Work That Matters

Michael Bungay Stanier, who wrote the book, Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work that Matters., believes that all work falls in one of three buckets:

1. Bad Work consumes time and energy, and makes no difference.
2. Good Work that you do most of the time, and do it well.  The problem -- it's endless, and it's comfortable, which keeps you spinning your wheels in routine and busyness, as you just get through each week.
3. Great Work is meaningful, challenging, lights you up and matters to you. 

What kind of work are you doing, most of the time? 

If you're like most people, on average, you're doing Bad Work 0-40% of the time, 40-80% of your time doing Good Work, and 0-25% on Great Work.

Check out this YouTube video for a quick overview.

How can you do more Great Work?  Here are three tips that I believe in and fully endorse:

• Create Projects.  See all great work as projects.  Abandon your job description and focus on creating projects where you are focusing on your best work.
• Define 3 Things Daily.  Define three high-impact actions you will take each day, and focus on them. Having a long "To-Do" list completed daily isn't effective if you haven't accomplished what matters most. At the very least, define one thing that you really will do. The other two can be gravy, bonus tasks that you'll be happy if you get to them and if you don’t, you won’t beat yourself up about it.
• Create Great Work Space. Great Work requires a different type of thinking, so create a different kind of space for it. The space can be a coffee shop, a meeting room, another office space, the cafeteria, a library. Find another space to do your Great Work.  Changing the context will change the way you work.

I'll be interested to hear about your success doing more Great Work!

Talent Hunt-Getting it Right

Recruiting and getting the right "talent" in organizations is one of the most important leadership abilities.  Whether the buzzword is "talent management" or "human resources", it all comes down to having the right people.

A recent post in Workopolis blog "New Rules for the Talent Hunt" highlighted how the job market is changing, with tips for recruiters and candidates.  From this post, I found 3 key components that I feel are really critical to be aware of, when you are a leader searching for the right people:

a. Hire a person, not a resume.  Spend time getting to know people in interviews: who they are, how they will contribute, and how well they will fit into your organization.

b. Getting it wrong can be costly. "Hiring the wrong person will cost you 2.5 times that person’s salary."* Getting it right is worth the reward of the time you invest in really getting to know people in interviews.

c. Fulfillment is the new corner office. Employee happiness (and productivity) is a result of fulfillment on the job. Engaged employees achieve more. Beyond hiring the right people, invest in keeping each person engaged and thus, achieving results on the job. Find out what is important to each person individually, to maintain fulfillment in his/her career.

* Source: Society of HR Management 2007

5 Tips for Working Successfully in a Group

In Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture", he shared some valuable advice for working well with other people in a group:


Find things you have in common. You can almost always find something in common with another person, and from there, it's much easier to address issues where you have differences.  Sports cut across boundaries of race and wealth. And if nothing else, we all have the weather in common.

Try for optimal meeting conditions. Make sure no one is hungry, cold or tired.  Meet over a meal if you can; food softens a meeting.  That's why they "do lunch" in Hollywood.

Let everyone talk. Don't finish someone's sentences.  And talking louder or faster doesn't make your ideas any better.

Check egos at the door. When you discuss ideas, label them and write them down.  The label should be descriptive of the idea, not the originator: "the bridge story" not "Jane's story."

Praise each other. Find something nice to say, even if it's a stretch.  The worst ideas can have silver linings if you look hard enough. (A related piece of advice: Look for the best in everybody. If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you.)

Phrase alternatives as questions. Instead of "I think we should do A, not B," try "What if we did A, instead of B?" That allows people to offer comments rather than defend one choice.

Greatest Strength as Greatest Weakness

Working with career professionals who are engaged in career searches, I often hear that the most dreaded job interview question is: "What is your greatest strength?" followed by the inevitable "What is your greatest weakness?"

Through the coaching process, my clients become quite clear on their strengths, and can confidently answer the "greatest strength" question.  It's interesting how many realize that their greatest strength is, also, their greatest weakness.

For instance, someone who is a detail-oriented perfectionist, has strengths in her attention to detail, thoroughness, and organizational abilities. On the flipside, her attention to detail can become a weakness when she spends too much time on the details, and doesn't produce results.

Someone who, like me, is results-oriented, has strengths in her ability to produce, fast. Remember the adage, when you want something done, give it to a busy person? The downside comes in when she realizes she consistently takes on too much, for her own good. Or, when she powers through projects without attending to details or the big picture.

Someone who, like me, is able to see both sides of a situation, has strengths in her ability to provide objective feedback and a different perspective. The flipside is that she can often be wishy-washy and indecisive.

