Showing all posts in The Point

Sometimes we just need to relax. Bad news can bite. Don’t contribute. Soften the blow. Bad news is best delivered calm and cool.

We humans trust people who stay laced and collected. If you come unglued, people will distrust you and even hate you for no other reason—though they’ll never admit that is the reason. They’ll complain about your reasons or what you did. But, it’s you ability to keep calm they judge you by.

If you must deliver bad news, let only the bad news be bad. Actually, it’s best if you act like it’s not a problem.  · · · →

Peace through strength is an old idea, for some it is a controversial idea, but its best-kept secret is that it is a difficult idea. Whenever it fails, it failed to be done properly.

Sometimes the painful truth must be told. This seems strong, powerful, and necessary. But, just as strong, powerful, and necessary seem harsh words that wound, insult, and weaken.

The world isn’t in shambles from lack of insults; it suffers from lack of a controlled tongue. We must speak truth even when painful, but not all pain is truth and not all painful truth helps—only some.  · · · →

Most disastrous choices start with fear of something, and it’s almost always subtle. When fear drives us, we think we are being cautious, responsible, lining up our ducks, preparing for the worst, and playing it safe. But, if our purported precautions are based on a danger that doesn’t actually exist, then we have made small steps based on an imaginary fear.

Even one, single step taken out of fear is a step in the wrong direction. That could be a step off a cliff or send us two degrees off course. It’s better to be directed by goals, not fears.  · · · →

Keep your thoughts targeted on the task at hand. If your task is planning, then plan. If your task is building, then build. Don’t argue with people not in the room. And, don’t solve problems that don’t exist anywhere but in your mind. By solving problems in your mind, you must first create them in your mind, then your mind might really create them. It’s better to just focus on real work in the here and now.

Judges aren’t allowed to speculate how they might rule on cases not yet before the court. Follow the same rule: Judge the present.  · · · →