#so like not so much deferring my life decisions as taking people's opinions data for that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

douglassmiith · 4 years

Text

7 Methods to Maximize Your Decision-Making

May 29, 2020 7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

People make thousands of decisions a day. Some are small and insignificant, others are big and potentially life-changing. Managers, business owners, and leaders make substantially more decisions than the average person and are regularly faced with making high-stakes decisions. As a result, it’s common for leaders to suffer from decision fatigue, to fall back on comfortable decision-making styles, or to defer making big decisions.

Yet, being an effective decision-maker is one of the most important skills for leaders to have. Good decision-makers positively impact the trajectory of their business and earn the confidence and respect of their teams. Peter Drucker, the well-known management consultant and business author, often talks about the importance of decision-making. He advises that, “making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level” and has observed that “wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

The good news is that there are things you can do to become a better decision-maker. Even if decision-making is an area of angst for you, something that you often put off, or something you struggle with, there things you can do to maximize your decision-making potential. Here are 7 proven methods that all business leaders should implement.

Related: Let Go of These 10 Things and Start Making Better, Faster Decisions

Have a system and follow it

One mistake that many people make when it comes to decision-making is letting their emotions play too big of a role in the process. It’s easy to make an emotional decision and then come up with a rationale to support that decision. To avoid falling into this trap, it’s important to have a clear decision-making process. While you obviously can’t use this process for every small decision you make throughout the day, it should be utilized for all major decisions.

Having a system in place will make it easier to tackle hard decisions and will provide some objective steps to go through during the decision-making process. While the specifics of this process will vary to meet the unique needs of individuals or organizations, a good decision-making framework should include:

Clearly identifying the decision that needs to be made

Articulating the desired outcome;

Gathering information

Brainstorming potential decisions

Analyzing the pros and cons of all possible decisions

Gathering feedback from relevant stakeholders

Making the decision within a specified timeframe

Effectively gather information

An important part of making a well-informed decision is gathering information. Yet, in the current environment, there are seemingly endless amounts of data points and information, making it easy to get overwhelmed by this step of the process. To effectively gather information, it’s key to focus on gathering the right information. It’s much more important to focus on quality over quantity when it comes to this step of the decision-making process, so think about the specific type of information that you need and focus on gathering only that data.

Related: 6 Secrets to Making Business Decisions That Get Results

Reach out to experts

While many decisions are unique to your organization or situation, it’s likely that someone in your field has faced a similar decision. It’s always a good idea to reach out to experts, whether internally or externally, to get advice about significant decisions. Plus, doing so offers additional information on the issue and the perspective of a third party.

Control your emotions

Interestingly, research indicates that the more important a decision is, the more emotional it becomes for decision-makers. It’s important to note the difference between going with intuition and letting emotions drive your decision. After going through a thorough decision-making process, it’s a good idea to trust your gut to help with the final calculus. Serguei Beloussovm, the CEO of Acronis, a unicorn technology company with a focus on cyber security, talked about the power of going with intuition in an interview we did in fall of 2019:

“At times I suggest using your intuition, which is much more powerful than your brain because it has more neurons and more synapses, so the fact that it’s more powerful is not any kind of mystery. [The difference is that] your brain is only computationally more powerful. The conscience gives you some feelings, you get sort of slight signals. You may not be able to explain those feelings at the time because your conscience is so poor in configuring – in calculating what happened. But at times, go with your conscience.” Belousovm continued with an analogy: “Imagine there is a key in a dark room… you can use a high powered laser and only see a extremely tiny portion of the room well lit and have a very difficult time finding the key, or you can use a candle and you can see the whole room dimly lit and find the key quite easy. The candle is your conscience.”

In contrast, letting your emotions control the process can result in improperly weighing and evaluating options. To avoid this, try to be aware of the impact your emotions are having and focus on the objective criteria that are part of your decision-making system.

Create a filter for evaluating decisions

A decision-making filter consists of a few broad questions that you ask before making any significant decisions. This filter could include things like, will this help the business grow? Does it benefit employees? Does it impact the company in a positive way? Having a few central questions that are applied to all big decisions can help to focus and strengthen your decision-making process.

Make decisions in a timely manner

You don’t want to rush a decision, but it’s also important to not drag out the decision-making process. Doing so generally doesn’t lead to making better decisions and can lead to others losing confidence in your leadership abilities. Navigating the line between a rushed and a thought-out decision is diferent for different leaders. There are many processes for making a decision. For example, some may take a day to sleep on it or go for a run before making a big decision. When I was a graduate student at Columbia University, my professor Neal Pilson, former President of CBS Sports, gave me advice that never left me. “Hold off on deciding anything important on Fridays,” said Pilson. “If it’s that important it can wait until Monday when you have really thought it through.” Whatever your process, it’s important to find the right balance of allowing yourself adequate time to consider decisions while also forcing yourself to make timely, confident choices.

