The Hidden Edge

Who Moved My Cheese?  Dr Spencer Johnson writes this parable in the similar format as his other best seller, The One Minute Manager.  Whilst I had been a little sceptical about buying this book – I did find it in Oxfam for £1.99 and now felt that it was worth the investment risk!  ;0) 

I have read some very interesting stuff on managing change but what I did like about this parable is that it is: – a parable.  Therefore it gives the inherent problems with change; denial, resistance, dissatisfaction and action; a whimsical language and point of reference for groups of people facing such a challenge. 

There are three parts to the book; a preamble where a school reunion takes place, the telling of the parable itself, then the evaluation of the same with each member applying the learning points to different scenarios.  Whilst it might be tempting to skip the last part – stay with it.  It is the most valuable – at least for pragmatists like me. 

There are four characters in the parable; Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw.  Each takes one of the combinations of being ready/not ready and willing/not willing.  Able doesn’t seem to come into it as those who are both ready and willing will overcome ability obstacles.

All four find themselves happily at Cheese Station 3, a prosperous location within a Maze with a seemingly endless Cheese ‘source’.  It is worth noting, here, that ‘Cheese’ is the collective given to all things that you want in (and out of) your life.   Alas the Cheese runs out at Cheese Station 3 and the story continues with the adventures of: 

Sniff (bold and adventurous ready to sniff out the next ‘Choice’ Cheese Station)

• Scurry (action orientated and results driven who follows Sniff’s lead)
• Hem (the critical thinker whose capacity for concern and control overrides his need for new Cheese)
• Haw (hesitant, yet realistic and sensible who heads out leaving a path for others to follow)

Key learning points:  Dissatisfaction: what do you need to let go of?  Vision: what do you need to move on to?  These are two of three items I think you need to consider when dealing with change; the third is to determine the first steps you need to take to move you towards your vision. 

Other key learning points that come up are: 

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?  Every Cheese has a shelf life!  You can move your own Cheese! Old Cheese could well be old behaviours rather than old situations. Get the right peer pressure prevalent then no one will want to look like Hem! 

And now a dilemma.  Do I send you off to a highly amusing skit by John Cheese (ops sorry Cleese) albeit very old, a bit too long, but still funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3c3qJIwMDc 

Or do I send you off to a really cheesy après Ski song - Say Cheese! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGtO6bAvfaY 

Tell you what?  You cheese! (Ops, sorry I mean choose!)

At the end of a rather wet and windy Weymouth bank holiday weekend, the sun has come out just in time to put fingers to keyboard to type set this week’s Blog. 

As usual, I got diverted when I started reading this newsletter article in World Wide Words, to which I subscribe:  http://www.worldwidewords.org/nl/kfty.htm#N5

The content in this article took me back to Lynne Trusses book that I had been reading over the last May bank holiday Eats, Shoots and Leaves.  She eloquently describes punctuation as being the art of separating the parts of written composition so that the meaning can be readily understood. 

The value of sharp punctuation, in sales copy, cannot be over estimated.  It does not necessarily have to follow the grammatical rules.  Indeed, in advertising copy, quite often the position or exclusion of punctuation accentuates wit.

“A woman, without her man, is nothing. 

A woman: without her, man is nothing.” 

Another of the quotes I love from Lynne Trusses book; “punctuation points up – rather in the manner of musical notation – such literary qualities as rhythm, direction, pitch, tone and flow.”   

If you want your copy to be read in the way that you wish, then you must punctuate accordingly to let your sentences contain a pleasant rhythm. 

This is superbly illustrated by Dean Martin and Victor Borge? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7L02tCNi0I Enjoy!

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According to Tori Amos; “You’ll never gain weight from a doughnut hole!  

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlycQ8N3lEE&mode=related&search= 

I think this is something that Charles Handy would not only smile at but probably concur. 

In his book, The Empty Raincoat (chapter 4 for those of you who don’t want to read the whole book) Handy suggests our lives can be likened to a doughnut.   

The circumference of your (ring) doughnut is only so big.  The more you stretch the doughnut hole with the duties you have (to be successful in business) the less doughnut there is left.  These may be self imposed duties or they maybe duties that have been mapped out for you by over zealous E-Myth http://www.e-myth.com/converts. 

Whichever the scenario the remaining outer rim of your doughnut is all the time you have for creativity in your business and other important but fun stuff in your life.   

This leads to a paradox and Handy is fond of those.  Your friends and family like you better when you are less successful; as you have more time to listen to them, appreciate them, and have fun with them.  The chances are that you, too, like your friends better, when they are not quite so successful, for the same reason. 

Interesting questions for the professional business start up.  What is success for you and does it impinge on your doughnut time or are you doing something you love so much that the your doughnut is just full of jam?

