Global Creative

Covey’s Seven Habits Deciphered.

Habit 1  - Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Choice (Part II)

Circle of Influence/Circle of Concern

Covey distinguishes the Circle of Influence (the focus of proactive people) and the Circle of Concern (the focus of reactive people) suggesting individuals can freely and willfully choose one or the other.  This is absolutely true but for the individual with ADHD the choice is not always so cut and dry.

Covey defines the Circle of Influence as “things we can do something about: health, children, problems at work”.  He defines the Circle of Concern as “things over which we have little or no control: the national debt, terrorism, the weather”.

Serenity Prayer

It seems as if Covey has drawn inspiration from the Serenity Prayer which in the final line speaks to the having the wisdom of distinguishing what one can and cannot control.  In highly dynamic settings with wavering attention systems and fallible memories, GC’s can lose sight of their Circle of Influence and wander into regions beyond their control.  In making far reaching connections the global brain does not always discern subtle boundaries.  I’m not talking about wandering from problems at work to terrorism.  I’m talking about highly complex work projects with multiple team members and infinite possible outcomes.  In the midst of numerous exchanges (through phone, email and meetings), it is easy to lose sight of our own priorities and wander into someone else’s especially if they are in our area of expertise.

Regarding the Circle of Concern, with a lifetime of struggle and inaccurate information as to the cause of those struggles an individual with undiagnosed ADHD will tend to fill in the blank with self-damning self talk.  ANTS (Automatic Negative Self Talk) can keep us camped out in the Circle of Concern indefinitely.  In addition, a global creative responder can develop a nasty rescuer identity.  In part because the clarity for them is outside their own brain but unfortunately beyond their own Circle of Influence (notice how it’s easier to look at other people’s problems?).

Covey is right that every moment provides a new choice.  When we can get objective about our areas of influence and concern and recognize the triggers associated with them then we move a step closer to intentional choice.

Strategies

Identifying and Remembering the Remind the Brain of our Circle of Influence is a regular exercise for the successful GC.

Just as there is a proactive posture, Covey speaks of a proactive language.  Notice your language.  It doesn’t have to all be proactive.  What’s more useful is consistent accurate language.

“I have been successful here in the past, I will be again”.

Spend time getting strategic (reflective)about your choices.  The idea of intentional choice is really resonating with me.  With this consider two perspectives:

The absence of completion (consequences) – “What happens if I don’t complete this?”

The presence of completion (opportunities and payoff)- “What happens if I do complete this?”

Awareness is the starting point to developing better proactive habits.

Cameron Gott, PCC

ADHD Coach

DC, Virginia and the World

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Covey’s Seven Habits Deciphered.

Habit 1 - Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Choice

In Habit 1, Covey espouses the importance of personal choice, distinguishing a proactive life full of responsibility and choice from a reactive life full of blame and struggle.  Certainly we all need to take responsibility for our lives but for the Global Creative with ADD, a posture of choice and pro-activity can be challenging to sustain.

I’d like to address two areas Covey suggests we need to move away from – being reactive and focusing on the “Circle of Concern”.

First a word about being reactive.

Global Creatives are not reactive out of choice but more out of necessity.  “Being Proactive” requires an ability to build and sustain structure to operate through – to make plans, map visions and goals, and execute consistently.  The primary ingredient for building structure is time. Like a master woodworker’s intimate knowledge of his wood medium, building structure requires intimate knowledge of the chararistics of time – how it moves, how it works and how it doesn’t work.  For innovative ADD individuals with their global (non-sequential) processing preferences, time (the definition of sequential) is like running water always slipping away.  So building and sustaining structure is extremely difficult for the non-practiced GC, especially when dealing with overwhelm.

Our creative approach to getting things done is to set up structures outside ourselves so all we have to do is respond or react to make things happen.  Where GC’s get in trouble is not always being proactive about the things we respond to. This is when a Global Creative can fall prey to the “latest and loudest”.  Worse yet, GC’s are allowing others to prioritize their daily action items.  How often do you look at your email first thing in the morning?  And yet you have plenty of important items to address.

Event Planner

A useful intervention is to develop short but effective proactive planning sessions mapping out structure points or events to react to.  A good friend of mine first signs up for a triathlon (the event) then begins to train.  The key is to stake the event far enough in advance and chip away at the preparation.  Likewise with work projects, staking events such as planning meetings with colleagues on a regular basis can create some necessary structure and accountability to get the task done (and you get credit for being the proactive one setting up the meetings!).

Proactive Posture

Remembering to remind the brain (R of REBEL) of a proactive posture can be helpful too.  GC’s can easily slip into a reactive posture on their heels playing defense and waiting for the next input to respond to.  This posture or stance can lull one into a false sense of general contentment.  Noticing your posture and shifting into a more proactive one can be encouraged by simple questions and our old friend the Fire Chief.

