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Most people in business still believe that success comes from learning best practices, rules, laws, techniques, habits, methods and scripts.They swarm to experts and gurus who promise them such answers.
This wrongheaded focus is precisely what holds them back.
You can't become a great innovator by learning the "5 rules of innovation." You can't become a great leader by following the "7 laws of leadership." You can't become great at selling by following any recipe or script.
But only a very few, truly extraordinary individuals understand this simple reality. And of course, that's why they become extraordinary.
The rest continue chasing answers, rules, laws, steps and recipes. And that's why they remain stuck at ordinary.
When you focus on answers — such as best practices, rules, laws, techniques, habits, methods and scripts — you do what everyone else is also doing. And you get lost in a sea of sameness.The reality is that individuals and organizations who are extraordinary have no practices, attributes or habits in common. They break all the rules. They ignore all the laws. They are originals. They create their own practices.
If you want to leapfrog ahead, you must shift your focus to asking the right questions so that you can find answers that do not compromise your individuality — and that others haven't even considered yet.
That's what Skills 2.0 is about. It's the Skillset for the future.
Those who become extraordinary understand that most answers and recipes are incomplete, incorrect, or inconsequential. They also understand that an overabundance of answers makes it difficult to identify what matters most and what's really going on.This is why they focus on developing their ability to ask the right questions.
This small difference in focus makes all the difference in results. Focusing on questions uncomplicates everything — after all, there are millions of answers, but only 1 list of 7 questions. And it makes you swift, nimble and versatile. It is the secret to extraordinariness.
Yet, if you're like most people, you probably haven't even considered this skill. Or how pivotal it is to your success.
It's time to shift your focus. It's time for Skills 2.0. Read on.
The ordinary focus on answers (rules, laws, methods, best practices).This answer-focus leads to mistakes and problems … which consume a huge chunk of your time … and make you highly ineffective.
Some examples —
Every time you hire the wrong person, you trigger dominoes of problems that consume you for months, even years. In the same way, with every poor communication, every bad strategy and every poor decision, you trigger dominoes of unnecessary activities that you then have to "time-manage."
Ordinary people do extraordinary things when they get skilled at asking the right questions upfront. This enables them to prevent mistakes and problems.Small shift. Big difference.
It's time to shift your emphasis — from answers to questions. It's time for Skills 2.0. There's more …
A few quick examples —
You'll never be strong at innovation unless you're also strong at selling your ideas — because otherwise, even your best ideas will flounder.
You'll never be effective with time unless you're also strong with people — because people problems is one of the biggest thieves of your time.
You'll never be strong at customer service unless you're also strong at solving problems — because if you can't solve your customers' problems, your service will always fall short.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
You'll never be strong at innovation unless you're also strong at selling your ideas — because otherwise, even your best ideas will flounder.
You'll never be effective with time unless you're also strong with people — because people problems is one of the biggest thieves of your time.
You'll never be strong at customer service unless you're also strong at solving problems — because if you can't solve your customers' problems, your service will always fall short.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
If you're struggling with any aspect of your job, the most likely reason is that you learned it in bits and pieces — you didn't master all the inter-related skills you need to truly succeed.This is what happens when you focus on learning answers. There are millions of answers. And it's impossible to remember them all.
Time to step up to Skills 2.0 — which focuses you on questions. This may be hard to believe, but you only need to master 1 list of questions to become uncommonly insightful about a very wide range of inter-related skills — including Leadership, Innovation, Teamwork, Time Management, Customer Service, Selling, Negotiating, Strategy and more.
You can read less — a whole lot less! — and understand more — a whole lot more! — simply by shifting your focus from seeking answers to … mastering questions.Answers are in the millions. Questions are few. And your simple shift to questions will dramatically slash how much you need to read. While also substantially ramping up how much you understand.
You'll find yourself immediately spotting — and skipping — irrelevant information … while deeply and routinely grasping what's relevant without needing to read even the newest of materials.
You'll find yourself gaining mastery over a very wide range of skills — becoming nimble, swift and effective.
Unfortunately, only a very few truly extraordinary folks 'get' that focussing on questions rather than answers is the key to deep understanding — and great success.
Time to step up to Skills 2.0.
A few quick examples —Apple has no Performance Evaluations. Yet, its employees' performance is among the best in the world.
Zappos has no Customer Service manuals for its employees. Yet, its customer service is among the best in the world.
Costco has no initiative for Employee Empowerment. Yet, its employee turnover is among the best in retail.
Extraordinary individuals and organizations ask the right questions — and with just one or two initiatives, get a whole bunch of objectives accomplished as a side benefit.
Most people have many plates spinning … but not much in the way of actual accomplishments.The extraordinary are the exact opposite. Just a few plates. A multitude of accomplishments. Simple. Elegant.
Zappos explains the difference: "If you have lots of initiatives, it all just fades into the background."
But just how do you leverage a few initiatives into a multiple of accomplishments? The same way the extraordinary do it. By asking the right questions. Because when you do, as Steve Jobs explained it, you "arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions." And that's what Skills 2.0 is all about.
When you rely on answers from others, you become mentally lazy — without being aware of it.This leads to mistakes, false starts and missed opportunities.
To become extraordinary, you need to be alert, aware, perceptive.
And the only way to raise yourself up to this level of acuity is to shift your focus from answers to asking questions.
Put another way, if your focus is currently on seeking answers, there is no way you are at the level of acuity necessary today in business.
Make the shift. Skills 2.0 is the Skillset for the future.