Reflection - 2011's Year in Review

A year ago, in response to a post by Seth Godin, I wrote a post that reflected back on what I had shipped (Seth's terminology) in 2010...what I made happen or delivered. As we once again transition from one year into another, it's time to take a look back at 2011.

Here's my list for what I shipped or accomplished in 2011...

• Designed, developed and facilitated a popular and effective curriculum for organizational champions
• Worked with several professional teams to resolve conflict, increase effectiveness and improve productivity 
• Collaborated on the design, writing and release of an online customer service curriculum
• Competed for and was successfully awarded a corporate supply arrangement for developing curriculum and delivering training
• Competed for and won a spot on a pre-qualified list for the facilitation of citizen engagement initiatives
• Explored a country I had never been to before, rich in culture and history
• Experienced Venice and the Cinque Terre
• Made pasta from scratch with an Italian chef in Florence
• Tweeted 800 times
• Published 18 blog posts, several of which were popular with readers, including this one which shared about the potential contribution of non-developer citizens
• Increased the profile of this blog, nearly doubling the number of unique visitors over the previous year
• Published 6 issues of the Prosperous Times professional newsletter
• Helped organize and facilitate 11 open data hackathons for OpenDataBC
• continued to build and foster relationships with many amazing people
• Created a home office with capacity for brainstorming, creativity, beauty, warmth, storage and communication

Also, just before the start of 2011, I made a list of intentions for the coming year. Such as wanting to create a home instead of merely a house. Creating calm, gratitude, connections, writing, sharing, fun, stretching outside what's comfortable. And more doing and less second-guessing, checking in with myself more often.

How did I do with my list?  A few gallons of paint, more time, some different furniture and fixtures and my house does feel a lot more like a home.  Over the year, there were many moments to focus on being calm and grateful. Lots of writing. Many opportunities for fun and adventure.  

Along the way, I also dove into many situations that I would have resisted before.  Meeting new people, sharing ideas and perspective, designing ways to contribute to projects, rather than waiting for projects to find me. The second-guessing voice was silenced with less effort.

It can be easy to stay looking forward, and not pause to reflect on what you've made happen. Now might be a good time for you to take a moment to reflect and celebrate what you accomplished or shipped in 2011. And share it, with family, friends, or maybe here on this blog. And, take a few moments to think about what you intend for 2012. 
 

I, too, will be thinking about what to create in 2012 over the next few days and will post it here.

 

accomplishment and success

I had an interesting experience this week.  A significant result was reached in something I had been involved in.  Along with others, I had expended considerable effort towards the project.  I was congratulated for my contribution towards the result.

I didn't experience joy, or excitement, or a sense of accomplishment.  Why was that? 

Because I hadn't set the end result as a goal.  It was something that I supported, fully believed in, and contributed effort towards.  But I had never taken the time to set any conscious goals around it.  So I cheated myself out of the sense of accomplishment that I might otherwise have had.


How important is a sense of accomplishment?  It is important.  Success feeds on itself.  Everything that you accomplish through your work acts as a foundation for what's next.  Setting things up so that you have the opportunity to experience the accomplishment is an important part of contributing your best work.

making use of tools

Last year when my neighbours were building their new house, they gave us rounds of wood from the Douglas-fir and birch trees they had cut down to make room.  We lugged the heavy rounds over the fence and across the yard, and they have been sitting piled in a corner every since.  Most of them were full of knots from heavy branches. 

Yesterday, we rented a log splitter and transformed the massive chunks into firewood.  It took about 2.5 hours to turn nearly 100 rounds into about a cord and a half of fir and birch firewood for the woodstove.

I was shocked at how easy the work was with the splitter.  I didn't even know that splitters existed until recently. The same work would have taken days or weeks to do by hand. 

It made me think about where else this shows up in life.  What tools are out there that could make your work easier or faster?  Are you using them?  Each of us has a finite number of hours in our day.  It is good to think about the most effective way to spend our time. 

It is also useful to think about what's out there that you may not yet know about.  Others have likely developed tools or approaches that could help you to get the work done more efficiently.  Finding ways to plug ourselves into the collective intelligence of us all just makes sense. 

open data and behaviour change

I have an application on my smartphone that keeps track of my data usage for me. It lets me know when I start to get close to the monthly data limit covered by my cell plan. A week ago, it informed me that if I continued on at my current rate, I would use 110% of my allowed limit for the billing period. The feedback helped me to make some changes, such as setting my phone to use wifi instead of the cell network for data where available. Getting realtime feedback from the app made it possible for me to change my behaviour. I moved from unconscious use to paying more attention to what I am doing. It works. Today my app tells me I will be within my use limit.

