Dr Paul Allen

Image via Wikipedia Derek Sivers  makes a compelling case  against  going public with your goals in  his short talk  at the 2010 Ted Conference. (The talk is only a little over three minutes long.) His basic premise is this: telling someone your goals makes them less likely to happen. Why is this true? According to him, it is because you get the psychological satisfaction of accomplishing the goal without having to actually do the work. In other words,  talking becomes a substitute for  doing . This goes against conventional goal-setting wisdom. However, Sivers cites the work of several psychologists, including Kurt Lewin , Wera Mahler, and  Peter Gollwitzer . He then describes a fascinating study that Dr. Gollwitzer conducted in 2009. In four separate tests, 163 people wrote down a personal goal. Half of them announced their commitment to their goal; half of them didn’t. Then they were given 45-minutes to work toward their goal but told that th...

Image via Wikipedia Derek Sivers  makes a compelling case  against  going public with your goals in  his short talk  at the 2010 Ted Conference. (The talk is only a little over three minutes long.) His basic premise is this: telling someone your goals makes them less likely to happen. Why is this true? According to him, it is because you get the psychological satisfaction of accomplishing the goal without having to actually do the work. In other words,  talking becomes a substitute for  doing . This goes against conventional goal-setting wisdom. However, Sivers cites the work of several psychologists, including Kurt Lewin , Wera Mahler, and  Peter Gollwitzer . He then describes a fascinating study that Dr. Gollwitzer conducted in 2009. In four separate tests, 163 people wrote down a personal goal. Half of them announced their commitment to their goal; half of them didn’t. Then they were given 45-minutes to work toward their goal but told that th...

Image via Wikipedia Have you ever watched a dog chase its shadow? It can be a comical sight. Mistaking the shadow for something concrete and catchable, the dog yaps at it and tries to chase it down. Time after time, the dog dramatically pounces on the shadow, expecting to pin it to the ground. Yet, no matter how hard the dog tries, the shadow always eludes its grasp. We laugh at the silliness of a dog's futile attempt to catch a shadow, but it's not nearly as funny to watch a person try the same routine. Unfortunately, that's just what many leaders do in life. They chase after a shadow of success, not realizing that what they're pursuing lacks depth and substance. They're running after an illusion of success rather than tracking down the real thing. I've found that there are two core fallacies that cause us to have a shadowy view of success. Let's take a moment to look at each one in greater detail. Fallacy #1: We see success as a place instead of a proce...

Image via Wikipedia Have you ever watched a dog chase its shadow? It can be a comical sight. Mistaking the shadow for something concrete and catchable, the dog yaps at it and tries to chase it down. Time after time, the dog dramatically pounces on the shadow, expecting to pin it to the ground. Yet, no matter how hard the dog tries, the shadow always eludes its grasp. We laugh at the silliness of a dog's futile attempt to catch a shadow, but it's not nearly as funny to watch a person try the same routine. Unfortunately, that's just what many leaders do in life. They chase after a shadow of success, not realizing that what they're pursuing lacks depth and substance. They're running after an illusion of success rather than tracking down the real thing. I've found that there are two core fallacies that cause us to have a shadowy view of success. Let's take a moment to look at each one in greater detail. Fallacy #1: We see success as a place instead of a proce...