• What do I need?
• What may I be missing? (What do I not know?)
• What do I know?
• Who can I tap?
• What does a proactive stance look like here?

Next week we take a look at “Circle of Concern” stuff.  If you have time brush up on the Serenity Prayer.

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

Washington DC, Virginia and the World

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Global Creatives love their gurus especially productivity gurus like Stephen Covey and David Allen of GTD fame.

We especially love their elegant yet simple principles for greater productivity (and happiness).  Yet with that love comes a raw frustration, too.  Take Covey’s 7 Habits.  Nothing makes more sense to an innovator with ADD yet is so challenging to consistently implement.  Ever wonder why?

Here they are as a refresher.

• Habit 1: Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Choice
• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Vision
• Habit 3: Put First Things First: Principles of Integrity & Execution
• Habit 4: Think Win/Win: Principles of Mutual Benefit
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood: Principles of Mutual Understanding
• Habit 6: Synergize: Principles of Creative Cooperation
• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal of body

From Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Would you believe that ADD disrupts the development and implementation of every single habit from Covey’s list?

Every single habit!

Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at each habit, how ADD throws a wrench into the game and more importantly what a global creative can actively do to neutralize the negative effects.

In addition, I will introduce a new category called “Guru Talk” where I translate guru principles and suggestions so we can consider them with ADD in mind.

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

Washington DC, Virginia and the World

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Not the greatest at nudging the ‘big rig’ into gear, innovators with ADHD can really struggle with inertia.  Many professionals come to coaching seeking to develop tools for consistency and  momentum.  A handy formula I created a while back is a simple reminder of what is essential for momentum.  Hope + Reserve = Momentum.

Those with ADD are a resilient bunch so hope (or attitude) is often in abundance.  Our rosy outlook in the face of countless setbacks is a unique characteristic of ADD.  The distracting nature of the disorder that takes us off our game also can insulate us from the worst harm and pain.  We tend to get up and look forward again.  Attitude is really the present tense of hope.  Attitude is a huge player in activation for task.

Reserve is another matter.  Trying to hold together multiple commitments of a high level job,we are susceptible to overwhelm (the real bad guy in ADD management).  When we are pushing the limits, reserve is often the last thing on our minds.  Yet reserve, like fuel in the tank, will take us to our destination.

Building reserve takes forethought and patience.  It wont happen overnight but the pay off is huge especially in stress reduction.

Start with a little space and fill that space with some rewarding self care.  Two areas I focus on are exercise and sleep.  Start with these two and you will see a difference in your reserve levels almost immediately.

So hope on the front end and reserve on the back end will carry us forward!

Cheers!

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

Washington DC and Virginia

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Many global creatives (innovators with ADHD tendencies) can really get stuck on timely execution.  ”I can’t seem to pull the trigger, Cam!” is something I often hear.

Many coaches and productivity gurus like Covey, not familiar with ADD, tend to exacerbate this situation by focusing on ‘just pulling the trigger’.  They speak of discipline, desire and necessary risk.  This is understandable when clients are dealing with just hesitancy or resistance.  ”Just Do It” is an effective strategy to move clients into action.  As an accountability and completion specialist, I often resort to this approach especially when clients get stuck in the “Why?” hole of excessive thinking.

Brain Perspective

When we hyper-focus on the act of pulling the trigger we can fail to notice the trigger itself.  In considering ADD, we have to appreciate the underlying neurobiology.  ADD makes us less aware of processes .  Moving into action or pulling the trigger is but one phase of a process (time is a process too).  How can you pull the trigger when the trigger has not been assembled!

So when you get stuck around pulling the trigger, pause and take a look at your trigger! (Expand the Mind from REBEL)

• Map out this action as part of a larger process.  When we get curious about something (even processes)we tend to find out answers .
• Let go of the “this will be boring” self-talk.
• Set aside 15 minutes to look at what goes into a reliable trigger.
• What resources have you not thought of yet?
• Better yet, look at this with someone who appreciates the value you add to your organization.  Brainstorming with others can be greatly beneficial.

In conclusion, use your global creative skill set to look beyond the trigger to pull the trigger and “Just Do It!”

Comments welcome or email me to maintain confidentiality

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

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A good friend who is also a global creative is a small business owner running a service company out of his house.  Ted is a one man operation so if he is not working he is generally not making money.  He is also an amazingly generous individual – almost to a fault.  If a friend makes a request, Ted will often drop what he is doing and help his friend in need.  To exacerbate the situation Ted owns a pick-up so people are always asking him to haul and drop off stuff.

