Choice vs. Decision

I was recently reminded of the distinction between these words and found it very powerful and liberating. First, here's one definition of each word:

CHOICE: (noun) the right, power, or opportunity to choose; option: The choice to play a game."

DECISION: (noun) the final score in any sport or contest: The decision was 5 to 4 in favor of the home team.

Choice simple is. It requires no explanation, no data, no meaning attached to it and it is 100% personal. Each of us make choices constantly, consciously or not. Choice is a feeling, emotive thing.
- I choose to have pancakes for breakfast.
- I choose not to shower.
- I choose not to speak to a certain person.

Decision inevitably is based on data, direct or indirect. It's based on past experiences and usually involves an "if... then..." logic. Decisions are mostly brain based and even those that are gut based have the elements of data and basing your gut on something you've experienced. Taking the same examples above we get:
- I decide not to have pancakes today because of the calories involved.
- I decide to shower because I'll stink if I don't.
- I choose not to speak to that person because I don't have time.

Now the beauty of this distinction is when we apply it consciously. How often do you have self-doubt, self-judgement and make up stories in your mind about your choice and confuse it with a decision? It's simply your choice - no need to explain why. Actually neither is there a need to explain a decision however you have data for yourself to know why you arrived at that decision. There is no need for that data with a choice. It simply is.

Play around with this concept today and comment on it if you choose.

Intrinsic Motivators

This animatic from Dan Pink is a great example of story telling AND delivers an awesome message that we love at Resonant Insights. In short, the rules of what motivates information workers have changed and each of us are responsible for how we embrace (or not) these changes.

Captain of My Soul

First, the disclaimer -- I am not a sports fan of any flavor and when I see an inspiring sports story, I love it! Just watched "Invictus" - read the synopsis on the movie site to get the story. The main piece that hit me was the poem by William Ernest Henley, whowrote it from his hospital bed. His indomitable spirit led him to triumph over the amputation of his leg. This poem was an inspiration for Nelson Mandela and I am grateful for the movie to make me aware of these powerful words.

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul

Wow! The power to believe in change. The power to believe the impossible is possible. The power to stay the course despite the odds. The power to believe in one self.

I highly encourage you to watch the film if you haven't.

Goddess TINA

Folks, my sister's book, "Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom" is finally available in the US. Consider ordering it TODAY via Amazon. Her timing couldn't be better with our continuing global financial crisis. The book is full of interviews with people who are seeing things differently. They are not assuming that "There Is No Alternative" (TINA) as Margaret Thatcher was frequently quoted as saying. Frankly, TINA thinking is as dated as thinking the world is flat (before the NEW "World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman came out).

Here is an old article my sister wrote in 2001 that is still very relevant. She also covers this phenomenon and story in her book - order it today! :) (Yes, I'm shameless about promoting my sister).

The Market as God
The striving for alternatives is nascent in the current clamour against the dominant free-market form of globalisation, writes Rajni Bakshi

May 2001 - "God and markets are not usually thought about together. Yet here is a proposition that links the two. "The market is a good that has been turned into a god - and that is a problem," says David Jenkins, retired Bishop of Durham in the United Kingdom. Jenkins is one of those rare souls who stand at the core of the establishment and yet manage to challenge it sharply from within. Through the 1980s he was famous for criticising the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for her economic and social policies. He was intellectually intrigued and morally bothered by what he came to think of as the "Goddess TINA". For, Thatcher never tired of pronouncing that "You cannot buck the markets. There Is No Alternative (TINA)."

Over the last decade, the power of "Goddess TINA" appears to have become even more entrenched. The currently dominant model of globalisation is rooted in the principles of free market. Yet, today, there is also a global chorus of voices arguing that the rule of the market, as it is currently defined, is socially and morally unacceptable. As Jenkins says: "If we can make the market our servant, then the possibilities are immense ... but the present form of market flourishes largely at other people's expense."

The search for alternatives includes a wide range of people from all walks of life in countries across the world. For example, David Jenkins recently led an intensive exercise in exploring the question "Market: Master or Servant?", at Schumacher College. This College is an International Centre for Ecological Studies, located near Totnes in Devon, U.K. Its three week courses cover vital contemporary issues, are led by some of most innovative thinkers of our times and attended by a wide variety of people."

Fun Can Change Behavior

I love this initiative from VW - www.thefuntheory.com. Make sure to watch a few of the videos that provide examples of how we can all have fun AND create positive change. Being a parent of three little ones, I love this example the most: