Seeing Good at Work on Kindle

Seeing Good at Work by Joyce Duffala and Edward Viljoen is now available online in Kindle version.  Keep in mind that you don’t need an actual Kindle to read a Kindle book.  You can download software to read Kindle books on iPads, iPhones, PC’s and other smartphones.

Here is the link directly to the Kindle version:

http://tinyurl.com/seeinggoodatwork

Why Your Work Never Seems Good Enough

Week 1 in Seeing Good at Work invites us to question our reactions. If you are a perfectionist, this is going to be an excellent opportunity to see if what you're telling yourself about your performance is accurate.

Wanting to do better at work is natural. Being disappointed when you don't do as well as you wanted, is natural. Being habitually mean-spirited to yourself with your inner dialogue is self-defeating and counter productive.

One of the reasons your work never seems to be good enough may have something to do with your thinking, your reactions, or your inner dialogue.

 “Nothing’s good nor bad but thinking makes it so.”
—William Shakespeare

Here is part of the text from week one:

Have you ever noticed how babies and very small children experience an injury, react to it, and then move on to the next adventure with the adverse event forgotten? Such minimal reactions to a physical injury can amaze adults who might expect the child to respond in quite a different way. 

As we grow older, we are more apt to judge things as “bad” or “good.” Over time, when something “bad” happens, our reactions become stronger, and we hold on to them longer, as they carry with them memories of a history of past hurts. In this way, we pass from the realm of purely physical reaction into the realm of memory reaction, associating with the memory of what is bad. 

This is where we find ourselves as adults, mentally carrying around a detailed list of good things and bad things. And as we go through our daily lives, we continue to judge the things in our lives as either good or bad.

Humanizing The Workplace

I have been reading the book,  “Seeing Good at Work,   52 Weekly Steps to Transform Your Workplace Experience”  co-authored  by  Rev. Joyce Duffala and  Rev. Edward Viljoen.  Since the beginning of this year I start my day by closing my office door and reading the related chapter for the week.  

On Monday of Week 23, I read the chapter entitled “Humanizing the Workplace. ”  This chapter discusses how to recognize that the people I work with are the most important part of my job, not the tasks I am doing.   After reading this chapter, I thought what a wonderful way to experience my workplace.

Later that Monday  I received an updated job status report.   I noticed that only one small project was completed for the prior two weeks by a particular staff person.  I reacted to this news with fear that this lack of productivity would result in lack revenue and that would be followed by a cash flow crisis and it was just  going to be a big disaster and it was all caused by this one person.  With this frame of mind, I stormed into her office and proceeded to be the ugly boss.  The only good thing about that interchange was that there was no blood.

I want back to my office and started typing up her performance evaluation.  I knew it was not a good time to give her, or anyone, a performance evaluation, but I had to get these crazy thoughts out  of my head and down on paper, where hopefully I could  see the truth in this situation.  In hindsight, I see it would have been better to have done this before I stormed into her office.

As I was typing the evaluation I realized two things.  First,  my reaction to this situation was  exactly the opposite  to the message in Week 23;  I put the task before the person.  Second, the performance evaluation I was typing up was really about my performance in this situation;  I needed to lighten up.
I thought this book was going to prevent events like this one from ever happening again in my workplace.  Instead, for me it brings up real life lessons from which to pull from in my workplace experience and the tools to deal with it differently.  Seeing Good at Work is a process, not a quick fix.

Thank you Rev Joyce and Rev Edward for writing this practical learning tool.

With love and gratitude,
KM

How Do I Control My Thoughts?

Recently I have been reading a very engaging novel before going to sleep at night. It is imaginatively brilliant with a seductively involving plot line, yet many of the characters are mean-spirited and occupy a bleak world.

Recently I have also been having unusually disturbing dreams, with appearances by Nazis and vampires. And I have noticed that recently I have been waking up a bit out of sorts and it takes me longer to get to the emotional balance and spiritual center with which I like to begin my day.
So what a good reminder it was for me to read Week 2 of Seeing Good at Work, which points out the great influence of what we put INTO our mind on the CONTENT of our thoughts. No wonder my dreams and morning mood have been uncomfortable, if the last “think” I am taking into sleep is unpleasant.

Yes, it’s true that I might still feel like I cannot control all my thoughts or my emotional moods, but I sure do have some say in where I am putting my attention – on the things I read, on the people I hang out with, on the TV or films I watch. It is obvious, when you think about it, that negative people and conversations and disturbing reading material and visuals are going to impact what’s hanging around in your mind. And it stands to reason that the more uplifiting the conversations and material you engage in, the more healthy and pleasant your thoughts will be.

But just like junk food, the negative conversations and media are attractive and can seem enjoyable. So the trick is to have healthy options available -- the kind of friends and books and entertainment that do for your mind what celery can do for your body: satisfy your hunger while supporting your well-being.

I still want to read my novel, but I have a new plan: I’m going to read it earlier in the evening, and be sure that the last thing I read before I go to sleep IS something that nourishes, soothes, and relaxes me.       

How Much Choice Do We Have?

