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Slow Decisions Can Kill Your Momentum

Posted on 03/06/2013 by ·

"A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one." -- Rita Mae Brown, American novelist. "In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions, which a minute will reverse." -- T.S. Eliot, British poet and playwright. The ability to consistently make good, solid decisions lies at the heart of any productivity initiative, especially those affecting entire teams or organizations. Those of us concerned with maximizing positive outcomes have invented a wide variety of guidelines to help people make such decisions. Some experts argue that all significant decisions deserve careful consideration and consensus building before implementation, which results in a slow, deliberate decision-making process. I can't say they're necessarily wrong, because decision-making style depends at least … [Read more...]

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In the Decision Comes the Dilemma

Posted on 03/05/2013 by ·

It’s the little moments that count. Specifically, one moment: The space in between choosing what to do or what to work on next. It’s that second when you think to yourself, “Okay, what should I do next?” In that space of time, you choose to be productive…or not. We face these moments in the normal course of our days. They represent a fork in the road, where we choose our behavior. For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic, in that split second, you choose whether to flip him off and or apply the brake. It’s not that you’re still not angry¬—you are—but you’re making a purposeful choice in how you’re going to let your self-talk manifest itself. If your partner is in a foul mood and says something snippy to you, in that following second, as you inhale, you choose whether to escalate … [Read more...]

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Tightening Your Focus

Posted on 03/01/2013 by ·

The modern leader's biggest problems rarely stem from a lack of commitment or work ethic. Most of us are quite willing to work hard, and often for a distressing number of hours. And it's not as if we don't understand time management; anyone who has made it to a significant leadership position has mastered the basics, or they wouldn't occupy their current post. The real problem is that many leaders haven't learned to expand and refocus their understanding of time management to take into account the realities of their new positions—even as they accrue more and more power over the lives and livelihoods of more and more people. As you climb the corporate ladder, your ability to focus on your strategic priorities becomes increasingly important. With every rung, your actions impact the company … [Read more...]

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Ruthless Productivity

Posted on 02/27/2013 by ·

Looking for the SPEED formula? Click here. "This is a ruthless world, and one must be ruthless to cope with it." -- Charlie Chaplin, American actor. "Human nature is potentially aggressive and destructive and potentially orderly and constructive." -- Margaret Mead, American anthropologist The word "ruthless" often gets a bad rap in the business world—and well it should, when companies mistreat clients, vendors, or employees. But in two business cases, ruthlessness is acceptable (even essential) within reasonable limits: when striving for a greater market share, and when trying to maximize your personal productivity. Both flavors of ruthlessness will make you unpopular among some groups—your competitors on the one hand, and certain co-workers on the other. But you don't work for your … [Read more...]

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Rising from the Ashes

Posted on 02/25/2013 by ·

In the modern business world, we sometimes tout failure as a virtue that almost inevitably leads to success. Popular examples include Thomas Edison's 1,000+ unsuccessful attempts to improve the light bulb before hitting on the right solution, and Bill Gates' unsuccessful first business. Experts tell us repeatedly to fail forward, to fail as fast as possible, to dare to fail—because it makes us smarter and better in the long run. So it was refreshing to encounter a Harvard Business School working paper called "Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship" that takes the opposite perspective.[i] The authors discovered that brand-new entrepreneurs succeeded just about as often as those who had tried before and failed (18% vs. 20%). The most successful entrepreneurs were those who had already … [Read more...]

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Machines Melt Minds

Posted on 02/18/2013 by ·

Machines melt minds. And not in a good way, like warm butter melting on a fluffy stack of pancakes. No, in a bad way, as in a meltdown that sends profits into a death spiral. Productive workers get this. That’s why they come out from behind their machines and keep their minds fresh and buzzing at the company softball league, the annual Holiday bash, the weekend corporate retreat, or a trip to a motivational seminar. Productive workers know that blazing one’s eyeballs behind a monitor all day can fry brain cells. So don’t overlook the value of going to the health club or fostering deeper relational bonds by getting off your bottom and walking over to a coworker’s office to talk about a heated issue. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs may have given us the tools we need to get the job done. But, … [Read more...]

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How to Conduct Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly Reviews

Posted on 02/01/2013 by ·

Consistent self-reviews should be a part of any time management plan, since they're easy to perform and help you maintain course with minimal effort. Yet many leaders avoid them because (ironically) they "can't afford the time." On the contrary, you can't afford not to review your progress on a regular basis. If you don't look up and adjust your heading once in a while, you're going to end up way off course...if you ever do anything more than just spin your wheels. Some people avoid reviews, because they think it looks like they're goofing off. But let's get real here: just because you've settled down to review your progress doesn't mean you're doing nothing. If you want to be a strategic enabler of business, you have to find the time to be strategic! As the old story goes, a woodsman who … [Read more...]

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How to Create a Culture of Speed

Posted on 01/30/2013 by ·

"If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." -- Mario Andretti, American race car driver. "The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow." -- Rupert Murdock, Australian-American media mogul. "I've always found that the speed of the boss is the speed of the team." -- Lee Iacocca, former CEO and Chairman of Chrysler Corporation. Though we like to think of ourselves as living in the Space Age or the Information Era, future historians may well label this the "Hurry Up Epoch." For decades now, we've scrambled to keep pace with technological change, ramping up our productivity to startling levels, which helps us further advance our technology, leading to greater productivity...and so on in a rising spiral. Nowadays … [Read more...]

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Debunking Productivity Myths: An Answer to Lifehacker’s Alan Henry

Posted on 01/23/2013 by ·

"It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so." -- Will Rogers, American humorist. "We must not be hampered by yesterday's myths in concentrating on today's needs." -- Harold S. Geneen, American businessman and former president of ITT Corporation. If you haven’t already heard the expression, "lifehacking" refers to the practice of developing little ways of making your daily activities more efficient. The term derives from the practices of computer hackers, who crack open commercial code and rewrite it for their own purposes. Lifehacks focus mostly on improving personal life, so they don't always lend themselves to workplace application, but sometimes they hit the nail on the head. Such was the case with an article by Alan Henry posted on December 5, … [Read more...]

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I’ll Pat Your Back

Posted on 01/21/2013 by ·

When you’re part of a team, each person impacts your productivity and contributes to how quickly or slowly things get done. When others are late in getting answers to you, you’re late in producing the final product. When you’re relying on your coworkers to review a document before proceeding, a month can go by before you have everyone’s input. It’s in your best interest to help your team members speed up and get things done more quickly, so you can produce better results, in less time, with less frustration. I learned this streamlining lesson from a flight attendant, who taught me a lesson in steamrolling obstacles. As a professional speaker, travel is a job hazard; I fly over 100,000 miles each year on United. I travel so much that sometimes I have to wait until the USA Today gets … [Read more...]

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