The SAT isn’t a Multiple Answer Test (aka. The Value of Re-framing)

The environment in which the Navy operates its aircraft is, to say the least, full of machismo.  Not to offend the many brave women who serve within its ranks, but the reality is that jet fuel, mach-level speeds, multi-ton bombs and an incomparable competitive spirit mixed in healthy proportions have a tendency to bring out the wolf-man in anyone who wears a flight suit to “the office” everyday.  As a result, the name of the game (and a key to building one’s “ability to cope”) within said environment is to find “the button” of your squadron-mates and push it harder and faster than they can push yours.  …and don’t even bother to invite the idea that they won’t find your button.  That attitude alone exposes a big, red, flashing, button just begging to be stomped on!

However, such environments are prone to market pressures just like any other, and it’s nearly always the one that works smarter rather than harder that wins in the end. …as a result, it pays to not let your guard down, even in the most unexpected places.  Such is the case with a particularly memorable incident I’ll call Chud vs. Wang.

As a final assignment, I had the privilege of serving as a flight instructor for the U.S. Navy, training students who were bound straight for deployment to the Arabian Gulf to defend freedom and our very way of life.  Of course, such an environment requires that one’s “ability to cope” be honed to athletic levels, and the training that we implemented as instructors was designed to build this ability from a multitude of angles.  Many times this took the form of searching for “the button” of each of the students, an exercise that sometimes required careful probing around a squadron mate’s psyche until something juicy popped up.  Other times, scenarios just presented themselves.  Such was the case with, then student, Steve “Wang” Chung.  A long-time squadron-mate and fellow instructor of mine with a particularly up-front and raw style, Jason “Chud” Chuderewicz happened upon the fact that Wang had scored a perfect score on his SAT college entrance exam, a notably rare achievement, and decided to probe little to see if this was something to have fun with (and of course, build the student’s “ability to cope”).  The dialogue went something like this:

The setting:  A small briefing room where two nervous students (including Wang) are about to present every conceivable detail of a simulated mission they are about to execute to two experienced instructors (including Chud).

Chud (in his signature salty, up-front style):  So Wang, I hear you got a perfect score on your SAT.  That true?

Wang (hesitant and looking down at the table):  Well, yeah.

Chud:  So you must be pretty smart, huh?

Wang: (still looking down):  I dunno.  I guess.

Chud:  Well, you scored a perfect score on the SAT.  I’d say that means you must be pretty smart.  Right?

Wang (now looking up and very matter fact):  Well, it’s not like it was hard.  I mean, they give you the answer.

Such is the case with listening.  With proper framing, it’s not multiple choice and the answer is clear.

Chasing Behaviors is Not the Path to Success

There is a trend within the leadership and management training industry that I refer to as “chasing behaviors”.  It is characterized by advocation of an unprincipled approach to learning new personal skills under the auspice of “the way to achieve what you want is by mimicking the behaviors of others that appear to have already achieved it.”

Though good for the business of those that are advocating this approach because 1) it seems like a constantly informed “answer” to those seeking one and 2) because there is a never-ending repeating list of behaviors to teach to mimic; all of which can be demonstrated through examples as having allowed someone to appear to achieve what they wanted, therefore considering them a “success”.

It reminds me of a work horse harnessed to a grindstone being led around in circles by its master with a carrot on a stick.  The master reaps the benefits of the power of the horse through taking advantage of the horse’s intrinsic hunger.

This is acceptable treatment of work horses, but not of people who want to achieve something beyond going in circles.  Though it may produce reliable cash flow as a business, it sets a poor example of what skills are actually valuable for achieving what an individual desires while taking advantage of their hunger to know:  a double sin.

But perhaps the most important issue is not the artifact I call “chasing behaviors”, but rather its casual factor: the definition of “success”.  Though dictionaries may give more contemporary definitions, universally and timelessly, ultimate personal “success” is when one’s personal value is derived from one’s most personal values, by both the individual and others.

The implications of knowing this definition are many, but within the context of “chasing behaviors”, the most important are:

1) The power to achieve success is always inside a person, never outside.

It is not through the values of others, nor mimicking their resulting behaviors, that any individual will ever be successful.  Though peddlers of behaviors to chase may twist the appearance of reality, they are only conjurers of cheap tricks creating illusion with the “social mirror”.

2) Authentic appreciation of others’ values is a requirement for synergistic power and, therefore, team success.

Leaders are leaders only when they have followers.

Followers willingly follow only when they feel successful.

3) True success is a never-ending reality, not a goal.

People are successful when they feel valued.

They feel valued when they feel understood.

Therefore, the ability to demonstrate understanding is a monumentally empowering skill.

People Want to Be Understood

It is as natural as it is to be human, because to be human is to have the gift of consciousness – a sense of self and the intrinsic value that one has.  It is also natural to want to share this awareness with others as to do so is the only way to interact  such that one feels appreciated in the most personally important ways, a necessity to realizing the synergistic power of fully connected relationships.  At a personal level, such relationships elevate one’s abilities exponentially.  With scale, such relationships have the ability to move mountains.

As was wisely stated by Stephen Covey, “Understanding is to the soul what air is to the body.”

Feeding our souls is as essential to human survival as the air we breath.  The currency of the soul is emotion, and the key to understanding is the ability to accurately navigate the emotional landscape.

The Most Powerful Innovation

The most powerful innovations aren’t necessarily technology based.  Rather they may be based on a basic re-framing of the way we think about ourselves and our needs in any given environment.

There are few things, if any, more powerful than the natural laws of the universe by which we all must comply, but don’t always understand how to work effectively with.  An innovation that helps us to work with them more effectively is a truly powerful thing.

For instance, imagine if a through a simple re-framing of how you think about the world you could understand the emotional motivations of others as intuitively as riding a bike or tying your shoes.

The social implications are endless.  Life, especially our interaction with others, would look very different…for the better.

Imagine the power of understanding the motivations of others as intuitively as tying your shoes or riding a bike.

This is the power of the Hoye Model.

The Hoye Mastery Center is a unique consulting organization that specializes in helping HR professionals and other senior managers be, and be seen as, the leaders within their organizations that truly understand their people.

…and we do it in an innovative way that, once experienced, people wonder how they ever got along without it.

Every decision we make has an emotional component. In fact, though commonly misunderstood, it is the most predictive component of influence and decision making in business, and frankly, life in general. Yet, we have dismissed this component as too complex or personal to fully understand. This dismissal leads to less than ideal choices and results.

Those with the fullest understanding have a distinct competitive advantage to those who don’t.

Our knowledge delivers the capability to accurately and elegantly navigate the emotional landscape, introducing new ideas in how complete understanding can be when making choices and communicating with others.

www.thehoyemasterycenter.com