The "Ceiling of Complexity"

When all your time is filled up with activity, and you have no time to think and work to improve what you are doing, you have reached it.

It’s a trap. Get out.

Small steps and working hard

Everyone’s day is filled with small actions taken, and many people work hard. The question is, was this work and these small steps taking you toward your goal or major objective?  

Will these small tasks lay on top of one another like bricks in a mighty wall that will one day be accomplished?

Visualize your goals achieved

Formulate a vivid picture in your mind of what your world is like when you achieve your goals. What do you see? How do you talk? How do you act? What do you do? What happens around you and to you? See it clearly.

Hold this picture in your mind. Take time to bring it back several times a day.  

Dream it, then be it.

How do you stay organized?

An associate asked me that the other day. I have a lot going on – a multi-faceted business with 350 employees, multiple construction projects right now, new products, books, videos, and I work on our School of Entrepreneurship training programs. It can get away from you if you don’t have a system.

So here’s what I have developed over many years that works for me. For long term planning, I use paper calendar sheets. One page for each month. I print them off the net. That’s just a big overview look of dates. I put these dates into my phone calendar along with appointments.

For short term planning, like a few days ahead, I use a small 5″ x 7″ spiral notebook. I write Monday, March 11 at the top of the page. Things I need to do go on the left, calls I have to make go on the right. Morning stuff towards the top, afternoon stuff towards the bottom. Different color ink.  

More important stuff written bigger and in capital letters. Small stuff, small letters. I get to work on the most important stuff first. I save small stuff for smaller time slots I find as the day unfolds. I work on thinking projects when I am sharp and not distracted – I ensure I am not interrupted in the morning until I make myself available.

Once I get something meaningful done, I feel I can do the rest of the day – calls, meetings, hit and run stuff, and still feel like I made progress on my most important projects. At the end of the day, I look at my notebook page. Anything I did not get done, can go on the next page for the next day. Some things it’s ok I didn’t get done. They were less important. Other things I kick myself for not getting done, and am sure to get on it the next day.

A lot of people have their little time management/organization systems they have created over the years.

That’s what I do. What do you do?

The Measurement Fallacy

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts.”

My friend Evan McGoff recently talked about this. Where are your employees on a balance sheet? They aren’t there – as if they don’t count. They are valued as 0. But the reality is that your employees are the most valuable thing.  

The better quality people you hire, the more valuable they are. The more they are trained, the more valuable they get because they are more productive and make less mistakes. The longer they stay, the more experienced they get and the more valuable they are.  

This is why new companies, or companies that grew fast and hired quickly, have issues with their quality and culture compared to teams that have been together for a long time and get to know each other’s strengths and learn to work well together.  

Trucks and equipment on the balance sheet go down in value. But your number one asset – people, should be going up in value.

How do you see it?

What does your sign say?

The sign in front of your business (if you have one) – what does it say?  I don’t mean what words are written on it, but what message does it say other than the words?

Does it say “Professional,” “Pride” or “Expert”? Does it communicate your unique advantage? Does the quality of the sign communicate something you want, or don’t want? Is it just vinyl letters on sheet metal?  

Employees see the sign each day. Customers see the sign. Candidates see the sign. What do you want them to feel when their eyes see the sign?

Could you do better?

Abdication is a bad idea

Leadership is having a clear vision for where you want to go and what you want to be to whom, communicating that vision, and bringing out the best in other people while accomplishing those goals.

It’s not letting a manager do it their way, when their way conflicts with what you are trying to do. Why do some leaders abdicate responsibility for whole chunks of their business to managers who don’t know what they’re doing? Sometimes it’s because the leader doesn’t know what they are doing either, and it’s just too easy to give the job to someone else and hope they do well.

While a leader doesn’t need to know how to do all the jobs in their organization, they do need to know enough to set a strategy for the most important functions, and recognize when it is going well and when it is underperforming and why. This is why continuous learning, two-way communication with your key people, setting expectations and inspecting what you expect are important.

Don’t be a dictator, that’s not what I’m suggesting – do it with style and grace. But don’t let someone else run your business the way that is convenient for them, and their personal limitations or comfort zone.

How bad do you want it?

The wind fuels a fire, and extinguishes a candle.

What is your level of desire?

One thing leads to…

When I look back at my life and career, I can see that one curiosity, one meeting, one investigation, one project, leads to another interest, discovery, skill developed, and path.  

Try things. Keep an open mind and do something different. Learn all you can and meet people.  

One things leads to…a life of adventure.

Just DON'T do it!

Look at your schedule and calendar. What time consuming activities won’t move the needle on your top few goals?

Delegate, Delete or Decline!

It’s the power of NO!