Hip & Sage

Overwhelm is a Choice - Ways to Combat Overwhelm

Two people who experience the same challenges can, and often do, react very differently. Some of us get overwhelmed relatively quickly, some of us rarely feel overwhelm.

Overwhelm is a choice. How we respond to the needs of our jobs, families, networks, friends, is unique and discretionary. What is your tendency? With all the new technologies out there, it is easy to let interest turn into feelings of "ought to" and them feelings of "not doing enough." Resist the urge to define learning in terms of enough and not enough.

To keep from feeling overwhelmed, try the following:

• Put things into perspective - what do you really NEED to get done and what can wait?

• Enlist support and help. Make requests that help you make your schedule more manageable.

• Be willing to let go of some things, even some things you enjoy or want to do.

• Focus on doing fewer things well and don't set expectations for doing too much. Life and time is precious.

• Do a little bit each day and you will make significant progress.

• Repeat this mantra: "Overwhelm is a choice and I choose to not let these circumstances put me in a way and place where I cannot do my best work."

The Hip and Sage Movement

Perhaps it is just me and my new lens focus on being hip and sage (like when you buy a new model of car and then start to notice other cars that are the same model), but I have noticed a lot of chatter about the importance of boomers getting hip to today's communication methods. I think this is a great thing and sorely needed because we need to figure out how to work together better. And when I say "better" I mean that coaching, information, collaboration, assistance, listening are going UP and DOWN the generations - like a nice big workplace generational chef's salad. This, to me, is the missing "special sauce" in a lot of generational work - the necessity of and joy of teaming nimbleness. And this requires nimble egos, too. We boomers can lead the movement by becoming highly coachable - yes, coachable. If we role model humble curiosity and generation-blind appreciation and respect, we can be catalysts for a fabulous new way of working together.

Getting Buy-In for New Technologies

Check out this post from the ASTD blog called, Let's stop making excuses like, "our older workers wil not embrace learning new technologies." I agree that some are too quick to give up on people and make judgments about what's possible. Most of the professionals I know are learners - it might be deep down inside, but it's there.

This posts challenge us all to make sure that WE are not the real barrier. Because having a mature workforce is not likely the most pressing challenge to creating a hip and sage workplace.

Real Leaders Don't Get Old

Well, we do grow physically older, but great leaders don't act old. Check out this cool post by Dan over at Great Leadership called, Leaders Don't Get Old. Here is a snippet:

When an employee comes to you with a proposal that they are excited about, don't look for all the flaws in the idea or come up with ways to make it harder to implement the idea. You should tell yourself your job as a leader is to figure out ways to make it easier to implement that idea. Try it - it's a lot harder than it sounds - and you will be amazed with the effect it has on your employees and your organization.

And thanks to Dan for including a wee bit in the post from Hip and Sage. The Tony B Story (my favorite, I think). Incidentally, at the bottom of his post, Dan lists key terms from the post. It is an interesting collection!

Labels: agism, boomers, K.D. Lang, Lisa Haneberg, Management Craft, Michael Haberman, my generation, neil young, the who, Tony Bennet

Using Web 2.0 for Learning

Check out this post from the ASTD blog about a new research project called, Do You Know How to Leverage Web 2.0 Technologies to Improve Learning and Performance? This is something all managers, trainers, OD pros and HR pros ought to know about.

Books That Help You Understand Social Media

If you are a hip and sage wanna-be and feel the need to learn more about social media, check this out. If you are hip and sage and think you understand social media, you should check this post out too, because there is a lot of good context here.

The folks at 800CEOREAD offer this great post called, Books for Understanding Social Media. Check it out - whoever you are!

I like that the books they recommend don't just focus on technologies that we should know about - they focus on how communication and collaboration are changing, fundamentally. This is really what it means to be hip - not that we are using the latest Web 2.0 tool. We are hip when we are communicating and collaborating really well with all generations and cultures.

I was interviewed for a newsletter for CLOs (Chief Learning Officers) today. I was asked the question about succession plans and whether I thought that HiPos should be told they are HiPos. After reading even just one of the books recommended in the 800CEOREAD post, you would likely come to the following conclusion:

YES!!! Tell the HiPo they are a HiPo. 1. We need to have the courage to be transparent. 2. If you don't, you might lose your HiPo.

And for those of you who say that you don't want to set up false expectations or incorrect expectations, this is not a good reason. Don't fix your communication problem by not communicating. There are ways to tell HiPos that they are HiPos clearly and without making promises you cannot keep.

HiPos, BTW, are high potential employees - people who you think have the potential to move up in the organization.

How to Get Things Done. Period. Hip and Sage Role Model - Jodee Bock

I love this post from Jodee Bock called, Insight Without Action Makes No Difference. And as I read it, I reflected on how Jodee is a great role model for continuous learning and growth. Be sure to check out her blog - I think you will find it helpful and interesting.

This post is an important one for those of us who endeavor to stay current. Intentions alone won't cut it and we know this It is so easy to put off learning new things. We are all so busy.

Well, if you suffer from the bug called procrastination, check out the post and get into action.

OK, Twitter Can Be Useful....

Here is an example of how twitter can be useful. I was online this morning and saw that one of my followers, a brain expert, was tweeting with someone else. I have re-started (for the millionth time, but this will be it, I know) my Spanish lessons. I am using Rosetta Stone this time. I want the learning to STICK and I know there are some cobwebs in my brain, so I need all the help I can get.

I know about the concept of brain plasticity - that our brains replay and repractice learning from the day at night while we sleep - and wanted to make sure I did whatever I could to get the biggest bang for my aging plastic brain.

So I tweeted to Robyn. Here's the conversation:

So there you have it. One way to make twitter a tool for learning. Follow smart people and engage them in conversation that has the potential to help you and others. Of course, to be a good twitizen, you should be willing and able to contribute to others twice as often. If you hop onto twitter, feel free to engage me anytime.