Scared Anyone Today?

In the middle of this busy time of year - with days when it's tough just to keep your head above water - I've been thinking about what it takes to get better at the work we do, beyond the simple act of just continuing to crank it out.

In the aftermath of my webinar on the topic last week, I've been wondering how we can do a better job of helping incentives rise above their tarnished reputation and take their rightful - but rightfully limited - place in broader efforts to improve performance.  I've been reflecting on how to be a better and more trusted advisor to the clients I have the opportunity to serve.

And then I ran into Seth Godin's recent post on creating competitive advantage, in which he chides us for thinking we create advantage simply by staying at work longer or returning emails faster than our cohorts.  Instead, he claims, we succeed because (and only because)...

... you confronted and overcame anxiety and the lizard brain better than anyone else. Perhaps because you overcame inertia and actually got significantly better at your craft, even when it was uncomfortable because you were risking failure. When you increase your discernment, maximize your awareness of the available options and then go ahead and ship work that scares others... that's when you succeed.

More time on the problem isn't the way. More guts is. When you expose yourself to the opportunities that scare you, you create something scarce, something others won't do.

So, fellow strivers-for-success:  Scared anyone today?

There's still time...

Image courtesy of sodahead.com

Comments

[Blair Johanson]

Thank you for reminding us to be forward thinking for our clients. Please go to the link below for a scattergraph image that should scare this sample organization's management team. The color coded dots by gender and the pay points in relationship to pay policy lines raises concerns about pay equity and glass ceiling issues that are present with this organization. We have automated our compensation management consulting process so compensation and HR professionals can be more effective with identifying and addressing pay equity and systemic pay practices for their organizations. Have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday with your family. http://www.dbsquared.com/whitepapers/blair_compensation_blog.jpg

[Ann Bares]

Blair:

Your image reinforces how a picture can be worth a thousand words - particularly when it comes to summing up an alarming pay situation.

Thanks for sharing here - and hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgivine too!

[RUTLEDGELea]

According to my own exploration, millions of people all over the world receive the loans from different creditors. Therefore, there is good chances to get a short term loan in all countries.

[E James (Jim) Brennan]

You realize, of course, that one of the better-known online pay services that built its database from anonymous employee input turns around, analyzes, reformats and sells such data to competing firms. The average employee who shares confidential info about their billing rate or commission scheme in exchange for a free report they can use to blackmail the boss for a raise doesn't even consider the possibility that their input is grist for a re-sale product to an outfit trying to put them out of business. Granted, individuals tend to give inflated or flatly false answers to online questionnaires, and there is no way to verify anonymous input, but collect enough "opinions" and you will eventually get a statistical consensus. Rival enterprises will pay for inside info about policy/practice details and specific amounts paid at specific competing firms. Employment agencies also find the data very profitable for "flipping".

I have seen similar publicly available online charts "proving" gender and age discrimination at identifiable firms that were wholly unaware they were being "outed" and set up. The litigation bar loves such websites, since they give them leads about which employers to attack with class action suits, usually promptly settled out of court. I'm really reluctant to say much about the perpetrators of these "industrial espionage" activities, because it helps them. Publicity unfortunately enriches them due to the willing eagerness of narrow-margin companies to purchase such info to gain an advantage over their rivals. Even if the data has doubtful accuracy and comes from unethical means, some employers still buy it to seek a way to undercut their "enemy" or to raid their talent.