Category Archives: Productivity

Posted on

Productivity: Does Your Life Metaphor Help Or Hinder?

How your Unconscious Metaphor can help you enjoy life

by

If you only have 30 seconds, see the summary at the end of the main text  & welcome to 47 new subscribers who have joined us this week from Denmark, USA, Belgium and UK.

Introduction

Get Free Worksheet here

I recall feeling like punching the speaker repeatedly in the head. A little harsh I know but I was tired. I sat in the conference listening to a well-meaning ‘Time Management Guru’ rattle on about having balance. I was getting a few hours of sleep a night as my 1 year old son had displayed an early Olympic talent as a sleepless wonder. Balance was a panacea that sounded like a myth and only induced a sense of guilt as I felt my life resembled some type of YO-YO fitness test shuttling between cones.

I understood his sentiment and applaud the natural presupposition that we should not live lives out of balance or out of kilter. However, each day as I dragged my sorry ‘you know what’ into work, balance was the last thing I felt like I could attain. I realised that living a life of perfect balance was not only a great cause of guilt but was impossible. The stage of life that I was in and the demands of the situation meant balance was a poor metaphor for where life was at.

If balance was not the best metaphor, then what would be more useful? More on this LATER.

Science: How Metaphors Impact Reasoning and Problem Solving

The metaphors we choose are powerful and govern our thoughts and lives. A recent academic study by Paul H. Thibodeau and Lera Boroditsky showed how the power of a single metaphorical word altered the entire diagnosis and operations of how people reason through a situation.

When the academics changed one metaphorical word in a problem, people offered very different solutions. Their solutions were consistent with the metaphor that they were presented with by the academics. In one of their studies, participants were told to predict the solutions offered by two politicians who were advocating for different approaches to the crime problem. Half of the participants were told that the politician was describing crime as a BEAST. The other half was told the politician was describing crime as a VIRUS.

Interestingly, the participants presented with the beast metaphor, advocated solving the crime problems with solutions such as increased law enforcement and punishment. Alternatively, those participants who were presented with the virus metaphor advocated solving the crime problems with solutions of social reform, improving the economic health and educational system. One word changed their reasoning, interpretation and solutions.

Let’s unpack the metaphor of ‘Balance’tightrope

Balance would insinuate that all competing priorities are of equal value and can therefore be balanced against each other. A person walking across a tight rope would want the balancing bar to be balanced rather than heavily weighted on one side. Naturally, this type of balance is attainable IF you can choose the bar.

However, when facing the demands of work or family it may be something that you don’t have full control over. In life, demands of various weights and shapes are thrust upon you, without your consent.

For example, the mother and father trying to feed, bath and dress their children for bed. Not to mention the inevitable hours coaching them to sleep. The entrepreneur in the early stages of a business start-up who is not only business development manager but also accountant, marketer, HR manager, CEO and coffee getter all in one.

This notion of balance is often impractical for a leader in today’s high-velocity environments. It is virtually impossible to give equal time and attention to two things at once. There is a better analogy for today’s leader that can alleviate stress and increase productivity.

Cue a new metaphor: Seasons

I left the seminar and realised I could fight my current reality in a vain attempt to get balance. I would probably waste a lot of energy and still not attain the nirvana of balance. Not only would I waste energy I would miss out on the enjoyment that I could be embracing. I had a young family, was in a new stage of life and was now a father.

Perhaps a better metaphor would be (more…)

Posted on

Procrastination Buster: The ‘2 to 3 Rule’

Do you know it?

by

The Annual General Meeting started and the General Manager stood up and said: “If there’s one thing I won’t stand for, it’s procrastination!  All that this organisation ever does is procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate!”

An eager staff member stood up, and asked, “What do you propose we DO about it Sir?”

“Well, for a start,” said the General Manager, “I suggest that we take a long and serious look at this problem when we meet for our next Annual General Meeting!”

We all may know a quintessential ‘PUT IT OFF’ person. Who seem to live by the mantra ‘After all is said and done, more is said than done’! A colleague I know describes them as “A lot of Talky Talky and not much Doey Doey”.

