Words that caught us: What would you like your kids to know (Part 2)

 

One of the things

We wish we had learnt much earlier,

Is to stop wasting time and resources

Fixing mistakes and errors,

And instead spend that time, 

And those resources

Flipping what works.

 

It’s really a game changer.

 

That’s not to say you ignore, deny,

Or go blind on mistakes and errors.

Rather,

It is to say that not all mistakes and errors

Are worth fixing.

Most can be resolved by

Dropping whatever is causing the errors,

Or, making them irrelevant

By continuously flipping what is working.

 

This is what they mean when they say,

‘Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.

Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes.’*

 

So, the most important thing

In honoring imperfect progress,

Is listening for feedback

On what is working,

And focusing your time and resources

On flipping that.

 

Without that nuance,

Itineration becomes ‘running on the spot’.

 

So, the basic idea behind ‘prioritizing the highest order bit’**

Is to focus on, and flip, only what is most important

In moving you forward,

And ignore the rest, at least for the time being.  

 

“Success is achieved by developing our strengths,

Not by eliminating our weaknesses.”***

Instead of asking, ‘What’s broken and how do I fix it?’

Ask, ‘What’s working and how can I do more of it?’

‘What should I get rid of?’

And, ‘What should I ignore for now?’

 

“When we build on our strengths and daily successes —

Instead of focusing on failures —

We simply learn more.”****

 

Learn to flip only what is working.

Learn to amplify the bright spots.

Learn to let go what is not serving you.

 

Meaning, it is, most often, wiser

To let the weaknesses be and errors persist,

And work on compensating for them, instead.

This is counter intuitive.

This is not how we were taught or brought up.

And so practicing this will need courage…

Courage to read the results as feedback

On our past decisions,

Courage to accept the lessons,

Courage to let go,

Courage to walk with a limp,

Courage to live forward, with renewed confidence

Of what’s working.

 

Remember, when you’re playing an infinite game,

You never know where you’re going to end up.

It’s the journey and the learnings along the way

That determine where you go.

You can’t possibly know where you’ll end up,

But by amplifying the bright spots

You’ll have lit your way well enough

To feel comfortable that you are on the right path.

 

* Quote by Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

** Dinesh Raju's management document referred to by Cedric Chin (see Part 1)

*** Quote by Marilyn Von Savant

**** Quote by Tom Rath, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements

***** This reflection was inspired by Ozan Varol