Evaluate decisions

Creating a process for evaluating decisions will help you to become a better decision-maker. It will also help to identify common decision-making mistakes and specific areas of concern. This process can be as simple as having a spreadsheet or journal that documents decisions and monitors how effective they turned out to be.

Conclusion

Decision-making is one of the most important skill sets of effective leaders and managers. It can control how your business grows, how your employees respond to you, and the confidence you instill internally and externally. Hopefully, these proven methods will help to make you a stronger and more confident decision-maker.

Related: How to Prioritize When Making Decisions as an Entrepreneur

loading…

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

Via http://www.scpie.org/7-methods-to-maximize-your-decision-making/

source https://scpie.weebly.com/blog/7-methods-to-maximize-your-decision-making

0 notes

riichardwilson · 4 years

Text

7 Methods to Maximize Your Decision-Making

May 29, 2020 7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Related: Let Go of These 10 Things and Start Making Better, Faster Decisions

Have a system and follow it

Clearly identifying the decision that needs to be made

Articulating the desired outcome;

Gathering information

Brainstorming potential decisions

Analyzing the pros and cons of all possible decisions

Gathering feedback from relevant stakeholders

Making the decision within a specified timeframe

Effectively gather information

Related: 6 Secrets to Making Business Decisions That Get Results

Reach out to experts

Control your emotions

Create a filter for evaluating decisions

Make decisions in a timely manner

Evaluate decisions

Conclusion

Related: How to Prioritize When Making Decisions as an Entrepreneur

loading…

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/7-methods-to-maximize-your-decision-making/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/619500216521031680

0 notes

scpie · 4 years

Text

7 Methods to Maximize Your Decision-Making

May 29, 2020 7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Related: Let Go of These 10 Things and Start Making Better, Faster Decisions

Have a system and follow it

Clearly identifying the decision that needs to be made

Articulating the desired outcome;

Gathering information

Brainstorming potential decisions

Analyzing the pros and cons of all possible decisions

Gathering feedback from relevant stakeholders

Making the decision within a specified timeframe

Effectively gather information

Related: 6 Secrets to Making Business Decisions That Get Results

Reach out to experts

Control your emotions

Create a filter for evaluating decisions

Make decisions in a timely manner

Evaluate decisions

Conclusion

Related: How to Prioritize When Making Decisions as an Entrepreneur

loading…

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/7-methods-to-maximize-your-decision-making/

0 notes

laurelkrugerr · 4 years

Text

7 Methods to Maximize Your Decision-Making

May 29, 2020 7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Related: Let Go of These 10 Things and Start Making Better, Faster Decisions

Have a system and follow it

Clearly identifying the decision that needs to be made

Articulating the desired outcome;

Gathering information

Brainstorming potential decisions

Analyzing the pros and cons of all possible decisions

Gathering feedback from relevant stakeholders

Making the decision within a specified timeframe

Effectively gather information

Related: 6 Secrets to Making Business Decisions That Get Results

Reach out to experts

Control your emotions

Create a filter for evaluating decisions

Make decisions in a timely manner

Evaluate decisions

Conclusion

Related: How to Prioritize When Making Decisions as an Entrepreneur

loading…

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/7-methods-to-maximize-your-decision-making/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/05/7-methods-to-maximize-your-decision.html

0 notes

massthetics-blog · 7 years

Text

New Post has been published on MASSthetics

New Post has been published on http://massthetics.net/fitness-advice/

Headphones, Shoes, and Fitness Advice

I’ve been staring at the top of this damn post trying to figure out how to open it for entirely too long, and I’m stumped. Hence this paragraph narrating why I’m opening today’s email in a wildly off-topic way.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to bid’ness.

While the data is limited thus far, changing how I make purchases has improved my life for the better. Not to mention doing so has vastly improved my post-purchase satisfaction, without fail.

What I did in the past was use the see-all power of the internet to find exactly what I wanted (or thought I wanted), march into the nearest store with my head down, ignore all offers for help from staff, grab whatever I’d set my heart on, and march out. Mission accomplished.

The problem in this method, though, I was rarely satisfied with what I ended up with, and my stubborn pride never allowed me to take it back, and attempt to find something better.

Okay, here’s the shift I made:

Instead of marching in with the exact product in mind, I’ve been going into stores with no product in mind, and allowing the expertise of the owner to help me find what I needed.

Think of it this way: if I knew so much about shoes or headphones (the last two things I’ve bought in this manner), I’d be working in these stores myself, sharing my knowledge with every customer who walked through the door.

Instead, I’m emailing you every single day while helping countless men and women achieve their jacked, shredded, and tanned desires.

If you want an exceptional experience, to enhance your satisfaction, and to shorten your learning curve:

Stay in your lane of expertise, and defer to people who know more than you.

