In this article you will know what design thinking is and you will know what the habit you must eliminate to be more successful.
For almost half a century, Professor Bernard Roth of Stanford University has taught a subject called The Designer in Society either society designer; in which students learn how strategy design thinking can create significant changes in personal life.
What is design thinking.
The goal of design thinking, a concept developed by Roth and other Stanford engineers, is to get to the root of a problem and from there try to correct it.
It also seeks to eliminate unnecessary processes of deliberation and hesitation. By itself, this method can be used to improve any product or experience.
Roth also explains that this process can be used to achieve personal goals; such as losing weight or reducing anxiety.
His book “The Achievement Habit” is the result of his lecture and is full of strategies for personal improvement.
The main idea, and thought design in general, is that we always try to justify our negative behavior. According to Roth:
We would be happier and more successful if we stopped justifying ourselves for everything we do. Click To Tweet
Examples.
In the book he refers to his personal experience. At the beginning of his career it was constant that he was late for certain meetings. And he always gave reasons why he was late. For example the traffic.
Eventually he realized that the real cause of his tardiness was that he didn’t view these meetings as a priority. So answering emails and calls at the last minute was not something he was going to stop doing to get out on time.
By the time Roth realized this, he always did his best to leave 10 minutes early in order to always be on time.
Here is another example, Roth was once talking to a teacher in one of his workshops, he claimed that he wanted to spend more time with his family, a task that was difficult to accomplish because he was very busy at work.
Roth tried to get more details about his daily routine, and found that this professor spent a lot of time after work socializing with his colleagues.
This professor inadvertently tried to find sympathy from his colleagues for being seen as the one who stayed up late working and spent little time with his family.
Clearly, Roth writes, he had made a choice; and being too busy at work was his excuse.
This is the habit you must break in order to be more successful.
We must stop justifying our bad behaviors.
The problem, says Roth, is that we are constantly lying to ourselves with the justifications we give.
The reasons are often excuses that we use to try to hide our shortcomings.
Once we stop justifying our bad behaviors, we will increase the chances of changing our behavior. Therefore, we will be able to live a more satisfying and productive life.
Also read: Richard Branson’s 10 favorite phrases.
A word of caution: this author recommends that you should never tell someone that their excuses are ridiculous. Instead, give him the tools to figure it out himself and change his behavior.
And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business and want to find more information on this subject, buy our book “How to create a company while you work. Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
This article is an adaptation of the original “A Stanford professor says eliminating this one daily behavior can make you more successful” written by Shana Lebowitz.
