Communication
Sarah Shuel
Change: Alter, Transform and Switch; To Become ...

: to make different in some particular : ALTER

: to make radically different : TRANSFORM

: to make a shift from one to another : SWITCH

: to become different

Ahh yes: “Alter, transform and switch, to become different’’.....these words resonate a lot in FIG’s evolution, we’re excited about a little bit of change (and a little apprehensive if we’re being honest!).

Change: Alter, Transform and Switch; To Become Different
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Technology Addiction: Yes, It's a Thing...

In her Wall Street Journal article: Digital Addictions Are Drowning Us in Dopamine, Dr, Lembke, a Stamford University professor and psychiatrist, talks about the scientific biological effects of addictions to our devices. It’s real folks. This is not FIG banging the drum of putting down our phones or any other technological apparatus and talking or connecting with our fellow human beings. No. This is concrete, physiological, measurable, science based fact that continuously interacting with our high-tech electronic leashes, gaming apparatuses and social media actually, physically, alters our brains to crave more of it, thereby de-incentivising us to engage with others on a human level.

Gasp, shock and awe!

Technology Addiction: Yes, It's a Thing...
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Mistakes: Perfectly Human

Mistakes. We all make them, we’re human beings and by definition 99.9% imperfect (with apologies to those of you who think otherwise), which results in, guess what? Mistakes (we make them hourly at FIG)! That gaffes, miscalculations and oversights are a part of our collective experience on this earth. Why (on earth!) is it so hard to admit to making mistakes, take responsibility for these human aberrations and move on after making a miscalculation or error? Hmmmm?

Mistakes: Perfectly Human
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Habits: The Good, The Bad, and the Intangible

We all have habits - some serve us well and some get in our way…...Google states: “A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.” Establishing a habit usually takes about two weeks to become routine and is subsequently supported and reinforced by practicing it daily.

Habits: The Good, The Bad, and the Intangible
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Life Happens

Ever had a “Monday” on any day of the week? Ever had your day perfectly planned, scheduled and organized only to have all your intended “to-do’s”: meetings, calls, oh yeah, actual “work,” utterly blown up by an unexpected interruption, complication, interference? Ever had someone insert themselves into your day with their drama, troubles or lack of planning (real or self-inflicted), requiring you to shelve your carefully laid out day(s) and requiring you to stop whatever you’re doing for their fire drill?

Yeah, us too.

Life Happens

office culture

Life Happens

Life Happens

Ever had a “Monday” on any day of the week? Ever had your day perfectly planned, scheduled and organized only to have all your intended “to-do’s”: meetings, calls, oh yeah, actual “work,” utterly blown up by an unexpected interruption, complication, interference? Ever had someone insert themselves into your day with their drama, troubles or lack of planning (real or self-inflicted), requiring you to shelve your carefully laid out day(s) and requiring you to stop whatever you’re doing for their fire drill?

Yeah, us too.

It's True: Practice Makes Perfect

It's True: Practice Makes Perfect

Practice: Another one of those words we throw around theoretically a lot. We talk often about “practice” in this space, but we thought we’d break it down to brass tacks and talk about what it means in form and execution. Not necessarily the sexiest topic in the world, as it probably throws us back to tedious hours practing our piano scales or long hours in the hot sun at soccer practice - but it’s really really important nonetheless, especially in today’s fast-paced world, where we barely have time to think and where the expectation of immediate gratification is so rampant. That frankly odious statement, “practice makes perfect,” is in fact true - and we’re forgetting to do it with our professional relationships.

SO - why is practice so important? Well, in business, connecting, maintaining, sustaining and nurturing relationships is an indisputable necessity. Business is done because of relationships - full stop. Sadly, we have become complacent in remembering the importance of our colleagues to our businesses, deferring to connecting on social media or quick emails to stay caught up with their lives - which is a woeful substitute to actually, really and truly knowing someone. Media is one-dimensional. Humans are very very multidimensional. Letting ourselves be known can be scary, for sure! It requires some vulnerability in allowing the other to know us, and some curiosity on our part to know them: our integrity, our beliefs, what we stand for professionally, are we reliable, dependable, patient, pleasant, fun, maybe funny? Smart? Someone they’d like to do business with? Someone they feel comfortable inviting to their networks? Someone they wouldn’t hesitate to pick up the phone to refer a colleague to? If we all can agree that these relationships are important in business, then why are we talking about practice?

It All Comes Back to Fear & Love

It All Comes Back to Fear & Love

Yep. We’re going to say it again: we don’t stop being human beings when we become employees (as a gentle reminder).

As humans, we all have emotions, which can sometimes manifest in some questionable approaches to employee to employee, supervisor to employee, and employee to supervisor behaviors, interactions, and exchanges. Have you noticed? As we’re fond of saying, there’s a reason for everything: emotions can get in the way of effective, concise and direct communication, which can then lead to our work environment becoming a place where feelings guide the professional space as opposed to thoughtful, intellectual, rational and intentional goals aimed at a common purpose and directive. Feelings can be illogical, mercurial, random and often incomprehensible. It’s just part of being human. As employees, however, we really need to be mindful of how feelings are very different from rational thought. Feelings are not analytical, impartial or judicious, all characteristics of a well run business.

The thing is (and not going all “kumbaya let’s give one another a hug” here), every single human emotion can be boiled down to two fundamental emotional sources: love and fear.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross says: “There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt.” (OK, a little kumbaya. To add a bit of gravitas, The Atlantic and The Harvard Business Review among others, have published articles discussing love and fear in business, but you take our meaning).