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Last year I read a rather battered version of John Gray’s “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”.

It landed in my lap at a time that couldn’t have been more significant. My husband and I had had a lengthy and somewhat heated argument over maps and the directions on how to get to the lovely Ligurian Coast in Italy, from Milan.   The actual argument lasted three days and the ongoing repercussions; three – six months, roughly!

The significant learning point is that we (men and women) do speak very different languages. What I say, and my husband hears, can be often miles apart. A bit like where we ended up and where we should have been!

On this occasion I thought I was asking him to stop and look at the map with me, to determine where we were, and to work out how to programme the Satellite Navigation System (the technophobe that I am).

What he heard was he had taken the wrong route and added an hour to our journey; that I didn’t trust him to take the right route later on. He heard that I was unhappy with him and therefore no longer loved him.

His subsequent response was that we were going in the right direction now and that there was no need to stop and check the map.  Of course what I heard was; what are you so upset for?  You are being irrational.   I know I am right and you are wrong so stop causing these arguments as I no longer love you.

I have, over the last six months, put some things that I learnt from this book into practice, with some reasonable results. However, there is no way I would ever be able to get my husband to read it, let alone adopt any of the communication tips that might motivate or encourage me, a woman.

Thankfully, it would appear that if only one person makes a change to the words that they use, there is still a knock on effect. If one person feels acknowledged and appreciated it makes them more likely to acknowledge and appreciate the other.

My questions for today are:

• Are there any men that have read this book? If you did; what positive (or negative) affirmations have you had?

• How many women have read this book without passing it on to their man, like me and if so why?

• How many of either sex can’t be bothered either way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueUOTImKp0k

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Published in 1990, this book is advertised as a completely different look on how to be successful.  Whilst Michael Beer’s The Joy of Winning is not exactly that different, he does write in English rather than American AND there are numerous references to, us, commoners.   

Anyone who started work in the 80s and basked in the ‘open wallet’ boom era will also recognise the subsequent bust era, within which this book was written.  There are some brilliant learning points and whilst others will, I am sure, get something else from it; these are my own. 

1. Know more about your business than most.  Then be unsatisfied (not dissatisfied) with that!
2. Do something with ideas that come to you or others.  Most will do nothing – what a waste of a good idea!
3. Expect to win and hate to lose; but recognise when you do lose; why that is and learn from it!
4. Know what your average is.  If you aim to beat the average you bring up your mean score!
5. You will do what you want to do; only when you want it badly enough.  Aim for that which you want badly!
6. Trust no one to help you when the chips are down, blame no one or no thing.  It is down to you to make things happen and you alone!
7. Walk tall always; and be recognised!
8. Agree with - don’t argue with others; you can’t win an argument! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS5TsJEbS7w  

Some of these points you may need to think about how they might work for you.  If you would like to explore or argue the points, please do.  I am happy to give you my personal take on them.

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I have loved other books by Nigel Risner, having found them having a completely innovative and unusual take on their subject matter.  The Impact Code however, was unlike any other of Risner’s books.

This one right from the start I thought mmm I’ve read this before.  That is not to say it was bad but not quite what I was expecting from Risner.  I loved his ‘It’s a Zoo Around Here’ and ‘ You had me at Hello’ you will hear more of them in a later Blog!  But this one well ….

The more I read into The Impact Code, the more I got into it.  Sure, I had read most of this stuff elsewhere but WHAT an encyclopedia of best practice it is.  And don’t we all need reminding what is important, and/or what we have learnt from time to time?  Here you have it all in one book!

Impact stands for:

In the Room – make the most of everything that is in front of you RIGHT now.           

Model from the Best – who do you admire and why; then copy it.  It is flattering.        

Passion and Purpose – be passionate and have purpose without either you’re heading for failure·         

Action – you will not move an inch forward with the greatest ideas only action will drive you onwards.

Comic relief – Don’t do it if it makes you miserable.  There is so much more to life.          

Trust – Stop being cynical instead learn to trust. 

Slight disappointment for me that there was no reference to the grandfather of all self help books, Dale Carnegie’s “How to win friends and influence people” but then it is referenced to in most of the books that Rinser has referred to.  (and I promise to Blog about that one too!)

 Anyone else read the Impact Code and if so your thoughts please?

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I was introduced to the concept of Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats about 15 years ago.  A training company had done a three day senior management course on Leadership and at the end gave us a yellow beret and a black beret.

The trainer asked each of us to put the yellow beret on and tell the group about one great thing we were going to do differently as a result of this training course.  The yellow hat denotes positive outcome thinking.  We were then asked to take off the yellow beret and replace with a black one.  The black denotes critical but NOT negative thinking.  This time we had to think about things that we hadn’t got out from the training that perhaps we had expected to.  This was our opportunity to feedback to the trainer.

