By Daniel Bobinski
Ancient wisdom packed into short, memorable phrases has guided humanity for millennia. These pithy statements carry profound truth that transcends time and culture.
Consider Aesop, who around 600 BC observed, “Better to be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.” Jump forward 250 years and Aristotle taught us, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” A couple of centuries later, Cicero advised, “Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.”
These insights aren’t even close to the oldest. Around 900 BC, King Solomon penned statements like, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,” and “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
Want to go back even further? The “Instructions of Shuruppak” – also known as the Babylonian Counsels of Wisdom from 1500 BC – gave us gems like “Do not say evil things; speak well of people,” and “Reverence begets favor.”
Each of these brief statements contains enough wisdom to fill volumes. Although we could write books expounding on any single axiom, the beauty of these axioms lies in their brevity. That said, the challenge isn’t finding good axioms, it’s making them work in our lives.
It’s here where we often fall short. We nod in agreement when we hear a clever saying, and maybe we even share it on social media. But too often it stops there. We move on without letting the power of the words sink in.
Axioms work best when we connect them to our own experiences. Take the image of a turtle making progress. A common axiom states: “Turtles make progress only when they stick their necks out.” There’s rich symbolism there. By pushing ourselves past our comfort zones, we reach our destinations.
Ask yourself: “When have I done that?”
Other axioms carry the same idea. “No risk, no reward.” “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” These are all powerful statements, but don’t just acknowledge their wisdom. They’ll be more useful when you can connect specific events from your past to keep your future more balanced and productive.
Even better, tie a saying to multiple experiences. By doing that, your brain creates even stronger neural pathways connecting you to that wisdom. The connections are even stronger when you link an axiom to an event that carried strong emotional weight. In other words, identifying multiple situations or even one intense experience can cement an axiom’s value in your mind.
During decades of coaching and management training, I’ve selected or developed multiple workplace axioms that consistently help people succeed. Several of them are listed below. Hopefully these will resonate with your own experiences.
You’ll go where you’re focused. Any good driving instructor teaches this principle: Your vehicle travels in the direction you’re looking. Life works the same way. Focus dominates destination. If you’re constantly looking at trouble spots, you’re likely to stumble into them. But when you focus on potential solutions and paths that lead toward success, you’re far more likely to achieve success. Think about this principle in your own experiences. When has your focus helped you reach your desired destination?
Slower up front equals faster down the road. Type A personalities need to memorize this one. The quickest way to get from point A to point B isn’t always a straight line, especially when working with others. About 65% of the population processes decisions more slowly than the typical driver personality. Therefore, Type A personalities can capitalize on a paradox. When they slow down to work with others, they often get faster results overall. Many “fast movers” doubt this at first, but they eventually find it to be true. If you’re a fast mover, give focused thought to this one.
Acknowledgement does not equal agreement. Effective communicators master this vital distinction, and it’s invaluable for conflict resolution. Unfortunately, too many people hold the mistaken belief that by acknowledging someone’s viewpoint they’re endorsing it as truth. This is not true! You can fully acknowledge another person’s perspective without accepting it as correct.
As a silly example, let’s say someone believes the moon is made of blue cheese. We can acknowledge someone holds that belief even though we completely disagree with it.
Think about when someone has respectfully acknowledged your position without agreeing with it. Chances are that action allowed the conversation to continue without any unneeded tension. Mastering the ability to acknowledge without agreeing transforms your communication effectiveness.
Value the differences. Our current culture makes it far too easy to criticize people who operate differently than we do. We find fault with coworkers whose approaches don’t match our own methods. But here’s the truth: diverse styles bring diverse strengths, and workplaces benefit from having diverse kinds of strengths. The driver personality excels at swift, bold decisions. The analytical mind catches critical errors others overlook. The relationship-builder creates essential team cohesion. The creative thinker sparks breakthrough innovations.
Rather than criticizing differences, we must actively and consciously choose to value what others bring to the table. Even better if we celebrate and leverage those distinctions. When has someone whose style completely differs from yours delivered exactly what the situation required?
Only make new mistakes. This principle partners well with a quote attributed to Theodore Roosevelt: “The man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” The truth is that everyone makes mistakes, but problems arise when people make the same mistakes repeatedly, never learning from them. When have you chosen to learn what to do or not do after a mistake has been made?
This principle of learning from mistakes connects with another favorite saying of mine: “Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment.”
Bottom line, remember that good axioms can influence your life’s direction. Therefore, knowing that you’ll go where you’re focused, I strongly suggest deliberately selecting memorable phrases to guide you in useful, productive and excellent ways.
Daniel Bobinski, who has a doctorate in theology, is a best-selling author and a popular speaker at conferences and retreats. For more than 30 years he’s been working with teams and individuals (1:1 coaching) to help them achieve excellence. He was also teaching Emotional Intelligence since before it was a thing. Reach him by email at DanielBobinski@protonmail.com or 208-649-6400.
