Comments on: Make Saving Enjoyable, or How You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

By: PT

PT — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:02:04 +0000

This is a great post. Thanks for linking back to the carnival.

By: Listed in Carnival of Personal Finance #156

Listed in Carnival of Personal Finance #156 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:25:02 +0000

[...] Make Saving Enjoyable, or How You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too by Mind Your Decisions. This is a good post that spells out the difference between doing something because it is a goal, and doing something for a reason. We were just talking to a friend yesterday who is a broker. He said that he actually felt terrible if a large portion of his and his wife’s paychecks did not go into savings and investing.His goal was to save for the future, but his reason was to take care of him and his wife. [...]

By: The 156th Carnival of Personal Finance: Songs of Summer | Prime Time Money

The 156th Carnival of Personal Finance: Songs of Summer | Prime Time Money — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:31:33 +0000

[...] from Mind Your Decisions presents Make Saving Enjoyable, or How You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too, and says, “This article explains why proper motivation, not proper goals, are the key to [...]

By: Presh Talwalkar

Presh Talwalkar — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:53:43 +0000

Pat: I completely agree with your point having been on the employee side. My boss wanted certain data, so he told me to find it on a premium service. In a few hours I reported that I couldn’t find it. Of course he then asked me ten questions about if I had looked in other services. It was then I realized the obvious that he cared about getting the data–not about me following his original instructions. From then on, I made sure to do what he meant, not what he said.

I also like the idea of a simple checklist. Yes, these are obvious points, but it is amazing how many errors are made just by overlooking the obvious.

Recently there was a New York Times article about how a simple checklist for doctors saved billions of dollars. The steps were nothing special–just basic protocol.

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:49:50 +0000

A lot can be said for providing reasons in a management context as well.

When the boss tells you to do something in a certain way you might be inclined to cut corners or take shortcuts. However, if the boss explains the reasons that the task must be done exactly as instructed, then the employee is usually more willing to follow the instructions exactly without cutting corners.

Far too often, managers expect employees to follow orders exactly without cutting corners. But without the logic and the reasons behind the action they have no motivation to do the job properly.

I heard of one CEO’s policy: Every company memo or communication had to satisfy the 5W’s,
1) what is to be done
2) who is going to do it
3) why is it being done
4) when is it to be finished by
5) where (if applicable)

Anyone that failed to include the 5W’s information got a warning. The second time they did it they got fired. I follow this approach when writing email directives to others. It is a simple check that removes ambiguity from your instructions.