Use SMART Goals To Get Through Tough Times

The most effective thing any of us can do right now is to focus on our goals - define them, refine them to reflect changing realities, test them to see if they remain realistic and relevant, and act to achieve them.

It's hard. The steady drumbeat of news - about the economy, about the elections, about man's inhumanity to man - delivered with passion by so many talking heads on the 24 hour news cycle, can really divert attention from the really important things.

Rudyard Kipling, in his poem "If" has a verse that reads:

"If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs,
And blaming it on you..."

The last verse of the poem reads:

"Then you will be a man, my son"

Rudyard Kipling lived from December 1865 until January 1936. Had he lived now I 'll bet the last line of "IF" would have read

"Then you will be a leader, my son or daughter"

An example of just how panic stricken and negative some people have become over current events showed up recently in a letter on the Wall Street Journal Op Ed page. It was written by a New York attorney who feels, while outward appearances remain the same, and people still consume $900 dinners at top restaurants, we as a nation are in denial. She feels that the US has lost its place in the world, that we are no longer the pre - eminent engine of commerce that we have been, that we will never regain it, that we are headed for economic disaster, and the reality of that has not yet sunk in. And while she admits she has no experience or expertise in things financial or economic, she writes that she was so upset by her conclusions that she got up at 2 AM to E Mail her mother to tell her to take all her remaining money out of the stock market and invest it in silver, or precious metals, or the mattress. Talk about losing your head! Unfortunately, she's got lots of company. Her emotional state has been affected by what is going on. It can be contagious - it is contagious. It's a contagion you want to avoid.

It's caused by FEAR - an acronym for "Fantasized Events/ Experiences Appearing Real."

And when FEAR sets in, people can be immobilized - or so mobilized that they feel they have to act - do something - anything - like the attorney telling her mother to act and put her money in silver - or in the mattress. I hope her Mom didn't follow that advice.

I read that Op Ed piece just before I took off on my daily 5 mile run/walk. Halfway through I realized I had spent my time thinking and worrying about politics, the impact of the next President, the impact of the credit crunch and sub prime loans. The realization that I was doing that made me stop - it made me ask myself what the hell was I doing? I was giving in to the contagion. I was working myself into a lather about things I had no control over, and not focusing my thought on the important things in my life. And I suspect I have a lot of company

How to overcome those negative emotions, avoid that contagion and move forward? SMART goals provide focus on the main things. Goals that are SMART, an acronym for Specific/Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic, and Time framed can scrape us off the ceiling and keep us pointed in the right direction. The goals may have to be modified - no one should suggest that the events of today should be ignored - but isn't that a positive exercise in reality?

Replace the hysterical talk we hear on the news about having to live in our cars - about being unable to access our funds because the financial institutions have failed - about losing savings or jobs. We will be subjected to that kind of extreme negative news for a long time - it's what the media lives on. But for most of us, hanging in there, not giving in to despair and fear, not selling and putting what's left in the mattress, is the right thing to do.

Two pieces of advice that can help:

1 - In Og Mandino's book "The Greatest Salesman In The World" he advises when things are good, or bad, or indifferent - remember " This too shall pass." It's true. It's important not to let circumstances and events outside our control end up controlling our lives and causing us to make decisions on F.E.A.R., rather than on hard headed reality.

2 - Dale Carnegie, in "How To Stop Worrying and Start Living" offers another piece of advice that is so relevant to today. He advises, when faced with stressful situations, to "Live life in daytight compartments." Live in today, and work in today, slam the doors shut on yesterday and tomorrow, and the future will take care of itself. With all the negative stuff swirling around, living in daytight compartments creates focus. And SMART goals help make sure the effort put into daytight compartments is focused on the important few.

Use goals to direct positive effort to the things that can be accomplished - and to finding and acting on the opportunities and possibilities that are sure to present themselves.

If you don't have SMART goals for yourself, take the time to develop them. It can be tough when you start, but focus only on the three to five most important things in your life. Watch the cloud of negativity and doubt be replaced with positive energy and the motivation to accomplish. Use your SMART goals to keep from letting events and people wear you down. Start today - it's the only daytight compartment you have.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com;Website:www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity And Increase Commitment

One of the core competencies for leaders is the ability to deal with ambiguity - that condition where things are not what they seem. And the higher in an organization a leader goes, the more ambiguous things become. Leaders know ambiguity is the enemy of commitment. They know it can't be eliminated. They know the majority of people work best in an environment where expectations and contribution and recognition are well defined.


