How to get Energized at work?

How to we get energized at work? Well, how do we get energized in a game or whatever else we like to do.May be because it has:

• Our Interest
• Challenge
• Positive Stress
• Support and Cooperation
• Our 100% Participation
• Support and Cooperation
• The Goal
• Fun! 

If we carry the same factors as above to our work, let's see how exciting the work becomes.

Our interest: Like in a football game, you enjoy your position if you are best skilled in that position and reinforce your team from that position. Same way, in an organization, be in a position where you are most skilled at. Having the right people in the right places makes the whole work or business to flow smoothly.   
It is a very trite statement, but we have to have interest in whatever we are doing. Otherwise work becomes a load which we have to carry everyday.

Managers should take into account personal interests of people, as much as possible, while giving ownership of tasks.

Challenge: Do you enjoy playing with a weak opponent or a strong opponent? Probably the latter one. Why? Because the Challenge is more in that case. Challenge gives energy. Raise the bar for whatever you are doing. Stretch yourselves for a few extra miles.Take calculated risks. In your target settings, commit for a little more than what seems feasible and then try your best to achieve it. Managers should appreciate over-commitment and some failures than under-commitment and all successes. 

Positive Stress: Can you remember tense moments in a Game, and then suddenly, with team effort, the Game turns around. The whole experience is thrilling. Same way in workplace, some amount of positive stress is healthy to maintain the excitement. Working under pressure to complete our commitments gives a kind of positive stress, which is healthy for personal growth. Break the boundaries and push ourselves to achieve whatever we targeted for.

Support and Cooperation: Just like in a Game, do whatever you are best at and seek support and cooperation for the rest. Our eyes should be on the bigger Goal, than just our part. Align yourselves with the Goal of organization one level above you. Do whatever it takes to achieve the organization Goal, not just your personal part. In the end, what matters is the win of the whole team, not just your part.

Our 100% Participation: What does 100% mean? Is it just 100% of your physical presence? Or is it 100% presence of your body, mind and spirit? Energy comes when we are 100% present with our Body, Mind and Spirit.Imagine what could happen in a game, if your mind is somewhere else, no matter how fit you physically are, you will not succeed and your team will not succeed. Give your 100% to your work place during the work hours. Get yourself immersed fully.

The Goal: Have you felt the exhilaration when our favorite team in a game does a Goal? When the whole organization is clear about the Goal and synergizes towards it to achieve that Goal, success is inevitable. Clarity of the Goal gives Energy and Clarity of the Strategy gives direction. Combine this with team spirit and you have a winning formula. Everyone in an organization should be clear on what the Goal is. If we are not clear, we should ask your team leader and align yourselves with the organization goal. Make sure you are running in the right direction.

  

Fun! : Above all, a game is fun. Let your work place also be so. Plan and achieve smaller milestones during the course of the project or work you are doing. Celebrate these small milestones with full enthusiasm! Share your achievements (and sweets) with others. You are the one to make your workplace - a fun-place.

Don't let your work be just work, Let it be a Game and let's play it with full heart !

Book Review: Influence by Robert Cialdini

There are certain pre-conceived  notions and beliefs inherent in us. When these ingrained beliefs get influenced by things around us, the stimulus,  trigger automatic action or the mechanical behavior on our part. Marketers use external stimulus to Influence these beliefs for selling of their products.

This book is about these inherent beliefs, how marketers exploit these and how we can be more aware about these to avoid our exploitation. Also how we can use some of these beliefs to influence others in business and at work.

Some of these "Influences" are listed below

If it is Expensive, it Must be Good !!
The inherent belief customers has is that if it is Cheap, it's not good, and in parallel, if it is expensive, it must be good ! We need to price our products and services aptly. Sometimes, pricing too low might have a negative impact on sales - this is reverse to Micro-economics Price-Demand curve

The Contrast Principle  - We see things in contrast, e.g job interviews, or shopping. So it is good offer few inferior things and then even and average quality good will appeal to the customer.

Reciprocity Rule - We are obligated to the future repayment of the favors. Take the favors with a lot of caution. At the same time, try to do favors for others for a bigger payback in future. The lunches to the team never go waste.

But be careful about the reciprocity rule as this could lead to unfair exchanges on our part, we might end up doing much bigger favors in return to trivial favors - We should evaluate the favors objectively.

