Books and workplace squeeze

My bookshelves are squeezed tight with all sorts of books. Of the non-fiction variety, apart from text books, the majority relate to personal and organisational improvement. Books bristling with brilliant ideas, sometimes opposed to one another. For example one advocates extensive to-do lists another says forget them. The trick is to try out the ideas for oneself and apply them to one's current situation.

I love books that make me think; for me the best "improvement" books are those which stimulate that thinking and leave me to get on with it.

Mark Twain once observed that the person who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the person who cannot read them. I know people have preferred ways of taking in information but it often surprises me that for many people their experience of the Classics is based on film or television.

In the world of effectiveness literature, a variation on Twain's point might be that the person who doesn't apply the learning from books has no advantage over the person who simply reads them.

I heard an "expert" in a radio interview decrying the self-help genre. He argued that all the guidance anyone would ever need was contained in the world's great literature. Of course, he didn't suggest where to start.....but there might be a self-help book for that!

He did have a point. Our busy, squeezed workplaces can sometimes leave us drained and a great way to recharge emotional and physical batteries is to make time and space for books. All types. Fiction introduces us to characters and situations removed from our workaday lives but with whom we can connect aspects of our own experience. Personal effectiveness literature, thoughtfully engaged with, can help us shape up to workplace squeeze.

Bookshelves: they speak volumes.

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Like - Comment - Share

A recent report into managing teams made a case for using social networking to keep in touch. That got me thinking. Who would engage with whom? How naturally would people behave? Would workplace colleagues really see themselves as friends?

Let's give this some thought.

Bring to mind someone in your organisation or office with whom you have a good working relationship..Got someone in mind? Think of the last time you were with that person. Recall any exchanges you had. Stop reading and take a minute or two away from this to think about that. I'll be here when you get back.

Hold that thought.

You may have heard of the presupposition that states the belief that we are never not communicating. It holds that even if we don't verbalise what's going on in our heads, our physiology somehow conveys that to others. Now think of that last interaction as a status update on a social media site.

Would you click "Like" or simply scroll on by?

Whether you hit like or not, there is a button to click for comment. Take another moment and think what your comment would be about that interaction. If you have clicked "Like", just what was it you liked? That behaviour they were exhibiting? That attitude they were communicating? What was it that got through to you? If they were personal qualities you liked, are those qualities ones that you recognise in yourself? If not, are they worth acquiring through a process of modelling?

Okay, so you've liked and you've commented. Good. Now would you consider sharing? Would you tell others? Point up the positives?

My guess is that if we were to share each others positive attributes we could make workplaces more friendly, less of a squeeze. Of course we should be aware of and not delete any negative aspects but we should be careful about how we "unlike", comment and share these. Negative talk in an organisation should in my view be counterbalanced by sharing positive feedback. Children in primary schools these days are learning how to do this. They get praise for things done well coupled with suggestions for improvement. Teacher comments on their work are often expressed as "two stars and a wish". The children like to have their work critiqued in this way. You can see the results in their faces and their books.

Self explanatory really and in my experience works for adults too. Try it at your next feedback session.

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Gravitational pull

At a working lunch today, we discussed motivation and engagement. We also discussed the role of environment. In so many areas of life WHERE we do what we do exerts a strong influence. My fellow luncher referred to this as the gravitational pull of the organisation. It takes a great deal of energy to get free from its hold. Yet if the organisational gravity is positive and value-rich it can help nourish motivation and engagement. If the plant is nourished in that way then it should grow tall and strong - high engagement.
An over emphasis on control of performance produces a different kind of gravitational pull - One that is harder to break free from and less likely to encourage flourishing. A phrase of Steven Covey's comes to mind when he said that this is a bit like pulling up the plant to see how the roots are doing.
Although middlefocus is concerned to help people be resourceful in workplace squeeze situations, I am also mindful of the 100s of companies that are great places to work. There are many insights and practices worth sharing from these organisations and I'll be keen to explore their gravitational pull.