2015 produced many productivity lessons that are designed to save you time and allow you more opportunities to tackle your big picture goals. I thought it would be useful to recap three of my most popular posts on this topic and remind you of these valuable ideas as we enter 2016.
Successful People Prepare for Failure
Do you remember Martin and Julia? Both had a healthy obsession with preparing for the worst case scenario.
For traveling salesman Martin, this saw him check on his car’s condition as soon as he wakes up in the morning. Martin doesn’t want to risk having a flat tire make him late or have some bird droppings send a bad message to a potential client.
Julia, who gives high level presentations to companies, carries a baby bag with her that’s full of electronics. She wants to make sure that her talks are never undermined by technical difficulties. When something fails in a company’s audio/video setup, she’s able to fix the problem, ensure that her talk goes smoothly, and becomes someone’s hero for her technical expertise.
Read more about Why Successful People Prepare for Failure.
Ditch the Disclaimers
You also enjoyed my manifesto about the convenient excuses that I call disclaimers. These are frequently nothing more than a way to justify mediocrity.
Instead of fixing a lingering problem, a disclaimer is issued that’s supposed to explain the inactivity.
Ever gone into a business where something, like a door, has been broken for more than a year? That’s a classic disclaimer situation as everyone in the business will likely have what they feel is a valid reason for the door never having been repaired.
These excuses can undermine an otherwise good team because everyone becomes comfortable with not taking action to solve a problem. And you can be sure that if people are ignoring problems like broken doors, they’re probably neglecting other aspects of the business.
Read more about why you should Ditch the Disclaimers.
Don’t Open the Oven
Finally, we remind supervisors to not open the oven, when it comes to their team. It’s a management trap that sees you act more like a worker bee than a queen bee.
In this scenario, imagine a baker constantly opening his or her oven to check on some food. This happens even though the baker knows the oven is working perfectly and the recipe calls for a proven amount of baking time.
And yet, the baker must open the oven repeatedly to check on things. Forgotten in these moments is that fact that opening the oven door lets out heat and affects the baking time and quality. Plus, the oven has a light, so you could easily check on the baking without opening the door.
In the business world, this same problem is seen when a leader feels that he or she must constantly keep an eye on proven employees. The end result here is that the leader and the rest of the team gets less work done.
The bottom line is that a good team, like an oven, should be allowed to do its job, free from interference.
Read Don’t Open the Oven.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these posts as well as the hundreds of others that filled this blog in 2015.
