HR Psychology

HR Psychology - Learning to Multitask: Simultaneous Reading and Writing

Classic Attentional Training Study Hints At Our Considerable Potential to Multitask.

The mind has a remarkable ability to focus attention on just one voice from a chorus (see: the cocktail party effect). But what about spreading our attention across different types of tasks? A classic 1976 study which taught two people to read and write at the same time hints at our considerable potential to multitask.

Professor Elizabeth Spelke and colleagues at Cornell University wanted to know whether we can really divide our conscious attention between two demanding tasks, like reading and writing. To find out they recruited two participants willing to put in 29 hours of practice over a 6 week period: Diane and John were their volunteers (Spelke, Hirst & Neisser, 1976).

Before the training Diane and John's normal reading and comprehension rates were measured, so it could be compared with post-training. Then Spelke and colleagues set about their three-phase training regime.

Phase 1: Simultaneous Reading and Writing.

The first step was to get Diane and John reading and writing at the same time. To do this they read short stories by authors like Katherine Mansfield at the same time as writing down a list of words being dictated to them. Afterwards the experimenters checked their story comprehension and memory for the list of words. This procedure was continued throughout all three phases of the study.

Naturally when Diane and John first tried to multitask their reading speed, comprehension and memory all deteriorated. But surprisingly, after six weeks, they could read just as fast and with the same level of comprehension whether or not they were also taking dictation at the same time. They also often recognised more than two-thirds of the dictated words.

There is a problem with this study so far though: it's possible that Diane and John weren't really multitasking but had just leant to take dictation automatically and unconsciously. Spelke and colleagues knew they had to push Diane and John harder.

Phase 2: Detecting Structured Sub-Lists

Over the next few weeks Spelke and colleagues tested Diane and John's higher-level awareness of the dictated lists. Instead of dictating relatively unrelated words, patterns were now surreptitiously inserted into the lists, sometimes whole sentences.

Without forewarning Diane and John found these difficult to spot, but once told to search for the patterns they started noticing rhymes, categories of words and even sentences. Although still missing a few, they did spot many of the patterns the experimenters hid in the sub-lists.

Remember that this is all at the same time as reading an unrelated story at their normal speed and level of comprehension. In this second phase the participants' multitasking is even more impressive and it's harder to argue that the dictation has become automatic and unconscious because Diane and John could spot many of the patterns.

Phase 3: Reading While Categorising Words

In the third and final phase Diane and John were asked to just write down the category to which the words belonged rather than the words themselves. Again, their reading speed initially dropped when they were given this new task, but soon, with practice, it was back up to its original level.

After the 16 weeks of the study it seemed that both Diane and John could categorise lists of words and write down the name of the category at the same time as reading, and understanding, a sophisticated and completely unrelated short story.

Not only that but their reading speed and comprehension of the short story was unaffected compared with their pre-training tests. Quite an impressive feat of attention.

What Does This Mean?

Not everyone accepts that what Diane and John were doing was really multitasking. Here are some of the objections:

• One of the tasks became automatic and therefore unconscious.

• Similarly, people have complained the tasks weren't hard enough: reading and writing are already highly practised skills.

• Diane and John were learning to switch their attention from one task to the other very quickly, not focus on both at the same time.

• Two people is a very small sample size!

These are all good points, but ultimately there's still an impressive human performance here that requires explanation. Whether or not Diane and John were really multitasking, the research certainly implies that we can train our attention to carry out two sophisticated tasks which require conscious deliberation at the same time.

This is more than just simultaneously talking and driving, or patting the head while rubbing the stomach: both reading and writing involve relatively deep processing of similar types of linguistic information. Spelke and colleagues were clearly very impressed with Diane and John's new abilities and they suggest there may be no limits to training human attention, perhaps even no limits to our general cognitive capacity. All we need is some creativity along with plenty of time and practice.