Awareness is the precursor to choice. Being aware of our strengths can lead to clarity about our weaknesses, and with this awareness, we can choose to balance our approach. 

Coaching Challenge:

Consider asking the greatest strength and greatest weakness questions of your staff, in your next one-on-one meeting, or in a performance appraisal. Greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses can coincide. Instead of focusing on the weakness, see how you can turn it around to see the strength, and harness it for greater results.

3 Success Tips to Stay On Track

I read an article about attaining career New Year Resolutions, related to the recent theme in the Lounge -- taking consistent action towards your outcomes gets results. The advice is to:

“make goals you wish to achieve by the end of the year and strategize the steps you'll need to take in order to get there. Instead of squeezing yourself to 'resolve' things quickly, spread out the commitments and proceed at a manageable pace, with benchmarks to understand and celebrate your progress. Steady progress is made and the stated goal has an excellent chance to be achieved."

I particularly like the following 3 success tips to stay on track in the New Year:

1. Eat the frog! "Mark Twain said if you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day. So, start your day by tackling an important task, especially if it is a task you aren't crazy about."

2. Concrastinate. "If procrastinating means putting things off, concrastinate should be doing things immediately. Work in 15 minute increments. If there is a task you don't like, set a timer and do it for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, you will be amazed at how much you've accomplished. At that point, either stop or if you have built up some momentum, keep going."

5. Plan it. "A few minutes of planning can save you hours of time. Either first thing in the morning or at the end of the day, take a few minutes to plan. It doesn't have to be a long formal process, just jot down the things you want to do that day (or the next if you do this at the end of the day)."

How have you experienced these success tips in action? Post your comments and share your success.

The Importance of Technical People Becoming People-People

Check out this quotation that supports the importance of understanding people and putting focus on building relationships with people:

"A Bell Lab's study found the best engineers didn't succeed because of their technical prowess, but because they put time and effort into building relationships that they could call upon when needed."

- from the Financial Post,  "The best of 2009 e-letter wisdom from 'experts'", Dec 21, 2009

Putting focus, time and effort into building relationships is important, even for, and perhaps, especially for, technical people.  It may not be a technical person's strength or natural inclination to pay attention to people, and build relationships.  However, it is important to succeed. 

If you're a technical person who want to achieve greater success through people, check out my "Technical People Becoming People-People" coaching program offering.  Feel free to ask questions, post comments, or apply for the program.

How to Get Results

I just returned from the International Coach Federation (ICF) Conference in Orlando, inspired to create a greater impact through results-based coaching.

 

This is a quotation from a leader of one of the workshops I attended, on Accountability:

  

"Taking action consistent with your desired outcome for your life, career or business gets results". - Mark Samuel

When I consider results I have attained recently, it is a result of applying these 4 principles:

1. Being clear on my desired outcome,
2. Setting a clear measure that defines success,
3. Being focused and taking action in line with my desired outcome,
4. Measuring how I’m progressing toward my desired outcome.

Considering areas where I have not attained the results I wanted, it clearly is due to a break down in applying at least one of these 4 principles.

Coaching Challenge:  For the results you want to see in your life, career or business, answer these questions:

 

How will you become clear about your desired outcome?

What measure(s) defines success for you?

What action(s) do you commit to take, consistently?

How will you measure progress towards your successful end-result?

Share your commitment by sending me an e-mail, or comment on this post. Personal accountability strengthens when you share your commitment with someone else.

3 Top Tips to Overcome Overwhelm

Overwhelm is rampant these days, as we are all asked to do more with less. 

Here are three practical tips for dealing with overwhelm, to focus on what really matters, and see tangible results each day:

1. Decide what is really important. Focus on projects or goals that really matter.  If possible, put less important projects aside for the time being, or take them off your plate completely.  Scattered thinking and associated feelings of overwhelm will begin to subside once you have decided to focus on what really matters. To keep your projects or goals front of mind, post them in a visible place that you will see throughout each day.
2. Chunk it down.  You make progress day by day, step by step.  Take a step each day towards your goals.  Make a list of the top 3 actions you will take, each day, that will make the most difference in achieving your goals. Put these 3 actions first, and address them before you do anything else. No checking e-mail; no getting distracted surfing the internet! Put First Things First.
3. Measure what matters.  You have identified what is really important.  You take actions towards your goals each day.  Now track your progress towards those goals. There is always a way to quantify your progress, if you are clear on the ultimate outcome. Review your progress, each day, each week, each month. You will soon see how you are achieving more, with less.