The DYOJO is The Do Your Job Dojo. A dojo is a space dedicated to learning and practicing martial arts.

​In business teamwork is essential to an organization’s ability to perform at the peak of its capacity. Teamwork must be grounded in trust. the foundation for trust to be built among multiple employees who will be empowered to work with each other, is laid by team members who consistently do their job.

In this equation, those in leadership can help this process evolve by clarifying roles and responsibilities for all employees. ​

The DYOJO helps leaders to intentionally develop their vision and values so that they can build teams that are clear, consistent as well as accountable. We work to help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be as an organization. Through business coaching and leadership development, The DYOJO helps teams to increase their performance in the four key areas of sustainable success - people, process, production and progress. ​

When was the last time you heard, “Common sense isn’t so common anymore”? It probably wasn’t long ago. Was it you that said it? It’s a favorite quip of those in management. Oddly enough, when you are in a position of leadership the most common temptation is to follow the status quo by maintaining practices and platitudes regardless of their effectiveness. 

​While leadership may question what their employees are doing at times, the same is true in the reverse. Those further down the ladder may fall prey to following poor examples of work ethic and quality. Conversely, those in leadership are sheep of a higher standing, doing things as they have always been done. The question we should be asking at any level is, “It may be common, but is it successful?” 

​In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Firas Zahabi (see video link below) shares his insights on fighting the standard perspective of working out. Zahabi believes that by focusing on consistency rather than intensity, athletes and health conscious individuals can produce better long term. Firas asks the question, what if your work out could energize you rather than exhaust you? It seems like a wild idea but he reviews several examples of positive results including his own journey as an athlete and trainer. 

​As a mixed martial arts (MMA) grappling coach, Firas Zahabi is know for his work as the leader of the TriStar Gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Perhaps his most well known student is also one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, George Saint Pierre also know as GSP. According to MMA Fighting GSP’s accomplishments as a fighter place him firmly in the discussion as one of the greatest fighters of all time (GOAT), 

​Zahabi found professionals who were achieving high results by approaching their profession more strategically then their competition. He talks about the importance of having fun while training and redefining what it means to go hard. Firas continues to enjoy what he does and has worked with some of the most successful practitioners in his field. If you invest the twenty minutes in listening to what this coach has to say you may find some inspiration for your personal workouts as well as some nuggets that will help you professionally as well. 

If you are having fun while you train than you will want to train more. By creating an atmosphere that is structured but loose, a mundane and grueling part of training can become something that adds energy rather than drains it. Author and CEO coach Lex Sisney reminds us to understand from the basic laws of physics that we have a finite amount of energy both as individuals and organizations. It is to our advantage to find ways to maximize this energy rather than deplete it. Those in positions of leadership should seek means to develop an atmosphere that brings energy to the team. 

​In the MMA world it is seen as a badge of honor to train hard, Firas challenges the thought process and definition of training hard. Emphasizing that intensity is not the key but consistency. We know it is wise to work smarter not harder and yet we often chose to apply this principle in reverse. Zahabi advocates for maintaining 100% effort while thinking through the approach to the distribution of the work load consistently and strategically over time. If an athlete can get more out of their training using these methods in high intensity sports, perhaps organizations can learn from this approach to maximize their output in highly competitive industries. 

Firas Zahabi’s approach is definitely different than most in his sport and he discusses that. It would be much safer for him to take the same approach and yet had he done so we may not have witnessed the greatness of a fighter like George Saint Pierre. We think that the safest thing to do is not to take risks. In competitive markets from pro sports to the industry that you are in, playing it safe feels much safer than rocking the boat. You may not be a huge success but you also won’t be the nail that sticks out the furthest when the hammer comes down from higher up. When we fail to ask the why, we live without purpose. When we fail to take measured risks, we lead without conviction. 

Mistakes do not have to be a curse nor failure the last nail in the coffin, good teams and strong leaders learn from everything.

