Condensed : The 7 habits

The last habit of the 7 Habits is - Sharpen the Saw. In this habit, you are t...

2006-09-27T15:51:54.035Z

The last habit of the 7 Habits is - Sharpen the Saw. In this habit, you are the saw; and to Sharpen the Saw is to become better, keener and more effective. Highly Effective People always take time to Sharpen the Saw.
By renewing the four dimensions of your nature - physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional, you can work more quickly and effortlessly.
- spiritual : yes you got to meditate, that gives your mind a rest.
- physical : do some sport
-mental :
What am I doing to sharpen my mind? Am I engaged in a programme of education or learning of some kind? What am I doing to improve my professional knowledge?
How you should go about this part of the habit is, of course, for you to decide, but you should ensure that you are reading regularly. What should you read? Naturally you want to put in the good stuff - so it's not a case of reading for its own sake; it is reading carefully selected material which allows you to broaden and deepen your understanding.

To do this, we must be proactive. This is a Quadrant II (important, not urgent) activity that must be acted on. It's at the center of our Circle of Influence, so we must do it for ourselves.

Synergy means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The essenc...

2006-09-27T15:50:32.791Z

Synergy means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The essence of synergy is to value differences - to respect them, to build on strengths, and to compensate for weaknesses.

Synergistic Communication :
Synergistic communication must be achieved to develop creative possibilities, including better solutions than original proposals.

Synergy in the Classroom :
A synergistic class progresses from a safe environment to brainstorming. The spirit of evaluation is subordinated to the spirit of creativity, imagining and intellectual networking.

Empathic Listening In order to have influence, you must be influenced. "N...

2006-09-27T15:49:15.704Z

Empathic Listening
    In order to have influence, you must be influenced. "No dialogue of deaf" here.
    "no probing," just empathize. Probing is too invasive.
Diagnose Before You Prescribe
    It can be dangerous to prescribe without an accurate diagnosis.
Rely on NLP for better emphatic listening.

    An effective salesperson seeks to understand the needs, concerns and situation of the customer. An amateur sells products, the professional sells solutions.

Win/Win is one of six total philosophies of human interaction. The two most i...

2006-09-27T15:48:13.520Z

Win/Win is one of six total philosophies of human interaction. The two most important and common are :

   1. Win/Win - People can seek mutual benefit in all human interactions.
   2. Win/Lose - The competitive paradigm.

The most appropriate model depends on the situation. When relationships are paramount, Win/Win is the only viable alternative. In a competitive situation where building a relationship isn't important, Win/Lose may be appropriate.
Even if we cannot see the solution to a particular problem, it does not mean that no such solution exists. The win-win idea is not based upon compromise - that is where most disputes naturally end. But compromise is the result of not properly perceiving the possible synergy of the situation.

There are five dimensions of the Win/Win model:
   1. Character is the foundation of Win/Win, as it fosters trust.
   2. Relationships : Whatever the orientation of the person you are dealing with (Win/Lose, etc.), the relationship is the key to turning the situation around.
   3.   Performance agreements or partnership agreements give definition and direction to Win/Win,. They shift the paradigm of    production from vertical (Superior - Subordinate) to horizontal (Partnership/Team).

       1. Defined results (not methods) - what is to be done and when.
       2. Guidelines - the parameters within which the results should be accomplished
       3. Resources - human, financial, technical or organizational support available to accomplish the results.
       4. Accountability - the standards of performance and time(s) of evaluation.
       5. Consequences - what will happen as a result of the evaluation.

   4. The Reward System is a key element in the Win/Win model. Talking Win/Win but rewarding Win/Lose results in negating the Win/Win paradigm. If the outstanding performance of a few is rewarded, the other team members will be losers. Instead, develop individual achievable goals and team objectives to be rewarded.

   5. The Win/Win process has four steps :
       1. See the problem from the other point of view, in terms of the needs and concerns of the other party.
       2. Identify the key issues and concerns (not positions) involved.
       3. Determine what results would make a fully acceptable solution.
       4. Identify new options to achieve those results.

Covey has amended the wording of this habit slightly in recent years to read: Think Win-Win or No Deal. This attitude works well because it liberates the individuals concerned from the effort of trying to persuade the opposite party to shift ground or compromise. The effort is instead spend on trying to understand, which is where habit 5 comes in - you see, they are also sequential.

With the end in mind, you have a goal. It will help you focus on what you w...

2006-09-27T15:36:05.648Z

With the end in mind, you have a goal.
It will help you focus on what you want to be (character), do (contributions and achievements). This should the core of you mission statement.

All things are created twice. We create them first in our minds, and then we work to bring them into physical existence. By taking control of our own first creation, we can write or re-write our own scripts, thus taking some control and responsibility for the outcome.

There are THREE major aspects of our personal and business management.
1) leadership - WHAT do I/we want to accomplish?
2) management - HOW can I best accomplish it?
3) productivity - doing it.

According to Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, "Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things."

Organizational mission statements should be developed by everyone in the organization. If there is no involvement in the process, there will be no commitment to the statement. The reward system must compliment and strengthen the stated value systems.

An organization may have an all-encompassing mission statement, and each location, or even each team, may have their own. However, they should all dovetail with each other.

If the mission statements of your family and organization dovetail with your personal mission statement, and you use those statements to keep your end in mind, you will accomplish your goals more quickly and easily.

There are no short-cuts here. To engage in this habit, you need to have a dream, define your own vision and get into the practice of setting goals which will allow you to make measurable progress toward the dream.

* Habits 1, 2 and 3 (Be Proactive, Begin With The End In Mind, Put First Thin...