This is a simple example of an approach that makes a difference for us in areas of concern. For example, we might be concerned about our own electricity use, water use, or carbon production, but not have information available that could enable us to modify our behaviour in these areas.

Think of what would be possible if we had access to our own data, and to data in general about populations similar to us.

I look at my hydro bill each month. I like that my usage data is provided on a month to month basis, and I can compare it to the same period in previous years.  But so much information is missing that could be really helpful to me.

What do I really need from my hydro company? Access to my own data, hour by hour and day by day, so I can see what happens when I run a load of laundry, fill my jacuzzi, or leave the kitchen light on for the evening, or run my desktop computer overnight.  Give me usage data for others in houses just like mine (electric heat, 1940s construction, temperate climate) so I can really compare how I am doing and make changes.

One of the things about open data that is exciting for citizens is having access to data about things that matter to us.  I would love to have better access to data that would help me to make better decisions in areas of consumption and conservation.

the model is all wrong

Recently, I have become aware of several actions that our Canadian government is planning to take1 or has already taken that have made me uncomfortable. My experience is as if I have suddenly been transported to another country, one that does not have the values that Canada has.

Currently, the way things seem to work is that it is up to us to speak up if we DON'T want something. Our government representatives take action on any number of fronts, and we are expected to let them know if we don't support it. This model doesn’t work well, for a number of reasons.

1. We have to know about it in order to speak up about it. If it’s discussed only in private, we can’t know about it. If it is discussed openly, the majority of Canadians are dependent on the traditional media’s interpretation of the initiative. The media reports on what they see as important, and from their own particular point of view. This leaves a lot up to someone else.
2. Even if we know about it, we might not know what it means to us. Most of the time, I need someone with expertise in that area to explain it to me in words I can understand. Ideally, it would be my government representative who would explain to me the implications of actions being considered by government.
3. Knowing about it seems to come at the last minute, just before something is about to be voted on by government representatives. This does not foster an ideal climate for collaboration or respectful communication.
4. My expertise in customer service means I know that almost none of us complain. The percentage of people who will actually complain to a business when there is a service failure is somewhere in the range of 3%. Compound that statistic with being Canadian and being known as 'nice', and the inclination of citizens to speak up and say they don't want something is next to none. That doesn't mean we actually want it. It means we are naturally wired to not speak up. Why then are public input models often designed around the concept that something is going to be put in place unless we speak up against it?
5. The very nature of ‘speak up if you don’t want something’ creates an adversarial environment. It also seems as if you have to be nasty, to use dramatic, sometimes inflammatory language, to be listened to. This tends to perpetuate the belief that those who speak up are the fringe element. I want to see citizens and government representatives engage in discussions in a cooperative, collaborative, respectful fashion.

What, fundamentally, is the point of a public input process? In large part, it is about making sure that government representatives are getting it right. That citizens are in support of what is to be done, and that representatives are acting truly on their behalf. Ideally it involves asking citizens what they want. It isn't about checking a box to say it was done.

There is another critical piece that is missed if public input is not done well. It is about leveraging the intelligence of citizens.  For example, I am not an expert on privacy or civil liberties.   I am an expert on a set of other things. Our governments need to be able to access and use the intelligence and expertise of Canadians as we move into our future. The public input model is a critical access point to our collective intelligence.

Perhaps I notice the contrast more as I watch the B.C. government, and my local governments, make shifts toward greater openness and transparency.  They get it, and they are headed in the right direction.  I want our Canadian government to understand the time is now and begin to make the shift as well.  There is nothing to be lost, and everything to be gained. 

1the most recent example, the proposed Lawful Access legislation, compelled me to write this post (and is the reason for this particular photo).  If you are interested, watch this video, read this article, do some other research and decide for yourself what you think about that legislation.

clearing the slate of regret

The emotion regret doesn't serve us well.

It is possible to look back on an action you have taken with a lens of 'well, I wish I had done that differently'.  You can take the point of view that hindsight sometimes shows opportunities for having done something better, but you did the best you could at the time.  You can move forward with lessons learned and without any regret.

Sometimes, though, the feeling of regret takes over.  Perhaps the action you took had a significant impact, and the outcome was far removed from what you wanted. Maybe people or things you cared about were impacted. Perhaps an opportunity was lost.

Regret can drag you down.  It eats away at the energy and drive you need to keep moving forward with the best you have to offer.  That in itself is a compelling reason for clearing it away when you become aware of it.