HR People

HR People - 13 Most Annoying People to Work With

Most of us have had colleagues over the years who turned annoying into an art form. Well, now it's a classifiable art form. Career experts Christine Lambden and Casey Connor, authors of the new book, "Everyday Practices of Extraordinary Consultants, " have compiled a list of "The 13 Most Annoying People to Work With." How many of these does your company still have on its payroll?

• Pontification Person: This person goes on and on, telling you what he or she is going to say, saying it, and then telling you what he or she said.

• Um Person: To avoid losing control of the conversation, this co-worker fills every pause with "Um," not realizing he or she might be able to think better when not talking.

• Too Much Detail Person: The authors could elaborate on this one, but then, of course, that would be contributing to the problem.

• 50,000-Foot- Only Person: He or she is eloquent when you talk about the big picture, but refuses to allow anyone to get into the details, which we all know is where the real work gets done. "Unless you’re the CEO of a multinational corporation, "say Lambden and Connor, "you have to be willing to work at any altitude."

• Hypnotized-by- E-mail Person: Wireless technology can be a lifesaver, but there’s something defeating about presenting to the tops of people's heads because everyone at the conference table is hunched over his or her laptop.

• Buzzword Person: "This employee is annoying in meetings, team rooms, and in cubicles," say Lambden and Connor. "In fact, this person is just plain annoying all the time."

• Foul Language Person: Much like Buzzword Person, this co-worker is too lazy to think of the right words to express what he or she is thinking, if, indeed, he or she is thinking at all. This person isn’t trying to impress you with his or her knowledge. "They aren't trying to impress you at all," Lambden and Connor note. "They don't care what you think of them." Refreshing on some level, but probably not a person you’d want on your team.

• Reiteration Person: The only contribution this person makes is to restate what already was said. So, basically, he or she actually has no contribution to make.

• Too Busy to Be Prompt Person: He or she always is late to work and every meeting, clearly lacking time management skills. Nobody can be working on something important all the time, after all.

• Can't Control the Meeting Person and arch-nemesis Wants to Take Over the Meeting Person: There has to be some balance between the out-of-control ditherer and the maniacal meetings dictator, doesn't there?

• Secondary Conversation People: Your best material often isn't riveting, but staffers at least could pretend to care. But Lambert and Connor point out these workers "only are annoying if their conversation is less interesting than the meeting."

• Disagrees With Everything Person: "This co-worker honestly believes he is just being practical, or serving as the voice of reason, or playing devil's advocate," the authors point out. "This may be true sometimes, and even helpful occasionally, but when it becomes a habit, everyone else just tunes them out."

• Obscure Metaphor Person: This employee is as annoying as "the fool in a troupe of Morris dancers," say Lambden and Connor. "See? Wasn’t that annoying?"

HR Leadership - Walk Your Talk

A few years ago I was invited to spend some time with Ken Blanchard at his lake home in upstate New York. Over the last 20 years Ken has probably sold more books than any other business author. His classic, The One Minute Manager, has sold over 10 million copies. He has also built a large training company with the focus on servant leadership and customer service.

I've had the good fortune to meet many successful businessmen, authors, and speakers during my career, but I've never met anyone that "walked the talk" more than Ken. He gets it. The first night of my visit to Ken's lake home, we were sitting on the deck with Humberto, his son-in-law, talking about some ways we could work together. It was about 10 p.m., when all of a sudden Ken jumped up and asked to be excused. He returned about 10:20 and Humberto asked "What happened?" Ken said, "I can't believe it; I forgot to call Dorothy on her birthday."

Later that night, after Ken had gone to bed, Humberto told me that Dorothy is an 85 year old part time employee for the company. It then dawned on me that at 10 p.m. Ken left to spend almost 20 minutes talking to Dorothy and inquiring about how she had spent her special day. However, after spending more time with Ken over the next year, I came to realize that this was no fluke. This is who he is. The last time while visiting him at his San Diego office, I learned that one of his employees who worked in the warehouse had recently passed away. On that day, Ken had invited the employee's wife to come to his office. When she arrived, he spent an hour walking around with her carrying a tape recorder to record all of the wonderful memories that other employees had of her husband. When the wife left she said it was a day she'd never forget.

