Change the way you look at things
Scott Miker
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Improving Systems and Habits
Using systems and habits to improve your life is a proven method to succeed. It requires seeing the work as a system and then adjusting your thoughts and behaviors to be able to take advantage of your opportunities in life.
The power of habit and how to interrupt that power
Scott Miker
Habits are very important parts of our lives. Psychologists have estimated that up to 95% of our lives are controlled by habit.
Habit dictates more than just the commonly thought of behaviors like biting fingernails or smoking cigarettes. Habit controls our behavior much more than this. It dictates how we get through the routines in our day. It tells us how to do everyday tasks such as driving a car. It even controls how we think and the patterns of thought that then strongly influence our behavior.
Read MoreHow risk can help or hurt you
Scott Miker
Most people misunderstand taking risks. When I was younger I thought taking risks meant that I needed to take chances in order to expand my knowledge and abilities and grow. But I also naively assumed that taking a risk didn’t have consequences.
Looking back now it seems ludicrous. But I really thought that I could take risks and by working harder than others I could avoid the downside of those risks. In other words, I thought I would immune to the failure part of taking a risk because I would work harder.
Read MoreSystems thinking helps improvement by showing us a bigger picture
Scott Miker
The danger of too much linear thinking and not enough systems thinking is that you miss seeing interconnectedness that may be very important. Everything around us is made up of systems and without a clear understanding of the system you may be doing more harm than good.
I heard that doctors have a saying, “first, do no harm.” They use it to establish a common ethos that leaves the patient the same or better than they would be without the professional medical help.
Read MoreTo change make it less extreme
Scott Miker
From time to time, we all feel the need to change something about us. Maybe we want to quit smoking or lose weight. Maybe we want to get more education or pay off our credit card debt.
Maybe we want to be a better student, or better at work. Maybe we want to be more invested in the relationships in our lives or develop a deeper spiritual connection with God.
Read MoreIt is easier to see system problems in others than in us
Scott Miker
It is really easy to find fault in others. Nobody is perfect so it is extremely easy to point out things that we don’t like about others or things that others are doing wrong.
But there really isn’t any value in that. In fact, by doing that, we tend to quickly shift blame when things go wrong in order to bypass any responsibility. But this responsibility is exactly what we need in order to improve.
Read MoreReaching your goals means doing the work
Scott Miker
There are a lot of authors that explain goals and how important it is to have goals. They tend to stress the importance of setting goals in order to improve throughout one’s life.
But despite the overabundance of information available, many of us still struggle. The reason is simple… having knowledge of something doesn’t mean it magically gets done.
Read MoreThe purpose of the system may not be clear
Scott Miker
When it comes to most systems we want to better understand their purpose. What do they do and why are they there?
We may be able to gain insight into the system and the elements of the system and then use this to understand why certain parts of the system exist.
Read MoreTake ownership of your situation
Scott Miker
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Read MoreDoes creativity mean the opposite of being systematic?
Scott Miker
I often hear of people resist systematic improvement due to their worry they will ultimately lose their creativity. They view these things as opposites and assume striving towards one will loosen the other.
But this isn’t true. If we look at some of the most creative people in history, we usually find that they are extremely dedicated to their craft and follow set patterns throughout their career.
Read MoreBecome more patient in order to improve
Scott Miker
We all want our problems to be fixed immediately. We want to instantly solve all our work or business problems, all our team problems, and all our habit problems.
The impatience that most of us have is normal. But this normal impatience is the reason so many of us don’t improve.
Read MoreWhen you understand systems you quickly understand new complex problems
Scott Miker
Years ago when I started a new job I remember getting into the role and identifying problem areas right away. From talking to others on the team, to reviewing data on past trends, I started to see a few areas that I would need to address in order to improve the team.
I remember feeling like I already worked through these problems. It was almost a feeling of deja vu. But it was new people, new projects, new situations, new everything.
Read MoreYou can’t just push harder against a balancing feedback loop
Scott Miker
The other day I was reading a story about a successful basketball coach. The story explained a situation where the team started to lose games and were in the midst of a disappointing season.
He was incredibly frustrated and felt the team didn’t care enough. So he relied on punishment to try and motivate the team. He worked them harder and harder and harder. But nothing worked and he just kept getting more and more frustrated at the team’s performance.
Read MoreThe better your understanding of the system the more leverage you have
Scott Miker
We are all constantly interacting with systems. Systems are all around us and constantly “working”. Sometimes they are specifically designed systems, such as the traffic light system, and other times they are there and we barely notice them, such as our habits around driving a car.
Systems thinkers argue that the deeper you get into the understanding of the system, the more leverage you gain. This means that you have more ability to change the system when you fully understand that system.
Read MoreIf you feel frustrated and trapped start seeing the systems at play
Scott Miker
We all know the feeling. We feel frustrated and trapped and seem unable to break through. We don’t understand what is holding us back but we certainly feel it.
But while most of us intuitively know this feeling, we don’t explore it with enough depth and insight to actually make a change. Instead we usually power through until it eases up or we change direction.
Read MoreThe way to reduce your workload is to improve the process
Scott Miker
Everyone is busy. I’ve worked in many different industries and in many different roles. I’ve worked with small businesses and large businesses and everything in between. One common theme is that everyone is always busy.
There is always something that needs attention, something that needs to get done. Fires are constantly coming up and most managers use the majority of their time to put the fires out. But there really is a better way.
Read MoreShifting from linear thinking to systematic thinking
Scott Miker
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Read MorePeople hear what they want to hear
Scott Miker
We all have gotten feedback on something we do or something we did that we didn’t like. It might be during a performance review at work, something a friend tells us or receiving a bad grade in school. While the information comes as something negative, we usually don’t realize that we can actually take this and use it to improve.
We don’t take constructive criticism very well. We get a jolt of emotion (fight or flight reaction) that often comes and it starts to cloud our thinking.
Read MoreAs you create new routines it gets easier to do more
Scott Miker
I learned a lot from being forced to get through a sleepless night. When my first daughter was born I was in complete shock at how little sleep I would get. I struggled each time I had to get up to help feed her, change her or just calm her down. In the morning I would have a difficult time making it to work on time and then making it through the day with such exhaustion.
But over time it got easier. By the time we had our second daughter, I would quickly wake up and tend to her. I could wake up over and over throughout the night and get little sleep. Somehow I got up for work and would make it through the day. It wasn’t always easy but I was shocked at how much easier it was once I got used to it.
Read MoreBuild a habit before you try for results
Scott Miker
Years ago I read about a doctor who was frustrated by his patient’s lack of physical activity. Regardless of the shape or ailments of the patient he stressed the importance of getting 30 minutes of exercise every other day.
But when those patients came back to see him weeks or months later, such a small number had taken his advice that he grew frustrated. He decided to change his approach. Instead of 30 minutes every other day, he simply said to do 60 seconds (1 minute) of exercise every single day.
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