This donkey at the entrance to the Detroit Museum of Art is the only piece of art that patrons are allowed to touch. It was purchased specifically as a demonstration piece to show people what happens with repeated touching — the black grooves and nuanced texture have disappeared from the spot where hundreds of people have rubbed.
The donkey is much more effective than any signs could be. It is “proof” that little touches do add up to cause irreparable damage to art, and will hopefully discourage visitors from giving in to the temptation to feel pieces in the museum.
Instead of signs that often go unread, how can you make your point in 3-D?
Summer is often the time for planning and retreats, and these gatherings frequently result in brainstorming and a host of new ideas to implement in the future. While innovation is an important and necessary function, it can lead to a diffusion of energy as teams want to “focus” on a host of new programs that come from the sessions.
It can be hard to focus on a single key priority, but going deep offers many benefits. It’s likely that concentrating on a single area will yield more quantifiable outcomes, which in turn allow for richer storytelling and greater impact. A narrow focus allows for greater accountability as well, with no hiding behind doing a little on several priorities. It’s stronger if one thing is accomplished rather than bits of many.
Picking one thing to be the focus for the short term is hard. Many things are important, and the temptation is great to address several goals at once. Resist and go deep instead.
A colleague is known as the go-to person at her job, and someone else expressed envy at how she knew people from so many different departments. My colleague explained that this just didn’t happen; she intentionally worked to build relationships.
It’s a valuable skill for both your professional and personal lives.
Get up from that desk. Have lunch with other people. Talk in person when possible. Take that extra few minutes to learn about others’ lives, whether you are in person or virtual. Interact outside your narrow department or bubble. Remember details about those you meet. Offer help.
There are many ways to cultivate relationships, but all take intentional effort. We often gloss over the connection in favor of efficiency, but those relationships can become invaluable when you need something above and beyond. They also make the workplace much more pleasant!
Relationships take intentionality to create, but the personal and professional rewards far outweigh the effort. Start today to weave your web of connections.
In a webinar about his book Inside the Box, author David Epstein promoted the value of constraints and shared research about how limitations actually make you more creative. The brain wants to follow the path of least resistance, so it takes the easy route first, even though that is not where creativity lies.
The phrase that stuck with me is “It has never been easier to do too much.” People are wired to naturally think in terms of “adding,” and AI and other tools make it easier than ever to do so. We don’t think of subtracting, but constraints force you to clarify priorities and focus on the most important things to accomplish. I think it’s the premise behind writing a-dot-a-day!
Ernst Hemingway ended his days in the middle of a sentence, so he knew where to start tomorrow. Epstein adopted this strategy by writing down the #1 thing he needed to accomplish the next day, and not turning on his phone or other distractions until it was accomplished. He intentionally created a restraint to block the easy path his brain wanted to follow (phone scrolling) and instead channeled his creative energy into something more important.
Dr. Seuss chose to limit the number of words he would use in a book. Nest opted to design its box (what the end users would see first) before the thermostat itself. Other companies write the press release before starting on product design.
Think about how you can self-impose limitations that help direct your creativity to your priorities. Boundaries can turn out to be freeing.
It’s always more fun to create new things than to fix existing problems, but failing to pay attention to infrastructure needs can cause real issues later.
Think of it like buying an old house. You may want to start painting or picking out new accessories, but if the electrical box is a mess, it needs to take priority. It’s painful to spend thousands of dollars on something you can’t see, but working systems are necessary before the aesthetics are addressed.
The same is true in organizations, where teams may prefer a high-profile new project over maintenance of record-keeping or other data systems, but attention to those tasks creates a stronger foundation to support creative work later.
For some organizations, summer may offer a different cadence in the work. Utilize the time to review the not-glamorous-but-essential systems, and ensure your foundational infrastructure is solid before the “decorating” begins.
The best time to outline expectations and clarify responsibilities is when there is no emotion involved. This usually occurs when no particular situation is at hand, and you can discuss in generalities and ideal scenarios rather than when a conflict is brewing.
It’s why it is wise to set ground rules for meetings, outline expectations with a timeline during onboarding, and clarify responsibilities at the beginning of a project. People tend to be more rational and reasonable when they aren’t staring down a deadline or having a disagreement about direction.
This part of the process is often overlooked, with optimistic people believing that everything will work out and things will proceed as planned. Unfortunately, it is rarely the case. Whether setting a schedule for who does the dishes or pays the bills, or being clear about what benchmarks must be met on a project, first clarify those expectations before anything else. Agreeing early is much easier and less time-consuming than disagreeing later.
One of the tenets of Emotional Intelligence is the ability to moderate emotions and channel them into productive uses. But before you can moderate, it’s important to learn to recognize what is truly at the core of your emotional reaction. Why are you so mad in this meeting? Why did that comment set you off? Why are you envious of another person’s success? Why are you feeling unappreciated?
And then, while it may be appropriate to moderate your emotions in the moment, it does no good to suppress them or to ignore the root cause. The next skill is learning the courage to address what triggered your feelings, whether through a conversation with another person, a change in your behavior, or altering the circumstances in the future.
As Disney showed, emotions have the ability to turn you inside out. Treat them like you would any other performance skill and work to strengthen your command of their power. Recognize, moderate, and address.
A colleague presented a workshop session sharing the words of wisdom he learned from others over the years. Another colleague taught a class based on lessons learned from movies. There are many books on marketing insights from the Grateful Dead, and much has been written analyzing Taylor Swift’s business savvy.
We often think that learning is a formal process, and you must be in a classroom or seminar to absorb it. In reality, opportunities for education, inspiration, and insight are everywhere. The lessons are there if you pay attention.
It’s a rare person who likes to be told what they are doing wrong, but most people are more receptive to hearing what they can do to get better. This simple nuance of language can make the difference in whether someone actually hears your feedback in a way that is actionable.
For example, which do you think would be more effective:
“Your free throw is bad,” or “You’d be a stronger player if your free throw improved.”
“Your report is choppy,” or “Your report would benefit from stronger transitions.”
“That outfit doesn’t work on you,” or “A deeper shade would better complement your skin tone.”
“Your presentation was boring,” or “Next time, consider adding a few stories to your presentation.”
“Your event was confusing,” or “First-time attendees could have benefited from more information and signs.”
“Your feedback was poorly delivered,” or “Saying the same thing in a different way could make it more effective.”
Your goal isn’t to just deliver the message; you want it to alter behavior. Keep the end in mind at the beginning of your comments.
Back in the day, when diners had a simple list of regular dishes, their menus came with pictures of all the offerings. As restaurant variety expanded, the photos were replaced with text descriptions of the many available items. People like me had to resort to scanning other diners’ meals as they were served to gauge what to order.
The First Watch restaurant realized that people are visual and added a QR code to their menus so customers could see pictures of the food before ordering. What a great idea! It helps to align expectations, saves time, and may entice people to try something new. And it saves people from craning their necks or guessing what the next table is eating!
Can you use a QR code as a simple way to provide more detailed information to those who are interested? A picture may be worth a thousand words (or calories!), but a thousand words can also be a feast for the inquisitive. Strive to provide your clients with information in the way they want it.
