Right Attitudes

Ideas for Impact

These are the Two Best Employee Engagement Questions

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These are the Two Best Employee Engagement Questions Engaged employees are more likely to be effective, stay with your company, and nurture a favorable corporate culture. To gauge employee engagement levels regularly, run a pulse survey and ask these two questions:

  1. To what degree are you proactively engaged in improving the tasks you’re responsible for? Does your workplace actively seek your ideas to make those improvements?
  2. To what degree do the processes that you are working with enable you to be highly successful in your job?

Seek ideas meaningful for improvements from people on the job. Demonstrate commitment to taking significant action and follow through.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Employee Engagement: Show Them How They Make a Difference
  2. Create a Diversity and Inclusion Policy
  3. Seven Easy Ways to Motivate Employees and Increase Productivity
  4. General Electric’s Jack Welch Identifies Four Types of Managers
  5. How to Start a Hybrid-Remote Work Model

Knowing When to Give Up: Establish ‘Kill Criteria’

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'Quit When to Walk Away' by Annie Duke (ISBN 0593422996) Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away (2022) by the professional poker player and “decision scientist” Annie Duke meditates on how you could become so wedded to some predetermined goals that you don’t reassess your ever-evolving values and priorities based on new information that you may unearth along the way.

Quitting isn’t bad, especially if you’re blindly heading toward a “fixed object goal” that’s perhaps no longer serving your values—even hurting you in some way you didn’t anticipate.

A Mental Model to Help You Cut Your Losses

Duke suggests instituting “kill criteria” in advance. Before a pursuit, ask yourself: what signals you could see in the future would tell you it’s time to quit or change course?

How to Quit Well Using Kill Criteria

Before entering a marathon, for example, you could decide if the medical tent counsels that you’re hitting your physical limitations, you’d quit trying to push yourself and walk out.

In other words, every goal needs a resolute “unless” for every task, investment, and relationship. E.g., if you’re miserable at your job, you could give it three more months and pre-select some indicators that would tell you if things haven’t improved even after you’ve increased your efforts.

Idea for Impact: Know when to give up. Grit is great—but only for carrying on for hard things that are worthwhile. Beware of tunnel vision; don’t get so narrowly focused on a specific goal and overlook other opportunities or priorities.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. The Data Never “Says”
  2. Making Tough Decisions with Scant Data
  3. What if Something Can’t Be Measured
  4. Why Risk Mitigation and Safety Measures Become Ineffective: Risk Homeostasis and Peltzman Effect [Mental Models]
  5. Charlie Munger’s Iron Prescription

Inspirational Quotations #990

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It were better to have no opinion of God at all, than such an opinion, as is unworthy of him. For the one is unbelief, the other is contumely; and certainly superstition is the reproach of the Deity.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

A failure is like fertiliser; it stinks to be sure, but it makes things grow faster in the future.
—Denis Waitley (American Motivational Speaker)

I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.
—Maya Angelou (American Poet)

My belief of book writing is much the same as my belief as to shoemaking. The man who will work the hardest at it, and will work with the most honest purpose, will work the best.
—Anthony Trollope (English Novelist)

Destiny is an absolutely definite and inexorable ruler. Physical ability and moral determination count for nothing. It is impossible to perform the simplest act when the gods say “no.” I have no idea how they bring pressure to bear on such occasions; I only know that it is irresistible.
—Aleister Crowley (English Occultist)

Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (American Novelist)

The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth.
—Thomas Paine (American Nationalist)

It is of little use for us to pay lip-loyalty to the mighty men of the past unless we sincerely endeavor to apply to the problems of the present precisely the qualities which in other crises enabled the men of that day to meet those crises.
—Theodore Roosevelt (American Head of State)

When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees.
—Kenneth Kaunda (Zambian Statesman)

He who overlooks a fault, invites the commission of another.
—Publilius Syrus (Syrian-born Latin Writer)

If our religion is not true, we are bound to change it; if it is true, we are bound to propagate it.
—Richard Whately (English Philosopher, Theologian)

I have no ambition to govern men. It is a painful and thankless office.
—Thomas Jefferson (American Head of State)

Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide; In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side.
—James Russell Lowell (American Poet, Critic)

To Live a Life of Contentment

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William Henry Channing William Henry Channing (1810–84) was an Unitarian clergyman, writer, and philosopher who served as the United States House of Representatives Chaplain from 1863–64. He was also a close friend of the transcendental philosophers Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

One of Channing’s best-known writings is a simple stirring verse called the Symphony of Contentment:

To live content with small means.
 
To seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion.
 
To be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich.
 
To study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly.
 
To listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart.
 
To bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
 
In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden, and unconscious grow up through the common.
 
This is to be my symphony.

Idea for Impact: The key to well-being is feeling content wherever you are. It’s an even more worthy aspiration than happiness.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Treating Triumph and Disaster Just the Same // Book Summary of Pema Chödrön’s ‘The Wisdom of No Escape’
  2. How to Be Happy, per Cicero
  3. I’ll Be Happy When …
  4. The Simple Life, The Good Life // Book Summary of Greg McKeown’s ‘Essentialism’
  5. Buddhism is Really a Study of the Self

What You Most Fear Doing is What You Most Need to Do

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What You Most Fear Doing is What You Most Need to Do Sometimes when you’re anxious about things, you tend to push them out of your grasp. Instead of evading from frustrating encounters thus, ask yourself, “What can I do that’ll make me more competent to tackle this problem?”

Don’t postpone the problem. Start with a baby step. A single, small accomplishment may promote new feelings of accomplishment and spark a sense of self-confidence. You’ll be pleased with yourself for taking charge.

When you like yourself better, you’ll begin to get more productive and improve your life in small ways, which can lead to bigger achievements.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. What Are You So Afraid Of? // Summary of Susan Jeffers’s ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway’
  2. How to Face Your Fear and Move Forward
  3. How to Turn Your Fears into Fuel
  4. Trying to Be Perfect is Where Your Troubles Begin
  5. Change Your Perfectionist Mindset (And Be Happier!) This Holiday Season

Manage Your Own Career—No One Else Will

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Manage Your Own Career---No One Else Will In 2014, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was rightfully condemned for casually asserting that women shouldn’t bother asking for raises and instead rely on “good karma” and trust that the system will eventually reward their work.

Despite what “they” may say, no one else will manage your career for you—not the fine folks at human resources, not your boss, or some mentoring system. No one will chart out a career path for you or tell you what experience you should obtain, let alone assist you in getting it.

Don’t subscribe to the notion that someone is looking out for your best interests. You’ve got to look after yourself. Don’t expect to be promoted because you deserve it—no one is likely keeping track. Be proactive and ask for what you want.

Idea for Impact: Take active control of your career because nobody will manage it for you. Own it and challenge yourself.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Who’s Responsible for Your Career
  2. Some Lessons Can Only Be Learned in the School of Life
  3. It’s Not Just a Job … It’s a Career
  4. Before Jumping Ship, Consider This
  5. Don’t Use Personality Assessments to Sort the Talented from the Less Talented

Be Open to Being Wrong

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Be Open to Being Wrong The philosopher and logician Bertrand A. Russell, one of history’s brightest minds, was once asked whether he’d be prepared to die for his beliefs. He replied, “Of course not. After all, I may be wrong.”

Feeling that you’re making more sense than others shouldn’t be the gauge for being accurate about your convictions. Especially when you’re good at arguing, you can take your ideas and judgments in various directions that will mislead you in ways that are more convincing to you than what the other side thinks. Blind spots can spawn certainty quickly.

Idea for Impact: Hold yourself to a higher standard. Turn doubt into a deliberate attitude. Allow your mind to wander in unexpected directions. Be open to other perspectives. Be open to being wrong.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. How to Embrace Uncertainty and Leave Room for Doubt
  2. Question Success More Than Failure
  3. Why People are Afraid to Think
  4. 3 Ways to … Avoid Overthinking
  5. Group Polarization: Like-Mindedness is Dangerous, Especially with Social Media

Things Will Look Up Soon

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Things Will Look Up Soon There’ll be days when you’ll feel down in the dumps. You’ll have those days when the band, singer, or ensemble you enjoy won’t suddenly make your anxiety disappear. When the show you’ve been watching won’t fascinate you as much as it did the previous day. When you’ll not feel like being with a loved one.

