We are our own worst enemies when it comes to handling irresistible forces. This articles describes how to identify some of your bad thinking habits as a prelude to replacing those habits with better ways of operating.
Because we are only human, stalls (bad thinking habits) exist in both your personal life and your organization. If you become aware of and can recognize these habits, then you can begin to consciously challenge them to change them into habits better suited for the irresistible growth enterprise.
What Are Your Bad Habits When You Confront Irresistible Forces?
You need to be aware of your personal habits before you can fully comprehend the habits that your organization has. An organization has more bad habits than any person in it because the bad habits of each person are increased by the combined effect of the other bad habits of other people.
For example, in the early days of Dell Computer, Michael Dell had not yet recruited strong, experienced executives who had dealt with large, irresistible forces in fast-growth situations. Many important issues about irresistible forces were not addressed until they became painfully large, as occurred when Dell first developed an unsuccessful line of portable computers in 1993. The bad habit was that Dell Computer was relying too much on Michael Dell at that point.
Now try some self-examination. Ask yourself the following questions:
How do react to difficult travel delays?
Begin by listing all the emotions that you felt strongly at one point or another in the worst delayed trip that you have ever experienced. Then, consider how those emotions might have affected your behavior.
For example, think about these reactions in terms of what would have happened at your negative emotional peak. At what point did you become irritable? At what point (if any) did you become angry? At what point (if any) did you become frustrated? At what point (if any) did you give up on trying to make things better? At what point (if any) did you become stubbornly determined with no thought of quitting?
What irresistible forces have you encountered while working in your enterprise? If you are having trouble finding any, here are some questions that can provide clues:
(a) What is working much better than you expected? Why did that occur?
(b) What is working very much worse than you expected? Why?
(c) Where is demand or prices for your products or services suddenly speeding up or slowing down?
(d) When can you expect demand or prices to be more elastic or inelastic? What causes that?
(e) How have you personally reacted to irresistible forces that affected your organization in the past?
With regard to this question, you'll learn the most if you pick the most painful and difficult experiences you have had, especially the ones that you would like to forget about. A real lesson for you will be to locate the circumstances under which you have made the worst errors, driven by negative or positive emotions. Be sure also to give yourself credit for what you did well. You can build on that success in the future.
How could you improve your ability to stay calm, to have an open mind, and be effective in similar circumstances in the future? One answer to this question is to give yourself some emotional space when a situation first arises.
Then while you are suspending judgment about how you choose to react, you can try to step outside yourself and examine your situation as a third person would. That perspective should help you become more objective about your situation. You may find it helpful to imagine different types of people in that third-person role, such as an entrepreneur in a start-up, an executive you admire, a parent or other person you respect, or even your best friend.
Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
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