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 have the intention to 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 people that do not know or cannot influence the outcome we are looking for. We rely on our willingness and drive to ask TOUGH, but RIGHT questions of the RIGHT PEOPLE. We relish in the discomfort asking, knowing that this discomfort means we are RIGHT ON POINT. And we EXPECT PROPER ANSWERS. We will keep asking until we receive the right answers.

Our time is limited. So we must protect our precious time and attention. There are endless rabbit holes we can jump into. Endless traps and dead ends that will eat our time. 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!

Not all “rabbit holes” are bad. 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 an area and to determine the most value added response. What’s necessary is that you remain aware that you are in the rabbit hole, in the maze of minutia, and you must jump out with the relevant knowledge to make the next decision. It’s a good place to visit. Its an opportunity to learn, think. Thus we enjoy being there, we are master navigators, and we navigate well, finding the juicy nuggets of information necessary to plot our next step.

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 learning what is necessary, and then asking TOUGH QUESTIONS. Those questions that come to your mind along with a bitten lip. WE ASK THEM. WE KEEP ASKING. . We constantly and re-focus and aim our concentrated attention to the heart of the matter.

How do we know it’s the heart of the matter? It’s a feeling that arises. There is a certain energy behind it. It’s an energy that is shared amongst many people we discuss the topic with. The core problem becomes perfectly framed. A consensus and passionate desire arises to take action to improve the firm. It’s the fruit that comes out of our relentless pursuit of truth, from our relentless pursuit of the heart of the matter. 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, we sparked an incredible understanding and passion, and out of this came an amazing thing: THE HEART OF THE MATTER.

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.

The world is always changing. Organizations must also change. People like safety. They love to anchor down into routine.

WE FIGURE OUT WHERE WE NEED TO ROCK THE BOAT, AND WE ROCK IT.

Let’s seek discomfort. When we find it, embrace it. We are where we need to be.