You see, what many leaders would have considered a waste of time, Ken saw it as an opportunity to serve and to thank his people. He doesn't do it because it's expected of him, he does it because he truly cares. It comes from his heart, and his people love him for being the servant leader that he is.

This is an old Chinese poem that offers wonderful advice for any leader:

GO to the people

LIVE among the people

LEARN from them

LOVE them.

START with what they know,

BUILD on what they have.

But of the BEST leaders,

When their TASK is accomplished,

Their WORK is done,

The PEOPLE will remark,

"WE HAVE DONE IT OURSELVES."

HR Leadership

HR Leadership - Leadership In Hard Times - Leading - and Succeeding

"The truth is that no one factor makes a company admirable. But if you were forced to pick the one that makes the most difference, you'd pick leadership." (Warren Bennis, Organizational Consultant and Author)

As organizations adapt to changing business environments, the need for effective leadership is especially critical. When times are good, leading a company or a team is exciting. Resources are plentiful, customers are satisfied, and opportunity is everywhere. However, when the economic conditions are challenging, this excitement and positive energy tend to weaken. People often feel the pressures of work, and they fear for their job security. These worries and fears present a major challenge for leaders who want to keep their teams on target and productive.

Good leadership is good leadership, regardless of the economic climate. However, during difficult times, top-notch leadership skills become even more important. Second-rate leaders might be able to keep a company going in a strong economy, but you need high-performing leaders to succeed in tough times.

Of course, you need leaders who can control costs and conserve cash. However you also need leaders who see opportunity - and who will strive to seize that opportunity - despite all the negativity. You need leaders who remain committed to their people. And you need leaders who can transfer their own positive outlook to the people around them.

Create New Opportunities
In an economic downturn, you need to conserve your resources so that you can survive. However, you also need to position yourself to benefit as competitors falter, and to be ready when the economy recovers. An economy in decline is often an opportunity to regroup, rethink, and renew. To take advantage of new opportunities, consider doing the following:

Review Your Strategy - Figure out which objectives you're meeting, which ones need more emphasis, and which ones you should reconsider or drop as the environment around you changes.
Lead By Example - Now, more than ever, you have to lead 'from the front' by setting an example. Take personal responsibility for customer care and contact. Actively pursue new business. Show that you're willing to make extra effort to commit to the organization' s success.
Add Value - One of the ways that leaders can gain greater market share and improve operations is by really listening to their customers. Look for innovative ways to add value without adding costs, and win customers who aren't being well served by your competitors.
Use Market Conditions to Create a Stronger Business Model for the Future - If you're a senior manager, consider looking for bargains, in terms of mergers and acquisitions, which will improve your company's future competitive position. Whatever level you're at, negotiate keener rates with suppliers, which you can continue to enjoy after the economy recovers.
Take the Opportunity to Trim Costs - Encourage cost-consciousness within your team or organization. Now is a great time to do this - everyone knows that times are tough, and people will be more willing than ever to cut unnecessary costs.
Implement a Continuous Improvement Plan - Look at your systems and processes to find efficiency opportunities. Lead the way in building a culture of continuous improvement (members only). You can use these savings to pursue the numerous opportunities created by the downturn.

Commit to Your People
Negative messages are all too common during economic downturns. People are losing their jobs, unemployment rates are going up, and personal and corporate bankruptcies are increasing. This can weaken morale, both in the workplace and in society as a whole, and it can tip people into panic, severely damaging their productivity.
It doesn't have to be that way. Don't abandon your people. Use this time to reinforce how important they are, and build the skills they need to help the company survive.

