Day 4. Acknowledge & Communicate

…people become arrogant, regarding success… and they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place.

Jim Collins, How the Mighty Fall

Today I saw short youtube video about how ants work together (see below). What struck me was how they all shared the load. The big ones did the leaf cutting & carrying. The medium sized ones broke down the leaf cuttings to smaller pieces. Last, the smallest ones took the smallest pieces to the appropriate place to be broken down where they would grow fungus that the rest of the ants would eat.

This got me to thinking about success. Why do the ants survive? It’s because they all contribute in the unique ways only they can contribute. What if we took a lesson from the ants?

In his book, How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins says that an organizations decline starts in a first stage called,The Hubris Born of Success. Essentially, this means they forget what made them successful in the first place. This results in an overestimation of their merit and capabilities. (That’s deep, think on it)

Back to the ants. What makes them successful? Is it just the big ants? No. It’s all the ants working together at their specialties. Below are five steps to help you acknowledge who has made you successful in the past & communicate your current vision or goal.

1. For you. When was there a time when you acknowledged someone’s contribution to making you successful? How might you apply what you did back then to your current goal?
2. Once you’ve acknowledged someone’s contribution to your success, think of other people who have helped you become successful. Should you acknowledge them too?
3. Next, communicate your current vision or goal to some of those people. Decide if there are any others who need to know it too.
4. Use the word “because” to help explain the connection between your vision and how they can help.
5. Last, consider who else you might include that you haven’t thought of.

This is day four of an exercise I’m engaging in called, 40 days of action, how to generate momentum on your most important goals. If you’d like to read the original blog, click here. If you’d like to participate in 40 days of action, click here to email me.