doug smith training

  Are you easily distracted? I've noticed that some of my more persistent distractions stop feeling like distractions when I do them too much. What becomes a habit is all too easily accepted.  And not all distractions are bad. Some powerfully creative ideas came from unexpected distractions -- drifts of thinking leading to novel approaches that worked. But living in distraction is dangerous.  Every distraction pulls us away from a noble goal.  When I feel that pull, I try to re-center myself and get back to the goal (or at least a goal.) The goal is where the gold is. -- doug smith

  Those things that bother you the most? Process problems. Those things that are most fixable? Process problems. Every single process can be improved. What are you waiting for? Get started. -- doug smith

  What if your goals are only as good as your character? When you set positive goals with the intention of doing good, with no harm to anyone, that's a reflection of your character. If you set goals with no thought of how they might affect other people, that is also a reflection of your character. Working on your goals starts with determining your character. When your values matter, so do you. -- doug smith

  When you have a choice, how do you decide? Do you consider the long-term impact? Do you think about the affect on other people?  Sometimes the significance of a choice emerges long after the choice is available. We learn later how important the choice was. What if we could figure that out before it was too late? -- doug smith

  What do change and negotiation have in common? They are both: Asking people to change Easier planned than executed Subject to opposition  In today's edition of the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation Sunday Minute , James Sebenius provides seven tips on how to handle a big negotiated deal that is falling apart or facing opposition. He states the Amazon decision to back out of an agreement to build a major business center in New York as an example. It seemed like a done-deal, (a meaningful change) and then it fell apart.  Change management efforts also frequently fall apart. That's frustrating and career-impacting for anyone involved in the change. Like a deal gone sour, a failed change project is agonizing. Here are seven tips from the article. I think that they are excellence advice for managing a major negation AND managing a change project: Never take success for granted in a complex, multiparty setting. Stay informed about local opinions regarding the issues invol

Twitter can be fun sometimes because you can follow famous people and even respond to their musings. Sometimes, they might even respond to your response, somehow validating an otherwise humble existence. In teaching for decades I've often asked as a warm-up question "what famous person have you met?" and I was initially surprised at how many people have actually met a famous person. Nearly everyone in nearly every room has met or encountered at least one famous person. We're all so close to connection that it's wonderful. One of the famous people I've met (who no doubt will not remember me) is the writer and producer Gennifer Hutchison. We met at a wedding in California. She's closely associated with the TV show "Breaking Bad" which I loved so it was a thrill to meet her.  That's all just me bragging and pretending that it's establishing context for this tweet that I'd like to respond to: What's the tree you climbed as a child

  The most important thing about a problem is what strengths we use to solve it.  Problems always build strengths -- either yours, or the problem's. You decide. Maybe it's an old strength that you can rely on. Maybe it's a muscle you know how to flex. Or, just maybe it's a new strength that you are developing. Keep flexing. -- doug smith

There will be plenty of obstacles between you and your goal -- no need to add doubt to the list. Never doubt, work it out. -- doug smith  

  How do you feel when you solve a problem, but you haven't really solved the problem? Some problems can confound us with their resilience, and some problems simply defy a fix. We could blame the problem, but what if it isn't the problem's fault? Be careful about solving a problem until you know what you really want. Start with your goal. -- doug smith

Don't you just love it when someone is genuinely helpful? Those rare times when you can tell that they don't have a secondary motive, that they are just being helpful? Great leaders do that a lot. You can see it in their actions, and you can hear it in their talk. What if everything you communicated was meant to be helpful? Wouldn't more people listen? -- doug smith

You don't need a perfect plan to achieve your goals, but you do need a plan. You'll probably change it. You may miss a few steps. But where are you without a plan? Dancing in the dark without a flashlight, that's probably where you are. Set great goals, design creative goals, and get busy. -- doug smith