Reciprocal concessions are another subtle form of reciprocity rule. Make a bigger request, and when the person objects, offer a smaller request. He will be obligated to comply with the smaller request because you have made him a concession - Very strong Negotiation trick.

Limited things have value - do not provide your services, not all of it, free of cost, otherwise it will lose its value.

Commitment and Consistency - This is a killer one !
Compliance to commitment is in basic human psyche. Be consistent with what we have already done. If we have decided something, e.g to Marry somebody , then stick to it and do it, even if internally we know that it is not the right thing to do. We keep on complying to what we have already chosen. Not only complying, we come-up with fair reasons for complying.

It is good to get verbal or better written commitment of your employees, they will be forced to comply due to consistency principle. Written commitments work better because more work go in these. More the effort in the commitment, stronger is the compliance of those commitments. No wonder Indian marriages work much better than the ones in western world.

Do not make commitments with your kids for expensive toys, once you do, you will be obligated to  comply to the commitment.

How to identify that you , yourself are falling into this commitment consistency trap? You stomach will tell you , will have a funny feeling that you do not want it and still going for it.

How to say no in such circumstances ? - Tell them exactly what is happening in the consistency trap. Say that you will not take it just because you made a commitment. Hence, very sorry but I will not be able to comply.

Social Proof - you do how others do.
The reverse of this is that nobody does anything, because there are a lot of people responsible, and everybody thinks that someone will do it, and nobody ends up doing it.  It is very important to have a clear responsibility in an organization.

In the times of uncertainty, we look around what others are doing, and tend to do the same. So even in an organization scenario, during uncertain circumstances like lay offs, M&A, keep the communication going with your employees. Do not let the uncertainty prevail.

In a personal emergency, explain your situation to others well, so that they will be able to help you.

How to say No ? -  Be aware of the fact when there is a social compliance happening with wrong data or for a wrong cause, and come under your control and decide to act on your own.

Liking - Tendency to say yes to some one we know and like
The Tupperware party - A known group of friends and neighbors get together, then the host offers them to buy the Tupperware bottles etc, and most of these friends and neighbors comply, just because they cannot say no.

The Halo Effect - Physical attractiveness - very difficult to say no to attractive people.We assign favorable traits automatically to good looking people.

We like people who are similar to us, in terms of dressing up, hobbies, work outs,  etc

We like people who compliment us or laugh at our jokes :)

Positive and negative association - Advertisers use the principle of association a lot. They associate with their product a representative person, a sports celebrity or a film start, who is representative of the Target customers. Similarly, in workplace environment, who you associate yourself with, impacts your career. So chose your company very carefully.

How to say no under the linking influence? - The Key say no here is to be aware and to reflect back that our decision is coming because our liking for the person or because of the objective factors.

Authority - Deep seated sense of duty to Authority, we tend to comply to our bosses, no matter what. We comply to doctors and other experts in their fields.

Titles also impact the way people behave with you.

Clothes, they way you dress up, can also trigger Authority

The key to tackle this bias is to be aware when to follow the Authority and when to resist it. Should be mindful about the right kind of Authority

Scarcity - The rule of the few
The opportunity seems more valuable to us when its availability is limited. Limited edition products use the same principle. People seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than at the thought of gaining something.

Notion that things that are difficult to possess are better than the ones which could be easily obtained.

Availability is freedom and we hate to lose freedom

This principle is heavily used in marketing, limited seats availability in hotels etc. Corner plots of a layout, Top most floors of the tower.

Scarcity causes desperation , and people are ready to pay any price to over come their desperation.

Information scarcity or Censored information is desired more than the information which is readily available.

Rare chocolate and cookies taste better, though the taste might be the same as that of an ordinary chocolate or a cookie.

Parents who enforce discipline with their children inconsistently , make the children rebellious. Stick to the restrictions imposed, no matter what.

How to say No to Scarcity influences?  Recognize the arousal that happens when we face scarcity. Use that arousal to objectively analyze whether there is genuine scarcity or a created one. Ask yourself, do I really need this thing or do I just want to possess it.

The complex world
Although human beings have a much evolved brain, they have made it less powerful by making the world around them more complex.In this complex world, it is really important to be aware as much as possible, to make any sense of this crazy world.