Leaders know ambiguity kills initiative - it creates a compliance culture rather than an aggressive commitment culture. It keeps people off balance. It enables weak managers to protect whatever turf they may have. Ambiguity is the friend of the indecisive, the maybe yes maybe no mindset, the uncommitted.

Reducing ambiguity is a goal of successful leaders.

But reducing ambiguity is a real challenge. As leaders become more skilled and successful at dealing with ambiguity, it can become more difficult for them to recognize how critical it is to their people to have a clear understanding of what is to be accomplished. Why? It's the Curse Of Knowledge at work. That condition, defined by the Heath brothers in their book "Made To Stick", says that once you have a piece of knowledge it is almost impossible to think or act as if others don't have it as well. The Curse includes skills. Once a skill is gained, it becomes hard to act without assuming that same skill exists in others.


So this tug of war is at work. While leaders develop the skill and ability to operate successfully in highly ambiguous situations, at the same time they need to work to reduce ambiguity for their people.


That's where SMART goals come in. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant and Time framed. The establishment of goals based on these criteria reduces ambiguity and creates a climate for comittment.


What follows is a story from my experience that illustrates how critical SMART goals are to reducing ambiguity and increasing the chances for success.


I worked in a large, multi national company with a small corporate staff -a really flat organization. While there was a lot of financial oversight, there was also a lot of operational freedom at the business unit level. The relationship between the business units and corporate was clear - make your numbers and we'll leave you alone. Fail to make your numbers and close control and changes in business unit leadership will occur.


A critical part of the relationship between corporate and the business units was in arriving at annual budgets and objectives. The corporate people were convinced that the business unit level people were holding back to earn maximum bonuses for their organizations - and themselves. The business unit people were convinced that the corporate people were trying to suck them dry. Both had reason to believe as they did. In that ambiguous situation the annual budget dance was played out and resulted - sometimes smoothly, sometimes not - in a set of financial goals for each business unit.


One Division President I had to work with considered the budget to be his organization's goal - it's only goal. He and his controller developed the budget based on what they thought would fly at corporate. It was the equivalent of throwing a whole lot of balls in the air and then trying to run under all of them. In this business unit, once the budget was approved no further goal setting was done as a means of communicating that budget's requirements. As a result, his business was a complete compliance culture. "Tell me what to do and I'll do it" was a phrase heard often in his business. He lasted three years - never made a budget - and was fired.


In another business unit I had the good fortune to work with a Division President who was committed to involving all his functional heads and their direct reports in developing the budget. All the opportunities, problems and issues were put on the table. By the time the budget was ready to be presented at corporate all the functional heads in his business unit knew what was in it, had participated in defining the numbers and had agreed to it.

In this business, the goal setting process started during the development of the budget. The key goal setting question was "What are the top 3 to 5 actions that must be taken to ensure exceeding the budget? " Every functional head asked that question of their people. SMART goals were developed at all levels. The result was a goal driven culture with people knowing what were the important few goals they needed to work to ensure success.

Regular performance to goal meetings were held, adjustments made, no surprises allowed. It was a very demanding place to work - but turnover was almost non-existent. That Division exceeded its budget for five years in a row and the Division President was promoted to Group Executive. There were many ambiguous situations that required work - but the top 3 to 5 SMART goals kept everyone focused on the important few.


There were many factors that contributed to the success of that business unit. But it started with the leader. He took the potential ambiguity of budget setting and turned it into a clearly defined process that involved input from the the experts. Then he turned the abstraction of a budget into a set of operating elements that could be defined, measured and reported on. He used SMART goals to do that. And the very human tendency to bite off more than could be chewed was controlled by insisting that the goals be limited to the 3 to 5 most important - at all levels of the organization.

The one addition the Division President made to the SMART formula was to add "Simple". His SMART acronym was modified to Simple/Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic and Time Framed. Simple is a critical element of goal setting. He had seen too many goal setting processes that morphed into administrative processes that missed the real meaning and intent of goal setting.

Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organizations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people respond with a high level of commitment to the enterprise. They can be, as in this case, the difference between success and failure.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

Make Sure Your Dreams Are Your Servant, Not Your Master

In effective goal setting, using dreams to establish ideal outcomes is a critical step in creating the vision and purpose that become the building block for goals. When used that way, dreams are your servant.

But when the word dreams is mentioned, many people are turned off - to them dreams are a waste of time - a trip into fantasy. They feel dreams are not for the real world. They see dreams as taking away from action and accomplishment.

