Vervago

Instructor Bob Stocking taught in Australia last week and heard this comment about someone’s boss: When he said ‘I don't know,’ ithelped his credibility it meant that when he gave other answers, I could trust them. Read Vervago’s June 2009 Skill Sharpener After I Don’t Know, What’s Next?

We are delighted to announce that our president, Dr. Monica Worline, will appear on a discussion panel with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Monday, February 24, at 1:30 pm Pacific Time. Their topic is "Incorporating Ethics and Compassion into Business Life." Watch the live stream here --> http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/events/dalailama/video/

During a break in our Discover Your Best Thinking with Precision Q+A workshop today, one of our attendees showed us a version of our workshop laminate she has been using since 2008, after receiving it during a presentation given by our President, Monica Worline. We are happy to say Audrey now has the most up-to-date version of our toolkit!

Are you training yourself to bring your full presence to your work every day? Most of us aren’t. We are becoming more distracted and less focused, unless we have a specific practice we use to manage our mental ecology. This month, we suggest one precise Focus Question that, used regularly and tracked over time, becomes a simple yet powerful way to cultivate focus. One question, and musing on its answers, will enhance our capacity to engage in full-minded, full-hearted, full-bodied work. https://www.vervago.com/one-question-yields-better-focus/

Master Instructor Bob Stocking unwinds at the neighborhood Starbucks after teaching another well-received Precision Q+A workshop.

At Vervago, we have been thinking about questions that help us direct the use of our time, energy, and attention. We call them Focus Questions. Here's a blog entry by Peter Bregman that suggests a profound Focus Question: What can I do, right now, that would be the most powerful use of this moment?

Productivity consultant Steve Fogel found our mental ecology webinar online [link below] and shared the fact that GTD guru David Allen practices mental ecology as well when it comes to list-making. Steve shares his own thoughts on mental ecology on his blog http://productivepractice.org//mental-ecology-more-resour/ , and also writes about self-management and aligning goals to purpose and action.

Vervago's President, Monica Worline, delivering the keynote speech at a recent conference of the Association of Greek Chief Executive Officers (ACEO). The topic: "The Art of the (Im)possible"

In the world of knowledge work, credibility is the coin of the realm. For purposes of Precision Q+A, we define credibility as the trust that others place in our thinking. As a form of intellectual trust, credibility is one of our most precious resources. As we gain experience, we realize that many executives, managers, and even peers are checking credibility regularly. Discover "Three ways to build trust in your thinking," in the May Skill Sharpener -- https://www.vervago.com/three-ways-to-build-trust-in-your-/

We don’t mean to sound irreverent, but when was the last time you asked: Do I need to be here? Go/NoGo Questions are invaluable in helping us examine the bigger picture of how we use precious resources at work. Almost all of us feel like we have too many urgent things to do, too many meetings to attend, and too many channels of communication to monitor. So, we need to be asking ourselves and our colleagues more often: Do I need to be here? And do you? In this month's Skill Sharpener, we teach you how to "Escape from unnecessary meetings with grace" -- https://www.vervago.com/escape-from-unnecessary-meetings-w/

When we work with a personal coach on a complex set of skills like Precision Q+A, one thing the coach helps us do is identify signs of progress. Since most of us don’t have a coach all the time, though, we need some signs of progress that we can monitor ourselves. In order to guide our own learning process, we can map some of the "Milestones on the path to mastery" of Precision Questioning or Precision Answering -- https://www.vervago.com/milestones-on-the-path-to-mastery/

Ever catch yourself saying something like, I’m sorry if this is a stupid question, but? We all use mindless preambles, usually without thinking about the impact on our credibility. But as with many things in Precision Q+A, preambles can become more precise and powerful. A preamble is a short statement preceding a question, that makes our intent or motivation clear. Preambles are useful because they defuse a potentially awkward moment (such as the worry about a stupid question) and they do so unexpectedlyby pointing right to the awkwardness! This month we talk about "Conquering the fear of the stupid question" -- https://www.vervago.com/conquering-the-fear-of-the-stupid-/

Go/NoGo Questions are the ones we use to ask about the process of our thinking rather than the content. When we are constantly bombarded by IM, email, text messages, and social media feeds, on top of our typical day full of work, a new type of Go/NoGo Question jumps to the forefront: we call it the Mental Ecology Go/NoGo. Learn more about "The Go/NoGo Question you need to ask today" -- https://www.vervago.com/the-gonogo-question-you-need-to-as/