Start questioning yourself

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

Start questioning yourself

In the Sept. 18, 2000 issue of the St. Louis Post Dispatch Business section 
is an article entitled, "Are you an excellent employee?" written by Dale 
Dauten, a businessman and author of a book called "The Gifted Boss". The 
article deals with complacency in the work place, or "what do you do better 
now than six months ago?" Mr. Richard Gooding, VP of global strategy for 
Avnet, said this to Mr. Dauten. "One of the biggest problems in corporate 
America is creeping complacency. As soon as one task is mastered, you loose 
the intensity. We take for granted that we know how to do every day tasks, 
with the excuse, 'Oh, I know how to do this, I've done it a hundred times. I 
can wing it'. That's when you start skimping on preparation, and stop double 
checking your facts". Mr. Gooding adds, "The trouble with experience is that 
you start to think you're good, and that's when you relax". 

A learning curve should be an elongated S, eventually flattening out as it 
reaches the point of mastery. Unfortunately, in the real world, what happens 
is that most people reach a certain level of competency, and then actually 
falls backwards, into negative learning when workers start to figure out how 
to avoid work. So the danger isn't just learning, it's anti-learning. And 
that leads to the Complacency Paradox: "The day you no longer need to ask 
others how to do your job is the day you must start questioning yourself". 

Have you been questioning yourself? Are you ready to give yourself the 
answers to every problem you encounter?  Learning is a never ending process. 
When is the last time you attended a seminar, institute or even a chapter 
tech session? Do you read the Journal every month? Surfing the net, and 
participating in Pianotech is certainly better than not doing anything. But 
are you doing enough to better yourself? Are you better now than six months 
ago? 

You know the answer. You know what needs to be done. There are 9 more 
seminars scheduled in the next year, culminating with a Convention and 
Institute in Reno. Are you going to attend any of them? Do you have all the 
answers?

Willem