Diminishing Returns

Are you working your backside off and never catching up? Sometimes, does it seem like the more you push the less you get done? Then you have discovered the law of diminishing returns!

This law states that at some point of continued investment the value received will begin to decrease. In English please... When you start a task that outcomes are a direct reflection of the amount of effort you put in. But we are human and if we continue work on the task at a machine pace the outcomes will be less significant. In fact, we may start to introduce errors into the task which requires us to go back and fix it. If we keep pushing, little if anything will get accomplished.

So have you caught yourself working late every night at the office but you never ever get through your emails, can't get the reports complete and don't know where to begin writing that proposal? Perhaps you need to realize you are caught in the law of diminishing returns and break the process. Stop working to the point of exhaustion - it isn't doing anybody any good any way. Take that extra hour and nurture the rest of your body. Spend time with friends, family, your hobby, exercise, whatever, just walk away.

Why do that when you have all this work do to? Because we are not machines and we need to balance our lives. Give your brain a break from the grind and your brain will reward you with improved productivity - more efficient, more effective. Overwork your brain and it will grind along with minimal returns. You deserve better - take a break and improve your performance.

Cherry Picking Checklists

Do you find that even despite your best efforts you are unable to get your chores done? I sometimes get caught without enough time to do tasks that I know need to get done because I need to “clean off my desk first” or “find the right pen” or “look up this one thing” or …. So I make up additional items on my list of things: clean desk, find pen, pay bills, etc. But my desk is never clean. I work at it but it never really gets done and then I do the important tasks in a last minute panic.

So I call my actions “cherry picking my checklist.” I do those things that seem easy but don’t add value to what’s important. Since I discovered how I make things harder on myself I try to recognize when I do this and stop for a minute to ask myself what is the most important? What adds value and needs to get done? And then, even if I go kicking and dragging my feet, I do what must be done. I feel better in the end and it turns out I have more time to clean my desk (but that’s not important so it does stay a mess, but I have time!).

Are you cherry picking your checklist and not getting things done? Start with the tasks that add value and stop putting it off because I have to….whatever.

Say Thank You

I read today about how Japan has made Internet access 17 times faster than the US. Information is moving faster and faster and pushing us to act and react faster and faster. It seems that in our effort to keep the pace we forget to stop and say "Thank you."

Even as we move faster we need to remember that it is still people we communicate with and people appreciate it when they are sincerely appreciated. So today take a moment to recognize when someone gives you their time, a precious commodity, and thank them.

A sincere thank you is not often heard any more and you might be surprised by the reaction. People appreciate sincerity and appreciate being recognized for doing something good.

Mentors needed

Sure. We have heard it before. Find a mentor to help you grow. Today I challenge you to find a way to be a mentor, even if it is just for a moment.

A mentor can be a trusted advisor or one who shares the wisdom of experience or a teacher.

It is not easy to find a good mentor. Have you been so fortunate in your life? Early in my life I was gifted with a guide to help me make better choices. The path my life was on was not a bad path but not allowing me to reach my full potential. My guide gave me suggestions to try a few new experiences that I would not have ever considered (in this case it was really tough college courses). I chose to take this advice and it has completely altered what I belive is possible in my world. I am truly blessed.

Each of us have lessons in life that we have learned from to become better people. Are you sharing these lessons with the people that look up to you? Are you available as a guide to the generation behind you? People give the world its character. You can make a difference. Teach your experiences - formally or informally - help us all grow.

Be Here Now

I have heard this statement many times and it is worth repeating – Be Here Now.

Live in your present moment. It is the only moment that you can directly affect.

Yesterday is a memory and great for learning and building.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so live in right now.

I often think of this when I supervise people and they require my attention. No matter what else I have going on; this person deserves that I am in the moment to listen to them. Sometimes I feel the stress of work piling up while I am talking to my staff, but I consciously set it aside and give them my full attention. I put my pen down, turn away from my computer, and look straight at them with my ears open. When I remember to do this the moment seems to change, in good ways, right in front of me. I see appreciation from my staff for my time, they take more responsibility so that they can better use my time, and it helps me focus on the important stuff and reminds me that it is the people I work with that really make a difference.

Sometimes I can say, “Be here now;” to help me sort out what needs my immediate attention.

Be here now.

Today. What can I do today that makes a difference?

Are you here now?