When I needed new shoes a few weeks ago, I only knew that I needed a pair I could comfortably walk in for a while, and could be worn to two formal events. I didn’t know jack-shit about which style, make, material, or any of the other factors that you should consider when buying shoes.

As a result, I spent a fantastic thirty minutes half an hour with an incredibly knowledgable girl who helped me dig through 7 different options, the pros and cons of each, I was able to ask her opinion, and I ended up leaving with a pair of shoes that I absolutely love, and have barely left my feet since.

Headphones were even more tricky.

Every wannabe audiophile on the internet has their idea of what makes a great pair of earphones, but rarely do they consider that everyone has wildly different needs for headphones.

Seeing as about 80% of my headphone use is while I train, I knew that I wanted something durable, sweat-resistant, and wireless.

Which doesn’t exactly narrow things down.

Enter the owner of The Headphone Bar (yup, a shop that sells nothing but headphones), who was able to explain the differences between each model he carried, detail the sound quality, narrowed my selection down to those which matched my specific needs, then provided samples of each to try so I could ensure a great fit and test the sound before making a decision.

None of which would have happened had I blindly ordered off the internet or walked in and grabbed the first pair I saw.

Now, not only have I ended up with two products which I love, and are exactly what I was looking for, but my overall experience in both instances was incredible, all because I deferred to people who knew more than I.

Here’s the deal: fitness is no different.

Yes, there’s a whack of information available for free on the internet which you can immerse yourself in.

Yes, you can spend days upon days sifting through it all, trying to analyze the mis-information, and come up with a plan that may or may not work for you.

Yes, you *might* see the results you want.

The chances of you loving your results like I currently am with my shoes and headphones?

Welp, honestly, they’re not that great.

To that end, what good reason do you have for wasting your precious time trying to figure it all out on your own, when all you really want is to build some muscle, drop some fat, and look damn good on the beach?

I dunno about you, but fuck wasting time achieving what you want.

This is where working one-on-one with a trusted coach who has a track record for getting people results is so valuable.

You can shortcut the learning curve.

You can avoid mistakes and setbacks before they have a chance to befall you.

You can tap into the in-the-trenches experience and expertise that comes from having been a goddamn meathead and working with clients for the past 4 years.

All of which you can take advantage of by joining the swoley crew within Mullan’s Meatheads:

https://lift.massthetics.net/meathead

Yours in MASS,

_Meathead Mullan

#bodybuilding #Lifestyle #MASSthetics

0 notes

athena29stone · 7 years

Text

46 Things I Wish Parents Knew

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Parents, I don’t know everything. But as your child’s teacher and as a person who has been teaching children for more than fifteen years now, there are some things I would love to tell you. So, today, I guess I will.

Cathy Rubin from the global search for education asked this question. See the other answers here.

1 – I’m glad to teach your child.

I love to teach. I’m glad to be here.

2 – I don’t know everything.

Of course, you already know this. You know that there are lots of things I don’t know about your family or your child. But what you may not know is that even though I work with lots of kids, I may not always know when something is going on at home, or your child is upset. If even lots of people know, don’t assume I do. I don’t gossip but run from it.

Help me out and let me know as much as I need to know to help your child, even if it is just “my child is having a hard time.” Knowing their frame of mind will help me be a better teacher. You don’t owe me more explanation than you want to give. I won’t tell other teachers unless you ask me to so you might want to tell them too.

3- There are more than two sides to every story. Please make sure you get mine too directly from me.

In a class of twenty children, there are at least twenty-one versions of every incident including mine. Nowadays there are more because it seems every child snaps, updates, and tweets their version and all their friends and followers re-share. So, no matter how inundated you are with “facts,” please make sure that you and I talk before you confront me about the “facts.”

Today’s world seems to be obsessed with jumping on teachers and passing judgment. As a teacher, the only person I can talk to about my “side” is you and my principal. I can’t snap, tweet, or update anyone else and can’t by law. The best way to work things out is to talk about it. So before you jump all over me about your opinion about what I’ve “done” make sure of a few things:

a) make me aware of what you think I’ve done,

b) hear me out about your child’s involvement in the issue and

c) give me the benefit of the doubt before you go in angrily.

Our ability to work problems out often depends on the volume of our voices as we start out.

4 – Kids can exaggerate.

See #4. Kids (and adults) can also mishear and misunderstand. Sometimes the exaggeration isn’t intentional.

5 – Kids can lie – even yours.

A teacher friend once had a child turn in the entire poem word for word as their original creation. It begins like this,

“I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.”

This poem was written by John Masefield. My fruebd showed the poem in the book to the parent in front of the child. The parent looked at it and said,

“All I know is my child doesn’t lie. If he says he wrote this poem, he wrote it.”