2006-09-27T15:37:34.970Z

* Habits 1, 2 and 3 (Be Proactive, Begin With The End In Mind, Put First Things First) deal with self mastery. They are the "private victories" required for character growth. Private victories precede public victories.
* Habits 4, 5 and 6 are the more personality-oriented "public victories" of Teamwork, Cooperation and Communication.
* Habit 7 is the habit of Renewal, creating an upward spiral of growth.

Basically, every habit is built on top of the previous one.

First three habits leads us from Dependence to Independence, while the next three take us to Interdependence.
Effectiveness lies in balancing our Production (P) with building Production Capacity (PC).

The things we are concerned about could be described as our "Circle of Concer...

2006-09-27T15:33:21.447Z

The things we are concerned about could be described as our "Circle of Concern". There are things we can really do something about, that can be described as our "Circle of Influence". When we focus our time and energy in our Circle of Concern, but outside our Circle of Influence, we are not being effective. However, we find that being proactive helps us expand our Circle of Influence. (Work on things you can do something about.)
However, we find that being proactive helps us expand our Circle of Influence. (Work on things you can do something about.)

Our problems fall in three areas: Direct Control (problems involving our own behavior), Indirect Control (problems involving other people's behavior), or No Control (problems we can do nothing about). Direct Control problems are solved through the private victories of Habits 1, 2 and 3. Indirect Control problems are solved through methods of influence, the public victories of Habits 4,5, and 6.

"proactive" means taking responsibility for everything in life, rather than blaming other people and circumstances for obstacles or problems. Initiative, and taking action will then follow.

The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it. Success is the far side of failure.
For some people, the glass is always half-empty.
Focus our efforts and attention on the long-term and to think in terms of the long-term consequences of our actions.

The "original" notes about this book are from http://www.profitadvisors.com...

2006-09-27T15:57:45.431Z

The "original" notes about this book are from
http://www.profitadvisors.com/7habitlist.shtml.
http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/7-habits/7-habits.htm

I kept the suff that was relevant to me (and understood ;-)

(from top-left, clockwise) Quadrant I activities are urgent and important - c...

2006-09-27T15:46:41.251Z

(from top-left, clockwise)
Quadrant I activities are urgent and important - called problems or crises. Focusing on Quadrant I results in it getting bigger and bigger until it dominates you.
Quadrant III activities are urgent and not important, and often misclassified as Quadrant I.
Quadrant IV is the escape Quadrant - activities that are not urgent and not important.

Effective people stay out of Quadrants III and IV because they aren't important. They shrink Quadrant I down to size by spending more time in Quadrant II.

Quadrant II activities are important, but not urgent. Working on this Quadrant is the heart of personal time management. These are PC activities.
Quadrant II activities are high impact - activities that when done regularly would make a tremendous difference in your life. (Including implementing the Seven Habits.)
Initially, the time for Quadrant II activities must come from Quadrants III and IV. Quadrant I can't be ignored, but should eventually shrink with attention to Quadrant II.

Quadrant II Focus : the key is not to prioritize what's in your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

Without a principle center and a personal mission statement we don't have the necessary foundation to sustain our efforts.
The practical thread is a primary focus on relationships and a secondary focus on time, because people are more important than things.

Delegation
The second critical skill for personal management (after Time Management) is delegation.
More effective managers use Stewardship Delegation, which focuses on results instead of methods. People are able to choose the method to achieve the results.
Stewardship Delegation (as opposed to Gopher delegation) requires a clear, up-front mutual understanding of and commitment to expectations in five areas:

   1. Desired Results :
   Have the person see it, describe it, make a quality statement of what the results will look like and by when they will be accomplished.
   2. Guidelines :
   Identify the parameters within which the individual should operate, and what potential "failure paths" might be. Keep the responsibility for results with the person delegated to.
   3. Resources :
   Identify the resources available to accomplish the required results.
   4. Accountability :
   Set standards of performance to be used in evaluating the results and specific times when reporting and evaluation will take place.
   5. Consequences :
   Specify what will happen as a result of the evaluation, including psychic or financial rewards and penalties.

We are now moving to public victories : The most important ingredient we put...

2006-09-27T15:47:51.877Z

We are now moving to public victories :
The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or do, but who we are. If our words and actions come from superficial human relations techniques (the Personality Ethic) rather than from our inner core (the Character Ethic), others will sense that duplicity.

In order to receive the benefits of interdependence, we need to create and care for the relationships that are the source of the benefits.
The Emotional Bank Account is a metaphor describing relationships and the P/PC (Production versus building Production Capacity) balance for interdependence. It describes how trust is built on a relationship.

Positive behaviors are deposits building a reserve. Negative behaviors are withdrawals. A high reserve balance results in higher tolerance for our mistakes and more open communication.

There are six major deposits we can make to the emotional bank account:

   1. Understanding the individual. An individual's values determine what actions will result in a deposit or a withdrawal for that individual. To build a relationship, you must learn what is important to the other person and make it as important to you as the other person is to you. Understand others deeply as individuals and then treat them in terms of that understanding.
   2. Attend to the little things, which are the big things in relationships.
   3. Keep commitments. Breaking a promise is a major withdrawal.
   4. Clarify expectations. The cause of almost all relationship difficulties is rooted in ambiguous, conflicting expectations around roles and goals. Making an investment of time and effort up front saves time, effort and a major withdrawal later.
   5. Show personal integrity.
      The key to the many is the one, especially the one that tests the patience and good humor of the many. How you treat the one reveals how you regard the many, because everyone is ultimately a one.
   6. Apologize sincerely when you make a withdrawal. Sincere apologies are deposits, but repeated apologies are interpreted as insincere, resulting in withdrawals.