Before proceeding with an explanation of what FUSS is and why it is important, it is best first to review a few key terms which relate to the Follow Up Setback System:
REVIEW
Be like a school of fish—we pivot quickly and move forward after a mistake, setback or detour and avoid stalling or derailing emotionally. When an obstacle or setback is encountered, we record it in our FUSS log and then move on, knowing it will be addressed appropriately later during the Week in Review Session.
Be the Stream—a state of being where we are defined by our constant forward progress with our ongoing actions for improvement. We continually move forward and quickly adapt to obstacles and setbacks; we go over, under, and around them. Setbacks are handled with the FUSS system, allowing us to be like a school of fish, pivot quickly and continue our forward progress.
Learning Experiences for Growth (LEGS) is a view of experiences, especially undesired or unexpected ones, that sees them as learning opportunities to improve.
Week in Review Session —a scheduled weekly session to review the prior week and determine focus and actions for the upcoming week. How to best hold these sessions is detailed in “Conducting a Week in Review Session” worksheet.
Delightful detours—the view that mistakes and setbacks contrary to our expectations lead to a necessary and unavoidable detour from our original plan. These detours are seen as the shortest way forward and are our potential teachers and friends. These detours are springboards for our future progress and advancement. The question shifts from “I should not need to take a detour” to “What is the best detour” for me now with this setback or obstacle? The FUSS process will handle potential future personal learning and improvements with this experience at a later time.
Fatal Mistake —By their very nature, fatal mistakes lead to dire outcomes. They leave little room for learning as these actions take us to the point of no return or demand an unavoidable compelling reaction.
Intentional Simple Tiny Efforts for Progress (ISTEPs)—incremental planned action(s) for making progress often committed to as part of a daily practice as with the Marvelous Start Morning Routine.
Marvelous Start Morning Routine-— is a set of habits we follow each morning, covered in detail in the “Marvelous Start Morning Routine” Worksheet. This is the launch pad for getting ourselves off to a strong start with a mindset of optimism, confidence, and self-motivation. Here, we select planned ISTEPs for that day to make progress in an area(s) important to us.
Crampons —Unlike the proactive actions of ice cleats, crampons are reactive and put in place after the fact. Using this tool occurs in two phases:
First Phase = damage control
Second Phase = setback handling with the FUSS process
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The Follow-Up Setback System (FUSS) is a process for documenting upsets and setbacks shortly after they happen in a place called the FUSS log or FUSS record. This log is reviewed at a later time, as during a Week in Review Session, to determine what, if anything, we will do to learn from this experience and handle it better in the future. Experiences that qualify for follow-up are called Learning Experiences for Growth (LEGs). After something undesirable has happened, we decide to follow up with it later.
Setbacks, mistakes, or obstacles fall into one of two categories. One category is “There is nothing to be done here. I’m moving on”. The second category is “there is work to do here that will produce future benefit, I will capture it now in my FUSS record, then move on. I will come back and learn from it at a later time.” What previously became an emotional storm or debilitating upset is now calmly viewed as an opportunity and an unavoidable event. We can now go on with life largely undaunted because we have the confidence it will be handled as best as possible in the near future.
The FUSS system records an issue for later handling to keep it on the radar. During the Week in Review Session, you will determine whether the FUSS setback, obstacle, or mistake is a legitimate area for improvement and worth follow up action.
Some upsets are not worth the time and effort to avoid in the future because:
• They are outliers on the statistical bell curve of probabilities (slight chance of happening again).
• They are worth passing up because they are a minor annoyance, like forgetting to take out the trash.
• After some reflection, we may gain clarity and perspective that our view of the event and not the event itself was the problem (misunderstanding, not knowing extenuating reasons for someone’s emotional state, or lack of genuine Empathy and understanding are examples here).
• We may also see that we did nothing incorrectly, and it was another’s issue entirely, like asking our child if they finished their homework, and they, in turn, get annoyed with us, no follow-up required.
• They are fatal mistakes; by nature, they leave little room for learning as these actions take us to a point of no return or demand a compelling response.
When to record in the log and when not to record.
After the undesirable event occurs, determine if it qualifies as a Learning Experience for Growth, as discussed above. If it does, record it in the FUSS log, without fail, immediately after the experience. You may decide later that no action is required on your part. It is best to error on the safe side, though, and assume that there may be opportunities for future improvement and record it in the FUSS log.
How to log it in:
Have a system for recording these qualifying LEGs quickly and easily. One example would be to dictate into a note section of a smartphone dedicated to FUSS events. Another may be leaving yourself a voice mail or carrying a small notebook to write in a brief notation. It is essential to record it shortly after it happens, no matter where you may be.
When to review:
One of the three sacred habits recommended in the book “Journey into Peace”, is the Week in Review Session. This is an excellent time to reflect on a FUSS item and decide if you will follow up with action, as with the ISTEP process during the Marvelous Start Morning Routine.
List where you will record and log in your FUSS setbacks and upsets:
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Where and when will you hold your Week in Review Session:
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How to act on it and continue follow-up:
See Chapter 17, Evolutionary Learning, and Chapter 19, Results and Problem-solving 101.