The desire to reschedule is ubiquitous. It gives people the feeling the task has been attended to. However, the end result is burgeoning inboxes and escalating ‘to do lists’.

Over the years I have coached 100’s of leaders and the following simple rule has helped many crush procrastination and making them far more productive.

Processing time

In the science of personal productivity is the notion of ‘Processing time’. This is the moment when you are taking control of your week and tasks to be done. It is the reviewing emails, monitoring projects, constructing your actions and to do list.

However, there is a very powerful key that needs to be adhered to during your “processing time”. The Maxim is as follows

If Scheduling = Application, then Action straight away.

The rule of thumb in this regards is (more…)

Posted on

Productivity 2: Do you Suffer from ‘To Do Psychic Anxiety’

Reduce Anxiety and Increase Capacity at the same time

by

I was working at the university and it was exam time. As is the custom the atmosphere changes. People scurry to exam venues blurry eyed as they show the remnants of a late night cramming session. Stress and anxiety written all over their faces.

As I walked down to get a coffee I saw a colleague who was doing some postgraduate study and en route to sit an exam. He looked at me, smiled and said “DON’T  talk to me; I am off to sit an exam and I don’t want to LEAK any information”. After an all-nighter, he felt like his brain had reached capacity. Like someone carrying an overfull cup across a room, he did not want to spill any of the precious information.

I am sure we have all had that feeling of “being at capacity”. There is no more room for work, distraction or information.

Capacity is not an infinite resource. We all have our limits but what you don’t know is that you can FREE UP some capacity. More on this later.

Question: How many times have you been asked or asked someone else

  • “Can you remind me about  _________________ ?” or
  • “Please don’t let me forget _________________ ?”

The reason people say this is because a ‘task to be done’ is weighing on their minds. They are fearful they will forget and it is causing them psychic anxiety. This fear indicates they do not have a system that they trust to ensure the task will get completed. With this in mind their solution is, make someone else responsible for remembering the task.

To make matters worse, a collection of little tasks all start to weigh heavily on the individual. These ‘to do’s’ take up cognitive (brain space) capacity that could be used for more productive activities.  Instead, consciously they are trying to ensure all tasks are remembered.

The end result is a form of Psychic Anxiety. A constant worrying about possible missed tasks.

  • Jobs that you don’t want to forget.
  • Bills to be payed,
  • People to be contacted or
  • Subscriptions to cancel.
  • Items you must remember to buy at the shops

It’s all true

Psychic Anxiety2You may have heard yourself saying “I have a lot on my mind”, chances are you quite literally do. Unconsciously, we may be mentally juggling tasks. Shuffling cognitive resources in a vain attempt to give our full attention to a project at hand.

According to research, our ability to think creatively gets lost when our minds are trying to keep track of the ‘to do’s’. The end result being that you feel preoccupied and you lack focus and attention.
Psychic Anxiety3cThe notion that these mental “to do’s” are using up precious brain power is being validated by the scientific community. Professor John-Dylan Haynes from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, has through functional magnetic resonance imaging been able to map what part of the brain is unconsciously active while we hold these ‘to do’s in your head. Unconsciously using up mental capacity that could be put to better use.

The Solution is Cognitive Off-Loading

Science is revealing that when people (more…)

Posted on

Productivity: Are you OBT or TBT?

Do you know the difference?

by

I recall early in my career starting a new job and proudly ticking all the items off my to-do list. I was very happy with myself. Strolled down the hall looking for someone to celebrate my achievement with. Upon meeting an older mentor, I waited for the inevitable questions. “How are you doing”, he asked. Just the question I had expected. “Up to date and Just cleared ‘my’ to do list … Feeling great” I proudly announced. To which he responded, “Wow, I have not been up to date for 25 years”.

I smiled but inwardly thought to myself. ‘Talk about unorganised. How can you not complete all the tasks on your To-Do list’?

It only took a couple months before I realised I was going to be in the same boat. As the department grew and pressure mounted I came to the swift realisation. I WILL NEVER BE UP TO DATE. Projects and tasks need to be prioritised and SOME would NEVER get done.

It was then that I realised I need to ask myself a new question. More on that to come.

