Straight-line Leadership | Dusan Djukich

Sam Matla described this book as the one that changed his life in this youtube video. After reading it through, I had to say that this book does have a transformative power in it. The distinctions delivered in this book forces me to face the reality and, definitively, helped me jump out of the vicious bubble I created for myself to keep procrastinate.

Indeed, usually it's ourselves who stumble our productivity and refuse to see the straight line to our goal, because facing the straight & real solution always expose ourselves to risks and uncertainty, which is very uncomfortable. We may even invent things to do to insulate us from it:

• Waiting for the best time to do something?
• Endless information collection without taking any action?
• Trying to find the best productivity/note-taking app that solve all of your problem once and for all?
• ...

You name it. These are all things I've done multiple times before and are, if I'm honest, horrible waste of my time. This book does pull me out of this vicious cycle to some extent. Definitely worth reading it if you want to boost your productivity by confronting to the reality and taking a straight-line to your goal.

P.S. In my opinion, Straight-line Productivity might be a more appropriate name to this book, as it focuses more on the personal level. It does cover a lot of team-working tips though.

Inner stances: circular v.s. zigzag v.s. straight-line

We always operate with inner stances, i.e. how we think, plan, decide, and action. Our inner stances are deeply intertwined with some presumptions of how to live & success. Unfortunately, since most people are uncomfortable with uncertainty & stress, those presumptions are very probable to be skewed towards ineffective directions. For example:

• Shell ourselves from the stress of taken risk by keep gathering more and more information and consider that as "progress". However, information won't lead to any outcome if it's not used.

  See also: Why You Should Take Action Before You Feel Ready (The Information Trap) | Sam Matla

• Shell ourselves from actually doing the work by keep finding better tools/softwares/platforms that will solve our problem "once and for all". However, the perfect tool for you doesn't exist at all; even if you find it, it will still be you who do the work, not the tool.

  See also: Stop Procrastinating With Note-Taking Apps Like Obsidian, Roam, Logseq | Sam Matla

• Invent a bunch of unnecessary "works" to do rather than taking the core required actions. Do we really need to check all the emails before start reading the paper? Nah. Do we really need to think through all detailed steps perfectly before start doing the project? Nah. Do we really need to wait for tomorrow before start working out? Damn not! However, it's just very compelling to invent those fake works & prerequisites to shell ourselves from the real work. We know that we may fail with the real works, not the fake works. We always know.

  See also: You feel stuck because you won't choose action | Sam Matla

Circular mode

If we keep doing these things, we are in trouble. We could waste all our time in a circle without any real progress. This is the circular mode:

They are traveling in a circle -- usually a vicious circle, going around and around, repeating the same old unworkable behaviors, performing the same actions and hoping for different outcomes in their personal and business lives.

The reason is this: we believe success is about having the right information. And for that reason it isn’t long before we think we need more and better information. We keep seeking something that does not help, and it returns us full circle to the same failure that caused us to seek in the first place. We chase rainbows of information. What causes us to seek is what’s causing us to fail. We don’t always get that knowing what to do and implementing what you know are two entirely different things.

Zigzag mode

Usually pressure in work and in school won't allow us to keep in the circular mode. The approaching deadlines could push us from it and eventually do some real work, at least temporarily. This is the zigzag mode:

Zigzag people often leave their circle and surge forward with an ascent to strong performance... But unfortunately the surge only lasts for a short while. Then they crash again. And this cycle repeats when the next awareness and inspiration hits: temporary high performance and then down again.

Straight-line mode

What if we deliberately keep us in the mode to face real challenges and do real works? That will create a straight-line towards our goals. That's the straight-line mode:

I believe that half the unhappiness in life comes from people being afraid to go straight at things. -- William J. Locke

Because most people never define the necessary required actions to achieve what they intend, they will always simply do whatever actions are comfortable at the time. They are always going with the feeling of activity instead of insisting on doing the necessary required deed.

They (straight-line leaders) are disciplined in remembering what their intention is. They are not interested in blabbing about the book to their friends and trying to impress them with their newfound information.

