good morning we’re still morning today I
want to remind you all that each one of
us makes dozens and even hundreds of
decisions every day we really act as if
that’s almost inconsequential today I’d
like you to consider that not only are
your decisions important but that you
can use better processes to think about
how you make those decisions
I think Ike has reminded us all how
important our decisions are when you
were preparing for Ike and trying to
make sure that your children were safe
during all the tornado warnings did you
throw them in the closet and say stay
there because it’s dangerous out of here
or did you like a friend of mine get
creative and create a mini movie theater
in your powder room every day we make
these small decisions but occasionally
we have to make big decisions we decide
where to live and we decide whether
we’re gonna have children where we
consider all the options and we try to
think about the pros and cons but how
many of you looked at the flood plain
Maps before you picked where to live I
can see who the engineers in the room
are deciding on where to live is one of
the most important decisions you can
make it’s a big financial commitment and
it has other qualities too but it’s
really a big decision and what did you
think about what did you think was
important even big decisions like this
rarely get the attention they deserve
usually we think about what’s in front
of us and we go with that we make a
decision and move on quick decisions
help us move through our daily life on a
regular basis it works for us most of
the time I’d like to ask you how would
your life be different if when faced
with the decision you stopped fought for
a minute evaluated what the real
question is and what the possible
consequences might be before you came up
with your choice by thinking of lots of
options occasionally we get stuck in
what society wants us to do our society
encourages us
to think short-term to think literally
to to go forward to think quickly we
start that in elementary school with
multiple-choice tests followed by the
fact that our whole corporate corporate
system and our political world focuses
on the very short-term and not on the
long-term and not how things work so but
while each one of us stays focused on
the small problem in front of us we miss
an infinite number of opportunities to
make the better future to make better
decisions each of us is capable of
looking beyond the current moment of
identifying the bigger picture of taking
a different path and when we use our
time and our skills to think outside the
box to look holistically at the at the
wait situation we begin to see new
possibilities we see new choices and
when we pay attention to those choices
not only can we make a better decision
today for the small item that we’re
thinking about but we can also make a
better decision for the future our
inability to see the big picture is
pretty obvious when we go through our
daily life think about a trip to the
mall where when you leave you tend to
end up in a exit with 10 or 12 or 15
other cars all trying to turn left why
are we all there I don’t know but I
think it’s probably because we looked at
the closest exit and headed that way
we didn’t take three seconds to consider
what our options were now but quick
quick straight-line to the quick answer
is sometimes the right way to go if
there’s a drowning person or someone
trapped in a house with the water rising
the only question is how to get them out
of the house as quickly as possible
without putting yourself or anyone else
in danger on the other hand many of us
at work actually use processes to help
us make better decisions with some of us
use Design Thinking where we try to get
rid of our assumptions and analyze
what’s going on and figure out what the
real question is before we use that
information to brainstorm lots of
possible options companies like Apple
IKEA and Samsung used that kind of
process every day in order to make the
products we use all the time
some companies or some organizations
that we don’t think of as very creative
are using these processes to try and do
better
so think about text dot who’s trying to
improve the traffic through downtown
they’re actually thinking outside their
typical box they’re looking at changing
the traffic flow to increase the number
of cars that can get through without
increasing the area too much then
there’s communities that are using this
kind of process to reinvent themselves
think Detroit or Greensburg Kansas where
in 2007 the tornado came through and
destroyed 95% of all their buildings the
big question that the day was would they
rebuild but the townspeople held weekly
tent meetings to consider their options
they looked at the possibilities
Greensburg has rebuilt as a green town
it’s considered the greenest in America
they have a sustainable comprehensive
plan a mostly built most leads certified
buildings per capita of anywhere in the
world and a continuing recovery plan
should Houston be using a similar
process to figure out what we should do
post Ike should we be advocating for a
process where each one of us is part of
the solution I’m sure you’ve all seen
It’s a Wonderful Life with George Bailey
where he thinks that he’s not an
important person but he gets to see what
life would be like without his fight
without his operation in it he discovers
that his actions have made a difference
in in his town like George each of our
decisions bounced around in the universe
and they impact not only ourselves but
also everyone else and like corporations
we can use processes to help us think to
help us do better in order to do that we
need to create an environment where we
can access all the information that’s
around us good ideas are rarely like
light bulbs it go in our head what we
need to do is is pay attention to what’s
going on around us our reliance on the
Internet tends to reinforce our
viewpoints and usually our friends are
like-minded also when we hang around
with like-minded people we don’t have a
reason to question our assumptions
question
choices so in order to make sure that
you don’t create an echo chamber in your
head attend events like today where
we’re all learning about new things and
having things to think about read widely
divergent views talk to people with
different opinions watch educational
television take classes attend cultural
events all of these ideas and many more
help to create the library of ideas in
your head where you can see new
consequences and new options and new
choices I personally take a reading
