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Good values are like a magnet. They attract good people – John Wooden
There’s a difference between delaying or postponing something that should be done today (procrastination) versus committing to do something but not intending to do it (values). In either case letting ourselves or others down should never be tolerated as acceptable behaviour. Upholding values is central to the culture of high performing teams.
“We were all born with a certain degree of power. The key to success is discovering this innate power and using it daily to deal with whatever challenges come our way” – Les Brown
Workers are unique due to their respective strengths, weaknesses and preferences. For instance, someone who’s organised and busy doesn’t necessarily translate into a productive person. It could be that they’re tidy but focused on the wrong priorities. Whereas a worker who just makes deadlines could be quite productive due to the high workload they take on and deliver. How we interact with our work influences the level of output. Are productive people born or made? The answer isn’t straightforward but I think it’s a combination of both.
“Great acts are made up of small deeds” – Lao Tzu
Recently I caught up with an ex-colleague who lives by the adage of making every effort to do what he said he’ll do. It’s not surprising he’s a highly successful senior manager in his chosen field. It got me thinking how much I prefer to be around achievers more so than the people who overpromise and underdeliver.
“A place for everything, and everything in its place” – Mrs Beeton
Recently a friend frustratingly said to me “you’ve got to write a blog on organisation because I’m sick of wasting time looking for things.” Although it’s not always recognised, disorganisation is often the Achilles heel hampering progress for many at home and at work.
“Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before" - Franz Kafka
Unless you’ve strategically designed your productivity eco system then output can be quite inconsistent. Some days you’ll feel you’re making tremendous progress and other days you’ll seem to be going backwards. Recently while attending an event a CEO asked me for what I consider to be the 3 most important overarching productivity principles. Before I could answer he added “don’t give me 100 different detailed techniques, just 3 overarching principles. I responded I didn’t have 3 but I had 4 if he was interested. Today’s article has the 4 principles I shared with the CEO.
“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort” - Paul J. Meyer
What happens when capable staff aren’t as effective as they need to be? When they become somewhat stuck, when they stop progressing and seem to be just treading water. Layer in not reaching goals or targets and the result is the disillusioned employee. Companies who ignore employees in these situations do so at their own peril because there’s untapped potential with an opportunity to increase profit for those who can unlock it. Productivity is the key to unleashing this potential.
“Indecision and delays are the parents of failure" - George Canning
Productivity in its simplest form is about making progress. While there are numerous variables that can restrict output, there’s also plenty of strategies that can be applied to drive efficiencies and outcomes. A common impediment to achievement is when we’re unable to decide. Do too many choices cause you to choose nothing?
“When you make a commitment, you build hope. When you keep it, you build trust” - Stephen Covey
For my first office job, I was employed by Modern Printing Company (famous for the Spirax notebook) who at the time had been around for 100 years. It was a great place to learn fundamentals because most systems were processed manually so understanding interdependencies between processes and having an attention for detail were necessary skills. Modern Printing Company was the first time I encountered a colleague who had absolute clarity about what needed to be done but happened to be ineffective. I was young and thought the person had too much work to do (that’s because he repeatedly told me so). I was sympathetic to his situation but as I gained more experience I discovered the real issue was he didn't execute well.
“Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people” – John D. Rockefeller
Recently I was talking to a friend who shared with me how his company wasn’t meeting their sales targets. This in turn put pressure on cash flow. What he was really frustrated about was his new boss had communicated the need for increased productivity. My friend explained how the focus was all wrong, the new boss just doesn’t get it, the real issue is they just need to sell more. He said: “That makes sense, doesn’t it?”
"We are anxious to improve our circumstances but unwilling to improve ourselves. We therefore remain bound" – James Allen
What I enjoy about my job is I get to help people and the organisations they work for be more effective at what they do. I find those who are committed to improving embrace the opportunity to perform better and more efficiently. Whereas those who don’t take action merely spectate. It’s consistently revealed that a superior technique combined with an appropriate level of effort enables individuals to maximise their potential and prosper in even challenging environments. It all starts with a decision to improve.
What is a typical workday like for you? Do you work between 7 to 12 hours a day? If you do this consistently then during the weekdays you’re working between 29% to 50% of the total available hours. Did you know that working more than 11 hours a day increases the risk of heart disease by 67%? (Source: University College London). We might think we’re invincible or are just too busy to contemplate anything different, but maybe it’s not our job that’s bad for our health. Instead, we just might need to rethink our approach to work.
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford
Teams come in all shapes and sizes. Over the years I’ve been a member of many teams at work and in sport. Essentially, I’ve been involved in both high performing teams and teams who have struggled to function cohesively. I know that business and sporting teams cannot be treated the same way because there are particular aspects where they’re uniquely different ie. passion, a sense of belonging to a tribe etc. However, there are also principles that can apply to both.
When I was a child my mother introduced me to the phrase “we’re a creature of our habits.” I’m not sure whether she would say it to explain a situation or use as an excuse when something happened. Most of us tend to have a mixture of good and bad habits. The first step in kicking a habit is to recognise what it is and then make a firm commitment to do something about it. It sounds easy in theory but proves to be difficult in practice for many.
Ever experienced working with the full spectrum of bosses – a great boss at some point and a terrible boss at another time? I know I have and the difference is night and day. What if you had the opportunity to work for the best CEO? On face value you’d be crazy not to consider it. However, let’s flip it and ask whether you have what it takes to measure up as an employee?
Tug of war is a contest where 2 teams pull at opposite ends of a rope until 1 drags the other over a central line. It’s not always the biggest or strongest team that wins but the team who works better together while pulling in the same direction. Being part of a team at work provides a similar experience. You’re either a member of a high performing team or you’re not.
The simple fact is everyone has 168 hours available each week. Why are some people able to accomplish so much more at work and in their personal life week after week? Are they naturally good at getting stuff done or did they have to learn how to? For many it presents a dilemma - you either have it or you need to get it. However, not everyone takes action to improve their situation.
Recently I wrote how we’re in the early stages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that will see automation, artificial intelligence, and robots make 5 million jobs obsolete globally by 2020. Last week Telstra CEO Any Penn announced that 1,400 jobs (approximately 4.5 % of the workforce) will be cut where “technology innovation and digital disruption are combined with the increased competitive pressures and the accelerated rollout of the NBN." These types of challenges aren’t isolated to a specific company or industry so we need to brace ourselves that job losses will happen across most sectors with some regularity.
Being successful and being productive aren’t the same thing. While they regularly exist together, the fact is many people are successful but not productive. It doesn’t seem possible, does it? However, inefficiency is often hidden by working long hours, the level of expertise in a chosen field, limited competition or high margins.
The World Economic Forum reports that automation, artificial intelligence, and robots are going to make 5 million jobs obsolete by 2020. We’re already in the early stages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution which will continue to dramatically change how we work. It’s a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity (VUCA). What we need to be doing now is future proof ourselves by adapting the necessary skills to survive and thrive in this new world.