Invest time In leadership Skills Training - Leadership is key to success. The better your leaders are, the better it is for you, your team, and the organization. OK, you may not want to spend a lot of cash on leadership training, however, when times are slow, you may be able to invest much more time than before in management and leadership development.
Retain Your Best People - Part of good leadership is keeping costs under control. However, profits are made by your people. Don't cut back on attracting quality people, and make every effort to retain your best team members by treating them with dignity and respect.
Be Creative With Recruitment and Retention - Salary increases may not be possible, but you can do lots of other things to create attractive work conditions. See our members' article on Managing During a Downturn for specific ideas.
Build a Motivating Workplace - It's easy to focus too much on specific tasks and the bottom line, especially at a time when resources are limited and "cash is king". As a leader, however, you can't let that stop you finding ways to motivate your workforce. Sirota's Three-Factor Theory suggests the following:
Treat People Fairly - When you can't avoid layoffs, give people as much warning as you sensibly can. Talk honestly about what's happening, and how cutbacks will affect them. And if you're cutting people, try to cut the volume and scope of the work you do so that you don't overload those who are left.
Provide Useful Work for Which People are Recognized - Be careful about reassigning the workloads of people who have been laid off. Take time to determine who is best suited for which tasks, and remember to give lots of praise. Match people's skills and interests with the work you need done.
Foster Good Relationships at Work - If you have to stop the Friday company-sponsored lunch at a restaurant, replace it with a low-cost potluck event. Try to avoid cutting it entirely.

Project Positive Energy
Good leaders provide hope and vision. These two qualities can keep a workplace going, even during tough times. People need someone they can trust - someone who is inspiring, and knows how to get things done. As a leader, make it a priority to do the following:

Expect Great Things from Your People - Within reason, the more you demand, the more opportunity you give people to perform, which can be highly motivating. However, don't push too hard, and remember to communicate your expectations.
Keep In Touch With Your People - Use the MBWA (Management By Wandering Around) technique (members only) to find out what's going well, and what needs your attention. Remember to recognize and praise success. Staying connected builds relationships and trust. In tough economic times, you need your staff to perform especially well. The more they know you care, the more likely they are to respond to your call for action.
Be Visionary - Leaders with vision, passion, energy, enthusiasm, and real engagement with their staff, are the key drivers of economic growth. Stay focused on the big picture, and manage to the best of your abilities.
Take Care of Yourself - Respect your own feelings and emotions during difficult times. Where appropriate, share your concerns with people you trust, and build a network of people you can talk to, however work hard to remain upbeat - if you're constantly worried, others will sense this. Get enough rest to keep yourself fresh, and manage your emotions to keep your creativity and self-confidence high.

Key Points
Leadership during good economic times has its challenges. But those challenges increase when the economy is tough, and staff are worried about keeping their jobs and paying their bills.

In these conditions, leaders and managers must keep a sharp eye on their environment, prepare for recovery, support their people, and project enthusiasm and energy. By remaining positive, supporting your people, and looking for new business opportunities, you can help your company survive - and succeed - through the difficult times. Leadership performance is critical to organizational success, so use all of the assets available to you.

HR Investigation - 10 Ways to Catch a Liar

J.J. Newberry was a trained federal agent, skilled in the art of deception detection. So when a witness to a shooting sat in front of him and tried to tell him that when she heard gunshots she didn't look, she just ran -- he knew she was lying.

How did Newberry reach this conclusion? The answer is by recognizing telltale signs that a person isn't being honest, like inconsistencies in a story, behavior that's different from a person's norm, or too much detail in an explanation.

While using these signs to catch a liar takes extensive training and practice, it's no longer only for authorities like Newberry. Now, the average person can become adept at identifying dishonesty, and it's not as hard as you might think. Experts tell WebMD the top 10 ways to let the truth be known.

Tip No. 1: Inconsistencies
"When you want to know if someone is lying, look for inconsistencies in what they are saying," says Newberry, who was a federal agent for 30 years and a police officer for five.