vacation every year where I read 10 or
15 books non-fiction take notes all at
once in five to seven days and I just am
amazed at the new connections and the
new things I see good decision-making
doesn’t have to take a long time next
time you come across a question take a
second and decide should you think more
clearly about it
don’t waste your time on everything
focus on the things that can use some
creativity if it’s an untied shoelace
tie your shoe and get on with your run
if it’s a quick trip to the mall look
around and see what’s the best exit to
take but if it’s a little more
complicated take a few seconds or a few
minutes to analyze it ask yourself a
couple of quick questions what’s the
real question what’s the actual
situation who are the stakeholder and
what are the resources then consider
time how does time play into this will
my question will my decision play out
now how about in five minutes
what about six months and then in ten
years when you change your focus from
the short-term to the bigger picture you
begin to see new choices new options
these options are important as you move
forward they allow you to make better
decisions our ability to impact the
world is obvious and it happens every
single day the next time you’re headed
out to pick up your fourth grader at the
local school consider a recent study for
a local elementary school here in
Houston the carpool line takes 30
minutes to clear but there are parents
that arrive an hour and a half early
in order to avoid sitting in the line
they sit in their cars for 90 minutes
with the engine running
think about all the options they had
they could have come and waited 30
minutes in line or showing up late and
only waited 10 minutes they could have
ridden their bikes with their kid to
school or they could have walked or last
of all they could have gone around the
corner and met them where there isn’t a
line at all I’m sure there’s even other
options that I didn’t think of however
each one of these options has an effect
not only on your time your money but
everyone’s health and air quality and
has an impact on each person you your
children their friends and your
community at home now I know you’re all
sitting there going oh yes she’s come up
with that one one little everyday thing
that makes a big difference or makes a
small difference but in my life I don’t
have time and the things I do don’t
really make a difference I’d like you to
suspend your skepticism and go with the
ideas that’s in front of you
you can create a process for yourself
that will help you make better decisions
they can help you be more think more
globally and more creatively and your
decisions matter if a small thing like
like picking up your child at school can
make a small difference in so many
people’s lives and each of us makes
dozens if not hundreds of decisions
every day how would the world be
different if you create a process for
yourself where you stop think for a
minute identify what the real question
is and what the possible consequences
are before you come up with lots of
possible options and pick your path try
it for six months I believe you will see
both small and large changes in the
world around you and I believe that you
will make a bigger impact thank you
want to remind you all that each one of
us makes dozens and even hundreds of
decisions every day we really act as if
that’s almost inconsequential today I’d
like you to consider that not only are
your decisions important but that you
can use better processes to think about
how you make those decisions
I think Ike has reminded us all how
important our decisions are when you
were preparing for Ike and trying to
make sure that your children were safe
during all the tornado warnings did you
throw them in the closet and say stay
there because it’s dangerous out of here
or did you like a friend of mine get
creative and create a mini movie theater
in your powder room every day we make
these small decisions but occasionally
we have to make big decisions we decide
where to live and we decide whether
we’re gonna have children where we
consider all the options and we try to
think about the pros and cons but how
many of you looked at the flood plain
Maps before you picked where to live I
can see who the engineers in the room
are deciding on where to live is one of
the most important decisions you can
make it’s a big financial commitment and
it has other qualities too but it’s
really a big decision and what did you
think about what did you think was
important even big decisions like this
rarely get the attention they deserve
usually we think about what’s in front
of us and we go with that we make a
decision and move on quick decisions
help us move through our daily life on a
regular basis it works for us most of
the time I’d like to ask you how would
your life be different if when faced
with the decision you stopped fought for
a minute evaluated what the real
question is and what the possible
consequences might be before you came up
with your choice by thinking of lots of
options occasionally we get stuck in
what society wants us to do our society
encourages us
to think short-term to think literally
to to go forward to think quickly we
start that in elementary school with
multiple-choice tests followed by the
fact that our whole corporate corporate
system and our political world focuses
on the very short-term and not on the
long-term and not how things work so but
while each one of us stays focused on
the small problem in front of us we miss
an infinite number of opportunities to
make the better future to make better
decisions each of us is capable of
looking beyond the current moment of
identifying the bigger picture of taking
a different path and when we use our
time and our skills to think outside the
box to look holistically at the at the
wait situation we begin to see new
possibilities we see new choices and
when we pay attention to those choices
not only can we make a better decision
today for the small item that we’re
thinking about but we can also make a
better decision for the future our
inability to see the big picture is
pretty obvious when we go through our
daily life think about a trip to the
mall where when you leave you tend to
end up in a exit with 10 or 12 or 15
other cars all trying to turn left why
are we all there I don’t know but I
think it’s probably because we looked at
the closest exit and headed that way
we didn’t take three seconds to consider
what our options were now but quick
quick straight-line to the quick answer
