confidence Archives - 911�Թ�

Falling Through Two-Way Doors – Empowering Employees to Embrace Risk

Jason Beans — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 17:00:38 +0000

We live in a risk-adverse culture. I see this professionally and even at home with one of my young daughters. She’s talented in many areas, but she’s exceptionally hard on herself when she can’t accomplish something right away. In these situations, she becomes discouraged to the point she stops trying.

For a child, FAIL is nothing more than the “First Attempt In Learning.” As her father, it’s my responsibility to help her grow comfortable with failing so she can be the best version of herself.

Likewise, in business, one of the biggest mistakes I see talented people make in their careers is being afraid to fail. The prospect of failing is so intimidating, they pursue goals they are guaranteed to achieve rather than aim for more ambitious outcomes they could miss. They are so motivated to avoid error, they shortchange themselves and their colleagues, sacrificing creativity and ingenuity for the safety of the status quo.

To make any decision is to take a risk. Some percentage of our decisions will fail. According to JP Morgan’s Chief Marketing Officer, , “If you’re not failing, then you’re not learning.”

One of the best ways people can get comfortable making fast decisions is to focus on “two-way door” decisions making, rather than “one-way door” decision making. Jeff Wilke, Senior Vice President of Consumer Business at Amazon, does a great job the critical difference between these two: “A one-way door is a place with a decision if you walk through, and if you don’t like what you see on the other side, you can’t get back. You can’t get back to the initial state. A two-way door, you can walk through and can see what you find, and if you don’t like it, you can walk right back through the door and return to the state you had before.”

Two-way door decisions are reversible and therefore require less vetting. As Wilkes says, “Why would we need anything more than the lightest weight approval process for those two-way doors?” What applies for Amazon as an organization applies to people as well. Why worry too much if you can walk it back?

As a CEO, I encourage my employees to make two-way door decisions. This may take the form of releasing a software enhancement that can be rolled back, or piloting a program within a single department before implementing company-wide.

One-way door decisions require more thought and buy-in since they cannot be undone. Both decision types have the potential to yield great results, but one-way decisions risk greater repercussions if they are wrong and take greater care and vetting.

If fear of failure is hindering your organization’s ability to innovate or your personal ability to take risk in your life, consider using the concept of two-way door decision making. It is a safe, simple, smart way to open up your employees or yourself to the risk of failure, and, more importantly – the risk of success.

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The Joy of Hitting the Numbers

Jason Beans — Wed, 27 May 2015 20:06:00 +0000

I just started ANOTHER weight loss regimen.

It is tough for me. My lifestyle is inconsistent. I eat out and entertain A LOT. Last week, I had dinners planned for six nights in a row, not to mention business lunches. It takes a toll on the body. Still, I go up and down, and I need to figure out a way to maintain the same weight. I have young kids. I want to be around to know my grandchildren.

I jumped on the scale today and found that I dropped a good amount of weight yesterday. I have felt great all day. I’m motivated not to eat too much, and I’m dying to find the time to work out tonight after dinner.

Last weigh-in, I realized my weight had gone up. I was discouraged and drained for a while afterwards. I had no drive to work out or eat less.

It dawned on me how motivating success is. Hitting your goals and targets is self-fulfilling. You want to hit them again and again, and are excited when you do. Failure has the opposite effect. It is draining and demotivating. Failure begets more failure.

The key is, simply put, to START. The most successful people I know make it a part of their DNA to hit their metrics and goals. If they have a deadline, they make it—no excuses. Over time, they crave and expect that success, and achieving it becomes easier and easier. And they exude the energy and confidence that only comes with success.

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13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do

Jason Beans — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 15:46:00 +0000

I saw this and thought it was great. I’ve outlined these thirteen things and have included my own thoughts.

1. They Don’t Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves

Fair or unfair, it just doesn’t matter. I actually have no idea why people waste their time thinking about it. Why waste your time and energy on things you cannot control? Life is life, and it isn’t always fair. One thing I’ve realized is that every gift can make me soft if I don’t watch out and every challenge makes me stronger. Everything can be turned into a positive with the right attitude.

2. They Don’t Give Away Their Power

Nobody can control me, just like I can’t control others. All I can do is control my reaction to any situation. I own my own actions in every situation.

3. They Don’t Shy Away from Change

The only constant in life is change. The ability to adapt and learn new thing is required in life to be successful.

4. They Don’t Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control

This is one of the most important keys to success. By eliminating everything outside of your control and only focusing on what you can impact, decision making and resulting actions become much easier. See #2 above. All mental energy should only be put to what I can control. Everything else just “is,” and there is nothing I can do about it, so why worry.

5. They Don’t Worry About Pleasing Everyone

If you come from a good place, and are saying what people need to hear, how people react is not my issue, it is theirs. This was one of the hardest lessons for me to learn, but over the years I have come to understand that as long as my intentions are good, that is all I can control.

6. They Don’t Fear Taking Calculated Risks

I have had people be shocked at how conservative I am, while being a risk taker. To me it is all about the odds. I have faith in the product and my/our ability and will take risks (new products, starting 911�Թ�, etc.), but I never risk (1) more than I can afford to lose and (2) never do it where the projected outcome is not positive. For example, if we put $10,000 into a product that has a 10% change of making $1,000,000, this risk may be very likely to lose the $10,000 but the projected return is 10-1. These are odds I would likely take if we have cash and no better options. On the other hand, if cash is tight, I may choose to invest in a lower expected rate of return, with a much higher success rate. Calculated risk is required and good.