To which my friend replied,

“If your child wrote this poem, go ahead and send him to college.”

That parent was not only letting her child lie but also doing the worst form of lying possible – she lied to herself. Sadly adults lie too, but kids can lie as well. Never underestimate the power of self preservation on a child’s version of the truth.

6 – I make mistakes.

When I know it, I ask for your child’s forgiveness. I think they should do the same thing. Part of what kids learn in my classroom is how people interact and solve problems together.

7 – We all have bad days

Teaching is hard work. I try to be my best every day, but I won’t always be at my best, no matter how hard I try. Try not to judge me by my worst, and I’ll try to give grace to you and your child on their worst day too. When we go through the hardest things in our life, we need the most forgiveness, love, and understanding. (See #1.)

8 – We may be allies, but you’re the parent.

I respect your role as a parent. When we’re discussing things – like your decision to take your child out of school – I will defer to your parenting choices.

9 – Children are made by their habits.

When you let your child miss school for the smallest reason on a frequent basis, you’re setting up patterns for their life. I see kids who can’t come to school flunk out of college because they didn’t feel good enough to get out of bed in the morning and they had no one to wake them up. I’ve seen kids become adults who could never hold down a job because they didn’t know what it was like to show up every day. So, just consider this and remember #7.

10 – When your child misses, help me make sure they make up the work.

While it is your job (see #7) to decide why your child misses school, when a child misses school it is hard work for them and me. When they have been planning a trip for months and don’t tell me and come back to school afterward and say, “did I miss anything?” then I feel like you’ve not done your part in this partnership to educate your child. There’s only one of me, and I’ll do my best to be patient, but communication is our friend. I’ll work with you but cooperate with me too. Understand when I’m worn out, and your child misses a week of direct instruction that I can’t make it up in twenty minutes after school.

Don’t mistake my exhaustion for disapproval of your decision to have your child out of school. Just take it for what it is. I’m a teacher. I stay tired. And when I teach 140 kids, and three of them miss class during a week, I have three children to track down, not just one. I want your child to take ownership for his/her work and so should you. Let’s work together on this.

11 – I’m the scorekeeper. Your child is the earner and learner.

I don’t give free, unmerited credit for work not done. If your child fails, I will feel as if I have failed, but people don’t appreciate things they don’t earn. Some of the hardest things I’ve had to do are give an F to a child who deserved it and cause them to be athletically ineligible.

I cry over every F that a child deserves but make no mistake, while some teachers give lots of zeroes. I work very hard to be fair, give credit for late work and to track down children to do the work. So, by the time they have an F in the grade book, they’ve earned it.

12 – Life is too short to hold grudges.

Help your child work out their issues with other classmates and with me. Remember I can’t read minds. (See #2.)

13 – I know what you think of me through the words of your child

I know if you back me up at home because your child will repeat something you’ve said. I can tell because it is typically something only an adult would say. I appreciate when you back me up. Even more, I know it. The person who benefits most when we work together is your child.

14 – Not every child will like me.

That is OK. I always tell my students that I hope they’ll thank me when they’re twenty-three. By then, they will have grown up and know that the hard truths of life I tried to teach them are true.

But when you tell a child that they should only work hard for teachers they “like” and that they deserve only great, happy perfect teachers is like telling an adult they deserve only awesome bosses. The sentiment is nice, but it isn’t grounded in reality. If you set false expectations for your child about their teachers, you’re setting them up to become disillusioned adults. Some teachers stink. Others just aren’t a good fit for how a child learns.

15 – How you handle problems matters more than how you tell them to handle their problems.

16 – Problems are the canvas upon which we paint a masterpiece of learning to live a good life.

Kids don’t do what you say; they become what you teach them to be by how you expect and teach them to act.

We can make a massive difference in your child’s life when we communicate and respect each other.

17 – If you have a problem with me – tell me before going to the principal to give us a chance to work it out.

18 – If you have a compliment, tell the principal first.

He likes to be given a chance to communicate positive things to me. It helps our relationship. Eventually tell me, sometimes the principal forgets.

19 – As much as we love them, sometimes kids try to manipulate us. When we communicate – everyone is better off.

20 – Unnecessary drama hurts learning and everybody’s quality of life.

You can’t take back some things when they are done our said. Our relationships are important so let’s proceed with respect and wisdom.

21 – I’m a learner too.

Sometimes I try things that don’t work. But if I’m learning, I’m growing.

22 – I like to laugh.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying learning. Just because we laugh doesn’t mean we’re not learning. Sometimes hilarious situations happen that seem off the wall but make sense if you see the bigger picture. Try to trust me even when the stuff we do seems kind of different.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying learning. Just because we laugh doesn’t mean we’re not learning.

23 – Some school rules are disliked as much by me as your kids, but I have to enforce them becasue it is my job.

