Discover the 90/10 Principle.

 Today's Article comes from Steven Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 90/10 Principle will change your life (at least the way you react to situations).

What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react.

What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us.

We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic.

We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.

How? ………. By your reaction.

You cannot control a red light. but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.

Let's use an example.

You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened.

What happens next will be determined by how you react.

You curse.

You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus.
Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit.

After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse.

You look forward to coming home. When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.

Why? …. Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?

A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?

The answer is “D".

You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.

Here is what could have and should have happened.

Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.

Notice the difference?

Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.

Why?

Because of how you REACTED.

You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle. If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you!

React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them?

WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive?

Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.

You are told you lost your job.

Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.

The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take outpour frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on.

Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle.

The result?

Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle.

It CAN change your life!!!

Enjoy….

The Full Tea Cup



A university professor went to see a Zen master to question the nature of Zen and its profound wisdom.  When the professor arrived, the Zen master asked him if he would like a cup of tea. 

As the Zen master began pouring tea, the professor started asking a number of questions about the value and meaning of Zen. The Zen master kept pouring the tea without answering the questions.  

The professor impatiently restated his questions and asked for an answer. The Zen master kept pouring the tea without saying anything. The professor began to get annoyed and demanded that the Zen master answer his questions.

By now the hot tea was running over the cup and onto the professor’s hand. “What are you doing? You fool! How can you tell me about Zen philosophy when you can’t even pour tea!” exclaimed the professor.

That cup is just like your mind, Sir.  I cannot tell you about the nature of Zen when your mind, like that cup, is so full!” said the Zen master.


This story reminds us to be mindful of the judgements, ideas and opinions that we have in our mind when listening to another person. If we truly want to hear what is being said, we must first “empty our teacup” of such judgements, ideas and opinions – only then can we truly hear what is being said.

What is your mind full of?  

Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning



Book Review By Ron Cacioppe
Managing Director, Integral Development

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning" is a remarkable book, The author, who introduced the concept of flow in 1975 has extended the application of flow to the role of business in society.

He describes the new work as “a guidebook for a way of conducting business that is both successful and humane,” focusing on “how leaders and managers and…employees…can learn to contribute to the sum of human happiness, to the development of an enjoyable life that provides meaning, and to a society that is just and evolving.”

FLOW APPLIED TO BUSINESS

The experience of Flow is familiar to anyone who is passionate about what they do. It refers to that almost transcendental state we dive into when the world around us disappears and we are fully involved and focused in the moment. Recent research suggests that the flow experience is what human beings seek at a deep level, and that providing this experience is a major pillar of “good business”.

Flow is a special kind of enjoyment and is a common experience experienced by a wide range of people— creative artists, mountain climbers, stay-at-home mothers, workers in all types of jobs, and visionary leaders. A flow activity is intrinsically rewarding worth doing for its own sake, even if it involves monetary or other rewards. Experiencing flow contributes to our happiness and improves the quality of the work we do.

Csikszentmihalyi’s research has shown that there are many common elements:

  1. Deep, focused attention, sometimes to the point of joy
  2. Being fully in the present moment
  3. Very clear goals; you know what has to be done
  4. Immediate ‘on-line’, real time feedback; you know what you are doing is right
  5. A fascinating challenge and you have the skills to respond to it.
  6. Harmony with the situation; you are not in circumstances beyond your control.
  7. An altered sense of time; time usually stands still or passes slowly.
  8. The loss of ego; you immerse yourself in the moment and the activity.

A flow activity is intrinsically rewarding—it is worth doing for its own sake, even if it involves monetary or other reward as well. Experiencing flow, says Csikszentmihalyi, contributes to our happiness and improves the quality of our existence.

Flow experiences, with their balance of challenges and skills, lead to ever more refined skills and/or a fuller understanding of the subject at hand. If leaders and managers can design jobs to make workplaces more amenable to flow, there will be benefits for the organization and for employees. The best way to manage people is to create an environment where employees enjoy their work and grow while doing it.

It is the central concept of Good Business that flow experiences are not merely coincidences; that the experience of flow in the business environment, can be designed to occur much more frequently. Surveys in the United States and elsewhere show that more than 80 percent of adults do not experience flow on a regular basis. The potential for increasing flow and enjoyment in the working population is immense.

Because business is so central in today’s world—it controls the flows of vast resources and has a significant say in the direction of nations—bringing flow to work at an individual level is, therefore, essential. Strains that have appeared in the free market businesses such as the financial crisis, excessive greed, unethical practices and exploiting workers—are becoming increasingly frustrating and people are looking for a new approach in which short-term financial achievement is not the only indicator of success.

Good Business  was based on an extensive tri-university research project that utilized interviews with 39 “visionary business leaders” who modelled the desired behaviors. They ranged from Sir John Templeton to Anita Roddick of The Body Shop to Leon Gorman, Chairman of L.L.Bean, and are quoted extensively throughout the book.

The visionary business leaders broadly agree on this simple proposition:

“To be successful you have to enjoy doing your best while at the same time contributing to something beyond yourself.”  

Breaking this statement into its parts, we are all unique, but integrated. However, as we are connected irretrievably with other people and entities, we must live our lives in harmony with that reality as well.

Flow opportunities have diminished in today’s workplace because purpose or goals can be ill-defined, feedback may be inadequate, skills are not often well-matched to opportunities for action and many workers are not in control of the final result.

“The ideal organization,” says Csikszentmihalyi,” is one in which each worker’s potentialities find room for expression.” 

