Monday, September 26, 2011

Shotgun approach??

Last time I discussed getting lost in the details. Now I want to discuss using a "SHOTGUN APPROACH" i.e. do a little bit of everything and see what works. However, I need a caution statement (somewhat like a legal disclaimer) before I start - and that is this:

Self-Control is the ability to say no, in the face of temptation, and to take sustained action, despite the difficulty of a given challenge. At its heart, self-control requires (DEMANDS) the ability to delay gratification. More commonly, its called discipline, or will power. Without self-control, we can't ever accomplish almost anything of enduring value. Yet most of us choose to not pay very much attention to this skill.

My wife frequently asks me "Did you accomplish what you wanted to get done today?" I must just as frequently reply, "Not really," and that is just before she starts to laugh, or at least smile.

You see, some people are just naturally pre-disposed to being very highly productive. They start their day with a clear and reasonable intention of what they plan to do, then they work diligently throughout the day, sticking to their plan, focused on accomplishing their most important priorities, until the day ends and they've accomplished their most important priorities and almost exactly what they had expected. EACH and EVERY day moves them one day closer to what it was they planned and intended to accomplish for the week, and month, and year!

Unfortunately, I am not one of "THOSE" people. Left to my own devices, I rarely start my day with the satisfaction of a plan that is well developed to be easily executed into consistent actions as the plan calls for. My natural inclination is to start my morning, sometimes late due to my intense dislike for rushing (because I CAUSE myself to rush so often), with a long and very overly ambitious list of what I remember that I hope to accomplish and then have to push myself by sheer will power to attempt to accomplish what I can of the list. Many times (OK, most of the time) I remember something that I forgot to put on that list, that absolutely needs to be accomplished right now, and my entire plan is thrown to the winds while I play catch-up.

Oh yea, I'm also prone to be so very busy, answering emails, multitasking, taking phone calls, running small errands, that without intervention, I get very little of REAL IMPORTANCE done during my day. Oh yea, and I'm still late, and now exhausted. Now, unsatisfied by how little of the important items I've accomplished, I further hurt myself by doing something that will make me feel better in that moment, like browsing the Internet or eating something I shouldn't be eating.

So here is my point in all of this, the odds are against us in getting our most important priorities accomplished unless we purposely utilize our Self-Control and discipline or willpower. Our instincts most often drive us towards instant gratification and it seems the world conspires against us to drive us off task also.
For me personally, the allure of accomplishing lots of little details will often override my focus on the BIG THINGS that I value most and want to accomplish most. Each morning I must change my natural tendency by exerting my self-control. I must focus and psych myself up to have that productive day, commit to myself to have a written plan, not get distracted or do "FUN" things until the important work is done.

I need to climb out of this pit the exact same way I climbed in: with new rituals and new habits.
1. I absolutely need to spend 5 minutes at the end of each day reviewing what I intended to accomplish and then making a written list of the most important tasks that I have to accomplish the next day.
2. I have to look at what worked during the day and do more of that the next day, as well as look at what didn't work and stop doing that.
3. It seems to always work out that I discover daily that I need to stop being scattered and ineffective and intentionally focus on more productive activities in an organized and methodical way that leaves very little "WIGGLE" room for me to go astray.

Now I try to spend 5 minutes first thing in the morning working thru my calendar, adding those critical most important tasks that I review from the night before list, and then work my schedule. I try to answer emails in chunks at predetermined times during the day instead of whenever the computer dings (Actually I turned the dings off so I'm not distracted), and I try to never allow anything important do stay on my to do list more than 3 days without either accomplishing it or scheduling it onto my calendar. Unfortunately, some items just get deleted, and that also helps me to determine the value of what I choose.

My biggest challenge now is twofold: Staying productive, and staying consistent. I just can't stop or overlook either one of these two critical rituals. I absolutely MUST maintain these two daily, forever more, or I will fall back into the poor habits that kept me from being a productive person and just "Shotgunning" my day.

I've always been a big believer in using results as the differentiators between success and failure. You either achieve your goals or you don't. PERIOD. However I gave myself backsliding room on the timing issue of WHEN I was able to achieve my goals. No longer. I now know that you don't create value unless timely results are achieved.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Friday, September 23, 2011

Lost in the Details??????