They know that all results come out of decisive action. So rather than looking for the courage, or the strength, or “enough time” to do something important, they forget all of that. It’s too mentally exhausting to work on all of that. So they just drop the preconditions. They know from experience that getting from A to B is always about doing the NEXT REQUIRED ACTION.

How to shift the mode?

To deliberately shift from the dis-empowering modes to the empowering mode, we need to check our inner stance consistently. There is no such thing as shift from circular to straight-line once and for all -- just like you can't eat once and for all. Distinctions are a series of quick check that support such transition. We will cover them in the following sections. After distinctions, I also compile a list of questions for self-check through out the day - it works like a cold shower that could force me out of my anxiety generating procrastination cycle almost instantly.

Wisdom is being aware of the inner stance that you are operating out of in the moment. Power is the willingness and ability to shift inner stances at will.

Distinctions give you an up-close observation of the stances that you live your life from.

Distinctions: quick check on your inner stance

P.S. Section names are added by me. Distinctions are intensely reordered & regrouped.

Facing problem

• A decision to make v.s. A problem

  Is there a magical cure to all this inertia? The magic is in consciously creating and living your inner stances through decisive action and not thinking things to death... Focus on the “what I am committed to accomplishing now” list. Make a decision. Take the required action.

  • Can't v.s. Won't

    Confusing can’t and won’t can be extremely disempowering to say the least. It is a very painful confusion to live in.Can’t refers to what is not possible for you to do. Won’t refers to something that you are capable of doing but just choose not to; you are not willing to exert the effort.

  • Confrontation v.s. Tolerance

    Tolerations are the things that you’re putting up with that you actually have the ability to resolve and yet you still choose to ignore. Tolerations are things that literally suck and drain your attention and your energy. They always live in the back of your mind from the minute you get up in the morning to the moment you fall asleep. They sometimes live after that in bad dreams. They are like mind parasites.

    It’s always a refreshing experience to ask myself, “What am I tolerating right now?” And then list those tolerations. Am I ready to confront what’s on the list? If so, I look at each item and either do, drop, or delegate.

• Being truthful about where you are v.s. Lying about it

  When people keep ignoring what’s present, it makes them stupid... If you are my client my first duty is to get you back to reality and relieve you of your disempowering stories. The truth is always more exciting to work with than some cover-up made of fiction.

  • Radical self-honesty v.s. Being insincere

    Being real is saying what you mean and doing what you say.

    There’s another form of insincerity that is even more damaging to a purpose or a project, and that’s internal insincerity. It’s the insincerity with yourself about what you’re doing throughout the day... Am I just inventing things to do to avoid or put off the necessary required actions.

• A created world v.s. A reported-on world

  He was making a classic mistake, made famous in Michael Gerber’s E Myth books, of working in his business instead of working on his business. He was showing up every day and reacting to whatever the current crisis was... It was a backwards, reported-on world.

  • Language that creates reality v.s. Language that describes reality

    These are the two types of language: descriptive and generative... Successful business owners are people who know that everything that comes their way is neutral—and therefore an opportunity to create... There is no bad news. There is only information with which I choose to work with.

  • How it can be done v.s. Why it can't be done

    The human mind is a very creative bio-computer. It can be used to create results in amazing ways. But it can also be used to justify failure, in equally inventive ways.... Once the “why it can’t be done” mind is finished with the outer environment and circumstances, it turns inward... “I’m not cut out for sales. My personality is not appropriate. I’m not one of those sales types. I have severe introverted tendencies. My parents never gave me social skills...”

    These people don’t see that they are wasting a precious resource. They don’t realize that the mind can just as easily be used the opposite way—to discover “how it can be done.” And when the mind is used in that direction, a straight line to your intended result has begun.

    McGovern’s quest was always for information he could immediately and usefully apply to his profession... “So I was always committed to learning more to differentiate myself in the marketplace”... Clients hire McGovern because he can add more value than others—because he has more business and real estate knowledge. Outsiders get confused and think his success is due to the fact that he’s been around so long that he has “old boy” relationships.

