#ThoughtsFromTerry Dispatch w.32.2018
Dispatch w.32.2018
Tuesday I had the opportunity to speak with a few of my digerati teams (Open, Interactive, & Engineering (ION). IO has regular sessions where they invite different leaders and speakers to come in and cover a specific topic, and I was asked to bring some thoughts around “decision making”. So, when Nick popped in late last week and gave me the topic, I loved it...jotted down 3 words that immediately came to mind and never thought about it again until the talk on Tuesday.
This is not really formatted for reading...these are just my modified notes as well as notes from Ben, Lacy, Brandon, and Cameron. Thanks, guys! We also had a camera rolling if you want to watch the video, here ya go.
DECISION MAKING
Wikipedia:
Decision-making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values, preferences, and beliefs of the decision-maker.
Never forget that your values, preferences, and beliefs are what drive your decisions. Every decision that you have ever made has been your decision. You and I need to own that fact and understand we are the chief decision maker of ourselves. Knowing that ask yourself these questions:
Are you pleased with your quick responses in the moment?
Does your gut response reflect your stated values?
Under stress, or high speed are your responses different?
Realizing how critical our values, beliefs, and preferences are to decision making, we must understand our number one responsibility is staying connected to Christ. We must have a solid foundation with Christ, driven and guided by the Spirit to become a great decision maker. I like to remember Romans 12, and the renewing of our mind. One way to think about this was put by John Piper - The Spirit within and the Word from without is the way to renew our mind.
The most important thing is our relationship with Christ – it guides and drives everything
The smallest decisions right in front of you have the opportunity to result in the biggest impact over time. Choose wisely. #decisionmaking
The three things I jotted down.
1- What problem are we trying to solve?
This has become a driving question for me in just about every situation, and every meeting. As an intuitive thinker naturally, this question drives me back to the concrete and what is known. Also, this pushes us back to mission and vision, or at least it should. If we follow this question all that way back - and we don’t find ourselves at the center of our mission then we need to call that out. Do not be afraid to pivot or stop if you discover the problem you are trying to solve does not align with the mission.
For you Myers Briggs types, this is the Z methodology in Type II. The problem-solving method goes back to the “S”, the known, concrete, the “what is.”
2- Clarity
The smartest people in the room are the ones asking the most questions. However, I have found our pride can often get in the way of seeking clarity. We can find ourselves trying to protect our image or the perception of our knowledge and not ask critical and clarifying questions. It’s those missing details that lead to assumptions, and assumptions lead to terrible decisions.
Great decision making requires extreme clarity.
3- Start
Start. Act. Move forward! This is important for the audience I spoke to because they are a very strategic team. With that in mind, as a strategic thinker, the key is starting, and acting on the information you have and trusting and knowing you will continue to research and learn along the way. I have personally found this to be so important as a strategic thinker because my nature drives me to want to have everything figured out, the full picture solved...then I will start. This is the Achilles Heal of the strategic thinker. You must start, and move beyond what you don’t know and solve the known problems that you have in front of you. When we are in sync with Christ, and His guidance we can start, and lean on Him and not our own understanding.
Something will never be sustained in the long-term if it isn’t first started.
Lastly:
Once you make a decision, go back and be honest with yourself—own your decision.
Do your own retrospective:
Was that a good decision?
What trips me up with making decisions?
Who is really good at this that I can learn from?
Know yourself and how you are wired. Be willing to push toward what’s not natural.
The great IO teams! Made with Bible Lens
RECOMMENDED WEEKEND READING
ABC Healthcare Venture
Earlier this year, Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway), and Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan Chase) announced a joint venture to tackle healthcare costs. This article does a good job describing the state of healthcare and a possible direction and plan ABC has to tackle this major issue that plagues the US currently.
I predict ABC Health’s ultimate vision is to create a nationwide insurer that can service an entire nation’s employers and consumers. Much like how 64% of US households are Amazon Prime members, ABC Health hopes to build a payer system that the majority of US households will subscribe to. - Allen Cheng
https://www.allencheng.com/buffett-bezos-dimon-gawande-healthcare-strategy/
Musk taking Tesla private
Musk is a unique character; a founder, leader, and visionary like none other. His latest comments and antics caught some by surprise...but others see this just as typical Musk.
Saudi Arabia and China have taken significant ownership in Tesla stock these last few days and months...it will be fascinating to see where Musk takes this.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-musk/tesla-board-evaluating-ceo-musks-idea-to-take-company-private-idUSKBN1KT1M8
! ! ! THANK YOU ! ! !
Bible Lens launched about a week ago, and you were HUGE help! Because of your assistance, we saw Bible Lens climb to the #2 overall free app in the Apple App Store.
Here is a nice article from Christian Post about the launch.
Please know we are working hard to launch Bible Lens for Android by the end of the month. We have some significant hurdles to overcome, but we have our best on it. We covet your prayers and continued support.