certainty Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

02
Apr 21
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Finding Certainty Is a Never-Ending Position

Tags : certainty change confidence psychology of work Tolerance

Finding certainty is one way to spend your energy. In an ever-changing world, it seems that certainty may be hard to come by. Yet, there still may be some things that you can be certain about. Change is one of them.

Many people set out to be certain. Low-risk is attractive but with little risk often not much is gained.

Confidence may be considered an aspect of certainty. Removing doubt and installing belief all seem to have linkages to being certain.

It is difficult to maintain the power of confidence while facing extreme criticism or ridicule. When there is a constant stream of new information, the difference between truth and lies, facts and opinions, and those who seek to see, in order to believe, all become blurred.

What is stopping you right now? Is it a lack of information or a lack of certainty?

Finding Certainty

It may be easier to find than you think.

A three-dimensional image is different from a two-dimension image. How things first appear are sometimes different after closer examination. The autostereogram is a perfect example.

Complexities surround human nature. The psychology of the work that we do is often hard to understand.

Driven by perceptions, expectations, and life experiences decisions are made and outcomes are realized.

What may be certain about every endeavor is that there will be an outcome.

In an uncertain world, doing something that produces a new outcome may be better than doing nothing at all.

If you live in South Carolina and you want to get to California by car, driving somewhere in a westward direction will put you closer. It may be driving to Nebraska or Texas, but one thing is certain, both of those are closer to California than South Carolina.

Certainty often exists in what you see and what you believe.

Sometimes the trick is having more confidence than doubt.

Often, that is where you find certainty.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

24
Sep 20
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Restoring Confidence Means Creating Certainty

Tags : certainty confidence customer service employee teams

Are you good at restoring confidence? Do you believe that confident employees and customers matter?

A lack of confidence means worry. Worry means hesitation, procrastination, and delays. Delays within employee teams and delays in meeting the expectations of the customer.

Many people are facing new challenges when navigating the workplace. And now, more than ever, more people are working from home (WFH), and as such workflow and communication have changed. Certainty is at a premium and uncertainty is commonplace.

Timelines, metrics and measurements are keys to successful navigation.

When the boss asks, “When will we get an update on the project?” or when the customer asks, “When will my order ship?” how do you respond?

I’m waiting on one more piece from the team, we’ll have something together soon.

Your order should ship out by Friday.

Neither response makes an exact commitment. The unknown is hard to navigate.

Certainty builds confidence.

Restoring Confidence

A common reaction is to stretch the truth, be vague, and hope everything works out for the best. In reality, everyone is being short-changed.

People beg for transparency, truth, and certainty. In most cases, this is a transaction. It’s a transaction that can have the outcome of restoring confidence or the outcome of uncertainty and disappointment.

When we reassure with direct, not dodged, or fuzzy answers, we have a chance to change the level of confidence, certainty, and even manage the disappointment.

Better to say that the project will be finished by the end of the day tomorrow, or the order will be on the truck on Friday. Wiggle words don’t sound the same as a certainty, and its especially unlikely that they will restore confidence.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

10
Jul 20
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Certainty Is What You Are Looking For

Tags : certainty decisions results strategy uncertainty

What decisions are you trying to make about the future? If you are looking for a slam dunk of certainty, you may not find it. Of course, you may be surprised how certain you really are.

Unprecedented times. You’ve read the headlines, heard it in the news, and watched it on TV. You’ve also been living it, every day since sometime in March 2020.

Most decision makers are trying to make comfortable decisions. Decisions that come with a guarantee. If no guarantee, you probably have a backup plan. A chance to punt, regroup, or pivot direction.

One of the reasons that many people and businesses lack action today is because they can’t decide. They are not confident in choices or directions. There seems to be no certainty of what will happen next.

What will you do? How will you spend your time? What is certain?

On a personal level, you could update your LinkedIn profile. You could make some new connections, rekindle some older ones, or find an article or video that provides some inspiration.

For your department you could look at your budget, compare it with expenses, and determine if your project or contributions are still making sense.

For the small business owner or entrepreneur, you could update your website add some new options or change something that has grown stale?

Are any of these things a waste of time?

Discovering Certainty

Some may argue.

LinkedIn has too much sales activity and I’m not looking for a new job.

Our department is here, we’re working, we’re just waiting to see what the new direction is going to look like.

Why update the website, it is hard to know what direction things are going to go.

Uncertainty.

Yet, one thing is likely for certain.

You’re still going to desire a LinkedIn network in the future.

Your department may benefit from right-sizing expenses with budget and impact given what you know today.

That glorious website can always be better, more attractive, and provide higher value.

Those things are all, certain.

-DEG

H/T to my friend Mike Moran for igniting the idea of certainty for me.

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

20
Apr 17
-

confidence and doubt appreciative strategies

The Delicate Balance of Confidence and Doubt

Tags : certainty confidence doubt obstacles

Open a discussion about confidence and you might find that many people are interested to obtain more. When it comes to doubt those same people might suggest that they need fewer of those thoughts. Is there a healthy balance between confidence and doubt?

Nearly 20 years ago one of my favorite motivational zingers was to say, “No doubt!” Any time during a discussion about accomplishments, goals, or what to do next it was game on for this playful banter. It seemed to add a little spice to what otherwise might have been just another conversation.

In fact, looking back, a number of my colleagues often returned the gesture. In some of our workplace circles it was commonplace. It was a saying to close a conversation or make emphasis on a particular point. I’m not sure who started it, but it became a tiny part of our culture.

Confidence and Doubt

Confidence is important and suggesting that you can accomplish something without any doubt might suggest you have plenty of it. Sometimes though, confidence might be confused with absolute certainty your game plan will work.

We know that confidence develops from self-esteem and self-efficacy built across time. We make the attempt, we have success and then we try something a little riskier or bigger. Sure we might not always hit the mark but with successive attempts we learn that our effort and focus can pay off.

Building confidence is important, it helps us to grow, and when we approach the next obstacle without doubt our drive to succeed might be greater. With a lot of confidence we might become certain.

Being Certain

In life, confidence and doubt play a bit of tug-of-war. When we believe that we’ve removed all doubt, we are certain.

This certainty might suggest a lack of fear. Having no fear or little regard for consequences might create a new problem; wearing blinders to what might become a stark reality.

With blinders on you might be certain you are the only vendor with a winning proposal, the perfect person for the job, or that the need for your skill-set will never diminish.

Blinders and certainty might lead to a big surprise.

No doubt.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: certainty

Apr 21

-

Finding Certainty Is a Never-Ending Position

Finding Certainty

Sep 20

-

Restoring Confidence Means Creating Certainty

Restoring Confidence

Jul 20

-

Certainty Is What You Are Looking For

Discovering Certainty

Apr 17

-

The Delicate Balance of Confidence and Doubt

Confidence and Doubt

Being Certain

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