Month: May 2017

Almost every organization would like to remove delays to unlocking their team’s capacity to generate & implement great ideas.  If you can identify & develop new opportunities quicker your business model will probably have a better chance to survive, right?  The answer is a solid “maybe”.  No hard answers here just some thoughts on possible links, hang with me!

I’ll Procrastinate Tomorrow!

Graphic from www.jamesclear.com

We’ve all received & given feedback on this topic.  For the proactive person someone who lags a bit can be maddening.  For a procrastinator, the person who’s overtly proactive can seem silly.  When we advise someone to be something they’re not it leads to coping & frustration.  However, learning to be effective with the personality, talents & passions we possess can relieve this tension.  Read some Peter Drucker for more on that!

Instead of creating a typical “to-do” list to prioritize & stay on task let’s check out self-discipline vs. self-control.  Lists are great but these we all have in common.  We’re naturally good at one while the other needs intention to become more effective.

Marshall Goldsmith says, “Self-discipline refers to achieving desirable behavior while self-control refers to avoiding undesirable behavior.”  So why do we procrastinate if we generally feel like it’s not a positive trait?  Conversely, why do we feel in a hurry to get things done?  Just so our desk is clean?  The push to achieve?  For me, when putting off a task or project it’s usually because the timing is wrong.  It’s not the best time of day for the attention needed to see something through or possibly more thinking is required which means more time.  Whatever the situation, knowing ourselves can help us schedule things properly for quality completion.  Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook hung up a sign that says “Done is better than perfect.”  For high achievers doing things perfectly can keep things from moving ahead for collaboration.  This also works for procrastinators for the same reason.  Do your job & push it on so the team can work through the project…together is better!

So, it’s not about procrastination at all.  It’s about understanding one another to build trust throughout the entire organization no matter what our tendencies.

Innovate or die?

The great business thought leader Gary Hamel states, “Innovation takes time, time to dream, time to reflect, time to learn, time to invent and experiment; uninterrupted time when you can daydream!”  The law of diffusion of innovation gives us a clue as to how each of us adds value to the process.  Some of us are early adopters, some are laggards & more of us are in the middle areas.  How do we unlock the capacity to integrate the great ideas from our team?

Graphic from www.purposelyleading.blogspot.com

All ideas have innate power & energy.  The culture we create about how they “compete” is the key.  If we instill an “internet” model where ideas are initially seen as equal then everyone will feel free to express new opportunities.  Where we fall on the scale & how we interact can help us decide what ideas are best to accelerate & which ones to wait on. Every idea has its time.  Letting go of the pressure to be “Don Quixote” on all ideas gives us the freedom to discover the best new direction.  It’s less important to be first than it is to be great at what you’ve chosen.

Closing Thoughts

These two concepts naturally live together & our ability to know each other well enough to take advantage of our “back-pressure” tendencies makes the key difference.  The interplay between when we choose to take more time (procrastinate) vs. where we fall as an innovator (adopting tendency) can de-conflict team tensions.  This leads to inserting the right amount of patience into the innovation continuum so momentum forward has team consensus.  So, the right blend of innovation & procrastination will keep your company from becoming obsolete overnight.  The world is counting on the awesome ideas that come as a result of collaboration & we’re excited about what you come up with.  And as my old science teacher always said before a pop quiz….”Take your time but hurry!”

All the Best,

Karl
Follow Karl Bradley on WordPress.com

*Picture from www.workboard.com

There we are, attending another meeting struggling to stay engaged.  Why?  We want to be there (but our mind is wandering), we’re interested in the reason it’s taking place (but the slides are so boring) & most importantly we’re ready to participate (if we ever get asked).  This all too familiar scene seems to plague us even with so many great ideas floating around to make it better.  Transparency of information & the speed at which it flows can make all the difference in focusing on what’s important now.

The great management guru Peter Drucker informs us in his many writings that one can either meet or work, one cannot do both.  Sage advice!  Why then, are meetings often unproductive?  We all have asked this, been frustrated & even disappointed with how these seemingly “necessary” events seem to be such a time suck.  In asking this question it leads our thoughts from a negative point of view.  How can we be part of a positive solution for our situation?  Here are some thoughts on time, discovering ideas to make it better & why we meet at all.

Why (do we meet)?