When the woman he was questioning said she ran and hid after hearing gunshots -- without looking -- Newberry saw the inconsistency immediately.

"There was something that just didn't fit," says Newberry. "She heard gunshots but she didn't look? I knew that was inconsistent with how a person would respond to a situation like that."

So when she wasn't paying attention, he banged on the table. She looked right at him.
"When a person hears a noise, it's a natural reaction to look toward it," Newberry tells WebMD. "I knew she heard those gunshots, looked in the direction from which they came, saw the shooter, and then ran."

Sure enough, he was right.

"Her story was just illogical," says Newberry. "And that's what you should look for when you're talking to someone who isn't being truthful. Are there inconsistencies that just don't fit?"

Tip No. 2: Ask the Unexpected
"About 4% of people are accomplished liars and they can do it well," says Newberry. "But because there are no Pinocchio responses to a lie, you have to catch them in it."

Sir Walter Scott put it best: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" But how can you a catch a person in his own web of lies?

"Watch them carefully," says Newberry. "And then when they don't expect it, ask them one question that they are not prepared to answer to trip them up."

Tip No. 3: Gauge Against a Baseline
"One of the most important indicators of dishonesty is changes in behavior," says Maureen O'Sullivan, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of San Francisco. "You want to pay attention to someone who is generally anxious, but now looks calm. Or, someone who is generally calm but now looks anxious."

The trick, explains O'Sullivan, is to gauge their behavior against a baseline. Is a person's behavior falling away from how they would normally act? If it is, that could mean that something is up.

Tip No. 4: Look for Insincere Emotions
"Most people can't fake smile," says O'Sullivan. "The timing will be wrong, it will be held too long, or it will be blended with other things. Maybe it will be a combination of an angry face with a smile; you can tell because their lips are smaller and less full than in a sincere smile."

These fake emotions are a good indicator that something has gone afoul.

Tip No. 5: Pay Attention to Gut Reactions
"People say, 'Oh, it was a gut reaction or women's intuition,' but what I think they are picking up on are the deviations of true emotions," O'Sullivan tells WebMD.

While an average person might not know what it is he's seeing when he thinks someone isn't being honest and attribute his suspicion to instinct, a scientist would be able to pinpoint it exactly -- which leads us to tip no. 6.

Tip No. 6: Watch for Microexpressions
When Joe Schmo has a gut feeling, Paul Ekman, a renowned expert in lie detection, sees microexpressions.

"A microexpression is a very brief expression, usually about a 25th of a second, that is always a concealed emotion," says Ekman, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco.

So when a person is acting happy, but in actuality is really upset about something, for instance, his true emotion will be revealed in a subconscious flash of anger on his face. Whether the concealed emotion is fear, anger, happiness, or jealousy, that feeling will appear on the face in the blink of an eye. The trick is to see it.

"Almost everyone -- 99% of those we've tested in about 10,000 people -- won't see them," says Ekman. "But it can be taught."

In fact, in less than an hour, the average person can learn to see microexpressions.

Tip No. 7: Look for Contradictions
"The general rule is anything that a person does with their voice or their gesture that doesn't fit the words they are saying can indicate a lie," says Ekman. "For example, this is going to sound amazing, but it is true. Sometimes when people are lying and saying, 'Yes, she's the one that took the money,' they will without knowing it make a slight head shake 'no.' That's a gesture and it completely contradicts what they're saying in words."

These contradictions, explains Ekman, can be between the voice and the words, the gesture and the voice, the gesture and the words, or the face and the words.

"It's some aspect of demeanor that is contradicting another aspect," Ekman tells WebMD.

Tip No. 8: A Sense of Unease
"When someone isn't making eye contact and that's against how they normally act, it can mean they're not being honest," says Jenn Berman, PhD, a psychologist in private practice. "They look away, they're sweating, they look uneasy ... anything that isn't normal and indicates anxiety."