Don’t be mad at me when you let your child knowingly break the rules and they get caught. Remember that when you do that, they’ll do the same thing to the rules in your home. Rules are rules even if we disagree with them.

24 – I respect your right to parent as you see fit, however, I have many kids from many homes in my classroom.

So, don’t expect my classroom management strategies to line up with your philosophy of parenting.

25 – I’m a humble servant of your child’s learning, not their childish whims.

I would rather make your child upset today by having a hard conversation and have them thank me for the rest of their life than avoid the talk and set them up to live a life of regrets.

26 – I teach more than my subject if I’m a good teacher.

27 – Your child’s self-worth and your worth as a parent are not directly connected to the grades on the report card.

Every child is beautiful, unique creation worthy of respect. A child can make a C or F on their report card, but they are all an A+ creation of infinite worth.

28 – We teach with more with our lives than with our lips.

29 – Communicate with me during regular hours unless it is a special case.

Late night impromptu phone calls where you wake me up to scream at me never end well for anyone. You might feel better, but it will be hard for me to forgive you for such inconsiderate behavior.

However, if someone important dies or you have a desperate need because of a difficult, unusual circumstance and I can help – call me anytime. I want to be there because I care.

30 – Let’s work together for your child’s good.

You’re the parent, not their BFF. I’m not their BFF or their parent; I’m a teacher. We’re better off when we each do our job to the best of our ability.

31 – Let’s respect each other because we are both important parts of your child’s life.

I’m not a very good replacement parent. I don’t expect you to be a very good replacement teacher. Let’s both do our part because we want to do right by your kids.

32 – Let’s enjoy the journey and celebrate our wins.

33 – When you are kind, it thrills my heart, and I am grateful.

34 – When you don’t buy your child the school supplies they need – I do.

Kids won’t tell you they need school supplies when you yell at them every time they ask. They’d rather me do it if you always fuss about buying them.

Buying too many supplies for too many kids means that I sometimes don’t have a pen to write with when I need it. That irritates me because it makes me feel like I don’t have anything for myself. Some parents buy school supplies for me, and I appreciate it because I give them to the kids. This seems little but it can make even teachers who can afford to spend the money feel taken advantage, especially when kids just expect it and don’t say thank you.

35 – Life is too short to be a drive-by parent – be as involved as you can be.

You can’t be at everything. But when you are, why not yell for other parent’s children and hope they’ll yell for yours when you’re there? A school community that cheers for everybody’s kids is a special place where kids thrive. So, cheer for other people’s kids too.

36 – Thoughtful, loving parents make me a more thoughtful, loving teacher.

37 – If we can train up thoughtful, loving kids – the whole world will thank us.

38 – Social media is a distraction during school hours.

If your child posts on social media during my class it is without my permission, and they are hiding it from me. It doesn’t mean I’m ignoring them, it means they are sneaking around. If they tell you they have my permission, they are lying, and you should address it. I don’t follow my students on social media but you should.

39 – Help kids make wise choices

Charge the cell phone in the kitchen. Kids who go to bed with their cell phones aren’t mature enough to turn it off. Cell phones make poor alarm clocks because they aren’t just alarm clocks.

Help your child get 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Their grades will be better, and they will be happier.

40 – Don’t worship your kids – they’re only human.

Worshipping your children like building a home in a sandcastle – when the tides of teenage years come, some of the facades will wash away, and you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

41 – Your kids don’t tell you everything.

42 – Not every teacher I know agrees with me, nor I agree with them but don’t ever ask me to speak negatively about a colleague.

If you have an issue with another teacher, take it up with the principal, not me.

43 – I won’t judge all parents by a few of them who make it tough to teach their child.

Likewise, please try to give me a chance even if you’ve heard from others about me.

44 – I love teaching and expect great things. Expect great things of your child, too.

I love kids. I respect you as their parent. I rejoice to teach awesome kids with amazing parents but know that I expect awesome and always get it.

Understand that we often get what we expect, so expect great things of your children. Many kids who end up in prison as adults were told by their parents, “you’ll end up in prison.” They try to please you even if it means doing bad things so speak blessings and joy into their life. When you destroy your child’s hope, you make it hard for me as their teacher to give it back. Choose your words wisely – your children are listening and trying to be what you expect – so expect greatness.

45 – Teaching is hard, and I appreciate your respect and prayers

God called me to teach, and I’m grateful. But even though I’m called, it is hard doing this job. I hope we can work together to help your children learn, grow and find their strengths. I hope you’ll be patient with me because we all have to learn. They have to learn about the subject I teach and our classroom, but I have to learn about them and you. So, while they have one subject, I have as many subjects as I have students! The more we can learn, the better teamwork we can have. Let’s work together in respect and mutual appreciation – raising kids is a hard job best done in partnership between great parents and teaching professionals.