How can you be at peace so you can move on and not be dragged down?  Here are three things that I find helpful:

1. Choose an attitude about the situation that works for you.  Such as, 'I meant well, but I made a mistake.  I won't do it again.'  You could focus on what you learned from it.
2. If someone was impacted by your actions, you can choose to communicate with them about it.  You could let them know that you understand your actions affected them, apologize, and commit to something for the future.
3. Write down some thoughts, such as what you learned from the situation.  To quote the Dalai Lama:  'When you lose, don't lose the lesson'.  Much learning comes from things that you would do differently with hindsight.  Be grateful for the opportunity you had to learn.

Each of us has our own way of clearing the slate for ourselves.  What are the things that you do to move forward?

seeking feedback to improve

Feedback is essential to getting better at anything.

When you are first developing competence at something, a balance of both positive and critical feedback is helpful. Positive feedback, being coached forward, is a necessary ingredient to motivate you to keep working on it.

However, what do you do when you get to a place where you have a high level of competence at something?


You know you are good at it. You hear from others you are good at it. How do you get even better? What can help you close the gap with true mastery?

What you need to seek out is critical feedback. From experts, people you admire and respect, those who have achieved mastery themselves in that area or those who are pursuing it.

To quote Jim Rohn "Don't join an easy crowd. You won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high". Find the people who are really, really good at what you want.  Ask them what isn't working with what you are doing, and to tell you what you can do better.  And keep track of their feedback, so you can keep working on those areas.

As you become better and better at something, you will need to seek out people with higher levels of competence to give you feedback.  It is simpler - and easier on your ego - to not do so.   But necessary, if you want to be truly extraordinary at something.

allowing room for failure

When you are good at something, others pay attention.  You are asked to do more of it.  Others learn that you are good at it, and they expect you to do it well.

Not only do others expect you to do it well, but you expect yourself to do it well too.   

As you do the thing more often, the bar creeps higher.  Every time you do it.  Eventually, it might occur to you that failure is not an option.

If you believe there is no room for failure, you are less inclined to push the envelope.  To try something different, something new.  To completely reinvent the thing that you are so good at.  It is far easier - and safer - to stay with the tried and true.  Even if the tried and true produces good results and reinventing it could produce extraordinary results. 

Innovation thrives in an environment where failure is an acceptable outcome.  A mindset of 'there is no room for failure' can kill innovation.

Do you allow yourself room for failing?

the real value of employee development plans

I believe in goals.

People we would describe as successful are frequently quoted speaking about goals. One clear statement, attributed to one of the pioneers of the self-development movement, Earl Nightingale, is that "people with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It's as simple as that."

Over and over again, my personal experience provides evidence to support this premise. It is an easy equation. When I have goals, I work towards them. When I don't have goals, I drift and feel lost.

To create goals, to stay present to them, to regularly assess progress, and to achieve them, requires some sort of structure. Many personal development and business success books and programs provide just this: a structure to help us achieve our goals. If you follow the approach, you will achieve what they promise. Each of us has own our style of approach that works best for us.

Organizations have forms of personal development plans. These plans are also intended to provide this structure. Although such plans can be useful for employers to evaluate performance, they are also rooted in the basic premise that human beings are happiest and most fulfilled when they are working towards something.

If you are required to have an employee development plan for the organization you work for, consider looking at it from this perspective. It is a structure intended to help you achieve your goals.  Not as something you have to do, but as something you choose to do because it makes your life work better.

going with the current

I am currently experiencing the amazing country of Italy for the first time.  Starting in Rome, then to Venice, now Florence. Otherwise known, in a non-anglicized fashion, as Roma, Venezia, and Firenze.

History, culture, colours, scents, flavours, language, passion collide in this place.

If I try to process it all, it overwhelms.  I am working to 'be' with the experience. And to sit back and observe. To seize moments when they arise, but not to force them. To not obsess with ticking the boxes from the guidebooks, and instead create my own experiences.

The approach - of not trying to control each moment, of observing and going with the flow and adapting - has relevance for our work as well.  What do we lose, by following our own agenda? When we have an idea of how we want things to go, we have a tendency to force them in that direction.  We get upset when things don't go according to 'the plan'.  That has us miss out on anything else that could be possible.  And sometimes, what else might be possible might be a better option than what we think needs to happen.

There are times when it works to go against the current.  Perhaps there is a time constraint, or what is supposed to happen has been decided by some other party.

But consider:  what if we are just open to whatever comes up?  For me, on this trip to Italy, I have focussed on being curious.  I have had the opportunity to be confused, taken aback, delighted. speechless.  I have a collection of rich experiences that would not have happened if I had followed a fixed plan.