I've had a full and interesting week. I've been up in Chicago at our Libertyville Corporate Innovation Center looking forward at all types of innovations on our horizon and that always is a "Mountain Top" experience for me.

One HUGE take-away is a great discussion I had with one person about my blog on the 4 "P's" of Preparation, Perseverance, Patience, and Persistence. This person was wondering if I was leading folks to be lost in the details rather than seeing the entire or whole picture.

The discussion centered around what makes a good (or great) strategy. We both agreed that it requires, at minimum, at least 3 vital elements:
A Diagnosis of the current situation and thoughts around what you want the situation to become.
Decide on a Guiding Policy, that is the outline of your plan to become that new situation.
Decide on the Course of Action, as well as a time frame for that action.

Where we started to disagree is deciding the level of details that would be best to make this action strategy work at maximum effectiveness. My friend suggested that my suggestion provided way too many details that could cause someone to become lost in the details and lose the value of a great strategy. My contention is that without at least a minimum of details the strategy could be so mis-interpreted that it would lose value, i.e. that you NEED a level of detail that provides a solid framework for the strategy to be easily understood as to the intention of the mission.

We both realize that a effective strategy is critical to any operation that you want to go in a certain direction, no matter how simple or detailed it may be. It is that level of details that seemed to be our sticking point.

So my friends, here is my CALL TO ACTION for YOU TODAY: Hit comments and reply with YOUR thoughts and/or experiences on what level of details you feel are necessary for a great strategy to work best. I won't judge or be offended, just want to share with others more useful information.

Steve

Friday, September 16, 2011

Friday Thoughts

I'm in somewhat of a funk today. I received a picture this morning from a pilot friend of mine who has the exact same airplane as I do, and he had crashed yesterday. Everyone is alright, but the plane is totaled. Looking at the picture gives me many thoughts, some not so pleasant, about training and taking personal responsibility.

It is widely accepted and proven by research that it takes 7 repetitions of information for consumers to really understand what you are saying or selling. The same holds true, I believe, about training of any type. Pilots spend a lot of time training for potential problem situation (like crashing) so that they can do as my friend did, walk away from the crash unhurt. Being in business today isn't really much different, we need to constantly train in our profession to keep sharp and stay current with the ever changing world we all live in. When was the last time you took a day away from your business to train for a potential problem situation? What about taking training for personal growth?

Accepting personal responsibility is another area that flashed thru my mind today when I was looking at the picture. This pilot took personal responsibility firmly in his own hands when his life was on the line during that emergency. He recalled the training that he purposely took to be prepared, and applied it quickly to the situation he was facing. He showed personal responsibility by knowing and taking action to stay current as a pilot so that when times of stress did show up he was prepared and knew exactly what he had to do. When was the last time you took time to learn or review what is important to your business? What are you doing in your life to accept your personal responsibility for your situation that you may be facing?

I'm sad also as there is the loss of a great aircraft. Not sure what caused this accident, but no matter what caused it, the plane is a total loss. Isn't our current economy somewhat like that? Some businesses and many people are suffering right now with situations that may not be their fault and that is just a fact, but just like my friend who is rejoicing that nobody was injured or hurt, we can be happy that every single day is another new opportunity for a fresh start. No matter what we may have failed at today, we get another opportunity to do something different tomorrow. When was the last time you took time to consider what you would like a "DO OVER" about tomorrow?

The thought I want to leave you with today is this: No matter what happens to you or in your life today, you have the ability to choose HOW you respond to that situation. You can take personal responsibility and be trained and ready for potential problems or you can just have something completely unexpected pop upon you and still use your gifts and talents to respond and limit the damage. It is all your choice. Make wise choices today my friends.

These are my thoughts today, what are yours?
Steve

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Saturday Football Fan's

I'm always amazed when I watch Saturday football and see all the fans showing such passion for the team they support. Can you imagine what would happen if those same fans would show that same level of passion at work during the week? Is work or other areas of life as important as college football (or any other sports)?