The Science Behind our Challenge

At any given moment, we are constantly bombarded by signals from our five senses. With this onslaught of input, how do we manage to not go completely insane? The key is that we pay attention to only a small proportion of that information and throw much of it away. This process is known as selective filtering or selective attention, and most people do it all the time.

Our Brain is constantly trying to resolve what it should Focus on. Where should the focus of attention be. To do this it resolves questions we ask ourselves. This means that the quality of questions they ask will determine what we focus on. When I coach my clients, I do so with the understanding that the questions I ask influences the direction of their thinking.

For example, if I ask you “What will ‘X’ get you?” you will tend to think about specific things (more money, less stress, more time). However, if I ask you “What will that do for you?” you are more likely to come up with more value based abstract answers (freedom, contentment, acceptance).

Your brain unconsciously filters out unimportant details as it resolves ‘what to focus on’. However, you can consciously control what you brain Selectively Filters and Increase your productivity.

The Question that boosts Productivity

Considering the many demands for your attention you NEED to DECIDE in advance what your brain is going to filter for and hence focus on.

If you are like any person working in a pressured environment, you could probably end up with multiple to-do list items that need to get done While you neatly prioritise them with the obligatory A, B and C’s next to each item, you know they will be replaced almost immediately with new tasks and you will never again in your life get a clean slate. It may leave you feeling like Sisyphus, in Greek mythology, who was condemned to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, only to have the rock roll back down to the bottom every time he reaches the top. For Eternity.

To make matters worse people often allow someone or something else to control their focus. The first step toward taking back your focus and achieving more is to ask a new type of question.

Outcome Based Thinking vs Task Based Thinking

The challenge is that many people are focused on Task Based Thinking (TBT). At the start of every day they ask themselves some form of the following questions

“What do I need to do today?”

With this in mind the Selective filter is now set. Your brains ‘Focus of Attention’ is on TASKS, Things to do. It will have no problem coming up with enough tasks to fill your day, perhaps even many days to follow. Leaving you feeling behind the eight ball and overwhelmed with the magnitude of what needs to get done.

Alternatively, you can engage in ‘Outcome Based thinking” (OBT). Outcome Based thinking is a key element to leadership productivity that starts by determining what our mind pays attention to.

Instead of asking “What should I do?” Outcome based thinking starts by asking

“What Outcomes Do I Want?”

A focus on outcomes will quickly change your selective filtering system. Bringing to attention the outcomes you want rather than the tasks to be done. A focus on outcomes will change what you should be spending your time doing. It may begin to deliver fresh ways that you can achieve an outcome rather than get stuck in the daily grind of operations.

Naturally, there may be many derivatives of asking outcome based questions. For example, you could ask

  • What is the ultimate outcome?
  • What is the goal I am trying to achieve?
  • What results are we looking for?
  • What will make today successful?

Leaders who know what they ‘want’ see the world differently. More importantly people selectively attend to things that interest or excite them. Often these are positive outcomes, goals and results.  So, when you decide what you want, your mind filters for how to see that outcome fulfilled.  It’s like buying a new car. You start seeing it everywhere

Value OF OBT

1.      Greater Creativity

Outcome based thinking can lead you to more creative insight due to directing your thinking in a way that requires a creative answer. It may disregard the traditional process to achieving an outcome and find creative ways to achieve the same result.

2.      Greater Connection to ‘Why’

Outcome based thinking helps people to connect to what is important rather than the mundane.

3.      Higher Energy

People enjoy attending to things that interest or excite them.

4.      Improved Teamwork

Outcome-based thinking gets everyone aligned first, before you even begin to think about your individual tasks. This way, creating measurable results is effective and achievable.

TEAM EXERCISE

Question 1: The Outcome we want to achieve is?

Get the team together and work toward coming to consensus on the answer to the question:

What is our outcome we are focusing on?

Have each person write down what they think it is on a piece of paper. (All of the answers may be different – maybe extremely or slightly so, but they certainly won’t be 100% alike.)

Question 2: What can we stop doing and still achieve the outcome?

This helps to evaluate activities that do not best serve the outcome.

Question 3: What will help us achieve the outcome faster?

This helps prioritise what needs to be done.

