When Faster Harder Smarter Is Not Enough: Six Steps for Achieving What You Want In a Rapid-Fire World

290 Pages·2002·0.9 MB·English

by  Kathryn D. Cramer

More Praise for Dr. Kathryn Cramer
“The six steps and practical tools in this book not only make it easier for suc-
cessful leaders to increase their own creativity but, more importantly, to help
bring out the immense creativity and passion of others. Because Dr. Cramer
lives what she writes, this book hums with truth.”
—Pam Caraffa, Vice President, Organizational and Management
Development, Monsanto
“The title grabbed my attention. This book is a quick, compelling, powerful
read. The six steps, which focus on moving from a reactive mind-set to a cre-
ative mind-set, are magical.”
—Christine Chadwick, Executive Director, FOCUS St. Louis
“With all the demands that face your organization, it’s often difficult to get the
best from the people you count on the most. Dr. Cramer’s six-step process can
help you inspire your people and provide them with the tools and optimism
they need to perform at their best under all types of rapid-fire conditions.”
—Peter Corr, Senior Vice President, Pfizer, Inc., Executive Vice President,
Pfizer Global R & D, President, Worldwide Development
“For anyone who’s been continually frustrated by trying to control the daily
production of ever-better answers, Dr. Cramer offers an effective opening to
discovering more meaningful questions about the global issues that matter
most.”
—Joe Eschbacher, Senior Director–Marketing,
Self Funded and Carrier Division, Express Scripts, Inc.
“On occasion, we all approach work as if we were boarding a routine flight—we
think only the destination matters, that the journey is nothing more than awk-
ward, idle time. Kathy insists there’s a better way. She shows us how to make
sure we’ve selected the right destination (as in destiny)… and then invites us to
wake up and enjoy the ride!”
—Jim Epperson, President, Oklahoma Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
“Dr. Cramer has identified a major problem of many at midlife—they’ve suc-
ceeded in becoming overwhelmed. She then uses her own creativity, experi-
ence, and wisdom to show that the solution lies not in ‘cutting back,’ but in the
wonderful paradox that, by thinking broadly, we can find calm and exhilaration
in focusing our energy on what we really care about.”
—Edwin Fisher, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology,
Medicine & Pediatrics, Washington University
“These six steps are a must for anyone who wants to make it big in today’s
world.”
—Alan Heller, Senior Vice President and President,
Global Renal Baxter Healthcare
“Dr. Cramer has a winning concept—everyone wins when we are congruent
with who we are while we are acting in concert with who we want to be. Her six-
step process requires:
1. A desire to be congruent
2. A desire and ability to take responsibility to change
3. A desire to dig deep and honestly determine our current reactive patterns
4. A desire to be positive
5. A desire to be successful now and in the future
6. A desire for applauding and appreciating our success
It will be must reading for my management team as we triple growth in three
years. Yea Kathryn!”
—Laura L. Herring, M.A., SCRP, President and CEO, The IMPACT Group
“I would sure like to meet ‘John’ one day, as I think we’d have a lot to talk about.
Kathy is doing for me what she did for John, and it truly is an adventure and a
journey. There’s no ‘quick fix’ in the leadership business, but there is a method-
ology and a discipline. I’ll keep learning until I drop dead!”
—Jim Holbrook, President and CEO, Zipatoni
“Slow down, read this book and accelerate personal and professional outcomes
you want.”
—Sean Maloney, Vice President, RehabCare Group
“Dr. Cramer has created a practical and very powerful guide that is a ‘must
read’ for everyone that is serious about achieving much more of what they real-
ly want out of life! This book is guaranteed to inspire everyone to adopt a more
focused, energized, and ultimately successful life strategy. As they say, ‘This is no
dress rehearsal.’ Go for it!!”
—Curt McIntyre, Senior Vice President, MasterCard International
“Creativity is the magic necessary for individuals and organizations to break-
through to new levels of performance and success. However, many of us strug-
gle to unleash that creativity. It is a messy process. This pragmatic book is
designed to assist leaders, through practical tools and models, to systematically