The line between dreams as the servant and dreams as the master is a thin one. Rudyard Kipling, in his masterpiece poem "IF " wrote a verse that says "If you can dream, but not let dreams become your master...." Going even further, Cormac McCarthy, in his novel, "The Road" says: "When your dreams are of some world that never was or of some world that never will be and you are happy again, then you will have given up."

You can think of dreams as a resource, a servant - a special place where you go to create thoughts that can serve as the first step to accomplishment. Or they can become your master - taking you to that soft, fuzzy place where you can escape from reality and think great thoughts that have a really low probability of ever happening. For most people, dreams are both a servant and a master.

How do you know if your dreams represent real possibilities, or are a place to escape from reality - to fantasyland? Do your dreams replace action - or do they create action and persistence to get through the tough times? The answer to those questions isn't always so clear cut - sometimes our mind plays tricks on us.

Take the Lottery dream as an example. A New York Times article states that the dream of winning stimulates the same brain circuits as actual winning does. The article goes on to state that " in brain imaging studies of drug users, as well as healthy adults placing bets, neuroscientists have found that the prospect of reward activates the same circuits in the brain that the payoffs themselves do." It's easy to keep the Lottery dream alive - just buy a ticket and keep those brain circuits buzzing. And at odds of 147,000,000 to 1 for each drawing of the Powerball Lottery, you may be a winner. Nothing wrong with taking that chance. At least not until the dream of winning the Lottery replaces dreams that have the potential for real action and accomplishment.

Realize that your conscious mind can only think about one thing at a time. Dreaming of never were's and never will be's uses up conscious thought at the same rate that thoughts of opportunities and accomplishments do. It's when those never was, never will be dreams take up space better devoted to dreams of real world possibilities that dreams become a problem - when they become the master of time and energy.

Every minute spent on those kinds of low probability, low commitment, low risk, low investment dreams takes away from the time available to dream about real possibilities, solutions, tactics and strategies and rewards for accomplishment. Dreams that are the master do nothing to increase personal feelings of worth and ability - they do the opposite. By placing value on chance - as in the Lottery dream case - rather than personal accomplishment - they diminish beliefs of personal ability. And they are sneaky - often they become a habit of thought that just kind of happens - and they create a view of the world that isn't at all accurate.

How to be sure your dreams are your servant - part of your real world - and not let them become your master?

Ask yourself these five questions.

1 - Do you find yourself thinking about the past - and how it could have been, should have been, or would have been different?

2 - Do your dreams take you away from the probable and the possible?

3 - Do you find yourself dreaming about a future that has no relationship to your life so far?

4 - Do you dream about being someone other than yourself ?

5 - Do your dreams require your "willful suspension of disbelief" ?

If you answered Yes to the questions, realize that dreams, at least part of the time, have become your master. And those dreams that are your masters take away from achieving success in the real world. Choose to examine your thoughts and apply the five questions. It's tough - particularly if dreams have been the master for some time. But the conscious examination of dreams can and will lead to a more effective, successful life.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

How To Ensure Dissatisfaction Is A Key To Success

In the important areas of our lives, dissatisfaction is a positive - a way to constantly improve. At the same time, dissatisfaction has its limitations. Applying dissatisfaction to many areas of life just leads to frustration and regret.

In my first job, as a salesman with Procter and Gamble, at the annual sales meeting the Vice President of Sales got up and gave a speech on "divine discontent." He told us we should never be satisfied with what is, we should always be striving for more, we should be aiming for the stars. We all got up and cheered and applauded. That was years ago, and the message in that speech has always stuck with me. He was right - being content with the status quo as a salesman is a recipe for failure.

We are constantly given the message that to stay in place is to lose ground; that today is all we have; that the future can be better, if we make it so. Those are all terrific messages and beliefs, and shape the behaviors and motivators of achievers.

But taken too far, those messages and beliefs can become a trap that can lead to all kinds of problems. Problems that grow out of the habit of thought called dissatisfaction. And that dissatisfaction - that habit of thought that can be so positively powerful, can lead to failure, dropping out, leaving things unfinished, procrastination, perfectionism and constant frustration.

In the new Woody Allen movie, " Vicky Cristina Barcelona," in a very intense scene, Maria Elena, Penelope Cruz's character, accuses Cristina, Scarlett Johannson's character, of being addicted to dissatisfaction.