As I stood admiring the beautiful, home-made, gluten-free, chocolate cake sitting on the table in the staff kitchen (made by my co-author, I might add), that certainly was the question floating through my mind:  how much choice do I have in this situation? It seemed like my eyes, my taste buds, my thoughts, my desires, and most of my physical systems were urging me toward the cake. “After all,” I thought, “It is gluten-free, and it is the generous gift of a good friend. Surely, it is a blessing to me and my body all the way around.” And yet there was also a thought that, as tasty as it would be, the cake would add calories that I would either have to wear off or store.

I find that one thing that helps me at such choice-point cross roads like these that seem to come up on a daily basis is to simply remove myself from the situation to get a little more perspective, and to remind myself that I am at choice. Over time in the workplace, I have learned to not go with my first impulse to respond immediately to a challenging or feisty e-mail, put it aside for a bit, and come back to it later with cooler eyes, a wider mind, and a kinder, more intelligent writing style.

The other thing that helps me is to notice and remind myself how many times a day I do have a choice – often in terms of what I am doing, usually in how I am feeling, and always in what I am thinking. Philosopher Ernest Holmes said, “What thought has produced, thought can change.” What a stunning and liberating idea! That we can actually choose our thoughts, and therefore the effect they have on us.

Of course it might not be so easy at first. I have spent most of my life feeling like a victim of my own thinking – that my thoughts just were, as though they happened to me. What a relief it was to start to notice them, drop the ones I didn’t want, and encourage the ones I did want.  This is where an exercise like the one in Week 1 of Seeing Good at Work is helpful. Taking a few moments each day to note our positive or negative response to things in our environment begins to give us the awareness that leads to more choice and control in our thoughts and emotions.

Did I have a piece of cake? You betcha! Did I enjoy it? Very much! Did I go back to the kitchen from my office later in the afternoon for another piece? No. Do I have any regrets? None.        

Joyce Duffala

What Is A Caring Person: Seeing Good At Work

I have been noticing how frequently readers of one of my blogs search for the phrase "What is a caring person," and have been thinking about the answer to that question.

What does caring look like?
And is caring appropriate in the workplace?

In week 25 of Seeing Good At Work, the assigned practice is to notice, appreciate and acknowledge others. I remember when the practice of acknowledging others was suggested to me as a way of bringing harmony into workplace relationships. It seemed an impossibly simplistic approach to improving professional relationships.  At the time I had quite a bit of difficulty implementing the simple suggestion from my coach. Nevertheless, I stuck with it, because the atmosphere at the place I was working was pretty tense and I had nothing to loose.  Over time I began to notice that people at work responded to me kindly, more kindly than they were responding to each other, and one of my co-workers commented that it was because "you care."

It was as if a cartoon light bulb had been snapped on in my awareness; being a caring person can be that simple. It can be as simple as noticing, appreciating and acknowledging the people around me in an authentic and unforced way.


Edward Viljoen

What's In A Title? Seeing Good or Seeing God?

I was surfing the web today looking for the phrase "Spirituality in the workplace" and was delighted with how many blogs and articles I came across.  I remembered, while surfing, how it amused me when I was being introduced at speaking engagements and my presenter would say "..co-author with Dr. Joyce Duffala of Seeing God At Work." 

The actual title of the book is Seeing Good At Work, specifically so that it would be more accessible to people for whom God is difficult to integrate in the workplace.  I remember watching some folk's eyes glaze over and I would tell myself, "Oh well, just lost another reader."

I have learned to get over that and just enjoy the experience and trust that those for whom the book can offer the most will find their way to it.  Call it good, call it God, or don't call it anything at all - the exercises still do the same thing for me, increase my awareness of what is harmonious, powerful and possible in the workplace.

I was reminded of this just the other day when a colleague told me what week's exercise he was on and how it had been 'working him.'  Wanting to share what the exercises are like, I created a page on our Seeing Good At Work Blog with a sample exercise, recommended reading lists, testimonials and you name it.  And while I was doing that, I realized, it would have been just fine to call the book Seeing God At Work, I wouldn't have minded at all.

How To Use Seeing Good At Work - Daily Writing Assignment

Each chapter of Seeing Good At Work contains an application exercise. The purpose of this exercise is to move the concepts of the chapter off the page and into your daily life. The application exercise usually involves a daily writing assignment or two. Use a notebook to record any observations, discoveries, questions, thoughts, or feelings you have about the week’s topic each day. When you reach the beginning of the next week, wherever you are on your notebook page, turn it and begin on a fresh, clean page and write the new week number at the top.

At the end of each chapter, you will find a short “Remind Yourself” statement that you can memorize and repeat to yourself throughout the week. These affirmative statements, along with your daily writings, will bring the lessons of Seeing Good At Work more powerfully into your life.

You might also consider going through the material in this book with a friend or small study group. In this way, you can share insights and growth, and support each other in seeing good at work.

Joyce Duffala
Edward Viljoen

A Big Improvement In Me!

Seeing Good at Work has been one of the most effortless and beneficial practices I have ever done.  Not only am I seeing more 'good at work,' the people I work with are seeing a big improvement in me!  The positive changes that I have been experiencing are showing up in ever area of my life.  The first time around was so effective that I'm doing it again with even better results.

Linda S
Teacher

A powerhouse of a book, March 8, 2009

Antonia

Joyce Duffala gives us powerful tools in Seeing Good at Work. Not only is this little book spot on for dealing with the increasing stresses and foibles of the work world, but the well organized and easily understood material is totally applicable to every aspect of our lives.