In case you missed my viral posts on Forbes in the past month: 8 Secrets Smart People Know About Time Management 10 Reasons Your Employee Engagement Program Is Hurting Your Company 9 Reasons You And Your Employees Can’t Do 40 Hours Of Work In 40 Hours – And What To Do About It The first one has collected over 45,000 views. Don’t miss it!
If you can’t see it, can’t recognize it, don’t know it is there, you can’t fix it. And most companies are largely blind to the lack of clarity that is eating their time and profits. They simply don’t see it. Why? Because they are looking through a business-as-usual lens. It’s like not seeing motorcycles and bicycles because you only expect cars. To see the confusion, you need to twist the kaleidoscope 90 degrees. So let’s twist that kaleidoscope and shift the focus so you can see why your greatest opportunity to improve productivity and results is through clarity.
Want to grow your business? Keep it simple, and successful, by answering these four questions: 1. Where do you have, or where could you create, excess capacity? Boston’s MBTA had a great plan for increasing ridership. They planned to install card readers so riders could pre-pay in the station or online and load faster and easier. But there was a slight problem. Card readers were going to do nothing to increase ridership. The buses were full and turning away customers. 2. What products and services are most profitable? Not all parts of your business produce the same results. You may even be selling some things at a loss, whether out of the goodness of your heart or a desire to provide a full service option. The last thing you want to do is grow the losing side of the business!
I joined an organization for the first time 16 months ago. I was their easiest acquisition ever. I walked into an event and, instead of paying for the event, I paid the annual membership fee. They were pleased as punch. Before the year was up, I moved. When I received a bill for a second round of annual dues, I was undecided. I lived a hundred miles away and was unlikely to attend their events, though I did have lots of clients and contacts among their members. I stuck the bill in a drawer where I did not forget it entirely. After 45 days, I received another statement. Now I was actually amused. Even if I had been ready to renew, I almost wanted to wait just to see if this organization was going to call me. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t reach out to me, a one year member, find out what I was thinking, see if they could learn something to help them better serve members, and encourage me to continue my membership.
When we launched this experiment – sold our house and got rid of a significant portion of our things – we were amazed by the possibilities open to us. Having lived in the country, small towns, and the suburbs, our Urban Experiment was driven by the need to try the one place we had never lived: the center of a city. We are five months into our one year experiment, and though we are loving it, we can’t help but toy with the endless possibilities for the next experiment! For example, we have never lived ON the water. It’s a possibility! Don’t you love those little flower boxes? That one might be a bit too small and rustic. But who’s to say? We’ve never tried it! How about a different city next year? Seattle? New York? San Diego? Chicago? Portland? Why limit ourselves to the US? How about London or Athens or Oslo?
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw This is so incredibly true! We listen for what we want to hear, hear it, and act on it. In the workplace, this happens all day long. Stop and clarify! You will save yourself bucket-loads of trouble and wasted time!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing another group get excited about the power of clarity! This time it was at the Northeast Lean Conference where I spoke about Transformative Clarity – The Best Thing Since Lean. It was an excellent audience with people coming from San Diego, the Canadian Maritimes, and everywhere in between. As always, I wish we had had much more time! Nonetheless, they left eager to apply some of the specific techniques we discussed to improve productivity, results, and commitment. During my presentation yesterday, I asked the group to identify the top time wasters in their companies. I wasn’t looking for non-work activities like Facebook and surfing. I was looking for legitimate job responsibilities that do not create value for which customers are willing to pay. From there, we looked at how clarity could eliminate or minimize the waste. They came up with a great list, every one of which can be reduced by applying the three pillars of clarity and the techniques I write about regularly in this newsletter, as well as in my Forbes Expert Blog, on my website, and in other publications. Here is their list:
The Power of Clarity that galvanizes commitment and drives high performance is built on three pillars. Clarity of Purpose If you want to maximize productivity, commitment, and results, everyone needs to know what they are trying to accomplish and why. You may think you’ve got this covered once you’ve established goals and priorities. You haven’t. First, you need to avoid the trap of too many priorities, which is a super common problem. Too many priorities means no priorities. If you have 2-3 priorities, you will accomplish 2-3 things. If you have 4-10 priorities, you will accomplish 1-2 things. If you have more than 10 priorities, you will accomplish nothing. I read this somewhere, don’t remember where, but I know it is true because it applies to me and everyone I know. At any given moment, you need to focus on one task. As your list grows, you spend more and more time looking at the list, shuffling items, trying to decide which to do next, playing games with yourself like adding things you’ve already accomplished so you can check them off, and not accomplishing anything that counts. Focus is absolutely critical. You and your employees must pare those lists down.
A client called to talk to me about creating a vision. He was struggling because he felt hand-cuffed by too many constraints. I responded by explaining the need to maintain a clear distinction between the vision and the journey. That evening, while watching Nelson Mandela’s Long Road to Freedom, I remembered our conversation. Right in the middle of the movie, Nelson Mandela, his fellow leaders of the ANC, and two wives embodied the problems that occur when that distinction is blurred.
I’m often contacted about providing workshops and seminars. My most frequent response after listening to the caller is, “You don’t want training.” To understand why I would say that, think about the last class you took at your company. Or even an off-site class, for that matter. If you attended a really good session, you probably left with a good deal energy, eager to apply what you learned. That lasted until you got back to your office and the pile of business-as-usual on your desk and in your inbox devoured your fresh energy. It’s just like returning from vacation. Within about an hour, you are sucked back into the same old challenges and routines; you can’t believe you ever left.