Two heads are better than one!

Habit 6: Synergize: Principles of Creative Cooperation

It AMAZES me that since I have started this blog situations have been arising in my life that proceed me writing about the next habit. For example:

Habit 1 : Be Proactive - I felt the need to start this blog.
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind - This blog came just before New Years at a time of year when I stop and take stock in what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year.
Habit 3: Put First Things First - The week before this blog I did some soul searching about what was important in my life, then went to write the blog...wow...1st things 1st.
Habit 4: Think Win-Win - Around this time life asked me some challenging questions regarding dealing with new relationships as well as old ones...then on Martin Luther King Day, when most of North America is thinking about MLK's visions of peaceful coexistence, blamo Think Win/Win.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood - Then last week when I was coming to a head about not being understood... Habit #5 was there to be written about.

LOL...it's even happening right now. I just got a Blackberry Message asking me if I need help with my driveway shoveling, and a little while ago I read an article about getting others to participate in my social media... The idea of synergy has been in my head for the last few days! To be completely honest, as I sat down to write this blog today, I had forgotten what this habit was about, and there it was, the very idea that had been floating around in my brain for the last few days!

Let's get a little help from Stephen himself to tell the story of Habit 6.
(This excerpt is from https://www.stephencovey.com/)

"Habit 6: Synergize - To put it simply, synergy means "two heads are better than one." Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation. It is teamwork, open-mindedness, and the adventure of finding new solutions to old problems. But it doesn't just happen on its own. It's a process, and through that process, people bring all their personal experience and expertise to the table. Together, they can produce far better results that they could individually. Synergy lets us discover jointly things we are much less likely to discover by ourselves. It is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. One plus one equals three, or six, or sixty--you name it.

When people begin to interact together genuinely, and they're open to each other's influence, they begin to gain new insight. The capability of inventing new approaches is increased exponentially because of differences.

Valuing differences is what really drives synergy. Do you truly value the mental, emotional, and psychological differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you so you could all get along? Many people mistake uniformity for unity; sameness for oneness. One word--boring! Differences should be seen as strengths, not weaknesses. They add zest to life."

In the spirit of Synergy I am cordially inviting your questions and comments!! As we are nearing the end of the 7 habits I will require new topics to discuss. PLEASE let me know what's on your mind!

ALSO....

Feel free to  @ProAdventurer

As well on my Facebook fanpage Adventures with Johnny O.

Thanks,
Johnny O.

P.s. - This link has nothing to do with Synergy... It's just a F*#kin' cool song I heard today!!

DO NOT READ THIS BLOG...and if you do, don't understand it!!!

As I was pondering what to do for my next blog(this one) the other night I was going over some things in my head. I had a few ideas about February being the shortest month, Groundhogs Day, even one about religious intolerance. As I thought the ideas over I kept coming back to something a friend of mine had said to me earlier in the week. Their comment was that many times my communications, usually emails, are complicated, hard to understand, and/or not simple enough. This troubled me because when communicating with people I make a special effort to be as concise as possible. Using lists and bullet points, drawing on tools that I have learned from researching about communications, marketing, psychology etc. One thing I have learned over my life is that ultimately the question that works best here is not if this statement is true or not. Rather, why would this person make the effort to mention this to me, and also is it something worth changing?

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood - Principles of Mutual Understanding

Take a moment and read the following link:
https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit5.php

Good.... Now that you have read it. Please take a minute and think about it and try to understand where he is coming from. What was the result? The bottom line is that most people hear what others have to say and rarely listen, or in the case of email, see/read and rarely comprehend.

Now lets go back to my situation at the top. In this particular case my friend was addressing a particular problem I have been having where people haven't been reading "important" emails that I had been sending out that involve their future. Why would he make the comment? He was trying to help. Thanks!! Everybody could use some help. Drawing on his life experiences and giving me the best advice he knew to give.  Will I bother to change my email style... probably not and if I do it will only be slightly. Why? because the real question I was asking for help with was not how to convey the information better, instead it was how to make people more interested. See... he listened, and did not understand!

The 5th Habit, gave me the advice I was looking for.  I don't understand what they want...It's that simple!!
Even though I had taken the time to hear them out in the past. I had not listened to what they where saying. The comforting part from the 5th habit, is that I am not alone. Everybody does it. Even highly effective people from time to time forget to listen first.

How about a few examples of where listening 1st works:

1. Surveys - Companies use surveys all the time to find out out what people want before they provide them with goods or services.
2. Instruction Manuals - Understanding the instructions before you use an item...despite what many people think, always works best(As long as they are in a language you understand).
3. Waitress/Waiter - Imagine if your server came and told you what you wanted. 1st they listen, then take the order. Here is a little tip(no pun intended)... It has been statistically proven that Wait staff that repeat the order back to the customers, showing the customer they heard and understood them, get bigger tips than those that solely take the order. 

The irony here is that most of you people have read this blog and won`t take the time to understand it ;-)

Best of luck,
Johnny O.

P.s. - One thing I don't understand is...how do I get more comments on these blogs!?!?!
P.s.s. - What's so funny about peace, love, and UNDERSTANDING!?!

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Feel free to follow me on Instagram @JMOproadventurer

As well on my recently updated website https://johnmolivero.com/