The greatest dream of my life is to be a game changer for your child and to show them the love of the Living God who loves me so much. We both have a difficult job but a job worth doing well. Let’s learn about helping your child become the best version of himself or herself possible.

46 – Writing this scares me to death

I know how many people HATE teachers. I mean hate them. And I know that I’ve likely misstated or misspoken or said something wrong. And one thing I’ve learned from eleven years of blogging is that people are far more forgiving of themselves, their children, and most people than they are for teachers.

Teachers rarely get grace.

I know that as a teacher that I’m held to a higher standard. I can live with that. But living with the hatred of a society that should love the many amazing teachers out there can be hard sometimes. A college student may become a serial killer but society doesn’t hate college students. A businessman may steal from stockholders, but we don’t hate all businessmen.

And I honestly don’t understand why teachers have to die before people realize that we give our lives for students each and every day. If people say great things about teachers, it is usually when we are dead or retiring. Otherwise, we just take lots of heartache including the self-induced heartache we have over the kids we tried to reach and couldn’t and the normal failings of being a human being.

I hope that you’ll know that I don’t profess for this to be a perfect manifesto of wisdom I wish parents knew, but these are certainly some things I do wish parents knew.

Teaching is my life’s work and I know that to do it well, I need to honor, respect and have great relationships with parents. As for me at this point, I have some of the most fantastic parents on the planet and am grateful for their kindness to me all the time.

The post 46 Things I Wish Parents Knew appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/45-things-wish-parents-knew/

0 notes

riichardwilson · 4 years

Text

When You Find A Good Idea, Look For A Better One

About The Author

Tony Kim is the CEO and co-founder of Studio XID Korea Inc., the company behind award-winning prototyping tool ProtoPie. Kim jumpstarted his design career at … More about Tony …

Prototyping helps to formulate the main trajectory of the design by framing your mind around a continuous pursuit of better concepts. Any team that makes a prototyping integral part of their design is motivated to search for a better solution. Meet ProtoPie, a tool that will help you prototype in the best way possible to validate an idea and bring it to life.

Design is about solving problems. No matter what product we work on, we always try to provide the best possible solution to our users. Product research, ideation, prototyping, and testing are essential steps of the product design process. The ideation phase plays a crucial role in the design process because, during this phase, designers form hypotheses—raw ideas on how to solve the problem. But every hypothesis, no matter how good it might sound, always requires validation.

What can happen when designers skip the validation part and go straight to building a solution? In many cases, designers end up creating a product that does not bring any value to their target audience. Hopefully, there is a simple way to ensure that you are moving in the right direction. And it is called prototyping.

At ProtoPie, we do not put our faith in raw ideas; we put our trust in prototyping. We believe that prototyping is the best way to validate an idea. That is why when we are working on our product, we treat every idea as a prototype.

Below I want to share some practical tips on how to use prototypes during the design process.

How Prototypes Help Test Our Assumptions And Move Progressively Towards Finished Solutions

Make Your Idea Tangible

Designers have a hard time explaining the meaning of a particular idea when it is locked inside their heads. When people who listen to a designer do not have a visual reference, they need to imagine how the product is supposed to look and work. No need to say that it often leads to misunderstanding. Prototyping is a way to give your idea a tangible presence that you can put in front of your team or stakeholders. The great thing about a prototype is that it does not need to be fancy. The key thing is to create a representation that helps other people to understand the underlying meaning of your idea and understand whether it has a value.

It is vital to minimize the time required to visualize the ideas. Different stages of the product development process require different fidelity. So, if you are at the beginning of your creative journey, and want to try various concepts before selecting one or two that you will turn into a final product, you might want to use low-fidelity sketches to communicate your idea. But as soon as your idea starts to get traction, you can go for mid- or even high-fidelity assets to make the prototype look and work like a final product. By doing that, you allow other people to interact with your solution.

[embedded content]

A high-fidelity prototype that demonstrates content browsing on mobile. (Image credit: ProtoPie)

Stay Focused

Usually, product teams have dozens of ideas about the features they want to introduce in their products. In some extreme cases, when teams turn all their ideas into features, they create so-called creeping featurism—products are filled with poorly-designed features and become completely unusable.

Don Norman gives the following description to creeping featurism:

“Creeping featurism is a disease, fatal if not treated promptly. There are some cures, but as usual, the best approach is to practice preventative medicine.”

The Featuritis curve creates a correlation between user happiness and features. (Image credit: plutora) (Large preview)

Not all features are equally important to your users. It’s easy to see whether a particular feature works for users or not by prototyping it and testing a prototype with your users. The results of usability testing sessions will be a strong argument for meetings with stakeholders. It’s much easier to convince stakeholders when you show how users interact with a product.