My favorite question!  Answering it often leads to keeping things the same.  However, status quo is standing still & in today’s full speed ahead work life isn’t satisfactory.  Let’s take some advice from Ricardo Semler & ask 3 Why’s in a row instead.  This can apply to our individual role for the meeting, collective goal(s) & even whether or not we should meet at all.  Semler says when we do this the first answer is pretty good, the second gets fuzzier & by the third, we don’t really know why we’re doing what we’re doing.  If you get 3 good answers he still advises to ask “What for?”  It probably won’t always be popular but every 6 months or so be the person who suggests…

*Cartoon from Pinterest.com

Eyeball to Eyeball

We can’t overlook the importance of human interaction.  After all, people work with us no matter where we work.  Eyeball to eyeball communication is best.  We’ve all heard managers/leaders say by simply meeting it will solve the ever-present communication issues that always seem to appear.  The office talk complaints about never knowing what’s going on & blaming someone for not telling us.  Disparaging remarks steal our intention away from the positive momentum we had & come with a “wait” time before resolving if we ever get there.  When we get away from our desks & engage directly with people it shows we courageously care about their success as well as the teams.  There is no substitute for this so meetings of all kinds must exist for engagement.  Focus on opportunities, not problems & set a tone for “only good news” to be spread.  When we take the first step to reach out, seek to understand before being understood it opens the doors for meaningful personal & team growth!

Soapbox time:  e-mail is simply information exchange, nothing more & you can’t effectively lead through this medium.  Try getting “tone” from even the most well-composed message, it’s difficult at best & largely a waste of time.  Getting to the acceptance point on this can put this “tool” in the right box.  Text is a bit better for “tone” but not totally effective.  Leaving notes can be great but if they aren’t positive in nature they can be damaging for effectiveness & productivity.

Make It Better

What ideas work?  Over the years there have been some that have had success, after all, why can’t meetings be fun?  Robert Townsend suggests having a round table instead of a rectangle so everyone is equidistant from one another.  This encourages interaction & helps remove titles/responsibilities so ideas can compete on an even basis, like the internet.  Try standing up.  If nobody gets comfortable in those heavenly designed chairs the meeting won’t last as long.  Set an agenda & stick to it.  Only the people who have something pertinent to the event will present.  Then simply have a “one more chance” around the room to accommodate additional comments that may have arisen.  Have a time-keeper.  This can take the pressure off the “leader” of the meeting to keep things on track & focus on the purpose of getting together.  This works well if you have an overall time limit.   Another great focus tool is to take minutes.  This scripting of the meeting keeps comments focused on recording it for reference.  Be careful here, as misquoting can be common & can increase anxiety but for the right reason, you might find it helpful.  Ricardo Semler suggests not putting pressure on a certain group of people to show up for any meeting.  This is brilliant because after the purpose is defined, you really only need the folks who want to be engaged to attend.  With this framework in mind, he also suggests having a couple seats open for whoever wants to attend.  Literally anyone from the organization.  Who knows, maybe their attendance will yield some “thought leadership” the typical group missed.

Related Stuff

“Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.”   -Albert Einstein

Too obviously funny way of putting it!  The only thing we all have in common is time so treat it like the precious commodity it is.  One of my mentors framed it this way; if someone is late 5 minutes & kept 10 people waiting, that’s 50 minutes of productive time wasted.  Another epiphany moment & with such simple math even I can understand it!  Show people you’re not going to be cavalier with their time & they will freely give it to any project, from anywhere.

Idea Generation

Good ideas don’t come while we’re at work.  Really?  Why not?  It’s only when we’re spending time away from the activities of work that our mind can begin to creatively ponder ideas, new ventures, risks, innovations, etc.  Similar to when we try hard to remember something.  When we aren’t trying it magically comes to us!  If we as leaders can help instill a “thinking” culture instead of on a “knowing” culture we’ll move in the intuitive direction.  When we feel the pressure to have all the answers all the time it promotes a culture of “certainty” & when we’re certain things will happen the way we think it sets current & future projects up for failure.

There’s nothing new here, just some thoughts on the challenge we all have to stay connected with our passions to move any enterprise forward.  Hope this helps in some small way with the “problem” of meetings so we can love all the work we do…even meetings!

All the best,

Karl
Follow Karl Bradley on WordPress.com

Leaders read & consistently learn.  In looking at the most successful people who positively influence our world we know this to be true.  They challenge themselves, take risks, follow curiosities & stay connected with their passions to make a difference.  Their examples are everywhere & are an essential part of closing the loop on living purposeful lives to benefit others…giving back!  Actionable leadership keeps us engaged with answering two key questions; What are we doing for others? & How do our actions impact them?

Had the good fortune recently of carving out some time to finish a book that has made a quick impact on my life; “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith.  Saw a post advertising his book on super sale & immediately downloaded it.   It took a couple attempts to get momentum but once commitment was in my corner it was engaging.

