Be Your Best

Completing the Triathlon – Triathlon Dad with My 2 Daughters

I recently completed my first Triathlon event.  Back in February, I wrote down two related goals, one short-term, and one long-term.  The first was ‘complete a Triathlon event by June, 2010’ and the second was ‘complete the Iron Man Triathlon before I die’.  Once the goals were set, I immediately created a plan to accomplish the short term goal.  Step 1: Buy book on how to train for a Triathlon, Step 2: Read book, etc….  It all came together in the end, and I finished the race respectably well for my age group.  What I noticed along the 12 week journey of preparing for the race as well as during the race itself is a multitude of hurdles and ‘roadblocks’ that popped up along the way.  You have your plan mapped out in your head or on paper on how its going to get done, but then ‘issues’ come up, many not anticipated.  Not to bore you with all the various issues that came up, but the point is that big success comes from those people that have the mindset of being 100% clear and unwavering (rigid) about their goal, but are extremely flexible about how they achieve the goal.  This is something that I picked up from business excellence author Brian Tracey and I relate well to it in almost everything I do and every goal I set.

In other words, a great plan is a good thing to have, but superior results and exceeding your goals come from being flexible enough to recognize and act on opportunities that come up when you hit the snag(s).  There is a principle that was developed by scientist and philosopher Buckminster Fuller years ago, called the Theory of Precession or also referred to as the Corridor Principle, that describes this phenomenon.  Basically, the principle says that once you set your goal, whatever that is, you have a general plan in mind or route of how to achieve it.  You begin heading down that ‘corridor’ path, but you will inevitably hit a wall or roadblock.  When you hit this wall, and sometimes only when you do come to an obstacle, a new ‘door’ (or more than one) will become visible, which you can go through and continue on towards your goal.  If you are flexible and understanding of this concept, these new doors, or opportunities, are many times much better and stronger than what you had in mind on the original plan.  These new ideas or directions can only be exposed if: a) you set your goal, take action, and head off in the direction of your goal, and b) you are flexible and open minded in order to take advantage of or see this new ‘door’.  This process can happen many times on the way toward achieving a goal, as was the case with my Triathlon both before and during the race.  Another powerful concept that Brian Tracey teaches is that ‘There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.’  When you hit the wall, it can be immediately thought of as failure.  But in applying the Corridor Principle, the wall or roadblock is only ‘feedback’.  Listen to the feedback and head through a new door.

Mind Storming—it is a cool technique that I learned recently, that has some very powerful capabilities.  It is a simple process that forces great answers and ideas to tough issues.  Contrasted with Brainstorming, this is a process that you do yourself.  If you have the discipline to carry it out, it’s a process that can yield tremendous value over and over.  First, you take a problem or issue or goal that you have, and you convert that problem/issue/goal into a question, which looks like “What action will solve this _____________ problem?” or “What is the single most important idea to be implemented in order to meet this __________ goal?”  Then, write that question at the top of a piece of paper.  Then, you must come up with 20 good answers to that question and write them down below the question.  The first 3-5 ideas will likely come easily.  The next 10 will be harder, and the last 5 or so will be tough.  Gut it out and get to 20 (part of the secret sauce of this technique:  some of the very best ideas can be in the 10-20 group).  Then, go back through those 20 and pick out the 2-3 that have the best ROI for success.  Then, you can repeat this process with those few that you have selected.  This is great approach I picked up from Brian Tracey, and is a great tool to apply for any issue at work or in your personal life.  It sure seems like if a bunch of people used this Mind Storming process to address the Gulf Oil Spill, would we not be able to come up with a faster solution to the problem?  This technique can definitely be used to generate more cost savings, more quickly solve problems, or help you achieve other important goals in your business.

Be Your Best,
Todd Gifford