Focus on key user journeys and optimize your design for specific workflows. (Image credit: depalmastudios) (Large preview)

Evaluate Technical Feasibility

The cost of introducing a particular feature in a product can vary drastically based on the feature complexity. In many cases, it’s hard to evaluate the complexity of specific features just by reading a feature specification. Incorrect assumption “Developing this shouldn’t take more than a day” can result in a week or even more of development. As a result, a team postpones the time to market, which ultimately leads to financial loss.

Prototypes act as a bridge between designers and developers. Prototyping helps developers understand which aspects of your idea are difficult or impossible to implement. During high-fidelity prototyping, most of the hidden shortcomings related to UI and user interactions are exposed. This information will help you to plan your resources, time, and budget. Remember that the earlier in the process you can identify and fix fundamental problems, the less expensive it is.

[embedded content]

Exploring the technical feasibility of VR-enabled solutions using ProtoPie.

Turn Your Idea Into Multiple Ideas

When product designers come up with good ideas, they tend to think of their ideas as fully-formed solutions that a team should embrace and build. This way of thinking is very dangerous because it narrows down the team focus on one specific path that an organization should follow. However, it only happens when a team skips the prototyping phase and goes straight to implementing a final product.

If a team starts prototyping, it completely changes the way it thinks about ideas. Since a prototype is anything but sacred, and a process of prototyping is similar to experimentation, the team is more willing to try various approaches to find the one that works the best. Even when a team starts with one idea, it can follow different routes that will ultimately lead to different outcomes. A team follows a quick build-measure-learn cycle where it validates their ideas. So, without any doubts, it’s possible to say that prototyping will guide your product design decisions.

Applying the Double Diamond to discovery and ideation. (Image credit: Hackernoon) (Large preview)

Don’t Stick To Your Ideas

One of the first lessons you learn in chess is ‘when you find a good move, look for a better one.’ This rule is applicable to product design. Let’s suppose you have a really good idea on your mind. The best thing you can do with it is to ignore it for a while. Take a notebook, write your idea on the piece of paper, and turn the page. Put the notebook on the shelf. This approach will help you get the idea out of your mind and keep thinking. Because you have to be willing to move on from the good ideas if you’re ever going to find the great ones.

Design With Data

“Go with your gut” is a phrase we hear throughout our lives. Each of us has our own gut feelings when making decisions, and designers often rely on personal opinions when making design decisions. Gut feelings play an essential role in developing solutions, but they are not the only tool you should be using. Influenced by gut feelings, designers can easily fall prey to misguidances, such as cognitive biases — tendencies to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or strengthens their prior personal beliefs or hypotheses.

Rather than relying solely on your intuition, collect valuable insights by testing your prototypes with real users or people who represent your target audience. It’s recommended to use high-fidelity prototypes for usability testing sessions because they’re better for soliciting feedback (when users see a realistic design, they start to evaluate it as a finished product).

How Prototypes Help Design Collaboration And Design Critique Sessions

When I started ProtoPie, I wanted to build a team that will make my ideas tangible and will create a tool for UX designers that will help them work efficiently. Now, looking back, one thing is clear: my best idea was to surround myself with a team of people who had even better ideas. Many product teams believe that the ultimate goal of product design is to create great products. But in reality, the goal is to create a judgment-free environment with highly-motivated professionals that can quickly spark creativity.

Brainstorming sessions are an essential ingredient of solid design process. During brainstorming, team members should produce as many ideas as they can to address a problem statement, evaluate the ideas, and turn the best one into prototypes.

[embedded content]

Surround Yourself With People Who Can Openly Critique Your Work

Many large organizations suffer from the so-called HiPPO effect (highest paid person’s opinion). This effect describes the tendency for lower-paid employees to defer to higher-paid employees (usually managers) when a decision has to be made. Not to say that HiPPO effects have a significant negative impact on product design—it introduces bias into all design decisions. Whenever a team gathered together to discuss a design, instead of making a decision collaboratively, they always look at one person while sharing their ideas.

Two things will help you to deal with the HiPPO effect.

First, embrace the “There are no bad ideas” mindset. The d.School puts it in this way “It’s not about coming up with the ‘right’ idea, it’s about generating the broadest range of possibilities.” That’s why it’s important to be curious and be ready to explore various directions and prototype various solutions.

Second, honor honest feedback. Even if you’re a manager or a boss of your organization, people who work on a project should not be afraid to force you to think critically about your concepts. You should motivate your team to experiment and try various approaches. Instead of saying, “I think that this should be designed…,” you should say, “How might we design …?” This simple phrase will help you build a creative spirit and help team members solve a problem together.

Beat Personal Biases

Emotions play a massive role in the decision-making process. When we evaluate ideas, we not only try to understand the value of the concepts but also consciously or subconsciously assess the person who proposed the ideas. It is happening because often it is hard to separate the value of an idea from the person who suggests it.