provoke the creative spirit.”
—Robert G. Porter, President, SSM DePaul Heath Center
“Dr. Cramer’s third book is a must read for anyone seeking a quality personal
and business life.”
—Pat Whitaker, IIDA, President, ARCTURIS
For readers, leaders, and high achievers: Use our questionnaire at www.
fasterhardersmarter.com to determine how to set the goals you need to deter-
mine the next, best version of yourself, your results, and your relationships. A
separate questionnaire on the same site can help you assess your current degree
of competency in executing each of the six steps.
When Faster–Harder–
Smarter Is Not Enough
Six Steps for Achieving What You Want
in a Rapid-Fire World
Kathryn D. Cramer, Ph.D.
MCGRAW-HILL
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To my husband, John Stephen Davis—in celebration of his richer
deeper, wiser presence in my life and in the world.
Copyright ©2002 by Kathryn D. Cramer, Ph.D. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the
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DOI: 10.1036/0071415769
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Contents
How to Read This Book v
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Richer, Deeper, Wiser 1
The Premise •The Promise •The Prescription
STEP ONE
Take Your Blinders Off 27
How to See What You Don’t See
Question Reality •Feel What You Feel
STEP TWO
Be Outrageously Optimistic 75
How to See Potential, Not Problems
Scout for Opportunties •See the Glass as Half Full …
with a Pitcher of Water on the Way!
STEP THREE
Make the Future Happen Inside You 115
How to Walk Your Talk
Think Big, Think New •Be the Change You Want to See
STEP FOUR
Get Others on Board 155
How to Speak and Act from Your Heart
Build Strong Alliances •Communicate to Motivate
iii
Copyright 2002 by Kathryn D. Cramer, Ph.D. Click Here for Terms of Use.
Contents
STEP FIVE
Stack the Odds in Your Favor 201
How to Build Momentum
Overcome Obstacles •Have Courageous Conversations
STEP SIX
Celebrate Every Victory,
Large and Small 247
How to Leverage Your Success and
Wake Up to What’s Next
Don’t Go Back to Sleep •The Best Is Next!
Bibliography 265
Index 271
iv
How to Read
This Book
Congratulations are in order! In making the initial investment of
time and energy it takes to really look at who you are, where you
are, and all the roads that diverge from those starting points, you
have taken the first steps necessary to creating the next, best you.
Think of this book as your coach—your very own personal
guide, companion, and voice of reason. Like a coach, this book
speaks to you directly about your hopes and dreams, talents and
efforts. Like a coach, it guides you toward fulfilling and expand-
ing your potential, and faithfully supports your attempts at suc-
cess. Just as a coach offers perspective and encouragement amid
the clamor and confusion of a game, so does this book offer
strategies, wisdom, and inspiration as you contend with the
demands of a rapid-fire world.
No matter where you are when this book finds you, you can
find yourself in it. You may be exhausted from trying to use the
same old faster, harder, smarter techniques to keep up, and won-
dering if there is a better way to live. You may be aggressively
pursuing long-term goals, or you may be standing at a cross-
roads. Perhaps you’ve hit a bump in the road, or your energy has
faltered. You may be wishing you could imbue your life with
deeper meaning, or you may be looking for a way to make a sig-
nificant contribution to the greater good.
When Faster-Harder-Smarter Is Not Enough will show you how
to attain all you yearn for and more, using a six-step process for
achieving what you want. My advice to you, in whatever stage or
place you may find yourself, is to first read this book from cover
to cover. In doing so, you will get a feeling for the flow of the six
steps, and an awareness of the kind of help available to you.
You’ll also find your starting point when you go back for a sec-
v
Copyright 2002 by Kathryn D. Cramer, Ph.D. Click Here for Terms of Use.
How to Read This Book
ond, more focused reading. If you need all six steps, use all six
steps. If you feel comfortable picking and choosing the steps that
make the most sense to you in your journey, do that. This is, after
all, your adventure.
Please do not hesitate to refer to the questionnaires on our
web site, www.fasterhardersmarter.com, for more support in set-
ting the goals you need to determine the next, best version of
yourself, your results, and your relationships.
vi