Category Archives: Life

Gresham’s Law

Gresham’s Law: The Bad Drives Out the Good As Time Passes

Gresham’s Law was first applied to economics. In ecomomics, Gresham’s law is a monetary principle stating that “bad money drives out good”. For example, if there are two forms of commodity money in circulation, which are accepted by law as having similar face value, the more valuable commodity will gradually disappear from circulation.

Whenever coins containing precious metals have been used along with base metal coins of the same denomination, both legally accepted as tender, the bad coins have driven the good coins out of circulation. Gresham’s Law is named after Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579), an English financier in the time of the Tudors.

One practical application of Gresham’s Law and perhaps the most important is to avoid becoming part of systems where good behavior cannot win due to the nature of the law. There are certain companies and organizations that lack the “policing” necessary to keep systems of behavior on the straight and narrow, and thus bad behavior gains a hard-to-replace foothold. While it’s admirable to be the “cleanest shirt” in a pile of dirty laundry, certain areas of human life do not allow the clean shirts to win. As a leader, when you do observe behavior that is not acceptable, it is your duty to deal with it and not reward it. If you do, over time bad behavior will drive out good beahvior.

People and Characters – Good Versus Bad | Straight Talk

Risk Management

In the excitement of a looming opportunity, decision makers are infamous for concentrating on what a strategy could do for them if it succeeded and not enough, or at all, on what it could do to them if it failed. “What future events could make this plan go wrong?” and “What would happen to us if it did go wrong?”

Complacency

Complacency – Unconcerned by things that should concern them, and they may neglect their duties. Satisfied with the current situation and unconcerned with changing it, often to the point of smugness.

It is so easy to get relaxed and into the groove of doing the same thing every day and expecting improvement.

When was the last time you were complacent about wearing seatbelts? When did you just stop paying attention to them because they didn’t seem that important or you were distracted by other things? The answer is probably never. You either have formed the habit of using seatbelts or you have not. If you have formed the habit, you automatically buckle the belt, regardless of your complacency, sense of vulnerability or other distractions or priorities. If you have not formed the habit, you may buckle up only when you are concentrating on the need for such precautions (or not at all).

Windshield or Rear View Mirror

When you are setting out for a drive, how often do you only look at the rear view mirror to get to your destination? Not too often I am guessing. The results may not be favourable. So why do we look backward at events in our life, yes it is good to learn and adapt but let’s look forward.

30k+ Rear View Mirror Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell

The Upward Spiral

There has been quite a bit of negative news recently that has contributed to a downward spiral of negativity. A downward spiral occurs when we choose to pile negative news upon negative news. I prefer the upward spiral and placing positive news upon positive news and there is plenty of positive news to share. Be thankful for the small things in life. It comes to the “Power Of One” – each and every one of us has the ability to contribute positively vs negatively.

Life Is A Journey (So Treat It Like One)

A number of years ago our family went on a hike, 100 miles through the Highlands of Scotland. Being a trail hike (on a trail that we hoped was well marked), we had some planning to do. The five rules we set out for ourself were:
#1 – Pick a destination and have a direction.
#2 – Learn the terrain and prepare for the weather.
#3 – Find some good travelling companions.
#4 – Be ready to course correct and innovate along the way
#5 – Pause along the way because there may be nothing at the end of the road.

#1) Pick a destination and have a direction – it is very easy to get lost on the journey. Take some time to map out your path and have a goal in mind. We all have different goals in life – some personal, some professional but what do you want to accomplish? Draw a map if you need to, identifying stops along the way.

The Journey – A Start and an Ending

#2) Learn the terrain and prepare for the weather – sure, Scotland is known for it’s challenging climate but not every day is like that. And just like life, there will be ups and downs – be prepared for it all. All storms will pass.

Good Days and Bad Days

#3) Find some good travelling companions – Make sure you are surrounded by people that will lift you up instead of tear you down. Did you know that your values and ability to enjoy life are most affected by the five closest people around you?

Travelling Companions

#4) Be ready to course correct and innovate along the way – you never know what challenges will come your way. It may be something simple like blisters, but if you don’t take care of them and prepare, your journey will be ruined.

Be Prepared to Adapt

#5 – Pause along the way because there may be nothing at the end of the road. Too often we set our goal and race to the finish, missing all the sites along the way. Take some time to pause and enjoy the stops along the way.

Along the West Highland Way
The End

Knowledge vs Wisdom

Many people believe, that in order to be successful in a leadership position, you must be the smartest person in the room and have all the answers or else you will appear to be weak. They tend to think a leader should have a complete set of skills, characteristics, and abilities to handle any problem, challenge, or opportunity that comes along. No one is an expert in everything and the strongest businesses are built on the contributions of the entire team – not on one person. Leaders do not have to be the smartest person in the room, rather they create an environment where the best ideas can come from anywhere and possess the wisdom and confidence to choose the best action from many to guarantee results. Knowledge can be thought of as possessing information, while wisdom can be thought of possessing experience.  Knowledge can exist without wisdom, but not the other way around. One can be knowledgeable without being wise. Strong leaders listen to their teams, ask the right questions, and give everyone the chance to contribute. With the right people in place, you can take a step back to focus on your strengths – like leading your team and planning your company’s future. Know how to take the collective knowledge of the organization, and apply the right amount of wisdom to put it to good use.