Tip No. 9: Too Much Detail
"When you say to someone, 'Oh, where were you?' and they say, 'I went to the store and I needed to get eggs and milk and sugar and I almost hit a dog so I had to go slow,' and on and on, they're giving you too much detail," says Berman.

Too much detail could mean they've put a lot of thought into how they're going to get out of a situation and they've crafted a complicated lie as a solution.

Tip No. 10: Don't Ignore the Truth
"It's more important to recognize when someone is telling the truth than telling a lie because people can look like they're lying but be telling truth," says Newberry.

While it sounds confusing, finding the truth buried under a lie can sometimes help find the answer to an important question: Why is a person lying?

These 10 truth tips, experts agree, all help detect deception. What they don't do is tell you why a person is lying and what the lie means.

"Microexpressions don't tell you the reason," says Ekman. "They just tell you what the concealed emotion is and that there is an emotion being concealed."

When you think someone is lying, you have to either know the person well enough to understand why he or she might lie, or be a people expert.

"You can see a microexpression, but you have to have more social-emotional intelligence on people to use it accurately," says O'Sullivan. "You have to be a good judge of people to understand what it means."

Extra Tip: Be Trusting"In general we have a choice about which stance we take in life," says Ekman. "If we take a suspicious stance life is not going to be too pleasant, but we won't get misled very often. If we take a trusting stance, life is going to be a lot more pleasant but sometimes we are going to be taken in. As a parent or a friend, you're much better off being trusting rather than looking for lies all the time."

HR Grooming - The Chains That Bind

The circus elephant demonstrates what happens to us when we become tied to a habit. When an elephant is a baby, a strong chain is applied to one leg to keep it within a certain range. The baby elephant pulls against the chain, trying to escape, but is unable to do so. After many attempts, the baby elephant finally realizes that she will not be able to break the chain and so does not continue to pull at it.

As an adult, the elephant needs only to be restrained by a small chain that could be easily broken by the very strong elephant. However, she doesn't even try and remains within a limited circle. She has been fooled into thinking that she is limited to this small area and does not attempt to push beyond it.

This scenario demonstrates how we are restrained by our habits and limited thinking. When we meet resistance often enough, we begin to assume that our world is limited. Like the elephant, we are fooled into thinking that we are restricted to a certain lifestyle, because we have become accustomed to it.

Are you tied to old ideas and old thought processes? Do you believe that you must remain stuck in a confining, unsatisfying job merely because you have roped yourself into believing that you can't get promoted? Have you tied yourself up with the belief that this is all there is to life? Have you restricted yourself because you believe that as you get older, your body doesn't work as well as it used to?

Have you limited yourself in other ways, because your habitual thinking has imprisoned you in a cell with a window that only allows you to gaze upon a more desirable world? If so, do you really want to be confined to this very limited space, or do you want to advance to that which you desire?

It can be done! How? By recognizing that you are the one who accepted the restraints and you are the one who must remove them. It begins by asking yourself, "What do I really want and what am I willing to do about it?" If you feel resistant to making changes in your life, ask yourself what you will gain by remaining tied to the current circumstances. Then ask yourself how your life would change if you broke through the resistance and moved on to a different way of being or living.

Desire and imagination are the tools that will free us from an undesirable situation. This is the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Affirmation: “I break away from those chains that bind me to an unhappy situation in my life. I use the tools of desire and imagination to provide me with freedom from the prison of limited and habitual negative thinking. I am pulling up stakes and moving on to a better life and a more joy-filled situation.”

HR Greatness - A Lesson in Ordinary Greatness

One of the side effects of my constant travel schedule is arriving at hotels in new cities late at night. Unable to sleep, I turn on the TV. Late-night TV is mostly a wasteland of infomercials and B-movies, but one of the bright spots has been Late Night with Conan O'Brien on NBC. It could always be counted on for a laugh. It was interesting to see recently that Conan has aired his final show, as he will be succeeding Jay Leno as Tonight Show host when Jay steps down later this year—according to Conan, a dream of his come true.