The leader becomes an enabler, rather than a doer, in this environment.

BEYOND MISSION AND VISION

Anyone who has been involved in strategic planning is aware that the highest level of a plan is its vision statement, in which the organization defines the future state it wishes to work toward.

Csikszentmihalyi goes one step further and calls the vision’s “vital essence,”  the soul of the organization. Two examples of organizational soul are attempting to achieve excellence and doing something of benefit to others.

Properly conceived and applied, these kinds of overarching goals can galvanize a company’s workers in a way that the financial bottom line cannot.

In Csikszentmihalyi’s words:

“The search for a life that has “relevance or meaning”…is the primary concern of soul. This is…the need that motivates us to become part of something greater or more permanent. If a leader can make a convincing case that working for the organization will provide relevance…then his vision will generate power…
If…a vision is genuine and is carried into action, it becomes a powerful attractor for members of the organization. It provides a goal that is worth pursuing over and above the extrinsic rewards that can be provided by the job.”

Limitations of This Book


Csikszentmihalyi's chose to interview only CEOs as the voice of good business.  Though these CEOs might be highly respected in the business world to call them "visionary leaders" would require a more thorough evaluation of their lives. 

What do their spouses think of them?  
What do their children think of them?  
What do their fellow employees really think of them? 
What are the working conditions for the lowest level of workers in their companies?

There is an assumption that those at the top know best about what makes a good business.  One could argue that those at the bottom have a much clearer picture of what makes business good because they so often suffer the consequences of bad business. It would have been useful for the book to include interviews of people at lower levels to see if they believed the views of the CEOs and if they believed the purpose of their work is to experience flow.

Yvon Chouinard is the founder of Patagonia, a company that makes outdoor gear is a great example in the book.  He approaches his business as if it is going to be here for one hundred years.  That attitude alone would change the nature of much of the corporate world.  In his corporate offices they have a policy called, "Let My People Go Surfing."  When the surf is up anyone can grab their surfboard from the entrance hallway and hit the beach.

This is great, but it is at the management level and do the people who are making his clothing get the same luxury? Some people have worked in a company for 20 years and have yet to be invited to any "retreats" though upper management always is.

Csikszentmihalyi spends time explaining that being a CEO of a tobacco company is wrong because we now know how bad smoking is for our health.  Yet, he quotes Jack Greenberg, the CEO of McDonalds a place that isn’t known for healthy food.  He also chose the CEO of Amway which a lot of people associate with pyramid selling and a sales process that is irritating and manipulative.  Can you be a "visionary leader" and head a company that turns friends or acquaintances into irritating salespeople?

While Good Business suggests it is possible for everyone to achieve flow at work, workers at lower level boring jobs are burdened with too little pay and too many hours.  What can make these jobs more tolerable is more money, longer vacations, good benefits, shorter hours and genuine respect from managers and bosses. 

As happened to many good management ideas in the past, if managers try to use the idea flow, mindfulness and being the present as an alternative or excuse not to provide good work conditions or leadership, then we have missed the point.

Some people have criticised this book as simply a marketing ploy by the publisher to repackage Flow and Good Business into a successful book for a new audience.  While I can see how they might see this, I feel that Good Business goes much further than Flow and is a much better book since it takes Flow on to a larger social and organisational scale.

Csikszentmihalyi writes of the "unglamorous tasks" that we must all perform "like mopping the floor or taking showers."  Though he admits that we cannot be in flow all the time the goal appears to be to access it as much as possible. 

While he seems to be aware of Zen and other spiritual practices where a person does mundane tasks as a spiritual practice to drop the ego and experience the unbounded moment or flow, he does not discuss this possibility in business – to use repetitive work as an opportunity for spiritual development and flow. 

Tich Nat Han, a Zen monk, says that if a person cannot learn to be fully in the present washing dishes then s/he cannot truly live one minute of life. Teaching workers that is a radical shift in perspective.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS


Leaders can design jobs to make workplaces more conducive to flow, by creating an environment where employees enjoy their work, gain skills and are given challenges to help them grow. There are a number of things that can be done to increase the experience of flow;

By the organisation

  • Top management commit to building a workplace that fosters flow.
  • The organisation has an overriding worthwhile purpose and vision
  • Continuous communication of the purpose, vision and values to everyone.
  • Clear performance goals at the individual, team, and organisational level.
  • Good feedback mechanisms.
  • Match the challenges given to people to the skills they have.

By the individual

  • Think about the occasions when you have experienced flow and what you were doing, and use them as a springboard for increasing future flow at work.
  • Consider how you can contribute to the prosperity of your organization, beyond the financial bottom line, and act on your ideas. .
  • Hire a business coach who can help you experience flow, mindfulness and greater happiness.
  • Ask for clarification of your goals and for more feedback.
  • Find work challenges you but matches your skills.
  • Have your managers and employees read Good Business.  It could be good for your business.

In effect, bringing flow into work suggests that the purpose of work is not just to make profit or to grow a sustainable business but to experience flow, since that is what leads to true well-being and success for employees, managers and organisations.

Essentially, Csikszentmihalyi has given a modern name to aspects of spiritual and mystical experience that have been around for thousands of years.  Good Business  could be especially useful for anyone interested in practical philosophy and bringing mindfulness and spirituality into the workplace. 

At the end of the day Good Business is a study of consciousness, what makes us happy, what makes us do good creative work, and what makes humans want to really contribute to society and the world.