By Aiden Holliday

Share this article with friends who will find it helpful

Leave a Comment in the ‘comments section’ if this was helpful and communicate with your community

Posted on

Cooperation The Shortest Distance To Achieve Goals

3 Secrets to Cooperation

by

Fred sat in his office contemplating the line from the movie, Jerry Maguire, “Help me help you.” Fantastic line but far from reality. It seemed he was always trying to crowbar some form of cooperation from staff. Fred was sure he was not alone in his desire to see people working together rather than at odds with each other. He knew that ‘Cooperation’ was the shortest distance to achieve organisational goals but eliciting meaningful long-term cooperation seemed to be a mystery.

GraphIt is interesting to note that the use of the word “cooperation” has increased dramatically since the times of the industrial revolution. It is as if the Industrial Revolution cued the ‘Need to Ask’ people to work together for a common purpose aka cooperate. Businesses became aware that success demanded cooperation and as the demands of business increased, cooperation became essential. Bizarrely prior to this cooperation was an assumed part of life.

Cooperation emerged as a primary task of leadership that focuses on getting people to work together in a systematic way. Having skilled players on a sports team does not guarantee success. The coach needs to find the magic that gets the team performing. Harnessing talents and actions of various players to produce a result that only working together can achieve.  Even the best CEO’s stumble in their attempts to encourage cooperation when they do not understand the secret ingredients. Those foundational secret ingredients that cannot be observed but essential to success.

Unpacking the Secret Ingredients to Cooperation

Why did the request for cooperation increase after the industrial revolution? (more…)

Posted on

Mid-Year Boost

Create A Halftime Strategy Using The “4 SO WHAT?” Questions And Transform The Next 6 Months

by

Great teams can turn around a poor performance in the second half and great coaches appreciate the half time break. It is a time to adjust tactics, affirm what is going well and perhaps even turn around what has not been ideal first half. For you, it is half way through the year and you have 6 months ahead of you. Things have gone well and no doubt there have been challenges.

Whether you are looking at your personal life, leading a team or a corporation, the fundamental questions are.

  • How can I make the next 6 months better than the first?
  • What adjustments need to be made?
  • How can I keep tracking towards achieving my goals?

Today I want to introduce the “So WHAT” evaluation. However, my coaching has found that people have two paradigms when the words, ‘SO WHAT’ are uttered. It all depends on the intention of the person delivering them. For some, the ‘SO WHAT’ is a statement and for others it is an inquiry.

The ‘Statement’ Types

For those whom SO WHAT is a Statement, It can mean whatever they are assessing “is not important” and infers the statement “I don’t care”. You will hear responses like

  • “So what if I don’t achieve the targets. I am getting paid anyway!” and
  • “The CEO won’t like it, you know.” “So what – I don’t care what they think!”

For them, ‘SO WHAT’ is a full stop and shines the light on a fatalistic approach to their reality. They act as if ‘life is happening to them’ and little of what they do will make a difference. In truth, the outcomes of the past 6 months can be extrapolated for the remainder of the year and each year following. From my coaching experience, people with this intention tend to be

  • Uninspired by the life they are living
  • Achieve fewer goals
  • Get less career advancement
  • Do not maximise their potential.

The Inquiry Types

For those whom, ‘SO WHAT’ indicates inquiry tend to be flexible, more likely to succeed and have a positive attitude that puts them on the cause side of the equation. They believe what they choose to do will change the reality they experience.

I had a wise mentor who used to challenge me whenever I was in the throes of crafting a speech. “Aiden”, he would say. “Be plagued by the question “SO WHAT?” He paused and looked intently at me and said, “Ask yourself that every time you get up to speak.”

I have found that those with the inquiry approach to, ‘SO WHAT?’ quickly identify priorities and figure out what is important. It brings a focus and clarity to life that keeps them heading in the right direction.

Ask ‘SO WHAT’ 4 times.

To maximise the second half of the year ask, ‘SO WHAT?’ four times with a slightly different emphasis each time. If you are going to do this properly ensure you do it in writing. Get four pieces of paper and head each page with each of the questions and commit at least 5 min to answer each.

