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Step 29: “Sometimes the least praise is enough to produce the greatest impulse”
The 88 rungs of happy people
In this chapter of “The 88 Steps of Happy People” I show you the true value of praise and sincerity
It was our third year of life in «8Belts». The members of “8Team”, the team of people that make up the company (we pronounce it “ochotím”), it could not be said that they got on badly at all, but it is not that they went out for drinks together on weekends. I decided to launch a “Team building”, a weekend program in which we all moved to a huge rural house with a pool and a lot of activities aimed at team up and create union. The activities were all relatively fun, but if we had asked at the end of the stay if there was one with the power to revolutionize the entire “8Team” and therefore the company, we would all have agreed on it. I’m going to tell you what it consists of step by step, using the example of how we did it. You will see that its power to revolutionize relationships within any group is extraordinary.
We first assign homework to the entire 8Team two days before the event. Homework consisted of creating a presentation about yourself. It could be visual, for example in PowerPoint, or just spoken. Since everyone can choose and speak freely about what they want, this part of the exercise gives a lot of information about what is important to each one and what he or she values most in life. Some focused more on their family, others on their professional success, others on their personality, some on their “hobbies.” On the day of the event we sat the whole team in a semicircle. I looked for the most comfortable seat I could find (I got an armchair), and placed it as a stage in front of the semicircle. It is what in the exercise is called as “the throne”. Time to start the game. As moderator, I explained that the exercise consisted of sitting the first “hero” On the throne, give him five minutes to do the presentation on himself that he or she had previously prepared, and then the most important part would begin. Each member of the team, one by one from the beginning to the end of the semicircle, had to say aloud and to their faces what impacts / likes / fascinates you most about the person who occupies the throne. The only rule was to say “only the positive.” And that’s it. It was so simple, and yet the results were devastating. Of course, for the better.
We had allocated two hours for the activity, and the unimaginable happened. It became … eight hours! Tears in the eyes, nerves, sobbing smiles, genuine and endless hugs, healed grudges, restored relationships. In just a few hours, and with the word and the sincerity as the only tools, we had managed not only to bring out the emotions more tender and endearing of the human being, but that people recognized each other for their goodness, for the most beautiful part of the heart that each one of us without exception carries inside, and the result hit us all like a brick. We saw how the “protagonist” heard things that he never imagined others might think or say about him; how, when speaking someone who another considered his worst enemy, the latter surprised the protagonist by revealing his admiration; and we learned how difficult it is to remain silent, simply receiving, while tears run down your cheeks when someone tells you two or three situations in which you had impacted them without you having the slightest idea of it.
Openness, trust, discovery, nudity, generosity, respect, vulnerability, affection… This is such an explosive cocktail that the only way to explain it to you is by having you see it for yourself. I encourage you to be the next moderator in all your circles: family, company, friends. You will discover that …
# 88StepsPeopleHappy
“Sometimes the least praise is enough to produce the greatest impulse”
@Angel