his hierarchy of needs model. What is true for the individual may not be realized by your audience, your tribe, or your co-workers, yet.

Offer Something

It starts with the offer. The offer to help, to guide, or to illustrate.

It should be generous, kind, and delivered with empathy.

Is your market ready? Have you proven yourself? Do you have testimonials, cheerleaders, and sponsors?

When you believe what you offer is good enough, the selling part has just begun. Authenticity will matter, it can make or break the deal.

Feedback will also be important because without it you’re standing still. You’re either stopped or stalled. Almost nothing is the same tomorrow as it will be today.

Some things get a little better with time. Only to decline once beyond the peak. Fresh fruit is a great metaphorical example. Perhaps an analogy of your expertise.

When you offer something, not everyone is always ready, including you.

When you are willing to be persistent with your offer, accept honest feedback, and commit to the continued pursuit of delivery you’ll find your audience and your market.

What isn’t working today just hasn’t developed enough.

Yet.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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work agenda

Work Agenda, What Will You Accomplish Today?

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A working agenda could mean fluidity. It can also relate to the work that you do. Day in, day out. What is your work agenda?

Brushing your teeth at least twice a day may be common practice for many people. It is work to be done, and it gets done.

It is true for many household chores and everyday practices.

Things don’t change much with these activities. It is work to be done and it gets done.

It might be true for dropping a young child at day care or walking your dog. Work to be done, and it gets done.

It is likely true for your job. You have a routine.

What is on your agenda?

Daily Grind Factors

It is easy to get caught up in the daily grind.

On Monday you do these things, on Tuesday it is more of the same, and by the end of the week, you must be sure to accomplish everything that was part of your daily grind. You have month-end work, quarterly work, and what you’ll accomplish within the year.

Performance often gets measured by the movement of work each day. Some things may vary a little bit here and a little bit there, but in a general sense, it is all more of the same.

While this is performance, it makes change undesirable.

The opportunity to seek a better path, add in something new, remove something unused or wasteful might be missing on the agenda you work from.

Simply put, your agenda may be about continuous and consistent effort across time. It is not persistence to accomplish more, it is just another swing of the pendulum.

Work Agenda

Maybe it is time to take a closer look at your work agenda. Your routine work isn’t going to change much and as long as everything is routine, neither will you.

It is how 40-year old’s suddenly realize that they’ve spent 15 or 20 years doing a lot of similar things. It’s how 50-year-olds discover it is time to up their game on retirement savings. And it might just be how 60- or 70-year-olds ponder how fast life has passed by.

You may be capable of more than what you’re doing. You may never realize it until it’s too late if you don’t assess your agenda.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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workplace disqualification

Workplace Disqualification, Does It Happen Often?

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If you are navigating outside of the boundaries you might get disqualified. Arriving too late, doing too little, or fighting the system are all matters possibly leading to workplace disqualification. Have you ever been disqualified? Do you know someone who should be?

It has happened at the Kentucky Derby, it has happened at the Olympic Games, and it has happened in baseball, golf, and racing. It happens in the workplace too.

Sometimes disqualification isn’t apparent but it is still present.

Skipped on the list of meeting participants? Overlooked for a promotion?

It may not always mean that you are not qualified, it may mean that you’re not working up to a standard.

Being disqualified likely means that you haven’t met expectations. Did you promise something that you didn’t achieve? Did you agree to do your part on the project but let others down?

You may not realize it, but you might have been disqualified.

Workplace Disqualification

The workplace is filled with lots of variants when it comes to ebbs and flows. There certainly are workplace dynamics and politics. Are you effectively navigating them? Are you winning with customers and vendors, or are you feeling short-changed?

Walk onto a car sales lot. You may find a number of people who can take your order for a car. You may only find one or two that you wouldn’t quickly disqualify.

When the boss distributes workflow. There may be several employees who are qualified, but there may be only one who doesn’t get disqualified.

It is true for on-the-job advancement or getting promoted too. Theoretically, there are a number of people who are capable, but many of them are disqualified from the beginning.

It is even true for job seekers. The interview process is not always about qualifications, that may have already been established. Often it is about finding the one or two nuggets that will boot you from consideration. Disqualified!

Aligning outcomes with expectations is where you should apply your best effort. Commit to both understanding and delivering on what is expected and you’ll be much less likely to face disqualification.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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