Conan's 'Career Path'
Conan's career path also contains many lessons for leaders, I believe. You see, when Conan was offered the role of host of Late Night in 1993 (after being encouraged to audition by the legendary producer of Saturday Night Live Lorne Michaels), he was following the very successful David Letterman, and Conan was a complete unknown. He had been a successful writer behind the scenes on The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, but he had no show-hosting experience.

Many experts in the entertainment field were quite surprised and maybe even a bit offended that someone they did not know well had been chosen to host Late Night. In fact, NBC even acknowledged this perception in a radio ad that aired shortly before the show's debut that had O'Brien telling the story of someone who recognized him on the street and said, "Look, honey, there's the guy who doesn't deserve his own show!"

And his tenure was not without its bumps. For example, during the first 3 years, NBC insisted on renewing the show for only 2 weeks at a time. But then Conan and his staff began hitting their stride. The shows became consistently funny, ratings improved, and the show developed a loyal following.

This provided some comedic fodder for O'Brien on his 10th Anniversary Special. Mr. T appeared on the special to give O'Brien a gold necklace with a giant "7" on it. When O'Brien tried to point out that he's actually been on the air for 10 years, Mr. T responded, "I know that, fool ... but you've only been funny for 7!"

What I Learned from Conan
What's the lesson for leaders? Well, first of all, greatness in others is not always readily apparent. Sixteen years ago, no one was predicting that Conan would be such a successful host with such a legion of fans that he would actually be the next host of the Tonight Show. He appeared to be an ordinary man, the "guy who doesn't deserve his own show.' It took a visionary like Lorne Michaels to see the "ordinary greatness" in Conan.

Second, the lesson is that people need time. It might take a while to see ordinary greatness in others—don't give up. You might have to keep an eye on things weekly as the NBC folks did, but the results will be there.

So tonight, before you watch Late Night or go to bed early, be sure you have recognized greatness somewhere around you. Oh, and be sure to not just recognize it, but to tell someone you have. Here are some phrases to get you started:

* I haven't told you this in a while, but thank you for ...
* You might think that no one noticed when you...
* Thank you for making my job easier when you ...
* Thank you for always taking such good care of our customers.
* I know they don't always say thank you, so let me.

There is ordinary greatness everywhere you live. If it's not apparent, you might have to be open to it and give it time. But the return on your investment will make it worth it, and you might find the next Conan!

HR Discipline - Anatomy of Self Discipline

"Self-discipline is when you tell yourself to do something and you don't talk back." - W. K. Hope
I admire people who have organized lives; their homes and workplaces are neat and organized and they actually can find their checkbooks, car keys and eyeglasses. What does it take for a person to possess those characteristics? The answer is self-discipline. Having self-discipline means that we are able to control our feelings and desires. It means that we make a decision, take action, and preserve.
So if the rewards of self-discipline are so great, why is it so difficult for many of us to be self-disciplined? It may have to do with our inability to delay gratification. It may also be because we only make changes to gain pleasure or avoid pain.
I find that I can be very self-disciplined in some areas and not so in others. For those of you who have been long time readers of the Motivating Moments, you may recall the difficulties that I had when I began graduate school. I struggled with math and statistical concepts that were totally foreign to me. I tackled the classes and preparation for the exams with the tenacity of a bulldog. I absolutely refused to fail and walk away from the humbling challenges that the classes posed.
It was during those times that I discovered within me the capacity for perseverance and self-discipline. Fortunately, I succeeded and received my MBA months. There are rewards for delaying gratification in other areas.
What are the areas in your life that are begging for a great plan followed by self-disciplined execution? Get a friend to help you achieve your goals. Ask him or her to require that you report regularly about your progress. Perhaps by being accountable to someone for our actions or inactions, you may find the courage to persevere.
"If we don't discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us." - William FeatherAffirmation: "I will decide, plan, focus, and achieve; and I will not give in or give up!"