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For the Ooch-ing idea, the book had an example of not predicting the success of future employees by interviewing them. I agree with the fact that we do not gain enough information about the quality of someone’s work simply by asking questions. I, also think that this is an extremely popular process that will not go away. So, it is a good idea, but I do not think that it is practical for most people because this is the most widely used method for employing people. Without including this example, the book still would have been able to effectively explain how Ooch-ing can help us reality-test our assumptions.

Critical Analysis

The Covey book and the Decisive book do have some overlap in their topics. To start, Covey’s Habit II overlaps with the Decisive book’s ‘honor your core priorities.’ Both books want the person to figure out what they live for or what they want out of life. Covey approaches this topic by having the person think about their own funeral, and what they want people to say about them. In the Decisive book, they want you to think about what matters most to you while weighing the options to your problem. This could be done by giving the criteria of each option a number ranking them based on how much each piece of criteria matters to you. Each book encourages you to try to understand yourself better, which in turn can help to improve a person’s effectiveness. If a person knows what matters most to them, they can make a more effective and informed decision.

Our priorities will not only help us out individually in making decisions, but will also help us when working with others. When we know our priorities, we understand why we do the things we do, and when we understand that we can work more effectively with others. Knowing why you work for a company can help give you a greater understanding of the work you do. When you understand what you do, you can also understand what others do, and how you can work with others in your company to make the best decisions to effectively complete your work.

Another similarity between the two books is the idea of synergy. Although synergy is not specifically stated in the Decisive book, there is still reference to the idea of synergy. In the Decisive book, the idea of ‘consider the opposite’ reminded me of Covey’s habit of synergy. The Decisive book says, “Surely it’s possible… to imagine a set of evidence that would persuade us to change our minds.” (Heath, 99). To me, this goes with synergy, because both people are “looking at the problem, understanding the needs, and working to create a third alternative that will meet them.” (Covey, 273). The people are creating a “whole [that is] greater than the sum of its parts.” (Covey, 263). This is the essence of synergy.

Synergy can positively impact several areas of a person’s life. In work, synergy can positively affect the relationship between co-workers, and it can help a person become better at what they do. In a person’s personal life, synergy can help build relationships with loved ones. Also, it can help us to reach the best solution to problems. If managers implement the use of synergy in their teams, ideas and solutions to problems will be more effective and will work for everyone affected. Synergy can help a person’s effectiveness by being able to work better with other people. According to the article Sizzle with Synergy, “you don’t just get the benefit of 2 persons but it multiplies exponentially to the extent of receiving at minimum 4 times the feedback of individuals.” (Champion School, 2013) Not only are they contributing ideas, but they are also trying to understand the views and ideas of others.

Covey’s Habit IV Win/Win goes along with the idea of avoiding a narrow frame of mind in the Decisive book. An example given for avoiding a narrow frame of mind is trying to figure out a solution that gives you everything you want. The Decisive book says to use ‘and’ not ‘or’ when thinking through your choices to a decision. This example was more geared toward decision making for individual use rather than for a group of people. The Covey Win/Win habit is more geared for a solution for more than one person. Habit IV states, “Win/Win means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial, mutually satisfying.” (Covey, 207). The two books are not completely in sync with the ideas being discussed, but I think that they are still very similar.

From a business stand point Win/Win can help improve people’s work by increasing their team work. When in a team, if everyone is trying to come to the best conclusion where everyone will be happy with the outcome, this will improve their view of others. This can also help create a more positive view on the company if a manager is encouraging this type of interaction. The process of Win/Win in business can create very positive results. According to Bob Kelly, “teamwork affords people the opportunity to challenge the ideas of each other and come up with a compromise solution that contributes to the successful completion of the task.” (Kelly, 2013) For a person’s own personal decisions, trying to find a solution using ‘and’ instead of ‘or’ can help a person think more broadly and gain perspective of possibilities.

Lastly, Covey’s Habit V ‘seek first to understand, then to be understood’ is similar to the ‘bookend the future’ idea in the Decisive book. Covey’s Habit V is concentrated more toward communicating with others, while the Decisive book is more geared toward making better predictions for the future, but there are similarities between the two. Bookending the future is a way to try to consider all of the possibilities that could happen as a result of your decision. A person is looking at the good, the bad, and everything in between to try and make the best decision for them. To me, they are trying to understand what may happen, before just doing what they want. This can be translated to Habit V, because a person should try to consciously listen to the person who is talking without thinking of their response. In this case, listening to the person with all of your attention is like looking into the future and thinking of all the possibilities that can happen. Next, the person should try to use that information to better help them make their decision. This goes along with someone restating a person’s statement by rephrasing the statement while including how it makes the person feel.

Conscious listening can help a person be more effective in work, because they will be able to listen to what others are saying, and they can better understand what is being said as well. An article I found to help support this states, “sometimes the ability to listen to a teammate describe a challenging situation can be enough to help strengthen team bonds and improve the efficiency of the group.” (Anderson, 2013) Also, a person can think of more possibilities than just the good or bad outcomes to better make a decision. If managers were to seek first to understand, their employees would probably feel more respected and appreciated by their attempt to listen and understand their employees’ needs. Also, a manager may have a better game plan if they know the different possibilities of their decisions. This can create a more positive and healthy working environment if all employees attempted to listen whole heartedly to each other.

I believe that Covey would think that this book has some good ideas along with some ideas that are not necessarily needed. He would probably make some of the same connections I did, and he may even find others. I think that this book would give Covey some new ideas and help him to make his decisions better and easier to choose.

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