Over the recent long weekend my 15 year old son played in the Nunawading Basketball Tournament. The schedule was punishing with 4 games on Saturday (the first started at 10.15am with the last finishing at 11pm), 3 games on Sunday and the Grand Final on Monday. Besides skills and teamwork, the ability to perform almost became survival of the fittest so refuelling, rest and recovery were critically important for the athletes.
Energy determines which activity you do well
Fly like an eagle
Are you a slave to email?
Technique and effort underpins success
Can you find what you need quickly?
Are you just spinning wheels at work?
I’m sure at some stage you will have come across someone or multiple people at work who are forever telling everyone how busy they are but you don’t see them doing much of what I’ll refer to as the real work. And when you think about it it’s not all that difficult to look as if we’re busy but if we're not getting outcomes then all we are doing is spinning wheels.
How about trying a speed hackathon to make progress quickly?
Without being given any notice have you ever had to participate in something new and enjoyed the experience? Part of learning for a child is full of experiences like this, but as adults we don’t seem to get as many instances where we need to adapt quickly. Or is it that we’re set in our ways and don’t recognise or maximise learning opportunities?
Is the way you work restricting you from performing at a higher level?
Don’t overcommit at work
Have you ever noticed when stretching an elastic band how it can go back to its original shape and length when you stop stretching it? Then you might stretch it repeatedly or stretch it a bit harder and it’s now a bit longer forever after having lost some of its’ original shape. Finally, the rubber band might be stretched too hard repeatedly and it just breaks. And when this happens the solution is pretty simple because we just get another elastic band.
When are you at your most productive?
When status quo becomes status slow
When do you need help?
This week the 2016 AFL season commences. Besides Essendon (due to the player suspensions following the supplements saga), all clubs are confidently predicting they have improved from last season, with some expected to seriously challenge Hawthorn’s reign for a record tying fourth premiership in a row.
5 ways to reduce feeling overwhelmed at work
For a few years during the mid-1990s, Greg Norman (aka the Great White Shark) was considered the best golfer in the world, yet he constantly didn’t do as well at the majors. His most infamous performance occurred in the 1996 Masters when the Great White Shark entered the final day with a 6 stroke lead over Nick Faldo. Norman had a poor final round shooting a 78, while Faldo shot a 67 to win the green jacket by 5 strokes.
10 ways leaders can reduce meeting & email time
In the book Rework by Jason Fried, Jason speaks about embracing constraints: “I don’t have enough time/money/people/experience.” Stop whining. Less is a good thing. Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.”
At work we often seem to have too much to do for the time available. Do you feel like you could work 24/7 but not really make a dent in the amount of work that needs to be done?
Don’t have time to be the best leader you can be?
Every leader I speak to fully understands how the position of leadership is a privilege, not an entitlement and that great leaders help their team to be the best they can be. Yet, with challenging targets and competing priorities not every leader has sufficient time to help and mentor their team as much as they would like.
Is your Activity Based Working initiative delivering the expected level of transformation?
A significant number of large organisations in both the corporate and government sectors in Australia and around the world have either successfully implemented or are currently implementing Activity Based Working (ABW). And why wouldn’t they? The potential benefits to reduce cost, increase productivity and underpin culture are possible from a sound ABW initiative.
Think big, plan small and action each day
Turning vision into reality requires us to think big, plan small and action each day as different levels of planning and execution are necessary to make a vision happen. Too broad and we either underestimate scope or can be paralysed by the enormity of the task or too detailed and we can lose sight of the original objective.
Another day at work or a perfect work day?
Confession – a month of being disorganised with email....
Whether it be a family member, friend, workplace colleague or boss etc., we’ve all encountered someone who is disorganised in our life at some stage. If their level of disorganisation doesn’t affect us then we might go as far as having an opinion on how they could be better off by being organised, but for the most part we really don’t care and just let it pass. However, if their disorganisation slows us down or causes us to wait then the typical feeling is one of frustration.