12 - We Think About and Get Right to the Heart of the Matter - Value
~ We Think About and Get Right to the Heart of the Matter - Value ~
###Our actions get right to the heart of the matter. We do this by determining what matters and focusing our work on what matters. We do not meander on topics of little relevance or impact. We don’t waste time discussing what matters with those that do not know or cannot influence the outcome. We rely on our willingness and drive to ask the TOUGH but RIGHT questions of the RIGHT PEOPLE. We relish in the discomfort asking, knowing that this discomfort means we are RIGHT ON POINT.
We must protect our precious time and attention. There are endless rabbit holes we can jump into. Endless traps and dead ends that we can succumb to. We know them well: fruitless minutia, blaming others, misdirection, downplaying significance, rationalizing the risk of scope creep, rationalizing we do not have the time! We must protect ourselves from succumbing to these traps!
Our willingness to jump into these rabbit holes and potential traps is a testament to our intellectual curiosity. They quench our thirst to understand the inner workings of the topic at hand and the different perceptions of others on these topics. It provides a venue for us to reason about our response to our learnings. It’s not a bad thing to do. It’s a good habit, and most times it is necessary. Even more important, its good to be aware that you are in the rabbit hole, in the maze of endless dead ends and traps. It’s a good place to be. Its an opportunity to learn, think. Thus we enjoy being there, we are master navigators, and we navigate well.
And from this new learning, and our thinking, we respond appropriately in a manner that is aligned with our principle, and thus our purpose.
The Purpose: TO GET TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER. Thus we must keep that purpose in mind. THE HEART OF THE MATTER. We get it the heart by asking TOUGH QUESTIONS. Those questions that come to your mind along with a bitten lip. WE ASK THEM. WE KEEP ASKING. Then, as soon as we’ve identified the heart, we extract ourselves from the minutia. We re-focus our concentrated attention to the heart of the matter.
How do we know its the heart of the matter? It’s a feeling that arises. It’s the fruit that comes out of our relentless pursuit of truth, from our relentless pursuit of the heart. We know we’ve arrived because we’ve navigated the maze. We turned over all of the relevant stones. We asked TOUGH QUESTIONS. We’ve listened to the views of others, we’ve pondered and contemplated them against our knowledge and thinking, and out of this came an amazing thing: THE HEART OF THE MATTER.
This is no time to relax. We build on this discovery by sharing it. We also build on this discovery by asking more TOUGH QUESTIONS unearthed from the prior questions. Those questions that bring butterflies. Those question that get people to lean back in their chairs. Those questions that once released bring silences to the airwaves. We think about the questions to ask, and we ask them. We LEAN IN and ASK.
We love this principle. It’s the nucleus of the value we add to the organization. Without it, we risk falling into the inertia of the status quo, where taboo problems continue perpetually.
Let’s seek discomfort. When we find it, embrace it. We are where we need to be.