Failproof self-management trick

Now that communism is gone, capitalism is the only viable economic system. Of course, capitalism is not perfect. But the great thing is, it doesn't HAVE to be perfect.

That's because it contains mechanisms for self-correction. Transparency, for example. Well, yes, there are firms like Enron, but by and large, most companies and most managers benefit from greater transparency, which is conducive to detecting errors and adjusting systems where necessary to keep everything functioning smoothly.

So what is the success secret here? How is this relevant to self-managing for greater success?

Here, I have to credit a consultant friend who shared with me a critical management insight: "To improve your peformance, improve your stats."

(This is common ground for people who are familiar with Edward Deming's work on statistical process control, which he introduced to Japan and launched their spectacular post-war economic revival).

The success secret we can learn from capitalism, is to make your career or business so transparent that ANYBODY can see your vital stats and know precisely how well you are doing.

Of course, this is not easy. Most people won't even reveal their salary.

Ten years ago, I even developed a clever response to people who inquired about my salary. "So Peter, how much do you make a year?"

Instead of responding, "Well, it's none of your business", which is a bit impolite, I would reply: "How much money I make? Less than I expect, more than you imagine."

(Try to figure out what I mean. I will explain in a future posting).

Once again, the success secret is to make YOUR performance THEIR business. Whether you want to improve your career stats or your business stats, the failproof self-management trick is to get somebody else to ask you "blunt" questions about your performance.

Of course, self-honesty is really hard. It's easy to say the truth, but quite difficult to hear it. Yet, self-honesty, once achieved, can remove all obstacles in one's life.

This is why they say that "Honesty is the first chapter of the book of Excellence."

So if the success secret is to make YOUR performance SOMEBODY ELSE'S business, then where do you find this person? It can be a coach, a friend, an investor, etc. It has to be someone who cares about your success, because your success will help him/her succeed as well.