Product design is all about being open-minded. It is vital to separate the value of an idea from the person who shares it. And it is easier to do that when you criticize not an idea, but a prototype. A prototype naturally makes you focus on design assets (digital or physical) rather than on the words of a person who created it. Thus, whenever team members have ideas/potential solutions, ask them to make the ideas/potential solutions tangible (create prototypes), and challenge the prototype together with other team members. Evaluate all design decisions in accordance with business goals and user needs. When testing a prototype, avoid saying, “Let’s validate this design,” but instead say,” Let’s learn what works and what doesn’t work for our users and why.” By collecting useful feedback from colleagues and other people involved in the process, you not only beat your personal bias but also find more elegant solutions for the problem.

Build-measure-learn cycle proposed by Lean Startup. (Image credit: openclassrooms) (Large preview)

Conclusion

Prototyping is more than just a technique that you use in product development. It is design philosophy, way of thinking. Tom and David Kelley of IDEO perfectly summed up the importance of prototyping by saying:

“If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a prototype is worth 1,000 meetings.”

(ms, ra, il)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/when-you-find-a-good-idea-look-for-a-better-one/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/611664899717906432

0 notes

laurelkrugerr · 4 years

Text

When You Find A Good Idea, Look For A Better One

About The Author

Tony Kim is the CEO and co-founder of Studio XID Korea Inc., the company behind award-winning prototyping tool ProtoPie. Kim jumpstarted his design career at … More about Tony …

Below I want to share some practical tips on how to use prototypes during the design process.

How Prototypes Help Test Our Assumptions And Move Progressively Towards Finished Solutions

Make Your Idea Tangible

[embedded content]

A high-fidelity prototype that demonstrates content browsing on mobile. (Image credit: ProtoPie)

Stay Focused

Don Norman gives the following description to creeping featurism:

“Creeping featurism is a disease, fatal if not treated promptly. There are some cures, but as usual, the best approach is to practice preventative medicine.”

The Featuritis curve creates a correlation between user happiness and features. (Image credit: plutora) (Large preview)

Focus on key user journeys and optimize your design for specific workflows. (Image credit: depalmastudios) (Large preview)

Evaluate Technical Feasibility

[embedded content]

Exploring the technical feasibility of VR-enabled solutions using ProtoPie.

Turn Your Idea Into Multiple Ideas

Applying the Double Diamond to discovery and ideation. (Image credit: Hackernoon) (Large preview)

Don’t Stick To Your Ideas

Design With Data

How Prototypes Help Design Collaboration And Design Critique Sessions

[embedded content]

Surround Yourself With People Who Can Openly Critique Your Work

Two things will help you to deal with the HiPPO effect.

Beat Personal Biases

Build-measure-learn cycle proposed by Lean Startup. (Image credit: openclassrooms) (Large preview)

Conclusion

“If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a prototype is worth 1,000 meetings.”

(ms, ra, il)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/when-you-find-a-good-idea-look-for-a-better-one/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/03/when-you-find-good-idea-look-for-better.html

0 notes

scpie · 4 years

Text

When You Find A Good Idea, Look For A Better One

About The Author

Tony Kim is the CEO and co-founder of Studio XID Korea Inc., the company behind award-winning prototyping tool ProtoPie. Kim jumpstarted his design career at … More about Tony …

Below I want to share some practical tips on how to use prototypes during the design process.

How Prototypes Help Test Our Assumptions And Move Progressively Towards Finished Solutions

Make Your Idea Tangible

[embedded content]

A high-fidelity prototype that demonstrates content browsing on mobile. (Image credit: ProtoPie)

Stay Focused

Don Norman gives the following description to creeping featurism:

“Creeping featurism is a disease, fatal if not treated promptly. There are some cures, but as usual, the best approach is to practice preventative medicine.”

The Featuritis curve creates a correlation between user happiness and features. (Image credit: plutora) (Large preview)

Focus on key user journeys and optimize your design for specific workflows. (Image credit: depalmastudios) (Large preview)

Evaluate Technical Feasibility

[embedded content]

Exploring the technical feasibility of VR-enabled solutions using ProtoPie.

Turn Your Idea Into Multiple Ideas

Applying the Double Diamond to discovery and ideation. (Image credit: Hackernoon) (Large preview)

Don’t Stick To Your Ideas

Design With Data

How Prototypes Help Design Collaboration And Design Critique Sessions

[embedded content]

Surround Yourself With People Who Can Openly Critique Your Work

Two things will help you to deal with the HiPPO effect.

Beat Personal Biases

Build-measure-learn cycle proposed by Lean Startup. (Image credit: openclassrooms) (Large preview)

Conclusion

“If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a prototype is worth 1,000 meetings.”

(ms, ra, il)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/when-you-find-a-good-idea-look-for-a-better-one/

0 notes