{"id":10113,"date":"2014-05-15T15:31:38","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T20:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/2014\/05\/07\/"},"modified":"2014-05-15T15:32:09","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T20:32:09","slug":"ask-what-is-working-for-greater-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=10113","title":{"rendered":"Ask What is Working for Greater Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jim Donovan<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably been to business meetings when the person leading the meeting said something like, \u201cChantal, sales in the Southwest are off 23% from last quarter. Frank, production orders in the Northeast are off 9%. What\u2019s wrong guys?\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point both Chantal and Frank begin to defend their position and rattle off a series of \u201creasons\u201d as to why things are the way they are. Weather delays, late deliveries, the flu, and the economy, are all blamed for the lackluster performance in both cases.<\/p>\n

I remember back when I was in door-to-door sales, barely out of my teens, sitting with small groups of salespeople huddled together in diners, continuing on the conversation that started at our mandatory morning sales meeting, about why sales are down. <\/p>\n

In these conversations you typically hear every excuse on earth except the one in which people take personal responsibility for the poor sales numbers. If you\u2019ve ever seen the 1992 movie \u201cGlengarry, Glen Ross,\u201d with Jack Lemmon and a cast of other great actors, you may remember the scenes with all the salespeople blaming their lackluster performance on \u201cthe leads.\u201d They go on and on about how, if the leads were better, they\u2019d all be selling more. <\/p>\n

One of the keys to achieving higher levels of success is to give up blame all together. When you take personal responsibility for the conditions in your life you are then empowered to change them. Until you are willing to do this you remain a victim of circumstances. <\/p>\n

The types of meetings described above begin a steady stream of \u201creasons\u201d (excuses) why things are not better. People begin looking for ways to place blame wherever they can and the entire conversation turns into a negative, finger-pointing exercise that produces little, if any, useful result.<\/p>\n

The meetings continue along in this manner, with each department head explaining why business is not better and trying to find someplace to assign blame until, sufficiently demoralized, the managers return to their respective departments vowing to do better, feeling defeated, and sometimes not caring whether or not they do better. <\/p>\n

While on the surface this seems quite normal, in practice it does little more than leave people feeling depressed and dejected. Yes, there is value in examining mistakes and learning from them, however, if you accept the centuries old idea that, \u201cour minds move in the direction of our dominant thoughts,\u201d as it was expressed by motivation legend Earl Nightingale, you will soon realize that these meetings cannot possibly result in anything but a negative outcome. <\/p>\n

You can beat a problem to death in endless meetings but it will not alter the fact that something is not working. Why would you want to invest any more time in talking about things that do not work?<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Yet, that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s taking place in meeting rooms and on shop floors in companies all across America everyday. With a steady barrage of negativity being dispersed at them, it\u2019s no wonder that the level of employee engagement is at an all-time low. One the other side of the coin we have the employees themselves carrying this negative tone throughout the entire organization. These people are, according to Gallup, \u201cThe eighteen percent who are actively engaged in spreading ill-will throughout the company.<\/p>\n

Simply replacing the \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong\u201d question, with \u201cWhat\u2019s working,\u201d will cause your mind to search for things that are going right and, as a result of the law of attraction (like attracts like), you will begin finding more and more things that are working. In the case of discussing strategies and activities, starting with what\u2019s working enables you to build further improvements on a solid foundation that is already producing the desirable results. By focusing brainstorming sessions around what\u2019s working and drilling further into that is what makes achieving quantum results possible. <\/p>\n

In business meetings you can use this type of questioning to identify the actions and activities that are producing positive results and build upon that. You may be surprised to learn that some of what you\u2019ve been doing does not work and, most likely, never will. Knowing this enables you to invest your time and resources in those activities that are working and stop wasting valuable assets on those that are not. <\/p>\n

A law firm following this procedure, for example, may learn that the pile of money they\u2019ve been sinking into Yellow Page advertising is not paying for itself while their YouTube and social media activity is going gangbusters. Knowing this enables them to reallocate marketing resources where they will do the most good.<\/p>\n

If you consider the amount of time spent thinking, worrying and talking about what\u2019s wrong you\u2019ll soon realize it\u2019s one of the most destructive things any organization can do. By changing your focus to what\u2019s working, what\u2019s going right, and what\u2019s positive in a given situation, you\u2019re in a better position to access your best and brightest ideas and take the actions that will produce the results you desire.<\/p>\n

Following along this line of thinking, you can make a practice of noticing and commenting when people are doing something right. Be a value finder and, as the late motivational legend Zig Ziglar said, \u201cCatch people doing things right.\u201d<\/p>\n

All too often the only time people are recognized at their job is when they\u2019re being criticized for not reaching a goal or making a mistake. Unproductive practices like this contribute greatly to the frustrations and unhappiness people experience at work. I\u2019m not suggesting that you ignore missed revenue targets or allow sloppy work to continue but, when at all possible, focus on what is working and the value the person brings to then organization. We all need to be recognized for the contribution we\u2019re making at work. <\/p>\n

Changing the tone of the conversation in the workplace in a more positive direction will go a long way toward increasing employee engagement and, as a result, increase productivity and happiness throughout your organization.<\/p>\n

About Jim Donovan:<\/strong>
\nJim Donovan speaks regularly to employees and executives at small business and large corporations. He is a frequent media guest and expert source on personal development, business success, and the spiritual laws that develop both. He lives in Bucks County, PA. His website is www.JimDonovan.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Based on the book “Happy @ Work: 60 Simple Ways to Stay Engaged and Be Successful”. Copyright \u00a9 2014 by Jim Donovan. Reprinted with permission from New World Library.www.NewWorldLibrary.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"