is sometimes the right way to go if
there’s a drowning person or someone
trapped in a house with the water rising
the only question is how to get them out
of the house as quickly as possible
without putting yourself or anyone else
in danger on the other hand many of us
at work actually use processes to help
us make better decisions with some of us
use Design Thinking where we try to get
rid of our assumptions and analyze
what’s going on and figure out what the
real question is before we use that
information to brainstorm lots of
possible options companies like Apple
IKEA and Samsung used that kind of
process every day in order to make the
products we use all the time
some companies or some organizations
that we don’t think of as very creative
are using these processes to try and do
better
so think about text dot who’s trying to
improve the traffic through downtown
they’re actually thinking outside their
typical box they’re looking at changing
the traffic flow to increase the number
of cars that can get through without
increasing the area too much then
there’s communities that are using this
kind of process to reinvent themselves
think Detroit or Greensburg Kansas where
in 2007 the tornado came through and
destroyed 95% of all their buildings the
big question that the day was would they
rebuild but the townspeople held weekly
tent meetings to consider their options
they looked at the possibilities
Greensburg has rebuilt as a green town
it’s considered the greenest in America
they have a sustainable comprehensive
plan a mostly built most leads certified
buildings per capita of anywhere in the
world and a continuing recovery plan
should Houston be using a similar
process to figure out what we should do
post Ike should we be advocating for a
process where each one of us is part of
the solution I’m sure you’ve all seen
It’s a Wonderful Life with George Bailey
where he thinks that he’s not an
important person but he gets to see what
life would be like without his fight
without his operation in it he discovers
that his actions have made a difference
in in his town like George each of our
decisions bounced around in the universe
and they impact not only ourselves but
also everyone else and like corporations
we can use processes to help us think to
help us do better in order to do that we
need to create an environment where we
can access all the information that’s
around us good ideas are rarely like
light bulbs it go in our head what we
need to do is is pay attention to what’s
going on around us our reliance on the
Internet tends to reinforce our
viewpoints and usually our friends are
like-minded also when we hang around
with like-minded people we don’t have a
reason to question our assumptions
question
choices so in order to make sure that
you don’t create an echo chamber in your
head attend events like today where
we’re all learning about new things and
having things to think about read widely
divergent views talk to people with
different opinions watch educational
television take classes attend cultural
events all of these ideas and many more
help to create the library of ideas in
your head where you can see new
consequences and new options and new
choices I personally take a reading
vacation every year where I read 10 or
15 books non-fiction take notes all at
once in five to seven days and I just am
amazed at the new connections and the
new things I see good decision-making
doesn’t have to take a long time next
time you come across a question take a
second and decide should you think more
clearly about it
don’t waste your time on everything
focus on the things that can use some
creativity if it’s an untied shoelace
tie your shoe and get on with your run
if it’s a quick trip to the mall look
around and see what’s the best exit to
take but if it’s a little more
complicated take a few seconds or a few
minutes to analyze it ask yourself a
couple of quick questions what’s the
real question what’s the actual
situation who are the stakeholder and
what are the resources then consider
time how does time play into this will
my question will my decision play out
now how about in five minutes
what about six months and then in ten
years when you change your focus from
the short-term to the bigger picture you
begin to see new choices new options
these options are important as you move
forward they allow you to make better
decisions our ability to impact the
world is obvious and it happens every
single day the next time you’re headed
out to pick up your fourth grader at the
local school consider a recent study for
a local elementary school here in
Houston the carpool line takes 30
minutes to clear but there are parents
that arrive an hour and a half early
in order to avoid sitting in the line
they sit in their cars for 90 minutes
with the engine running
think about all the options they had
they could have come and waited 30
minutes in line or showing up late and
only waited 10 minutes they could have
ridden their bikes with their kid to
school or they could have walked or last
of all they could have gone around the
corner and met them where there isn’t a
line at all I’m sure there’s even other
options that I didn’t think of however
each one of these options has an effect
not only on your time your money but
everyone’s health and air quality and
has an impact on each person you your
children their friends and your
community at home now I know you’re all
sitting there going oh yes she’s come up
with that one one little everyday thing
that makes a big difference or makes a
small difference but in my life I don’t
have time and the things I do don’t
really make a difference I’d like you to
suspend your skepticism and go with the
ideas that’s in front of you
you can create a process for yourself
that will help you make better decisions
they can help you be more think more
globally and more creatively and your
decisions matter if a small thing like
like picking up your child at school can
make a small difference in so many
people’s lives and each of us makes
dozens if not hundreds of decisions
every day how would the world be
different if you create a process for
yourself where you stop think for a
minute identify what the real question
is and what the possible consequences
are before you come up with lots of
possible options and pick your path try
it for six months I believe you will see
both small and large changes in the
world around you and I believe that you
will make a bigger impact thank you
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