doug smith training

  Everything is open to interpretation. To dispute this is an interpretation. It is, therefore, indisputable. Or is it? Stay curious. Let's see what happens. -- doug smith

  When is a good time to judge? More often than not, NOW is NOT the time to judge. People do not crave or request judgment. They can benefit from feedback, but judgment leaves most people cold. Every judgment is a brick in a wall that has no foundation. It separates. It falls. It builds more walls. Judgment seems firm and strong, but more often than not it is fragile. Stay curious instead. -- doug smith

  Whenever I feel myself getting defensive, and whenever I catch myself defending a point I haven't even completely thought thru yet, I realize that what I need is to stay curious. Quiet. Open minded. In discovery mode, not defending mode. There's plenty of time to defend later. The impulse to argue is your signal to stay curious. Mine, too. -- doug smith

What's your best offer today? Has an opportunity come your way? Are you ready for something new? I have a natural tendency to defau lt to defensive posters when an offer comes my way. I'm too busy. I'm not interested. I 'm concer ned. Sometimes, a great offer gets lost in the attempt to avoid disaster. I'm practicing, though, a way thru that. I'm practicing the pause. During the pause, before I say know, I spark the inner curious mind to consider. What if this is great? What if this is fun? What if this makes at least two people happy? Before I say no, I think about my yes. What do you think? -- doug smith

Creativity gives you a lot and needs a little from you in return. It's not completely free. It needs creative people to stay positive, curious, and pro-active. See the possibilities. Wonder what would happen if...or when...or how...and then experiment. Play! Take action. Move things. Mix things up. Staying positive helps you to deal with the inevitable challenges you will face to your own creativity. Staying curious helps you to look for the nugget of gold in a sea of sand; to seek the fascinating detail in a swarm of noise and to act on that curiosity while being pro-active and innovating -- to put your hands to work at creating. Creativity is worth the effort. What will you be positive, curious, and pro-active about today? -- doug smith

photo of Rusty by Judi Madigan How curious are you? In my workshops on communication and achieving your goals I point out how important it is to listen with curiosity. We are most attentive when we are most curious. Instead of jumping to conclusions or judging before it's necessary, high performance leaders center their listening around staying curious. How do you do that? One way is by asking relevant questions. One of my mentors, Lester T. Shapiro (who wrote the book The Training Effectiveness Handbook ) once said that the primary role of leaders is to ask relevant questions. Here are some questions that I've found extremely relevant and that help me to remain curious: What is your case? We are always building a case and not always aware of the case that we're building or why. It might not even serve our best interests, and yet we can talk ourselves into anything. Stay curious about what you really want, what you think you want and (most importantly) is w...

What's your reaction when you find yourself in conflict and yet you are absolutely sure that you're right? Do you dig in on your position? Do you redouble your efforts to convince everyone of your position? Or do you stay curious? Do you stay open to learning? The more certain I am that I'm right the greater the opportunity there is to learn. The next time you are absolutely sure that you're right try asking yourself -- what can I still learn here? It could change everything. -- Douglas Brent Smith

What is your best point of view? Given the choice of selecting the way you look at things, how should you look at things? Your optimal point of view is informed, curious, positive and productive. Your optimal point of view may have other characteristics as well. What would YOU consider to be your best way of looking at things? How can you best express that positively? Start by writing about it. Invite someone into a deeper conversation to explore it more. Listen to their reactions with curiosity, And, take it from there. Your optimal point of view is ready to be formed. That's when the powerful communication begins. -- Doug Smith