Number 1: SO WHAT Happened?So What Happened

It was the renowned educationalist David Kolb that taught us that reflection turns ‘experience’ into (more…)

Posted on

What are the 6 Glass Ceilings of Team Performance?

and How To Break Through them. (Number 1 )

by

Sometimes a little insight can mean the difference between success and frustration.

I was sparring with a friend who was a multiple title holder in Mixed Martial Arts. I was getting a pummelling and bewildered by his speed. He was super-fast and seemed to be able to predict all my moves and counter them before I had even begun to execute my techniques. In a thinly veiled attempt to get some respite from the pummelling, I asked, “How did you develop such speed?” Thankfully he paused and delivered some insight. “I am not actually that fast” he explained. Yeah right, I thought but resisted saying that out loud just in case he ended the lesson and resumed the training. “I am just observing what you are missing.”

He then went on to explain where the focus of his attention was. Once you have the fundamental skills of sparring you need to place your attention on much smaller cues. The “tells” that inform me of your intentions. That way I can react earlier than others do. My attention was on his fists, which seemed natural considering that was what I needed to avoid. The problem was his fist were halfway to my face before I realised what he was doing. Again and again, my reactions were just too slow to get out of the way. My defence was informed by watching his gloves. By contrast, he explained his attention was on my hips and shoulders. “They are the earliest, “tells” of your intentions. Before you throw a punch you will be loading up your hips or shoulders. That is what I am observing and why I am able to read your moves so early.”

Likewise once the fundamentals of teams are in place you need to begin to read some of the subtle “tells” that may hinder performance. I call these the 6 glass ceilings of team performance. Leaders can find themselves banging their heads on these glass ceilings unnecessarily. These ceilings can be broken through but first, you need to know that they are there and what you are dealing with.

The First Glass Ceilings of Team Performance

Every team has ‘plateau points’ where they come up against a glass ceiling hindering their potential. Points where the performance will begin to Plateau for reasons that seem irrational. They are very subtle and if they are not monitored they cannot be remedied. This can leave you frustrated with why your team is not performing to the level that you know it is capable of. Being aware of these six ceilings enables the appropriate actions to be taken.    (more…)

Posted on

Leadership Tip: Two Questions Leaders Must Ask

by

Blog Lion

There is an old Chinese proverb where a martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. “I’d like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I’d like to study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?”

The old master looked intently at the young man, then delivered his pearl of wisdom, “The hunter who chases two rabbits, catches neither one.”

As a young leader, I was sitting at a seminar where an International leader was discussing the ‘Power of Focus’. He asked what was a simple and yet powerful question. He then explained if we could answer the question and stay focused on the answer it would

  • Increase the level of achievement in our personal lives
  • Makes us better leaders
  • Bring alignment to organisations
  • Increase your motivational skills as a leader
  • Give your life more energy and drive

I have found that his bold claims had merit but not for everyone. Yet after adding a second question, which must be asked in tandem, the success rate of his assertions increased dramatically. I will explain why later.

Key Question

The simple question he asked was “What do you want”. Sounds so simple but when asked authentically it stops people in their tracks.

Whether it is a project, a meeting, or establishing the direction of the company it is far too easy to bypass the one question that will bring focus. Instead we jump to

  • What we will do and
  • How we will do it

Failure to start with the fundamental question “What do we really want to achieve here?” leaves people, teams and organisations wasting effort and energy.

The question, ‘What do you want’, takes advantage of some key aspects to our human wiring. Neuroscientist, Daniel Bor explains that the human nervous system is ‘future obsessed’. Unconsciously we constantly filter the world for what we want even though we do not always honour it. Author of the best seller “The How of Happiness” and Psychology professor, Sonja Lyubomirsky, states we are happier when we are living with intention. All of which resonates with the 1968 breakthrough research by Dr. Edwin Locke which found that those who had a form of objective or goal performed higher and operated more effectively.

If this is true why does it not work for everyone? The reason this question is not as effective when asked by itself is because the answers are classed as an abstraction. Abstractions are concepts. Ideas that are not tangible and cannot be visualised in concrete terms. They include concepts such as justice, peace, success. All these words are ideas that cannot be pictured in our head. We can picture an event that reflects the concept but not the concept itself.