"Addicted to dissatisfaction." What a great description! That state of mind where everything can be better - or different. That place where whatever is being done is not good enough. Where there is always something more important, more exciting, more fulfilling, more valuable, more rewarding. It's being in that emotional place where nothing seems to be right, where everything is just a little bit off, a little bit less than desired.

We've all met people who seem to focus only on what didn't happen, what wasn't just right, what didn't meet standards, what was a little off balance. Their dissatisfaction just sucks the life out of whatever it is they have focused on.

And when dissatisfaction extends to the unimportant areas, and it's easy for that to happen, dissatisfaction becomes a destructive force. And recognizing that it has happened is often difficult. But "Addiction to Dissatisfaction"can negatively affect relationships, performance, health.

How to focus dissatisfaction on the important few, and adopt a more tolerant approach to the unimportant many - to get rid of an "Addiction To Dissatisfaction"?

The first step is recognizing the symptoms. Here are ten key symptoms of dissatisfaction addiction.

1 - Being unable to separate the really important from the not really important. Treating everything the same, with the same intensity and focus.

2 - Increasing a performance expectation as soon as soon as the old expectation is met - without regard to its real importance.

3 - Criticizing yourself for not doing more - whatever that means. And then extending that criticism to other people, situations and solutions.

4 - Finding it difficult if not impossible to celebrate victories because they fall short of the ideal.

5 - Considering "good enough" to be unacceptable performance - on anything.

6 - Being convinced that you could have done much better if you had more time, more training, more focus, more resources. Feeling that what you did wasn't your best work.

7 - Feeling that the people you associate with, work with, live with are not quite up to snuff, Not quite what you imagined, not quite what you expected, not quite what you hoped for.

8 - Striving for the ideal solution, behavior, outcome, and being satisfied with nothing less, without measuring the importance.

9 - Judging accomplishment against the ideal, and finding fault with the difference between the two - without evaluating the importance of the difference - or the accomplishment.

10 - Thinking that there are more important things to be done than what is being done now - without being able to really define what those more important things are.

Once recognized, how can you overcome this Addiction to Dissatisfaction while keeping dissatisfaction as a key to improvement in the important things?

It starts with being aware that this habit of thought is imbedded in motivators and behaviors. Start by reviewing the key symptoms, and determine if they describe you. You can't fix something that you don't know exists on a conscious level.

And then:

• Treat only the very few really important things as worthy of constant striving. Constant striving on everything just leads to never doing anything very well.


• Realize and accept that "good enough" ain't bad - almost all of the time.


• Create SMART goals - for only the few important things and be satisfied with meeting the goals and then celebrate meeting them. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant, Time framed.


• Create goals that align with the goals of others who have influence over what you consider important - like your job. Continue to resist the very human impulse to add goals - keep the truly important to 3 to 5 goals - no more.


• Understand and accept that "meeting goals" for SMART goals is excellent performance.


• Beware of goal creep - that self inflicted monster that keeps moving the bar higher and higher - even when it makes little if any sense.


• Accept that there are areas in your life where performance is not what it is in the core areas - that doesn't mean failure - it means being human.


• Be as focused as that fabled fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. In one scene he tells his assistant, Dr Watson, that he doesn't care if the moon goes around the sun or the earth goes around the sun. It makes no difference to him - all that knowledge could do to him would be to divert him from his truly important work. That work - in his case - is being the best detective he can be. Focus works to brush aside dissatisfaction with the trivial many.

Then keep striving - on the few things where striving will make a difference. Watch that Addiction To Dissatisfaction disappear, and be replaced by effective, focused accomplishment.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com;Website:www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

When Is The Best Time To Change?

The best time to change is when you don't have to - when you're not forced to -but when events and circumstances provide the opportunity and momentum for change. It's also the most effective time to change. It's when astute leadership has prepared for change and acts when the opportunity presents itself - as it almost always will.


I learned that lesson from one of the best leaders I ever worked with. He knew how hard change without a pressing need can be. In the organization he lived in anything that wasn't pressing and proximate got zero attention. He dealt with that behavior by identifying potential problems and then working - quietly - to develop solutions. He kept a low profile on his preparation and solutions until the inevitable crisis or attention-getting problem occurred. When it did he was ready to work to solve it. His rationale for quietly preparing was that if he presented a problem and a solution prematurely, they would be dismissed as unimportant, and trying to reintroduce them later was made much more difficult by the earlier dismissal.

His point? In order to be heard, you've gotta know when the situation has the attention of the organization.

