I am a fan of Mr. Pink’s work, and his latest is one more opportunity for self-reflection and our impact on the world. His research categorizes regret into four buckets, and then underpins that with “coulda” and “shoulda” — opportunities and obligations.
This book is an easy read, with thinking questions about life and regret, along with actions to contemplate. This line in the book has more power than it seems here: The best time to start was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
Another particularly powerful concept was the idea that we explain someone’s behavior as personality and disposition rather than situation and context. We put the freight on the person, not the situation. And that causes much regret.
Judy Hissong, CLM
Judy Hissong is the President of Nesso Strategies. A former law firm Chief Operating Officer, she helps firms become more profitable by advising leaders in strategic and leadership development challenges. Her mission is “world domination for Good.” By creating actionable, lightbulb moments that leaders want to share and spread, she intends to improve the world one person at a time. When she’s not speaking, training and consulting, Judy teaches quarterly online workshops and facilitates Leaders Lab, a monthly video conference that enables small groups of leaders to brainstorm strategies and solutions to work through common issues that keep firms stuck. Learn more at www.nessostrategies.com.