You can see how these two identites compete for Ted’s attention with ‘generous friend’ often winning out over ’successful business owner’.  This is not an uncommon challenge for global creatives in general especially if they are master responders allowing others to dictate their daily intentions (more on the Responder here)

Covey and Allen refer to these as roles but I prefer identities.  Identities speak more to who you are (father, husband, professional, provider) than a role that you play.  I’ve been focusing on rediscovering and reinforcing identities with my clients recently.  CG’s have a tendency to not only forget the name of the game in the middle of a good hunt (or distraction) but also forget their best identities.

A number of factors can contribute to this.  A fallible memory and limited inhibition (impulsivity) certainly do not help.  Throw emotion  into the mix (would you rather help a buddy or bill a customer?) and you can see how we arrive here.

Best Identities also help to reinforce our level of confidence reminding us that indeed we are up to the task.  They also give us a better option than less-than-stellar identities that can step in when our guard is down (Shiny Object Chaser, Day Dreamer, Walk-by completer)

Steps to Reinforcing Identites

• Name your best identities with appropriate qualifier (successful business owner, for example)
• List attitudes and actions that support this identity (confidence, vision, cultivating new clients/work, billing customers)
• List what happens if you do not regularly step into this identity (stagnating business, loss in visibility)
• List what happens if you do regularly step into this identity (regular completions that contribute to building business)

Posting your best identities prominently to remind the brain (R of REBEL) is a good idea.

Some of mine

• Add Value Coach
• Successful Business Owner
• Knowledgable Trainer
• Generous Collaborator
• Loving Husband and Father
• Olympic Biker (well not really, but it gets me on the bike!)

These are identities I strive for.  I am not successful all the time but having these accessible gives me useful  focal points.

Enjoy!

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

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Often people come to coaching struggling with an overloaded ‘plate’ of mounting tasks and actions.  ”I just need an extra hour, Cam!” is often the lament.  In addition to letting the mundane pile up, Global Creatives love adding new projects, rarely turning down requests.  The inability to say “No!” is not a character trait (or flaw).  It is related to challenges around prioritizing tasks, projects and requests.  Global Creatives can really struggle here and will often just resort to urgent tactics or the “latest and loudest” approach.

Recognizing we have a glitchy prioritizer (we can make a case for just about any intention) doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prioritize.  The term ‘limit scope’ refers to this prioritizing process not only necessary for timely completions but also necessary for maintaining our sanity!

Recently I’ve been talking about picture frames with my clients.  Frames are a great metaphor for limiting scope, helping demarcate the area where one chooses to make a difference.   This last phrase is important because the struggling GC often has the mindset of “I can do it all!”  Once we let go of this impossible frame of mind then we are free to choose where we focus our attention.   When we actively limit scope we can trade in urgnecy as a motivator and develop tools such as choice and creativity (What makes a global creative a global creative!).  I’ll speak to how limiting scope ultimately leads to ‘mastery’ in a future blog entry.

So if you are feeling a bit overwhelmed then draw a frame around what is essential.  Distinguish the stuff inside the frame from stuff outside the frame.  Natural forces (and colleagues) will try to move items from the outside to the inside of the frame.  Notice this and practice the gentle “No thanks”.  Better yet, confirm your priorities with those who count.

One of my favorite expressions…

When you say No to one thing, you say Yes to another!

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

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I really feel lousy today.  Both my kids are sick which makes quality sleep nearly impossible.  On top of that, I’ve caught some version of their crud.  And yet today I will exercise.

I will exercise because I know myself well enough to know what I am like without exercise.  Today I teach my class and I make a point to exercise prior to the class.  After aerobic exercise, I just show up more present and add greater value to the training experience.

For years scientists have known the short term benefits of exercise-increased energy, attention and focus being among them.  It’s well known of the good brain chemistry that results from an exercise event.  For the Global Creative, exercise also provides a valuable structure in the work day.  When I ride my bike it frees me from the daily onslought of minutia so I can entertain bigger more important thoughts and ideas.

According to a recent New York Times Article scientists are seeing evidence of longer term benefits from aerobic exercise.  The aerobic part is key.

Here is an excerpt:

Why should exercise need to be aerobic to affect the brain? “It appears that various growth factors must be carried from the periphery of the body into the brain to start a molecular cascade there,” creating new neurons and brain connections, says Henriette van Praag, an investigator in the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging. For that to happen, “you need a fairly dramatic change in blood flow,” like the one that occurs when you run or cycle or swim… – Gretchen Reynolds, NY Times Magazine, 9/20/09

So get out there are build some extra brain cells!

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

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This is a review of each component of REBEL,  a process I use to help clients with ADHD  get things done.