The most powerful aspect of this book for me was that of self questioning.  Had heard about this technique from one of his VLOG posts & had been only half-heartedly going through the motions of daily questioning.  He states that “active” questions make the most difference because of how they frame the responsibility.  They typically start with something like this…

“Did I do my best to…..”

As you no doubt notice right away, the responsibility lies on us, not with anyone else. We have to reconcile how we did with whatever challenge we’ve chosen to put intent behind.  Happiness, engagement, goals, good deeds, positive thinking, listening, medical appointments, exercise, healthy habits, relationships; anything.

He dives into many things; aspects of self-discipline versus self-control & that we don’t improve without some structure & follow-up.  Great stuff but the habit of questioning ourselves to stay focused can be the structure needed to get better at anything.

Two tools here, daily & hourly questions.  Suddenly it dawned on me that to make progress personally the daily questions were not enough.  Had the self-discipline to start something new but lacked the self-control needed to affect positive change.  Hourly questions were the answer!

We all carry a powerful tool around in our pockets every day that can help, our phones.  Soon after finishing the book, I decided to set 12 alarms from 7AM to 7PM every day & re-wrote the label asking the active question I most needed help with.  Bam!  After the first few hours a noticeable shift was beginning to happen with my state of mind.  How could something so simple be so powerful?  Then this quote popped into my head…

“The utmost in sophistication is simplicity.”  -Apple

One caveat from Goldsmith here; if we don’t want to improve, no structure or person can help, only we make that choice for change.  It was time for me, so it’s working.  Also, in my studies in the field of education a professor noted a study that indicated it only takes 90 repetitions of anything to start a habit.  Good or bad, it’s our choice once again.

What’s my struggle?  Becoming a better listener & always positive.  It’s too easy for me to just “wait to talk” since I love an audience & not engage my brain on what’s being said, mannerisms, etc.  Also, when I focus on being positive it quiets me literally & figuratively.  In carpenter terms I’ve “measured twice & cut once”.  The struggle is real but I’m doing something to inch toward a better me.

The takeaway here is that we can be our own coach!  Asking ourselves the hard questions about what we need to stop doing & start doing instead can be the catalyst.  The successful journey to a more happy life lies in all of us!  The example we are for others can make a profound impact each and every day, we just have to make the choice.  It’s not really about us but it starts there & grows into serving others by our willingness to let go of all the stuff that doesn’t really hold value.

The person that emerges from this simple but powerful tool will yield a better you.  Jump in, the water is fine!

All the best,

Karl

PS  His book has an accompanying App for daily questions you can tailor to your needs.  Works great, just search “Daily Questions” in the app store!  Nope, don’t work or have an affiliation with Goldsmith.
Follow Karl Bradley on WordPress.com

One of my coaches in High School told us the story of this man.  The point was to encourage everyone not to take a play off…ever.  You never know when your performance might make “the” difference in the game.  Go hard all the time so you don’t miss the opportunity to be the catalyst to help the team.  You could end up being the hero your team needed.  Who’s story inspired this motivational analogy?

If you’re a big sports fan then you’ve probably heard the story of Wally Pipp.  In the first half of the 1920’s decade he was a very productive 1st baseman for the New York Yankees.  In June of 1925 he complained to his manager of a headache & was replaced in the line-up.  The fact the Yankees weren’t having a great season that year adds to the mystique of the story.  These days taking a day off has become common-place to survive a 162-game season but back then it was uncommon.

Never heard of him?  That’s not so surprising as he played almost 100 years ago now.  To be fair to his side of the story, he did get beaned in the head by a pitch the very next day after taking his now infamous day off.  He was hospitalized for 2-weeks.  Understandably, my coaches didn’t tell us this part of the story as it would’ve ruined their point.

NEXT MAN UP

As you’ve probably figured out by now Wally Pipp was replaced by arguably one of the best 1st basemen ever to play the game, Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig.  After replacing Pipp he didn’t come out of the lineup for almost 15 years.  He broke the consecutive games played streak playing an astounding 2,130 games in a row over that time.

In sports earning valuable playing time is hard work.  In our working lives it’s just as hard to position ourselves for that special assignment/project that stretches our abilities & propels the enterprise forward.  If you’re recognized as a “go-to” performer these development opportunities will come your way.  As commitment grows, trusting you to deliver will follow.  Always come to “play” because we can all get replaced by the next man up who tackles their responsibilities with passion.

Bring your best every day for yourself & the team….tomorrow isn’t promised!

All the best,

Karl

*Photo of Wally Pipp from Pinterest.com
Follow Karl Bradley on WordPress.com