CANCER CURED – Stockdale Paradox – Follow Strategic Discipline

My journey through Acute Myeloid Leukemia continues with this 3^rd segment from CANCER CURED Chapter II

(For previous segments from CANCER CURED – What do You Feed?, CANCER CURED - Fear Not - TURNING POINT, CANCER CURED - CHAPTER II - LIFE INSURANCE, CANCER CURED - Texting – A New Environment, Refractory Period - Monosomy 7 – Doug Loves a Challenge )

I’m in a private room at the University of Iowa Hospital. This is the first week of my journey, and I’ve just discovered I have monosomy 7, a rare form of Acute Myeloid Leukemia reducing my chances of eliminating my cancer to 2-3%.

Stockdale Paradox

Once again I remember my training with Rockefeller Habits and what I learned from Jim Collins’ Good to Great, a book the Mastering the Rockefeller Habits program embraces. One of my first Outlook reminders/affirmations is a quote from James Stockdale called The Stockdale Paradox, from Jim Collins’ Good to Great. Admiral Stockdale was the highest-ranking naval officer to be held prisoner during the Vietnam War. From 1965 until his release in 1973, he was tortured more than 20 times by his captors. He never had much reason to believe he would survive the prison camp and someday get to see his wife again.

The Outlook reminder shares this quote: “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade. You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties. AND at the same time…You must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” It provided me with my first spark of optimism, a glitter of confidence I would and could succeed.

Acutely aware of Dr. Carter’s emphasis on the third category of patients, who would struggle to achieve remission, I see this quote as a powerful metaphor for the attitude and discipline I will need to apply to my time in the hospital and the obstacles I will need to overcome.

Whenever I’m confronted with the challenge of defeating my cancer, I’m reminded of the mental focus, and my state of being, I need to maintain to achieve the outcome I want. The Stockdale Paradox is a constant admonition to maintain the mindset I need.

Possibly the greatest impact however from the Stockdale Paradox, isn’t the portion most often quoted, confronting the brutal facts, and prevailing in the end. It’s how Stockdale viewed the process. He felt it would be the defining event in his life, which as Collins noted in Good to Great, he got depressed just reading Stockdale and his wife’s book, In Love and War.

It is not the circumstances of our life that dictate our experiences. It is the thoughts we have about those circumstances and our emotional reactions to those circumstances that dictate our life.

My Outlook reminders keep me focused on the outcomes I want to produce. I’ve called my coaching practice “Strategic Discipline” and helped my customers face difficult challenges and overcome them simply by maintaining their focus on what’s most important, their “One Thing,” as it’s called in the Rockefeller Habits. I’ve used these tools to help my sons Josh and Noah focus on getting results in school, and, in my personal life, used them to achieve goals. It makes sense for me to apply these principles to this life-or-death situation.

Strategic Discipline

I used this formula to develop the discipline to succeed with my business. The formula helps achieve extraordinary results by focusing on three fundamental execution strategies:

1. Priorities: Determine your #1 Priority. Achieve measurable progress in 90 days. Repeat every 90 days.
2. Metrics: Develop measurable Key Performance Indicators. Develop reporting dashboards. Increase accountability. Follow Pearson’s Law to achieve exponential results.
3. Meeting Rhythms: Establish effective meeting rhythms. Establish a Cadence of Accountability. Compound the value of your priorities and metrics.

I view this as my formula for building a winning habit. I am so confident in its ability to achieve extraordinary results that I created a Brand Promise guarantee: to refund all compensation if our disciplined coaching and proprietary tools fail to meet your expectations. I’ve seen it achieve near miracles in my customers’ business performance and within my own business and family. I’d seen my customers change directions on their annual and quarterly plans in the middle of the year and quarter. One of those, Ideal Computer Systems, Cedar Rapids, changed its year and quarterly priority when a major competitor merged with their largest competitor. It helped their business grow while their competitors grappled with the confusion and organization of two businesses cobbling their disparate cultures and business practices together.

More than ever, I see that in the case of my health, I need to focus on my Rocks, the big things I need to accomplish, and create a dashboard to keep me focused and meet daily activities to attain my One Thing. The first week in the hospital I spent a lot of time going from floor to floor getting further tests. By the end of the week, my mind is focused on action steps to help me through this obstacle. The first quarter of 2012 is a month from finishing as I embark on this. Rather than change my first quarter dashboard, I create a second quarter dashboard a month ahead to focus on those activities I need to do to overcome the health issues I face.

At my computer early Saturday morning I contemplate all the activities I can do and measure to support my One Thing: Cure Cancer.

Dashboard

I design a dashboard in an Excel spreadsheet, modeling it on the one I use with my coaching clients. My One Thing (meaning my number one priority) is easy: Get my cancer in remission. I include several other columns:

• Strategic Discipline - Priority, Meeting Rhythms, Metrics (Dashboard) This should be explained in my coaching practice
• Responsibility - No one is guilty, I am responsible
• Positive affirmations and faith – (Stockdale Paradox) Include the Stockdale Paradox Affirm it daily.

My resolve is clear. All these elements will comprise the routine I will follow to achieve results. In Atomic Habits (not written at the time of my cancer), James Clear shares, “You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” My goal was to eliminate my cancer. My dashboard system provided the focus to achieve the outcome I wanted.

I didn’t know, I needed one more vital component to add to my dashboard to help transform my faith into action steps to catapult my thoughts into miraculous healing.

Your Call to Action

Challenge your team, your business, yourself. I’m Doug Wick, I will inspire and ignite purpose and passion in your business!  

To create an environment where everyone is inspired to give their best, contact Positioning Systems to schedule a free exploratory meeting.

Growth demands Strategic Discipline.

Next blog we’ll begin Chapter III of CANCER CURED – Why Did I Get Cancer? Many feel cancer is just something that happens to you. I accept responsibility for anything and everything that happens! I feel it's an part essential part to overcome it. When you accept responsibility for the good and the bad in your life, when something bad happens, you can reverse it. That’s the value of responsibility. Next blog, How Did I Get Here?

Building an enduring great organization requires disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action, superior results, producing a distinctive impact on the world.

Discipline sustains momentum, over a long period, laying the foundations for lasting endurance.

A winning habit starts with 3 Strategic Disciplines: Priority, Metrics, and Meeting Rhythms.   Forecasting, accountability, individual, and team performance improve dramatically.

Meeting Rhythms achieve a disciplined focus on performance metrics to drive growth.

Let Positioning Systems help your business achieve these outcomes on the Four most Important Decisions your business faces:

Positioning Systems helps mid-sized ($5M - $500M+) businesses Scale-UP. We align your business to focus on Your One Thing! Contact dwick@positioningsystems.com to Scale Up your business! Take our Four Decisions Needs Assessment to discover how your business measures against other Scaled Up companies. We’ll contact you.

NEXT BLOG – CANCER CURED – CHAPTER III - Why did I get Cancer? – How did I get Here?