• I'm responsible v.s It's their fault

  He knew he would either be responsible for the mess, or remain a victim of it. And by coming from the inner stance of victim (which is weakness itself) he would never survive.

  • Owner v.s. Victim

    Owners function from the viewpoint that no matter what they are faced with, they are going to get something good out of it—that it will be a learning experience—they will always live more powerfully thereafter. They grow stronger... When a problem cannot be changed, then it is a fact of life and it’s time to move on... Owners convert problems into projects. Living with exciting projects is more fun and empowering than living with depressing problems.

    Refusing to be a “victim” is not about trying to deny reality. It’s about addressing a “way of being” that creates artificial hardships that are totally unnecessary... Soon you’ll see that “who you be” is “what you do”.

• Concern v.s. Worry

  When you shift from worry to concern you can 1) acknowledge the situation and 2) focus on the actions that will improve it... Concern leads to action. Worry leads to dysfunction.

  • Realistic optimism v.s. Unrealistic pessimism

    Optimists are realists. Pessimists are unrealistic because of what they see and don’t see. Optimism is the practice of focusing on opportunities and possibilities rather than complaints and regrets... (Unrealistic pessimism, however,) is often used as a misguided protection mechanism for dealing with future disappointment.

  • Caring v.s. Stressing

    No performer, when tense, or stressed, performs well. No leader does as well. No sales person. No athlete. No fundraiser. No field-goal kicker. No free-throw shooter. No parent. A stressed-out, tense performer only has access to a small percent of his or her skill and intelligence... The stressed-out mind creates a nightmare out of nothing.

    He works with business owners until they can relax into seeing clearly that many uncomfortable situations are merely conditions of the game that they are playing, and are not obstacles at all. Perceived obstacles produce stress, whereas conditions of the game are just conditions of the game.

• Corrective actions v.s. Protective actions

  Any boat or plane on a journey is in a constant state of correction. It is always off course the majority of time until it arrives. The corrections it makes are what get the desired result... However, we get upset when we are off course. We think we have failed, or are making a mistake and need to protect ourselves from criticism and low self-esteem.

  • Growth choices v.s. Safe choices

    don’t forget to ask yourself, “Which option would be most likely to grow me? Which option is most likely to just keep me safe?”

  • Investment v.s. Cost

    When straight-line individuals are confronted with a potential opportunity, they will look at the opportunity in terms of an investment.If they are going to participate, they look at the potential return for the time, money, and energy that they will expend.Unfortunately, most people who struggle on a consistent basis look at only one thing: cost.

  • The valley of death v.s. Optimistic denial

    If you find yourself in such a valley, with no way out, it’s time to cut your losses and move on. Trying to pretend that what you did isn’t what you did will only keep you stuck... Living in optimistic denial is no more effective than beating yourself up.

Taking action

• Creating v.s. Wanting

  It’s fine to have wants and dreams as long as you are willing to wake up and make them happen. But staying in the wanting state is simply degrading.

  • Choose to v.s. Want to

    Standing around wanting it to happen just burns up energy. It’s ultimately degrading... This fear of getting it wrong keeps people stuck in their want to without ever going to the more powerful choose to option... What, in the end, determines whether something was a good choice? You do. What you do after you choose can turn almost anything into a good choice.

  • A project v.s. A dream

    Burnout only occurs from trying to use your mental dream state to solve the same problems over and over again. You operate from the same undistinguished inner stances that are producing the same unworkable behaviors and actions that are producing the same unworkable results... Ask yourself, “What will happen if nothing changes?

    Straight-line individuals know that the only time you can ever change from a dream to a project is now... Real awareness occurs as a result of confronting where you are and how you actually operate in life... Your very personality is, itself, a pattern of made-up stories about itself. All productive change comes from breaking such unproductive patterns.

  • Stop stoping v.s. Stoping

    You’ve started a lot of various projects. If you had just stayed with them you would have success now beyond imagining. But you stopped. Stop stopping... You’ve got to define the necessary required actions you’ll be taking. And then you’ve got to do the necessary required actions without stopping.