Visionary Leadership – Innovation and Accountability

Visionary leaders are masters of change. They have the ability to visualize what can be achieved, can communicate the benefits of change along with the ability to lead others.

As a visionary leader your focus needs to be on both Accountability and Innovation. These are two words that don’t always seem to go together. Accountability, on one hand, conjures up thoughts of responsibility, deadlines and the pressure to succeed. Innovation, on the other hand, brings thoughts of experimentation, challenging the status quo, excitement and lack of boundaries. The power is when you combine Accountability and Innovation to achieve even greater results.

Accountability is about keeping promises, overall focus on important business challenges and being held responsible for the results. Innovation involves giving talented people the necessary training, tools and culture required to challenge the status quo. A culture that fosters innovation and embraces accountability provides the foundation for an organization that will survive generations. The challenge is how to combine the best of accountability with the best of innovation to create new systems and processes that will result in even greater achievements. Communicate a clear vision of success, define multiple measures for accountability including the entire team, and develop a data dashboard to drive improvement. What happens if you don’t have innovation in an organization and everyone gets used to the status quo – read about the Five Monkeys experiment below.

Five Monkeys Experiment

Researchers placed five monkeys in a room with a ladder and some bananas at the top of it. It didn’t take long before one of the monkeys saw the bananas and decided to climb the ladder.
As soon as the monkey reached the banana, all five monkeys were showered with cold water.
This frustrated the monkeys, but shortly after the showering ended a second monkey braved climbing the ladder once again.
Again, all five monkeys were showered with cold water. The monkeys were starting to see a pattern. So, the researchers decided to change the scenario. This time they would take out the water and replace one of the monkeys with a new one.
The new monkey comes into the room and notices the banana sitting safely on the ladder. He sees an easy snack and approaches the ladder.
As soon as he starts to climb the other four monkeys attack him. The new monkey doesn’t understand what he did wrong but no longer approaches the ladder.
The researchers continue the new pattern by replacing another monkey. This new monkey sees the banana and does the same thing as the last monkey to enter the room. Upon climbing the ladder, the original three monkeys attack once again, as well as the first new monkey.
A third, fourth, and eventually fifth monkey is replaced. By now all the new monkeys are attacking each new monkey that tries to get the banana. They’ve never been sprayed for attempting to get the banana but choose to attack each monkey that tries anyways.
Still, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs, but no one really knows why. All the original monkeys who experienced being sprayed with water have been replaced. What is left is five monkeys who know that they can’t touch the banana but don’t really know why… because that’s the way it’s been done around here.

Never Waste a Good Crisis

Talking with a friend yesterday and we were discussing the recent pandemic and the lessons we had learned from a business perspective. Too often as leaders we get used to status quo and using past results to drive our strategies. I quite often ask people – Did you drive to work today looking only into the rear view mirror? Wouldn’t be the safest approach and the likelihood of getting into an accident is quite high. On the contrary, not only do we look out the front window, side mirrors and now utilize other technology such as GPS and dynamic maps. My friend told me that he has been telling his team, “Never waste a good crisis”.

When faced with a crisis situation I quite often reflect on The Stockdale Paradox. The Stockdale Paradox was introduced by Jim Collins in his book – Good to Great. For a full explanation refer to Jim Collins’ website (www.jimcollins.com/concepts/Stockdale-Concept.html).

The lesson from the Stockdale Paradox is that when faced with a crisis situation have faith that you will overcome in the end and be brave enough to face the brutal facts.

During the Vietnam War, James Stockdale was the highest ranked prisoner of war. Admiral Stockdale was held captive for over seven years. Over the seven years, Admiral Stockdale was repeatedly tortured and was given no reason to believe he would make it out of captivity alive. When asked why some prisoners survived and others didn’t, Admiral Stockdale explained it was the ability to embrace the brutal facts of the situation balanced with the faith and optimism that he would overcome. The simple advice – prepare for the worst and maintain your optimism for the future.

When to Provide Feedback

We all struggle when providing feedback. When is the right time and should I say something that may upset the person? While giving kudos for a great effort is easy and we all feel good when delivering the message, offering constructive criticism is the challenge. As a leader, there comes a time when you observe a specific behaviour or action that requires feedback.

1) When the feedback has a high chance of improving someone’s skills and the person will have the opportunity to use those skills again.

2) When the person knows that you are aware of a certain action or behaviour and is expecting feedback.

3) When an action or behaviour can not be ignored due to the detrimental effect on another team member or the organization.

Providing feedback can also have a negative effect in certain situations.

1) When the person does not have the knowledge or skills to improve.

2) When you have not taken time to think through possible solutions.

3) When you do not have all the information and make assumptions.

4) When the person to whom you are providing feedback is in an emotional state where the message will not be received or retained.

5) When you are not in the proper emotional state to provide the feedback calmly.

When you are ready, there are three questions I suggest you ask yourself before delivering the message. If you can answer yes to the following three questions and have considered the above, provide the feedback and help someone to improve.