The alternative to his approach are short term fixes, rather than long term solutions. It's the buying of something that has the promise of solving something, it's the 1000 calorie diet that gives a weight loss quickly, but with no hope of long term benefit. It's the program introduced to solve a "morale" problem that ends up causing a morale problem. And that behavior - short term fixes - results in frustration and cynicism.

But those short term fixes can lead to long term solutions, if change is handled on a constructive basis.

An example of how long term change grew out of a crisis, a near term fix and a long term solution.

A manufacturing company made commercial airplane components. Part of their business was building replacement parts for older airplanes. Over a Christmas shutdown period, a critical component - a one of a kind replacement - disappeared from the stand where it was awaiting final inspection. A replacement had to be made at great cost - other versions of this part didn't fit this particular aircraft - though the thieves probably didn't know that. But the fact that it was a one - of - a - kind was crucial to identifying and highlighting the theft.


Shortly after that event the head of Security got an anonymous tip that high value plating metals were being stolen. The Security Chief had suspected that theft was a problem for some time, but he had no way to put his finger on it and cause real action to be taken. The combination of the missing component and the tip on the theft of plating metals were the triggers that got the President's attention.

The Security Chief recommended an undercover operation that he had planned for some time. He laid out how it should be done, using a private investigative agency the Chief had vetted and maintained contact with for just such a situation. The operation was implemented within a week - with only the President, the Security Chief and the VP of Administration aware of it. The company was in a hiring mode - and undercover operatives were placed on open jobs. Within 60 days they were able to identify suspects. Within 90 days of the start of the undercover operation, action was taken and suspects were interrogated and, in most cases, terminated for theft.


Most of the organization was relieved that the thieves had been identified - many people knew theft and other bad things were happening, but they didn't feel they could come forward.

The near term fixes that followed were replacing the contract guard force and putting increased security procedures in place. Most people felt the issue was finished. And that could have been the end of the story.

But the FBI and local authorities had been informed by the Security Chief about the undercover operation as soon as action was taken against the suspects. He had established relationships with the FBI and local law enforcement on a just -in - case basis and had an effective working relationship with them. They started their own investigation within that part of the industrial community that could have profited from the kinds of things stolen. They started recovering all kinds of components from repair shops that the company didn't know had been stolen! The company had to admit that their material control processes were outdated and ineffective. The FBI and local police ended up recovering over $500,000 worth of parts. but they lost interest when it became apparent that the company couldn't take legal action - the admission that they didn't know the parts were missing made prosecution almost impossible.

And then the long term benefit kicked in. The realization that Material Control needed to be improved led to positive change. It started with a study to determine what steps could be taken to integrate and improve work flow, inventory control, production control , parts tracking and assembly. It ended with the phased implementation of an integrated Materials Requirement Plan system that completely changed the dynamics in the manufacturing, procurement and processing of the parts. The result was lower inventory, shorter lead times on purchased parts, shorter work - in - process times for components, and improved performance to commitments.

Big positive change started with a Security Chief prepared to work a theft problem - but needing the credibility of an in - your - face problem to get the ball rolling. And once the ball was rolling, having the President use the information gained to create positive lasting change in the organization. That required communication from the top. It required the cooperation and dedication of everyone. But everyone could see the benefits and the worthiness of the changes - so everyone pitched in. They were open to change. It was a real success story.

Back to the original question. When is the best time to change? It's when preparation and the opportunity to create interest and urgency come together around some incident or condition that can focus attention and effort. That's when real lasting change occurs.


Use that answer to focus your own personal and organizational change efforts for maximum impact and value.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com;Website:www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

Looking At Life Through The Rear View Mirror

Many of us spend a significant amount of time looking through the rear view mirrors of our lives. Some people spend all their time there – some spend no time there - but most have a nice balance between looking at what's behind and what's ahead.

Sometimes the “mirror” can be really helpful, and sometimes it can cough up those really embarrassing, stupid, negative memories that are best forgotten, but that the mirror wants to keep front and center.

Have you ever had the experience of suddenly being confronted, in your mind, with something you did in the past that you wish you hadn’t, or that you regretted, and that "something" flashes up on your brain screen and sends a chill down your spine, or a flop to your stomach, or a tear to your eye – or a song to your heart?

Funny – very few of my rear view mirror flashes send a song to my heart. I don't know about you, but my mirrors tend to be critical of my behavior – the coulda’, woulda, shoulda ‘s that make me feel less good about myself. My rear view mirror wants to keep the negative stuff more available than the "bring a smile " stuff.