Key Moments

Every day many events occur in your life where you must make a choice in the way you react.

Someone showed up late again - You lost your data on your computer - You have a performance appraisal - You are presenting to a group of people - You struck out at the plate again...

Do you choose to see opportunities or barriers? These are Key Moments and you have a lot of them in your every day.

Our minds are a wonderful tool that allows us to interpret the world (reality) based on our personal views. So how do you view the world? Is it a place where you see adversity as a challenge to improve or do you see adversity as someone else is screwing up again? Maybe it's different based on the event.

Consider that your actions to the event send a message about your character. If you respond to an event by accepting the facts and taking responsibility you are acting from personal integrity. If you respond to an event by selecting facts and looking for the person responsible you are acting from fear. Integrity or fear - not both.

Do you confront your life and own your actions or are you avoiding responsibility?

Think about the key moments in your day and realize that there are at least two ways to respond. Consciously think about which path you chose and why. Now consider that the others around you are having their own key moments and they must also choose. Can you empathize with their choice? Do you understand where they are coming from during interactions with you?

There is a lot to learn about yourself and the people you associate with when you understand how key moments affect us. Give it a try.

Satisfy

I was listening to a great bass player describe what makes a great bass player and he used the words "to satisfy." This really took me by surprise, being a great player is to satisfy. He went on to explain that: of course you needed to be technically proficient, of course you needed to be thoroughly familiar with the genre but after that you need to satisfy your first audience which is the rest of the band.

It struck me that this is true in business teams as well. You need to be proficient in your discipline, this is why the company hired you. You need to be familiar with your company processes, this occurs over time. But moving from good to great means you need to satisfy your co-workers. They don't need to hear all your best solos. They don't need to hear how great you were in your last job. They need to know how you will satisfy them with the work at hand.

And strangely enough he said that the "audience" was the second audience. It turns out that if you are not satisfying to your first audience, your band mates, than the music will most likely not be satisfying to those people paying to watch you perform. I believe this is true at work as well. If you cannot satisfy your co-worker team mates than you likely will not be satisfying to you customers.

Think about this for awhile. You might find it freeing because you do not need to be perfect, you do not need to be right every time, all you need to do is to satisfy.

Synergy

Synergy is about working with others. It’s about the influence you have on people and the influence they have on you. In my last post I mentioned that some of us are gifted as visionaries and some of us are gifted at action. When these two work together the results are better than the parts.

I’d like to offer an alternative dimension to this view of synergy. Consider that human synergy is related to the influence of people you have met over your lifetime. From your friends in your childhood to the friends and co-workers you have today. How have they influenced you?

When I was young I played with groups of friends and lots of team sports. Today you can find me working to develop teams, setting goals, and improving communication.

In college I met several people that had incredible task-oriented focus and discipline. Today I use their traits and stories to help stay action oriented to completing tasks.

My life has also had its share of ups and downs and from these experiences I am able to relate to other people on many levels. I can understand and be empathetic to different points of view, different learning styles, and different life goals.

Each day people influence my life and each day this synergy makes me a stronger person than I might be without the influence of people. I am collaborating with people through time, collecting experiences and offering the lessons I have learned back to the world. I believe we all do this to some extent and this is what I believe is the power of human synergy.

“I am a part of all that I have met.” Lord Alfred Tennyson

Binding Vision and Action

I read a quote today that states “Vision without action is daydreaming and action without vision is a nightmare.” How many times have you seen these two scenarios?

My friend and I were talking about focus and the dangers of short term focus or long term focus only. I think this quote sums up these dangers.

Some of us are great at getting things done. We put our heads down and plow through the tasks at hand. This is a necessary trait and if this describes you please be aware that when you pick your head up you might have missed your original goals. Tips for you: Take the time to state your goals while working on your tasks to ensure that your short term focus is aligned with the long term goals.

Some of us are great at seeing tomorrow. We have ideas and plans that we communicate to others how to make things better for tomorrow. This is where innovation comes from and thinking out side the box. The caution for these folks is that at some point you will need to roll up your sleeves and do some of the daily incremental work to reach these visions. Tips for you: Continue to think long term but each day complete some short term goals to keep momentum towards your vision.

And if you are fortunate, partner with someone that has a complimentary focus with you. This way you can balance the short term (action)and long term (vision), work to your strengths, and we will know tomorrow will be better because the work got done today.