Today’s blog looks at the second E of REBEL: Exposure to new experiences.

Let’s focus on three distinct areas.

Plan Differently

Execute Differently

Review Differently

By ‘differently’ I mean have a new experience.

Plan Differently

Global Creatives can approach planning in an All or Nothing manner.

They can spend ample time in planning phase not leaving enough time for execution.  These expert planners can struggle with initiating for task and ‘perfectionism’.  They often struggle with Inattentive Type ADHD and cobbling enough energy to activate for task.  They are the ‘vision without action’ folks.

GC’s can also skip the planning process altogether opting for a ‘latest and loudest’ approach to prioritizing, relying heavily on respond mode.  These GC’s often have an excess of energy struggling to tap the brakes in a timely fashion. They are the ‘action without vision’ folks.

For both groups practicing a brief  ’review and plan’ session can make a huge difference in there day.  Ten minutes to determine your top three actions for the day can be greatly benificial.

Execute Differently

Practice focusing on small, significant completions for brief portions of your day.

Two mindsets are handy here:

Practice Mindset

Assuming a practice mindset can be helpful in managing the constant evaluation provided by our friend the inner crtitic.  When we approach actions with a practice mindset we let go of outcomes and judgments.  Think of Tiger Woods on the practice range.  He is not thinking about what may happen – success or failure.  He is focused on being present and consistent.  All that is left for him is hitting the ball.  A mix of challenging actions with fun and rewarding actions is essential too.

Prototype Mindset

The prototype mindset is thinking about version 1.0’s as opposed to 6.0’s.  We have a tendecy to accessorize our tasks adding more actions that can weigh down a decent project grinding it to a halt.  You can always add accessories later.

Review Differently

Global Creatives tend to succeed in big ways and fail in big ways. When they fail,  GC’s can really focus on the failure (the fall off the horse).  So much so that they don’t focus on climbing back in the saddle.  This is related to challenges around effective transitioning.  Reviewing Differently is bringing in the Fire Chief (curiosity and questions) as you sit on the ground brushing of the dirt.  Get curious about getting back in the saddle (there are an infinite number of ways to do this!).  Making space for reflection without judgment (Mindfulness) can really be helpful here.

In conclusion, all of us gain rich learning and insight from our own experiences.  Expose yourself to doing things differently and you’ll be the greatest beneficiary.

Enjoy!

Cameron Gott PCC

ADHD Coach

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A very interesting scientific article that makes me ask some fundamental questions about multi-tasking…

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, online August 24, 2009.

…Researchers at Stanford University found that college students who made a habit of immersing themselves in various media at once were not very skilled at tests of memory, attention and, ironically, “task-switching.”…

To view the complete article follow the link below

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE57N4UO20090824

Multi-taskers that are not good at multi-tasking?

Hmmm…

Below is an excerpt to explain their findings…

It’s possible, according to Nass and his colleagues, that heavy multi- taskers tend to have a generally “exploratory” orientation: they simply like to gather lots of information, even if that means sacrificing their performance on the task at hand.

OK, so multi-taskers with a general ‘exploratory’ orientation.  Does this sound familiar?

Sounds like possible Global Creative activity to me.

Let’s get clear on the definition of multi-tasking.

Multi-tasking is not doing 2 things at once (contrary to popular belief).  For the brain, paying attention to 2 things (or more) simultaneously is not possible!

Multi-tasking is managing multiple tasks over a long period.  This is where ‘task switching’ is an effective tool (something we Global Creatives can struggle with).

So it is clear the students in the study are not multi-tasking experts.

OK so if they are not multi-tasking experts then what are they?

I would argue that they are multi-chillin’ experts.

Huh?

The key here is the level of engagement.  Engagement has some component of pro-active interaction.  The college students are reacting to multiple inputs and not engaging each at a deep level.  They are passivley being entertained by their media toys, hence the term chillin’.

This brings us to our interest in this article.  Completion of any task demands regular engagement at a deep level for sustained periods of time. Give up the notion that multi-tasking will deliver the project to the team monday morning.  It wont!

Multi-chillin’ is a very passive sport which would fall squarely in Covey’s quadrant IV (not important and not urgent).

So why are the students multi-chillin’?

I can’t fathom a guess but I do know that many of my GC clients are prone to multi-chill.

I see multi-chillin’ as a symptom of overwhelm.  When GC’s are skipping around from activity to activity giving their brains cheap dopamine squirts (little rewards) and not getting any real traction on the most important work.

How can we manage multi-chillin’?

1. develop an awareness for it
2. consider the source(s) of overwhelm
3. make a plan to address the source
4. pull the trigger!  Engage the action that will move the ball forward
5. get to a completion point.

Cameron Gott

ADD Coach

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