I’m talking about those little drops of negative emotional water that hit your brain, again and again, and in so doing create a groove or funnel for continued negative flashes.

What these flashes do is create habits of thought that affect our beliefs about our personal worth, ability and value. And those negative mirror flashes feed those two little worms - the "I am not worthy" one, and the "I am not able" one. And they grow. And we do it to ourselves.

The most powerful messages we receive about our ability and value are the ones we send ourselves. And we're often not aware that we're even doing it. That's the thing about habits - both good and bad. They become so ingrained that we just do them. The good news is habits can be changed. Not stopped, but replaced with other habits.

If your rear view mirror keeps sending you negative messages about your past, here are suggestions on ways to change that destructive habit of thought.

1 - Be aware that it is happening. That sounds so obvious, but habits are sneaky. They get so ingrained that they seem unconscious. The first step is to challenge your thoughts. Are they helpful? Are they destructive? Do they help or hinder?

2- Prepare a list of the top 100 things that make you smile, make you feel thankful, make you proud, make you feel worthy and able. Write them down. This can be tough - especially if your messages have been negative for a long time. But it is the key step to replacing those negative thoughts.

3 - Review them every day and add to them as you think of more positive messages.

4 - When a negative thought message comes through, catch yourself and tell yourself to stop! And then replace it with one of your 100 or more "guaranteed to make you feel good about yourself" messages you have written down.

5 - Persist. Habits take time and dedication to change. Keep reminding yourself of the value of thinking positively about yourself. And of how much better it makes you feel.

6 - Think of your rear view mirror as having two modes - one that lets in all the bright lights that can blind you, and the other mode that filters so you can see more clearly.

Let's face it, life has and will continue to throw all kinds of challenges at us. Using your rear view mirror to prepare for the challenges to be faced is a powerful habit of thought. Take a look in yours right now, and bcome aware of what a positive tool it can be.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com;Website:www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

Valuing Individual Differences - Key To Team Success

Seeing things in a different way can be the road to success. Leaders place a high value on being able to see things through different lenses. Successful problem solving teams and project teams value individual differences as the means of arriving at innovative ways to meeting their goals.

Most of us - based on our personal set of values, experiences, and a wide variety of other factors, develop a unique view of whatever we come in contact with. We each see things a little differently. In those differences lies tremendous value to ourselves and to others. It can be our greatest strength.

The keys in valuing differences as key to team success involve two dimensions.

The first is the external dimension - the overall team dimension. It's the team's ability to encourage, listen to and use the differences of team members to arrive at solutions and processes that far exceed in value and impact what any one member could provide. It can get messy. There is no learning without conflict. The ability to focus that conflict constructively is the highest order of skill in a team.

The external team dimension requires three critical elements to maximize the value of individual differences.

1 - Clear unambiguous structure focused on the goals of the team. Clear goals, sufficient resources, and effective team composition that recognizes cross functional contribution are all crucial to team success.

2 - An investment in team development of communication skills and the development of an understanding and acceptance of different behaviors, values and skills as essential to the best possible outcome.

3 - It's crucial that leadership and sponsorship of teams be assigned to the top line leaders who will directly benefit from the team's contribution, as the means of keeping focus on results.

The second dimension - the internal dimension - is the ability and willingness of qualified individual team members to value differences and share their unique perspectives.

This internal dimension requires the following from individual team members

1 - The conviction that the power of the group is greater than the power of any single individual.

2 - A willingness to share with others - and the communication skills to do so.

3 - An attitude and belief in plenty - plenty of opportunity for contribution, plenty of recognition for participation, plenty of reward for accomplishment.

4 - Having trust in their own perceptions - and believing their view is as valuable as anyone else's.

5 - Persistence in presenting individual views - while at the same time broadening individual views through listening and interacting with the views of others.

6 - A climate and culture that accepts and encourages differences.

7 - The maturity to persist even after individual views are not accepted as part of the solution.

8 - A respect for leadership and a respect for followership. In any team, as the process of solving problems and defining projects evolves, different people often take leadership.

9 - The optimism and conviction that the answer to most team challenges is right around the corner - getting around that corner requires looking at things differently.

There are few more powerful ways to leverage talent in any organization than through the use of teams. And yet, in many cases, teams don't meet expectations. In my experience, failure to value and build on differences is one of the main reasons for poor performance.

Take the internal and external dimension requirements from this article and see how team efforts in your organization can be improved. Maximize the unique value every person brings to the table.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

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