Feeling helpless is something that all people suffer from time to time. You may become dispassionate or disengaged from the things and people that ground you. The hobbies you care for don’t cheer you up.

Sometimes, it’s just a day that only you can get through, even if you feel nobody understands what you’re going through. Nobody’s going to do your life for you. Hang in there—you’ll soon find ways to deal with it and emerge from what can feel like a hole or a dark tunnel with no end.

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  5. This May Be the Most Potent Cure for Melancholy

Can You Be Terminated for Out-of-Work Conduct?

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Can You Be Terminated for Out-of-Work Conduct?

An employee’s off-duty conduct is generally off-limits as far as employers are concerned, and an employer can’t terminate an employee for conduct outside work if that termination would amount to unlawful discrimination.

However, exceptions exist if the misconduct outside the workplace poses a serious risk to the employer’s business.

  • In employment-at-will states, employers can terminate an employee for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all.
  • If an employment contract is in place, it likely outlines the specific types of conduct for which an employee can be terminated. So the rights and obligations of the employer and the employee are set contractually.

In many cases, though, no clear-cut guidelines can help determine the course of the action, especially for off-duty, private deeds with moral or political overtones that aren’t rightfully the company’s concern. However, the employer can terminate if the employer can establish a logical, if not obvious, connection between an egregious off-duty behavior having some bearing on their job (e.g., substance abuse that impairs the ability to perform work,) posing a reputational risk, damaging the employer’s interests, portrays the employer in a poor light (e.g., the employee was wearing a uniform or sporting the employer’s logo ) or is incompatible with the employee’s duty (e.g., a poorly worded social media post painting the employer or the industry in a poor light, or inciting hatred and hostility.) The devil is always in the detail.

Idea for Impact: Any out-of-hours misconduct with some sufficient or necessary association with the employment is grounds for termination. Best to know the employer’s policy on what makes up a breach of the company’s values, public position, and policies.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Fire Fast—It’s Heartless to Hang on to Bad Employees
  2. General Electric’s Jack Welch Identifies Four Types of Managers
  3. Can’t Ban Political Talk at Work
  4. What To Do If Your New Hire Is Underperforming
  5. How to Handle Employees who Moonlight

Inspirational Quotations #989

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As long as you think you are white, there is no hope for you. Because as long as you think you’re white, I’m forced to think I’m black.
—James Baldwin (American Novelist, Social Critic)

In life, as in chess, forethought wins.
—Charles Buxton (British Politician, Writer)

The brain is the palest of all the internal organs, and the heart the reddest. Whatever comes from the brain carries the hue of the place it came from, and whatever comes from the heart carries the heat and color of its birthplace.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (American Physician, Essayist)

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.
—Edmund Burke (British Philosopher, Statesman)

A work of art/a poem is never really finished, it is merely abandoned.
—Paul Valery (French Critic, Poet)

Prejudices are the reason of fools.
—Voltaire (French Philosopher, Author)

Grief should be the instructor of the wise: sorrow is knowledge; they who know the most must mourn the deepest o’er the fatal truth,—the tree of knowledge is not that of life.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (English Romantic Poet)

The present is not totally shaped by the past. In fact, the most important element shaping your present pleasure or pain is how you fashion, with your intentions in the present, the raw material provided by the past.
—Thanissaro Bhikkhu (American Buddhist Monk)

The Eskimo has fifty-two names for snow because it is important to them; there ought to be as many for love.
—Margaret Atwood (Canadian Author)

Everyone has the right to doubt everything as often as he pleases and the duty to do it at least once. No way of looking at things is too sacred to be reconsidered. No way of doing things is beyond improvement.
—Edward de Bono (British Psychologist, Writer)

Learning organizations are possible because not only is it our nature to learn but we love to learn.
—Peter Senge (American Management Consultant)

The passion between the sexes has appeared in every age to be so nearly the same, that it may always be considered, in algebraic language as a given quantity.
—Thomas Robert Malthus (English Political Economist)

The secret to living is giving.
—Tony Robbins (American Self-Help Author)