• What I know v.s. What I live

  Awareness can be a catalyst to make something happen, or it can be a security blanket to wrap your “issues” up in, to protect and incubate them.

  • Only results count v.s. Content with insights

    If you are going to be successful in life, the first thing you will have to do with all of the great information you learn is to get it out of your head and into the physical world.

  • Choose to v.s. How to

    Moving from an obsession with knowing how to do something to simply choosing to do it... Choosing puts you in action because even when you make the wrong choice, you are normally better off than you were.

• Must v.s. Should

  People almost never do what they think that they should do. But they always do what they feel that they must do... When you create your own musts (commitments) and throw the shoulds away, you finally own your life. And if you don’t step in and own your own life, who will? ... Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. And that happens when you’re willing to operate from a must-do list every day.

  • Commitment v.s. Trying

    They are even trying to have a good, prosperous life. But they are just trying... A commitment, unlike trying, does mean “count on it”... Commitment isn’t about how much time you spend doing things—it’s a line you cross within yourself.

    Instead of choosing to commit, we attach our intention to looking good, being right, and playing it safe... A lack of clearly-defined commitments opens the door to you saying “yes” way too much and “no” not nearly enough.

  • Commitment v.s. Involvement

    Commitment is relentless. A professional doesn’t quit until the job is done. A true commitment alters behaviors and actions. When a person says he’s committed and his behaviors and actions remain the same—he’s not committed.

    One of the first signs of commitment is a request for assistance... When you make a request based on a worthy cause, to which you are committed, you also provide that individual with an opportunity to contribute and grow.

  • Separate v.s. The same

    What you are going through and your commitment to change your life are two separate things... They tend to collapse situations in their lives instead of seeing the separateness that would give them freedom... They don’t see that they have two separate situations occurring. Being broke is one issue, and choosing to start a new business is something entirely different.

  • Now v.s. Later

    The only time you can ever do something about anything is now. The problem with individuals who tolerate mediocrity in their lives is that no matter what good idea for taking action comes up, it’s never going to happen now... The only real question you face regarding your goals in life is “Now or later?” And realize that later is code for never. We speak in code because it’s too painful to really confront how passive we have been.

    Pause here and ask yourself: “What’s the most powerful action that I can take right now to resolve this challenge?

  • Focus v.s. Spray

    Focus the sun with a magnifying glass and you can burn a dead leaf in a matter of seconds. Allow the unfocused sun to shine down and spray its beams onto all the dead leaves in the forest and the decomposing process will take weeks.

    There is always a payoff to someone engaging in unworkable behavior. No matter how costly the behavior is to the individual, there is always a perceived upside for engaging in that behavior. Payoffs are nothing more than expensive benefits that people receive for engaging in unworkable behaviors or tolerating unwanted situations.

    Once the individual’s purpose and the organization’s purpose are the same, all the previous disempowering conversations disappear. The only question that remains is “What’s next?”

• Core actions v.s. Surface actions

  Core actions are actions that will make a real difference in producing what you intend to achieve in life. They are a very straight line to desired results. Surface actions can keep you busy but they don’t produce much, if anything at all, in terms of real results.

  • Productivity v.s. Busyness

    If you were actually performing productive actions you would have to have a lot of free time. Because that’s what productive actions do. They create free time by doing what matters.

    Check throughout the day:

    Is what you are doing in the next hour highly productive for you? Is it your next necessary required action? Or are you just keeping busy? ... Are you just inventing things to do to avoid necessary required actions?

  • Discomfort and pain v.s. Chaos

    But from this point on you can now simply refuse to ever allow discomfort or pain to escalate to chaos... And what do you focus on? You focus on the next thing to do in the moment.

  • Purpose management v.s. Time management

    Just do the things you are procrastinating on... He does not advise that we find the power or even the willingness to do it before doing it. He says to do the thing first and experience the power after that... There’s no such thing as a permanently, genetically disciplined person... Discipline is simply remembering what you intend to do and refusing to get sidetracked.