So entranced was I by these props in helping us to communicate these specific thoughts I immediately purchased the book so I could find out the power in the other thinking hats.  I have been a fan of de Bono ever since. http://www.edwdebono.com/

What I like best about this model is that whilst other psychologists have identified that we have preferred ways of thinking and communicating, de Bono has created a way for us to easily tap into all of the thinking styles even if we have a preferred style.

He uses a White hat for general left brain thinking which focuses on systems and processes and a Blue hat for general right brain thinking which looks creatively at the whole picture.

Then there are four further thinking hats:

Yellow for positive outcome thinking.

Black for critical thinking.

Red for legitimately expressing ones feelings about something, whether this be a positive or negative feeling, an insight or a gut feeling.

Green for encouraging creative thought.

Ok so far so good!  My senior team at the time of this discovery had identified that they had a combined general trait to think with their red hats on.  So we agreed to use these props to help us to learn how to build a better business through better thinking.  Here are the steps we used to consider a new course of action.

1.   We would use a Blue hat to consider an overall aspect of direction in which we thought we ought to go in. 

2.   We would then put green hats on to consider all our options (brainstorming)

3.   Then we would put black hats on to critique the options generated.

4.   Having ruled out the nonsense routes, it was time for some yellow hat thinking to get some positive outcomes.

5.   The white hat then comes into play to identify the systems and processes which allow the outcomes and activities.

6.   And finally the red hat was used liberally throughout for team members to legitimately say how they felt about an aspect of the discussion.  However, positive or negative the feelings, they were legitimate and so considered throughout the thinking process.  If someone were to have a red hat on for too long however, they were asked to take it off?  That gave the thinking process time to work its way through to a positive conclusion.

Each thinking style has a significant and positive contribution to the thinking process. 

As a team we used this method for thinking through our problems with some significant successes.  Our results were (in all but one of the six key performance indicators) better than all other regions. 

I do have my own set of six berets now and whilst I did have an opportunity to share this learning when I was a trainer – it is now very rare that I have the opportunity to let people in on the creative brilliance of de Bono’s thinking process. 

If anyone has any other experiences that they would like to share please do so.  It would be great to hear about how you have used the thinking hats in other circumstances.  de Bono subsequently wrote a book on the six action shoes but that is a blog for another time!  

While you think about it check out this amusing video clip of “wherever I lay my hat” done with mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zpKrOxoqec  

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I am not entirely sure why I want write my first Blog about Neg Ferrets and Betty Backroom, suffice to say that the descriptions are from one of the most imaginative books about positive thinking and positive action I have ever read.  It is also a highly amusing read and short.

Adrian Webster’s Polar Bear Pirates and their quest to reach fat city is a dictionary of all the things and people you need to be aware and beware of, on the road to success.  I think my attraction to tap back into this book comes from a current need.  The incessant corporate changes at my place of work are exacerbating my own and workmate’s idiosyncrasies.

Suddenly I can spot the:

• Neg Ferrets griping in every corner – and ugh I feel the pull to have to do this!
• Bloaters boasting, who are also lazy, obnoxious and tediously egoistical reptilian saddos.  I can see that I been that person most recently too (lazy accepting).  I admit that I am guilty of …. “when I, this happened to me, when I was at your level, I put my success down to, what works for me it”, etc etc. 
• Molasses Man being taken in by the beliefs of others – well meaning of course but it’s a wonder that they don’t get dizzy with the nodding and shaking of their heads.  And have I done this?  Probably, under the pretext of sympathising with those who’s jobs are under threat.
• Head Treads who’s shallow and selfishness gets them up the success ladder through brown nosing and hold back others and keeping standards down.  I have had to dodge the knives from at least one Head Tread hiding behind senior suits.
• However on the plus side some of the Sinkers that have, consistently told me they can’t, shan’t or won’t are heading out the organisation.  I wish them luck and offer my thanks.

Finally, a true Betty Backroom has volunteered her services to help me out for the next few weeks.  I’ll try and earn her respect – she is a stalwart without doubt.  I think I’ll take her with a teaspoon of SMUGS.  These are small unseen goals that matter.  When we start to achieve them we can get a warm fuzzy feeling will keep us going throughout the next couple of months.

For more information about the Polar Bear Pirates, their comrades and foes check out Adrian Webster’s brilliant website www.polarbearpirates.com.  You can also enter the online self diagnosis questionnaire to see if you are a Polar Bear Pirate or not indeed.  If you are not, then there are plenty of tips in the book to work on that will help you convert!  Let me know how you get on?

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