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The Challenge Network
Building processes and networks to improve decision making
One of the people I greatly respect is psychologist and author Adam Grant. When his book Give and Take came out, I finally found someone that was able to eloquently describe how I viewed the world. If you want the Cliff Notes version, he does a great TED talk.
It was with great interest then when I saw that Adam was a guest on the Tim Ferris Show, in an episode titled “The Man Who Does Everything”. The title seemed fitting as I often wondered how he managed to accomplish so much in such a short span in his career.
I will leave most of the interesting nuggets for you to listen to, like how he says no to requests and how he handles email. One idea however really intrigued me, a concept that was not necessarily new, but takes a unique approach.
When embarking on big decisions or reaching certain stages towards a goal, we often seek feedback. When we actually remember to do this, we tend to go about it haphazardly. Then when we do receive feedback, it is often couched in nice words and encouragement.
Ineffective feedback is often the result of two decisions. The first is we create a support network with people we are close with such as friends and colleagues. Support networks are great for motivation, however, make it uncomfortable for giving and receiving negative feedback. The…
