“You can ask people for advice, but in the end only you have the answer. Start the year on the right foot by resolving to make the best decisions,” according to Jac Fitz-enz. Here is an excerpt from an article written by him for Talent Management magazine. To read the complete article, check out all the resources, and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here.
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We all need help at one time or another, and there is no shortage of people and companies who are happy to give advice. Some, like your mother, are willing to take over your life and tell you what to do all the time — “You’re not going to wear that, are you?”
It is the same in other aspects of work and play. I am an avid golfer, and golf has more advice givers than any other game. Magazines and books galore offer the secret to longer drives, crisper irons and deadlier putts. Equipment vendors overwhelm us with ads for balls that fly farther, clubs that cure faults and gadgets that we can wrap around just about every part of our body to enhance our swing.
The story is similar in business. Writers and consultants tell us about the eight best practices, the secrets of leadership and seven things every successful manager knows. This arena is more important than golf, yet there is a saying among golfers, “A bad day on the course is better than a good day in the office.”
What is the secret, who’s got it and how do you get it? The problem with the best way to do something is that every time you go to do it the circumstances are different. As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus pointed out, “You never step in the same river twice.” Again, in golf you never hit the same shot twice because all conditions — weather, ball location, pin placement and yourself — are constantly changing. In a company, every day is different due to people, goals, deadlines and reorganizations. So, if change is constant, how can there be a best way?
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To read the complete article, please click here.