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CirclesOfControlInfluenceAndConcern

One of the ideas in StevenCovey 's SevenHabitsOfHighlyEffectivePeople separates what you can do something about from what you worry about. He suggests three "circles" of action, which paraphrase:

• Circle of control, where you can "Just Do It." (Covey's book predates the Nike ads.)
• Circle of influence, where you can nudge, guide, steer, cajole and - er - influence, but not unilaterally determine what happens.
• Circle of concern.

He suggests that people are happiest, and BTW most effective, when their "circle of concern" and "circle of control" line up. I think I have some issues with some edge cases of this formulation. Still it is a good and powerful model, and more incomplete than untrue. One could even say it captures the rationale for developing "soft skills" (a term that is despicably misleading, BTW, but used here because it is conventional.) Why "amplify your effectiveness?" One rationale might be in Covey terms to expand your "circle of control" and "circle of influence". Another might be to equip yourself to live more effectively in the gap between them.

-- JimBullock 2005.08.31 (Deconstructing "soft skills" another day.)