Two Questions, Many Answers
Are you stuck or lacking motivation?
Being stuck is an inner view: What do I need to do better? Greg looks for “below the waterline” things. What are the habits and anxieties preventing progress?
Bob gets stuck when projects become too big, he lacks the energy, or the context changes. But iteration and time off help. He uses a prototype and iterative development process with hard deadlines and when that time comes the evolution ends.
Motivation is an external view. What outside of an individual or an organization gets them to act?
Rewired uses a portfolio approach. Stuck? Try a different project. They switch to harness different motivations. They also prioritize and match the context and find interdependent work. If a task applies to multiple projects, it will be prioritized. Two birds, one scone.
Doing debate
The second aspect of this episode is the value of debate. It’s a break from work to debate who is the greatest classical guitarist of all time (the guy from Cream). But it is also a sneakily fun practice.
Debate teaches argumentation: how well someone can convince and understand others. How well do we convey a point of view and practice an empathetic perspective?
Debate is also language shadowboxing. People are not awesome at explaining what they truly mean with words. So, Rewired debates words like ‘healthy’. What does it mean? It primes their thinking when they talk with customers.
Homework: Pick one of these and focus on it the next week. Is a lack of progress due to being stuck or a lack of motivation? OR How can enjoyable debate lead to more precise understanding?