Honor Your Feelings

Have you been in a meeting with someone and it seemed as if something was not right? Maybe you were uncomfortable or nervous; maybe the other person seemed agitated or upset...

Have you tried mentioning the uneasy feeling to that other person? You might be surprised by the results. Honor your feelings. More times than not when you honor your feelings and state what feel, the other person will respond with sincerity.

~~You are in a meeting and the tension is thick. You feel like you are just failing your presentation miserably. So you ask, "I feel like this is not what you expected. Is there something else you would like?"

"No, sorry, um, this is what I needed. I had an emergency call from corporate today. I apologize." comes the reply. ~~ So it turns out that the tension in the air has nothing to do with you and you can relax, maybe even help out.

But if you don't honor your feelings and ask you will never know. This is hard to do because it makes you feel a bit vulnerable but I recommend giving it a try. You may find that you will yield some very sincere and refreshing conversation and decrease that tension in the room.

What did you learn today?

Did you learn something today? What was it? How might this lesson apply to a future situation or a related situation?

You are your best teacher and often your worst student. The good news is that you can change that. Each day you do many activities that provide opportunities to learn and grow. You can borrow other people's experiences, read, attend classes, ask questions - all giving you more knowledge than you had. To become your own teacher you need to know what to do next. So ask yourself those questions above and teach yourself how to learn and let the student inside you come out.

I have a great example of how to be a stubborn student. I burn my mouth on hot pizza almost every time I order it. I know the sauce is hot. I know that it will burn my mouth. I eat it early anyway. But, I recognize what's going on and I could change my behavior if I don't want the consequences.

But to be a teacher to yourself you need to apply your lessons beyond the situation you were in. In my example above I have also taught myself that pierogies, potatoes, anything with hot cheese will also burn my mouth. I taught myself this because these foods have the same properties as pizza. They are hot and have something that retains heat for a long time. So I have the potential to avoid known consequences. It's now up to me to listen to my teacher and be a good student. (Patience, I won't starve to death!)

So, what did you learn today? Did you listen to your teacher?

Have fun and smile

We all like to be around positive energy people and people that are having fun. Are you having fun and giving off positive energy?

We don't feel great everyday but we can take the time to smile. Smiling is a great way to turn attitudes around. I remember walking down Pier 39 in San Francisco and I deliberately chose to smile at those people I could make eye contact with. Not a cheesy fake smile, but a sincere nice to see you type of smile. It was amazing the number of sour faces that turned into smiling faces because I sent a little positive energy their way. I was 14 and this has stuck with me since.

As I carried this thought further along in my life I determined that if I give off positive energy to people (I smile, I laugh, make eye contact, act silly when needed) that positive energy people find me and it becomes a renewable energy source. I think this might work with negative, sour energy but I don't practice that.

So think about smiling and having fun, even in little ways, and see if you can change the attitudes of those around you.

Note: I will be practicing having fun next week - off to adult jazz camp - traditional jazz outdoors in the sierras. Whoo-hoo, I'll have a big smile for everyone.

Simply communicate

An enduring statistic - 2 out of 3 people believe that their managers do not communicate. However this seems to never be the case to the managers I ask about communication. So what's going on?

It may be that management believes they are communicating to the staff. The staff may hear management talking but believe they are not telling them what is going on. It turns out that the group responsible for this communication breakdown is the manager. If you are a misunderstood leader you are not leading. So consider the following:

1. Use the common language of your audience. You are providing direction, clarity, guidance, instruction; not reporting to a professor to prove how much you know. Speak to the people you are talking to in their terms and your deep knowledge will come through in your ability to relate.
2. Say what action you expect, don't imply it. If you are not clear it makes people feel like they need to read your mind. If you want something done in the next fifteen minutes, tell them that exactly.
3. Tell them what you can't tell them. If you have to protect confidential data (mergers and acquisitions or bonus time) tell them that you are not privileged to share all the information but this is what you can say, and say it. Tell them when more information will be available and stick to those promises. People will accept these positions if you keep your promises.
4. Listen. Listen to how your message is received. Does the receiver's face, body language, questions, actions, ecetera make sense to the message you just communicated? If not, ask questions and get feedback. You, the manager, needs to ensure clarity, so listen to see if the message was received.

Communication is work to ensure your message is heard. Make communication simple and improve your chances so that you are not the 2 out of 3 managers that fail to communicate.