​Organizations want to reduce mistakes, eliminate failures and insulate themselves from negative consequences. Focusing on failure would be an error. Persons in a position of leadership (PIAPOL) need to approach issues with the skill and precision of an epidemiologist dispatched to discover the root cause of an outbreak. There is a difference between a mistake and a repeated mistake as well as those made in the course of learning new skills and those made for lack of care. We will explore three simple principles that will assist your team to gaining from failures rather than allowing them to cause you to fall behind.

Three keys 🔑 to making a mistake count:

1. Know it.

Understand what you did wrong - if you don’t know THAT you did something wrong or WHAT your mistake was, you have much bigger problems. You must know enough to recognize your failures.

Ignorance is not bliss, it’s a death sentence.

What does the second most quoted English poet, Alexander Pope have to say about failure? “A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. For an organization the biggest mistake is to not allow room for employees to make mistakes. If the culture of the company is to be heavy handed with mistakes then they will miss opportunities to hear about near misses that could expedite the process of adaptation. Experimentation is a scientific process that inherently relies on failure. We theorize, we test our theories in real world applications and we learn whether our theory is true or untrue. In that process there are several steps where our perspectives were wrong and we adjust course to move closer to our goals.

1. Own It.

Face your mistake and take responsibility. Don’t play the blame game or sweep it under the rug. Feel the pain for a minute. When we’ve touched a hot stove, the burning sensation surges through our nervous systems and sears the lesson into our memory. In business trial and error allows us to explore opportunities and the pain of failure teaches us what we should not do.

Pain of failure is a lifelong professor, fear of failure will cut you off at the knees.

Writing in Psychology Today, Dr. Jeremey E Sherman makes a few philosophical observations about the natures of mistakes, “ We learn by trial and error, but learn much faster when trials are similar and errors are clearer.” Touching on the reality in life that most of us are stubborn and chose the hard road when learning something. But he elaborates on a principle that will help unlock the formula to reducing the frequency and impact of those mistakes, simplification, “The cobbler’s trials are largely the same from shoe to shoe—same materials, tools and workspace, and his errors are easy to identify—this shoe fell apart; that one didn’t fit.” This means we can either engage in simplified tasks to minimize our exposure to the potential for failure or we can work to build processes that simplify what we do. Many people in leadership will mention making their systems like McDonald’s to achieve a consistent product output. Efficiency is essential in any business, reducing waste and optimizing operational flow, as long as that process does not completely choke out any room for organizational creativity which is essential in our rapidly evolving market.  

1. Conquer it.

We all make mistakes. If you know it and own it, then you must conquer it. Create a plan and build systems that equip your team in moving onward and upward rather than repeating the same behavior. Create an environment where the organization learns from the issue and utilizes it as a launching pad for progress.

Moving forward isn’t the only measure of success as it is possible to be moving forward in an endless circle that goes nowhere. Move onward and upward.

If we know and own our mistakes we aren’t afraid to share them which allows our teams to learn openly and rapidly from them. As the market evolves we have to be willing to admit that what worked yesterday will not work today, so we are constantly evolving and thereby operating in trial and error. Trial and error is a scientific process if we structure our thoughts and experiments towards being productive in a learning culture. Failure in the scientific process is not the end of the road but a step towards truth. When the great inventors Thomas Edison was asked about the apparent fruitlessness of his labors while developing battery technology, he replied, "Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won’t work." By admitting what hasn’t worked we can move towards what will. By creating an environment where mistakes can be shared, the lessons can be spread more expediently to assist others in not repeating them.
 
When failures happen we must lean into them rather than avoiding them because they often hold the keys to unlocking the next level of lessons. We often view or desire to take broad steps in our growth but it is important to remember that consistent progress can come in the form of crawling, taking small steps or wading through thick muck. We cannot ignore our mistakes, this is a recipe for repeating the same issues. We created a video that demonstrates and exposes the errors in several common management approaches to employee mistakes, you will laugh and learn.

Onward and upward.