Imagine the sales your field sales force could make if they approached each sales call with the passion they expect from their team on each play. Imagine the product knowledge your folks would have if they studied your literature and specification sheets with the same intensity they study the game stats. Imagine how much more professionally your team could do their jobs if they studied their profession with the same level of intensity as they study the opponent for next weeks big game.

I suppose my question today is this: Where would this revolution have to begin? Could it start with YOU? Could it start on Monday?

These are my thoughts, what are yours?

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Are you unemployed today?

So many people I run into these days are either unemployed or underemployed. They're good folks, just looking for that break to get back into the world of the gainfully employed. I have several suggestions for you today.

Remember the 4 "P's" you need for success:
PREPARATION
PERSEVERANCE
PATIENCE
PERSISTENCE

I truly believe the most important is the first "P" of Preparation. I've done my fair share of interviewing (on both sides of the table) and I want to suggest several BETTER THAN AVERAGE questions. Most interviewers ask about the same questions - "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Most interviews are short on probing questions and focus too much on the exact same information that has already been given on the resume.

Below are some questions (my TOP 10 bakers dozen) that I've used before when I've interviewed folks, and I've always had this type of info ready when I've been the one being interviewed. This is valuable information that will help both sides decide if the position and you are right for each other.

*When I call your references, what will they say about you? Why do they feel that way?
*What accomplishments are you particularly proud of and why?
*What motivates you? How do you motivate others? Why does that work for you?
*Why are you in the job market right now?
*Where do you see yourself in five years? Why?
*How do you resolve disputes? Why does that work?
*Describe your management style. Why do you believe it works for you?
*What is the biggest mistake you've ever made? How did you recover from it?
*Most everyone claims to have good communication skills, tell me about yours? Why are yours different and why do they work well for you?
*If you had a "Magic Wand" describe your ideal job and work environment.
*What is the biggest decision you ever had to make? Why did you make it as you did? How did it turn out? What, if anything, would you do differently today?
*Describe your dream organization chart and how you fit into it.
*What question do you want me to ask you that I haven't ask about yet? Why?

I believe if you think about and know the answers to the above questions you will do much better than the average on landing the right position for you. Good Luck!

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Gift

John Wayne (a Great American) once said "Life is Tough, Life is Tougher when you're Stupid." Everyone must be getting dumber today as life is certainly getting tougher today. It seems no matter where we go or turn we hear bad news and disappointments. It comes from all directions, almost in a non-stop rage.

As the rain falls on our Labor Day Weekend retreat at the lake house, I picked up a book that I've had for several years, wanting to read it but never quite finding the time. As the old saying goes, "When the time is right for the student, the teacher appears!" This must be the right time for me to learn the lessons from this book. The book is: The Gift, by Ron Reynolds. It is fascinating and so relevant to today's times. This book is about YOUR Talent, YOUR obsession, Your calling, yes, YOUR GIFT!

Everyone has a GIFT, it's just that most of us don't bother to discover our gift nor use our gift. Oh we somehow knew we had a gift when we were younger, but the hard knocks of life have somehow dampened our view of our gift and allowed us to forget that we ever even had a gift, but we all did and still do. I want to share part of my gift with you right now.

"IF YOU WOULD PLANT FOR DAYS, PLANT FLOWERS. IF YOU WOULD PLANT FOR YEARS, PLANT TREES. BUT IF YOU WANT TO PLANT FOR ETERNITY, PLANT IDEAS!" By sharing and teaching your ideas to others, you truly do affect eternity, for rest assured that there will be NO LIMITS to where your influence stops. By touching another life and helping to change the direction of that life through your ideas and teachings, you have the capacity to alter events.

Many of my friends question why I started this blog, and I never had a good answer for them other than I just wanted to share my thoughts and ideas with others. Now, today as I read this book, THE GIFT, I too am receiving enlightenment as to where this gift of mine has come from and where it is leading me towards. Simply helping others by improving myself.

Please, I plead with you, take time to reflect and re-discover your gift and start using it today to help others. I promise you that the outside world will never understand, and you may not change the bad news that comes daily, but you will absolutely change your little part of the world and bad news won't be nearly so bad for you when you do.

These are my thoughts today, please post your comments with your thoughts on this.
Steve