Leadership Sifts: More Wheat, less Chaff
I am exhausted trying to unravel fact from fiction on just about every issue, from the stupid to the serious.
- Drinking a glass of red wine every day is healthy?
- What is the real reason my power utility is unable to generate enough power?
- Does Hamas actually hold children hostage as human shields?
- Did the Israeli army apply the Hannibal Directive on 7 October?
There is so much hot air, bluster, questionable and contradictory information and generally a billion opinions on everything and anything.
Even so-called news services offer multiple views… they cannot all be right…can they?
How do I go about uncovering a semblance of truth without spending all my energy finding it, or do I simply uncouple from the world?
It is a great question!
In an age of self-replicating ‘information’ it is neigh impossible to separate possible facts from probable fictions.
The context and question quoted above paraphrases a note I received from a fellow Influential Leadership Activist two weeks ago.
It is a condition that each of us faces in every facet of our lives: ‘information’ overload.
I place information in quotation marks because information suggests something that much of the material floating around lacks.
Any decent definition of ‘information’ includes characteristics such as:
- data,
- facts,
- knowledge,
- comprehension,
- thoughtfulness,
- verification, and
- interpretation.
And, let us add two words that also form part of the Apex Skillset:
- synthesize, and
- wisdom
I advised my fellow Activist to follow two rules:
- The first is to cut down on the number of things we get involved with and concern ourselves with. Cut out the clutter, do what is important and strategic for your life at home, work, play-spaces, community and country. As we have discussed before, nobody can do endless things properly. Anyone who achieves great successes applies disciplined focus.
Recall the words of the wisest Caesar, Marcu Aurelius, in Leadership Weekly Note 17.23.
Do only what is essential.
This was Marcus’ simple recipe for productivity and happiness. ‘If you seek tranquillity,’ he said, ‘do less. And then he clarifies. Not nothing. Less. Do only what is essential. ‘Which brings a double satisfaction: to do less, better. Follow this advice today and every day: do only what’s essential.
We are easily duped into imagining that more is better; that we can multi-task and that looking busy is what counts. Nonsense. Focus, cut the fluff. If it takes 10,000 hours to be really smart at one thing, how can we do a dozen things at a time properly?
However, it takes immense thoughtfulness and discipline to identify what is essential, and then follow through.
- Follow the Social Agency process with the handful of items you distil. Trust the process and apply the filters associated with each of the nine words that describe the nature of the information above.
The world-renowned biologist, E. O. Wilson, captures the essence of what we need to do, and why, in the infographic below.
I have massaged his words to help us turn chaos into sense, to sift the wheat from the chaff, to bake Roti Canai.[i]
Here is a challenge for you over the next week.
Find a clean sheet of A4 paper. Grab a pen or pencil (yes, you’re going to write).
Create two equal vertical columns. In the left column, write down the one essential thing you should be spending your thoughts and effort on for each area of your life—relationships, home, school/studies, work, recreation, sport, community and country.
Those are already eight massive life-filling tasks.
In the right column write down all the things you currently spend your time and effort on for each of the listed areas, and any other things you busy yourself with that have no bearing on the essential areas of your life.
If the right-hand column heads towards the bottom of the page it is time to review, revise and refresh what you do with your time, energy and intellect.
The process of culling unproductive activities from our lives is difficult because our behaviours start in the mind, and we know that the mind is the highest frontier to conquer.
It takes immense ongoing discipline to keep one’s eyes on the wheat and let the chaff go… it is an Apex Skill.
The best bread has more wheat, less chaff…
Regards,
Colin @ Karoo
We Activate Apex Skills!
Leadership Weekly Note: 0524.290124
e: colind@karoo.world
Follow The Karoo Influential Leadership on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KarooInfluentialLeadership
[i] E.O. Wilson (1929-2021). ‘We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.’ Read more here.
