Episode 118: Optimal Appraisal -understanding why this is your strongest position ever

This is a great topic - impactful in so many situations.  I refer to it regularly and it was good to go through it in more detail with Stephen.

Optimal Appraisal allows us to best reframe and consider our experience to ensure we are best placed to reach the outcome we have in mind. Good, bad, indifferent, hard, easy, unexpected... all are important ingredients in creating the future.

Some notes below I jotted down during the conversation - hope they help.

Any thoughts and comments - let us know at podcast@coachpro.online.

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Here are the notes:

 

Optimal appraisal is when we’re assessing with a good outcome in mind

An appraisal is different from judgement – which can be emotional.  An appraisal is making a logical, intelligent and considered assessment of people and situations

Informal and Formal appraisals – we’re constantly “informally” assessing our lives, situations, environment, memories, work, opportunities, relationships.  Learning to optimally appraise will improve all our appraisals – formal, informal and subconscious

A formal appraisal is “let’s check in with where we are” – and isn’t only at work.  It’s something we do all the time – ask ourselves a conscious question “how are we about X today?”

Optimal appraisal will allow you to make big, disruptive steps and transformational change

Suboptimal appraisal means the past trajectory will determine the future path

Optimal and optimistic is different from positive – Optimal is “I understand what has happened and still believe that good things can happen.  Positivity is more a blind belief that good things will happen – should happen”

3 key areas in an optimal appraisal – Past – Present – Future

Typically, people will spend too much time in the past and ignore the present altogether.  The optimal distribution of time is 20:30:50

So, if you’ve got an hour – that means you spend 12 minutes on the past. 

The past is important – everything that has occurred – the good, the bad, the unexpected, the easy, the hard – it’s important to acknowledge and identify the past

When you know the past doesn’t define the future – it allows you to be more honest.

If you view your past as all good - or as all bad – you’re missing something important

Present – the present disrupts the future being a continuation of the past.  It acts as a trampoline, a springboard, a catalyst allowing you to dramatically alter the trajectory, the course of your future.  It allows you to aim for the spectacular – the transformative

5 key things for Present in Optimal Appraisal

1 Experience: What experience do I now have

2 Expertise: What expertise do I now have

3 Knowledge: What do I now know for certain

4 Ability: What can I now do

5 Qualification: What are we now qualified to do

Altogether – this means we are in our strongest position ever

This process transforms the past into rocket fuel for the future – what are you going to do with it – all this new and learnt talents

You’re in your strongest position ever – what should you be aiming for?

Process allows you to reframe all experience as something learned to help you move forward to the end in mind

“what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger – I’d rather it wasn’t a 50:50 call but what Optimal Appraisal does is ask “How did this make you stronger?”

What do you now know for sure that you didn’t know before

Go back further into your past if you cannot find something to reconnect to

All of these things enable you to understand that you’ve never been in a better situation today to achieve something amazing tomorrow

Considered optimism beats positivity built on hope

Operational: Be aware that appraisals can be optimal

Management: Start to manage your “informal” appraisals more optimally – don’t dwell on your past but don’t ignore it.  Use it.

Strategically: By building the discipline to optimally appraise formally and informally you will be better placed to drive better subconscious decisions

Projects and Plans – trajectory does not need to be linear – past failures do not need to limit the future