Reply to win win

I liked dylans post about win win. It can be hard to always be thinking win win, but thats how everyone can work as a team and get things done. I found this video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HOA66raW1I and it was really good, he talked about what thinking win win can do for us and how much it can help us. Everyone should check it out.
You have to be very unselfish to always be thinking win win, but in the end if your a team player you'll have a much better outcome.

7 Habits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPt5fMFxSw
I've been watching youtube clips on the 7 habits book. It is a really good book! i am glad we had the opportunity to read it.  The hardest thing is applying what we learn from the book. I like how the work book helped us to apply it daily.

Each chapter is dedicated to one of the habits, which are represented by the following imperatives:

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e. self mastery)

• Habit 1: Be Proactive

Synopsis: Taking initiative in life by realizing your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Taking responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow. Getting things done.

• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Synopsis: Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life. It is always better to try and foresee situations. Predict outcomes and then think of worst case scenarios, will help come up with informed decisions.

• Habit 3: Put First Things First

Synopsis: Planning, prioritizing, and executing your week's tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluating if your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you towards goals, and enrich the roles and relationships elaborated in Habit 2. Prioritization is the key to the success of any business or in any walk of life. Being proactive rather than being reactive leads to success.

The next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e. working with others)

• Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Synopsis: Genuinely striving for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Valuing and respecting people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way. Everyone will feel inclusive and involved. A better environment of trust and loyalty establishes.

• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be understood

Synopsis: Using empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving. This can also avoid situations where the problem does not actually exist and its just a matter of misunderstanding. It is always said that listen double to what you talk since we have 2 ears to listen and one mouth to talk.

• Habit 6: Synergize

Synopsis: Combining the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. How to yield the most prolific performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership. Everyone is a master of something and not everything. Positive potentials can be put together to achieve better results.

The last habit relates to self-rejuvenation;

• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Synopsis: The balancing and renewal of your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable long-term effective lifestyle. This is constant improvement of one's self in order to be a better human being and to sharpen one's skills in order to achieve better results.

the art of communication

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWLF7JjU1sc


i think this video really speaks for itself, but communication is more of an art than anything.  I feel this video has a lot of great insight that relates to many of the principles that we have covered in class, especially the Covey Principles.  It is something that is improved over time, and really can accomplish the most important things in life such as business initiatives and personal relationships.  I also really enjoy how he presents this information.

my team

By working in a group I found it easy to bring together a lot of great and newer ideas. I felt that our group did great on our project. We all had different and unique ideas that eventually became one...our final project. Every single person in our group made a significant contribution. We did not have one person that stood out and therefore we successfully teamed together and worked as one. I am sure we will all receive a good grade on this assignment.

sometimes new inventive ideas dont work....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QU-AR4YtNY



this is kind of a non-realistic scenario, but i think its super funny.  Also, i think it brings up a good point, that sometimes new ideas that are far-fetched don't always work or are even necessary. I chose this particular example because of our last group assignment to create a renovated bathroom.  Our group came up with a lot of good ideas, but some of them we ended up throwing out either because they didn't fit our criteria of efficiency or realistically wouldn't work.  This was an awesome exercise to improve the thinking process for any type of project or assignment in the future. aannndd i like robots:)

Response to Procrastination

Thanks for sharing that video! It described my problem, and apparently yours as well perfectly! I have a huge problem with procrastination. I always seem to wait until the last minute to get things done! One thing that I have found useful is coveys own first step to organization and putting first things first. Making Lists! Since I started making lists each day about things that I needed to do that day I seemed to get a lot more accomplished. It was also fun to do it was kind of like a game to see how quickly i could get the things done and before i knew it I was getting a full nights sleep and free time every night. Hope this helps!

Seek first to understand then to be understood

At the beginning of the semester I had a problem with this concept. I was always the kind of guy who thought that my way was the best way. However after reading covey's book it really opened up my eyes and enhanced my listening skills. Since doing so i feel as though i have become a better friend, student, and co worker. I now choose to listen to what other people have to say BEFORE I say something instead of after. It has honestly opened up my life and makes me happier over all.