Abstract concepts are energising. They excite us. So when people respond to the question “What do you want”

You may garner responses like

  • I want to be rich
  • I want a successful company
  • I want ..[you fill in responses you have heard]

All of which will excite and energise them. However at this point it is only a concept and is not enough to really make a difference for most. The reason is that they cannot picture rich, or success. This is where the second question is so crucial.

It is the second question that turns the abstraction into something to truly aim for. A visual target.

Second Key Question

(more…)

Posted on

Keeping in the Leadership Zone

- Part 1

by

SPORTS (70)

You do not need to watch much sport before you will hear commentators talk about the sportspeople being in or out of the ‘Zone’.  The elusive ‘Zone’!  It is in the zone that these athletes seem relaxed, perform at the higher level and are able to win games against the odds.  At the Olympics there are a number of athletes who can compete at the same level. Many have beaten each other at previous athletic competitions. However, often it is the athlete that feels like they are ‘in the zone on the day’ that stands on the dais with a medal.

This notion applies to leadership as well. We have moments when we are really hitting the mark and other times when we feel off our game. Before we uncover how to get in the zone lets uncover what it is like, when we are not in the zone.

 Assess yourself on this TEN point checklist.

As leaders, we are NOT in the zone when.

  •  Our decision making tends to take longer.
  •  You gravitate towards mundane activities as an escape
  •  We become reactionary towards those that we lead.
  •  We may become a little short tempered.
  •  We feel the pressure of our work more than usual.
  •  Work lacks the enjoyment that it used to.
  •  We feel threatened when ordinarily we would feel confident.
  •  You forget what you are actually trying to achieve.
  •  You begin to feel numb relationally.
  •  You find yourself tidying your desk again.

Unfortunately, these symptoms tend to cause individuals to strive harder. To push more with little or no discernible results. This effectively drives them further out of the zone rather than into the zone.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi pioneered much of the initial understanding about ‘the zone’ and wrote the book “Flow”. This breakthrough notion of the zone has become a fundamental concept for those coaching people into peak performance. Sports psychologists over the years have realised that this is not some ethereal topic but rather when athletes feel relaxed and confident, they get into ‘their zone’ that results in superior performance.

What is required to help leaders get into The Zone? Here are a few keys to ensure that you find the Zone…..

1. Know your Balance Indicator (BI)

Balanced pressure is essential to getting in the zone. For many, people pressure equals performance and certainly we can occasionally peak perform under pressure.  But, we cannot consistently peak perform under pressure for an extended period of time.

Every person needs to find his or her own “Balance Indicator” (BI) activity in his or her life.  There are some activities that you know, when done, replenish your life and act as an indicator that your life is in balance. These activities could be considered your ‘balance indicator’ highlighting your emotional well-being.  For some people it may be that they’ve attended gym regularly. For others it may be reading. For others still it may be time with their children or partner. It may be sitting on a couch and looking out at the ocean. Whatever it may be there are activities that act as the litmus test as to whether your life is in balance or whether you are under too much pressure.

 2. Manage your Confidence

Ironically many leaders leave confidence to ‘chance’ instead of learning to manage their confidence. A few tense meetings and a few minor failures can rob us of the confidence that is so essential to being “in the zone”. A lack of confidence, low self-esteem and second-guessing oneself does not facilitate being in the zone. Managing your confidence levels and being comfortable with ‘who you are’ is a critical element to performance. Something as leaders we must do proactively and not leave to chance.

Two practices to proactively manage your confidence:

  • Reclaim what you want. Beware of people pleasing. It is the desire to make others happy at your own expense. This can lead to an erosion of self-confidence. You lose sight of who you are, what you want and your personal goals.
  • Refocus on the positive elements in your life. So often we can lose confidence when we get focused on what is not quite going according to plan. The failures and frustrations.  Remind yourself to spend a moment every day to celebrate and be grateful for even the little things.

Part 2 coming soon

By Aiden Holliday

Share this article with friends who will find it helpful

Posted on

Personality Type Goal Setting

How do you choose your goals

by

Do you make plans with determination, caution or excitement? And what does this mean when it comes to achieving your goals? Could you approach them differently for a better chance of success? Find out by taking the test.