7. They Don’t Dwell on the Past

You cannot change the past so why waste energy on it (again, focus on what you can control, and the past is not part of that equation).Learn from the past, but don’t dwell on it. Mistakes are made by everyone who tries hard. Trying is necessary to achieve success. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Therefore, failure is required for success. You cannot change the past and mistakes in the past pave the way for success, so beat yourself up over it?

8. They Don’t Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over

I have always said, I do not mind people making mistakes. I want people making mistakes, or else it means they are not trying hard enough or looking for opportunities (aka – taking calculated risks). I have two rules. (1) The risk was made “trying” to do the right thing. There has to be good intention and a good thought process. (2) Don’t repeat the same mistake again. My reaction the first time is “let’s learn.” If it is done over and over, that is a signal of someone that does not care, or has an inability to learn.

9. They Don’t Resent Other People’s Success

This is the number one factor I see in people that are exceptionally successful versus those that are not. Are you a mountain climber or a king of the hill person? Let’s face it. You are who you hang out with. If you want to get ahead in life, and enjoy life to the fullest, you need people around you that will help you and root for you. To get those people in your life, you have to be one of those people. You have to help and root for them to be successful. That means your friends will do well, in fact, better than you at times. That makes me ecstatic. I am so happy for everyone who does well. I am inspired and challenged by them. I learn from them. I never ever, ever feel resentment. For that reason, I think successful people want me around. It is so rare for them to have people root and help them, they crave it. They in turn, often do the same for me. Mountain climbing is all about rooting for others’ success.

10. They Don’t Give Up After the First Failure

Thomas Edison said “Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” This is true. If you don’t fail, you have not tried hard enough. Think of anything in life. Lifting weights – you go until you fail, and you try the same weight again next week until you get it. If you quit, you never get stronger. Everything in life is the same way. Persistence is required to get ahead.

11. They Don’t Fear Alone Time

I need social time, but I also need quiet time. I recently re-learned this. I went on a 3 day fishing trip. I joined a trip in process. Nobody spoke (they had all worked together for a week before I got there – they had nothing left to say). I was going nuts for a while. Working on deck, cutting bait, etc. I could not hold still. Then, after about 8 hours I entered a trance state. I sat in the crow’s nest and watched the curvature of the earth (could see only the chimney of boats and eventually the whole boat appeared). I started seeing clearly solutions to issues that had bothered me. I saw where the market was going. I saw answers to how I wanted to raise my children. By the end of the 3 days, I came away with a very clear understanding of things to improve in life. I now try to create large periods of “white space” where I can let all the information I have absorbed bounce around in my head and fall into place.

12. They Don’t Feel the World Owes Them Anything

Entitlement is an evil, evil thing. I watch it creeping into our society and our culture every day. I want nothing more than the opportunity to prove my worth and be rewarded commiserate with my value. I only respect people that expect the same of themselves.

13. They Don’t Expect Immediate Results

911�Թ� is still working on items that I envisioned when we started it in 1999. Fourteen years later, and some of my vision is just NOW starting to get built out. This is the tip of the iceberg compared to where we can go (and the foundation). I still see years of work to get the foundation work done, no matter how I prioritize the projects. I know life, and client demands, will pull resources. I just need to make sure we are moving towards the long term ideal where we can change the world. It does not happen overnight and I cannot lose sight of what it can be.

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A Story About Persistence and a Great Attitude

Jason Beans — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:01:00 +0000

I love a great inspirational story. This was sent to me about Tom Stark, who I have had the pleasure of working with in the past.

He signed up for an Iron Man – when he didn’t know how to swim! His positive attitude, willingness to work hard, and desire to see things through to the end are demonstrated in his actions and his words.

We can all learn from stories like these. It has been proven over and over again that attitude can make all the difference in how you view life. Achievement, happiness, and health can all be impacted by a positive “can do” attitude. The exact same day can be great or terrible, all based on attitude. Something can seem impossible or be a “fun challenge,” all based on our attitude.

What is it you want to do, but don’t think you can? I know I am rethinking my self-imposed limitations after reading this story.

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Knowing How to Compliment

Jason Beans — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 16:12:00 +0000

I’ve always been fascinated by human nature, and determining what makes some people resilient and able to succeed, and what makes some unable to overcome these challenges. What is innate, what was conditioned from childhood and what can be improved in adults.

One area I have seen can be caused by well intended parents. For years, I’ve heard about the damage caused by over complimenting children. I now think the main issue is not the number of compliments, but rather it’s HOW the compliments are given.

In my mind, compliments can be divided into two buckets: Active State compliments and Static State compliments.

Compliments on “Active State ” items encourage kids to develop and evolve and get better (i.e. “great effort;” “way to face your fears;” “you must have worked hard;” “if you keep trying, you can do it.”) The compliments are based on elements the child can control (i.e. working hard, trying new things, overcoming failure.) These traits are helpful in every situation.

Compliments on “Static State ” items tell kids they are what they are, or compliment them based on the opinions of others. You are smart, pretty, etc. If they ever “are not” what they have been told, it crushes their perception of the world. If someone is prettier, their ego is shot because that is “who they are.” If they can’t do something well, they just aren’t smart, and that’s the end of the story. Their ability is static. It is or it is not. They do not actively control it, therefore there is no point in trying to influence the outcome.

This really shows how powerful knowing this is to your children’s success and well-being.

If you are an adult, and you find yourself afraid or unwilling to try new things, think about your childhood. Was the praise you received active or static? You may have had a lot of static state compliments in your childhood, with your parents trying to build you up. Just being aware may give you the confidence to try new situations where you won’t be “great” right away.

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