• Playing to win v.s. Playing not to lose

  If you are up by more than a break, you must try to play more aggressively. You want to punctuate the advantage in your opponent’s mind. Go for bigger serves. Serve and volley on points. Hit with more pace. Run your opponent ’coast to coast.’ If you win a game in this manner, your confidence soars and your opponent’s confidence diminishes. If you lose, you are still up a break. -- Ron Waite

  Many times this weak playing not to lose mentality shows up at the negotiating table... This comes from needing to be liked, thinking we need the relationship and not advancing our own mission or not acting from what we are committed to. We always lose by playing not to lose.

• Creating perfection v.s. Making a living

  Bijan once told me that he lives for every detail in each of his creations. He intentionally puts his life into each button, each stitch, and each seam.

  Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. -- Rumi

  • Childlike v.s Childish

    The great philosopher Immanuel Kant said that enlightenment occurs “when a person grows out of his self-imposed immaturity.” We call these unenlightened and immature people childish. They are often quite rigid and inflexible in their immature and stubborn approach to life.Whereas childlike people are quite flexible in life and are usually much more successful than childish people.

Relationship

• Serving v.s Pleasing

  We waste time seeking to please people. We prioritize winning their approval over actually serving them. What would truly serve people is not the same thing as what would please them short-term.

  • Kind v.s. Nice

    Nice stops you from being effective. Nice is not respectful. Nice is a stance you take to protect your own feelings. It’s insincere. Being nice is manipulative and wastes a lot of time... Being kind is simply being truthful with other people. It is not telling other people what you think that they want to hear so that you can personally feel better.

• Agreements v.s. Expectations

  Managers make the mistake of trying to manage their people’s emotions and their personalities... It puts both people in a vicious circle of expectations and disappointments... A straight-line leader manages commitments and agreements.

  • I contribute v.s. I deserve

    Obsessing about the concepts of fairness and what others owe you will put you in a victim’s mindset in no time, which is the most disempowering inner stance that you can ever assume... True power is the willingness and ability to assist others in making themselves more powerful.

    Jeanette saw that quick advice and obsessive control of the conversation was not a contribution. A true contribution would be anything that grew the person that she was speaking with. Her true power as a leader would be in her ability to bring out the best in others rather than trying to fix them and control them.

• Extreme self-care v.s. Selfishness

  In an airplane, you put the oxygen mask on yourself first before you put it on your kids... It’s a mistake to think it’s selfish to take extremely good care of yourself as life’s first priority. It’s a mistake to confuse self-sacrificing with love and support.

  • Positive no v.s. Rejection

    A positive no is something you utilize to create time. You know what to say no to based upon what your purpose is. So when somebody asks you to do something that’s totally out of line with your purpose, you can easily say no to that. You do that in a strong, polite, considerate, positive way. No apology.

    You’d much rather hear an honest “no” than have to decode, interpret, and translate all the socially correct fabrications that come your way. It’s more effective for your productivity to deal with an honest “no” than to have to listen to people pretending that they are interested in doing something that they are never going to do.

• Being bold v.s. Being arrogant

  Some people ruin their relationships by being arrogant. They try to hide their insecurity behind a show of superiority... Being bold takes courage. It’s stepping up when you don’t feel like stepping up.

Questioning yourself

Finding your purpose?

1. How do you want to use the rest of your life?

   Your life is raw opportunity, not something happening to you.

2. Will you make it worthwhile for you?
3. How do you want this to go?
4. What experience do you want by achieving this?
5. Are you open to it?

What leads you there?

1. What’s the decision that you have made that has you go there?
2. What would life be like if you responded differently?
3. What are you waiting for to go away before you act?

What stops you?

1. What’s working?
2. What’s not working?
3. What’s missing?
4. What stops you?
   1. What do you get by not being able to decide?
   2. Why base your life on avoiding fear and feeling safe?
5. What’s next?
6. What purpose would that serve?

What are you doing?

1. Is what you are doing in the next hour highly productive for you?
2. Is it your next necessary required action? Or are you just keeping busy?
3. Are you just inventing things to do to avoid necessary required actions?