Insights: A system cannot understand itself without help from outside

Do you have a grandstand view?

A system cannot understand itself without help from outside.

A profound truth that won Kurt Godel a Nobel Prize in Mathematics for proving it about a century ago. And popularised by one of the great organisational thinkers of the twentieth century, William Deming. The pioneer of the Total Quality Management process that drove Toyota’s success.

It’s why the most successful senior business people seek an external perspective.

They recognise that the brain you have delivers all your experiences of the world and the decisions you make - your wins, frustrations, repeated mistakes, and your strategies for improvement. Your experience of life and your options to improve that experience all arise from within.

There is a perspective of your world that can only be seen from the outside, from someone sitting in the grandstand.

Looking with fresh perspectives and different knowledge of the world and how to step forward.

Getting a different perspective from even just one person ‘outside of your own head’ is an extremely valuable habit.??

So “Stop, collaborate and listen!” [bonus points for recognising the great philosophical source of this quote ??].

Executive Briefing: Integrated Leaders Power-Up (Live)

Are your leaders frayed, verging on burn-out after a sustained period of large growth or change?

I’m running a how-to workshop for senior executives, business owners and HR leaders?to?support a new normal for their leadership team.

To take them from isolated and stressed to calm, in control and dynamic, working well together.?

This will take place next?Wednesday 28 June at 9am. You can learn more and sign up here >>.

Getting good at the wrong things

Your brain’s primary function is to keep you safe, and it wants to do that as easily and as efficiently as possible.

Habits are the automated behaviour patterns you have learned to help you navigate a potentially dangerous world.

We are all building and reinforcing habits all the time.

So, actions we take ‘in the moment’ require relatively few repeats, with or without our noticing, to become habits that bind us. Like threads that aggregate into a thick rope.

We all get good at what we do every day.

Is your every day making you weaker, or stronger?

What habits do you need to shift?

Cheers,

Nigel

www.nigeldonovan.com