SO. How do these two disparate emotions manifest at work?

The Three Why's of Wisdom

The Three Why's of Wisdom

We recently listened to a TED talk by Ricardo Semler (FIG’s new hero!) and were blown away by the parallels to something we’ve talked about in past offerings rather a lot. He believes that if “we simply ask why we do things and devolve power to employees, we’re able to to create wiser companies - ones that are simultaneously more productive and have a happier workforce.” In the talk, he discusses the 3 “whys” we as professionals ought to be asking ourselves. He says “the first “why”: you always have a good answer for. The second “why”: it starts getting difficult. By the third “why”: you don't really know why you're doing what you're doing.

Ahh yes, that elusive “WHY!” Why is “why” so important? One of the most pervasive questions we received developing FIG 6 years ago was, “What’s your “why”’ for starting this thing? It’s an important inquiry, and one which has taken a ton of intentional introspection, thought and time to answer. It’s an evolutionary process that has expanded in nuance as FIG has matured; But enough about our company. Let’s dig in and talk about “why,” shall we?

Are We Showing Enough Gratitude?

Are We Showing Enough Gratitude?

Are we?

I had a dental appointment recently, and, per usual, the office called the day before to confirm I’d be there for their scheduling purposes. When I called back to confirm, the scheduler said “THANK YOU so much for calling back!” with so much gratitude in her voice it made me wonder if I was unusual in my response. As it turns out, I was. When I went in, I asked her about it and she told me that most patients never bothered to verify their appointments and she was so grateful that I had. It was a tiny exchange, but her reaction was so notable it got us thinking: are we showing enough gratitude in our daily lives and in business specifically? Apparently not…..

Relationships involve gratitude - relationships in business especially. According to Google dictionary, the definition of gratitude is: “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” Alfred North Whitehead said “No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.”

Indeed.

We’re human beings going to work. The business-savvy and generous among us recognize that there are unspoken yet patently understood rules, standards and norms in helping our colleagues succeed, a quid pro quo if you like. If we can make someone’s day easier by returning a phone call, of course we're going to! If we know a colleague is facing a challenge and are able to make an introduction to another professional who might be able to help, of course we’ll make that introduction. If we know two people who might be terrific networking referrals for one another, of course we’ll facilitate that encounter. Won’t we?

Not Responding and The Clear Message it Sends

Not Responding and The Clear Message it Sends

In our fast paced business world (which seems oddly even more busy tethered to our computers instead of traveling to meetings and commitments), it’s SO easy to become mired in the singularly focused worlds of what we do, how we plan our days, what we want/need to accomplish by what time and who we need when we need them. Makes sense. We need to get stuff done, and in our currently remote situation, which hopefully will end very soon, this is even more challenging: deadlines, Zoom calls, business development, responding to immediate needs of our colleagues, personal life challenges of homeschooling kiddos, designating work spaces, and maintaining home and hearth. It’s a lot, absolutely no question.

We’re humans working with humans, each with our own lens and view on any given situation and interaction. Do we take the time to think about how our actions or inactions affect others? They are certainly easy to forget, particularly in our “home bubbles.” without the personal, non-verbal cues that we receive by being present together in an office, that our actions, inactions, responses, and non responses, do in fact affect others, and that there’s a concept called “common courtesy” that we sometimes forget in our busy lives.

"Give a Man a Fish..."

"Give a Man a Fish..."

“…..and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you've fed him for a lifetime."

Confucius.


Overstating the obvious, Confucius was a smart guy.


Torturing the fishing metaphor a bit: learning to set a hook, choosing or making bait, the art of casting, reeling, landing, cleaning and filleting a fish all are easy skills to write down, but in practice, take an enormous amount of time, tutelage, patience, practice and more practice. We don’t become mature, capable anglers without first sticking ourselves with an errant hook, get grossed out by baiting a hook with a worm, losing a fish on the line or winding up falling in the water. Right? Then we land our first one! And we replay the experience in our heads: what worked? The bait? The location? Time of day? How can we replicate what worked so we can catch another and another and another to feed ourselves for a lifetime?

There's a Reason for Everything....

There's a Reason for Everything....

There’s a Reason for Everything...

Bold statement but true - especially regarding human employee interactions at work. However, most issues, struggles, and conflicts in the workplace are human in nature. So where is the overlap between human beings and employees?

Professional protocol is a necessary component in any organization and needs to be universally adopted by employees in order to have a cohesive expectation of performance and business. Agreed-upon standards like work product, conduct, wardrobing (dress codes) and mission statements provide an overall unified expectation of “professionalism.”

However, having these protocols does not mean we stop being human beings when we become employees.

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Top 8 Office Faux-Pas

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Top 8 Office Faux-Pas

When working in an office environment, it’s easy to take the passive approach, especially when it comes to building professional relationships. Technology has made it effortless to avoid any human interaction at all in the workplace - a fact that can be crippling for office workflow, happiness, and employee longevity. Here are 8 office faux-pas that can be fixed quickly to improve office communication and make a big difference in how employees construct and maintain both personal and professional relationships.

FIG Book Club: September Recommended Reading

FIG Book Club: September Recommended Reading

Welcome to the FIG Book Club!

Welcome to Future Image Group’s Book Club! Every month, we’ll recommend a book, abstract, or research paper related to personal and professional development in the workplace (which, in turn, is also related to the development of social skills and more meaningful personal relationships).  We hope you enjoy – and we’d love to hear your recommendations for books that have helped you or given you some insight on your own journey of professional or personal social development.