Determined to make it work this time

There can be those days when we:
- Don’t get done what we hoped we would
- Don’t achieve what was on our list
or 
- Don’t get that breakthrough we were needing. 

We might hope to achieve more ‘next time’ by ‘sitting down and doing better’. 

But berating ourselves in the hope of better outcomes is perplexing. Because what have we really changed? 

If we are just expecting to do better even though we don’t have a new process for it, how could that actually work? 

Our habits and older ways of working kick in.

Unless we change the way we do things, we won’t change what we can do. This is where a safe space to try new ways of doing things can help. 

Join me at ‘the work hack club’. I'm gathering with people who need some of these new ways, plus some accountability and support. We’ll work alongside each other, online, and try some newer, better ways of working. 

It's 
- Focused
- Accountable
- Collaborative
- Supportive

And breakthroughs are guaranteed! Come for one session or make this your more productive habit. Check my website for more details.

What kind of uncertainty

If these are “uncertain times” for us, think about what kind of uncertainty is it for you. Uncertainty couldn’t be a blanket cover, one type or one size fits all ... could it?

It’s worth exploring uncertainty further so we aren’t just generalizing about it.

There is:

Uncertainty that is confusion.

Uncertainty that is lack of knowledge.

Uncertainty that is indecision.

Uncertainty that is doubt.

Uncertainty from not knowing or being unsure.

Uncertainty that is variability.

Or the ‘subject to change’ type of uncertainty.

Much gets gathered under the one label of uncertainty ...but getting greater fidelity could help. In meetings, conversations, presentations and packs of information, go a way further than listing the U of VUCA as a generic brand of uncertainty.

Go further to get more certain about uncertainty! 🤩 You’ll be known for greater clarity and help guide a team through doing better work.

Intermittent persistence

Working long and hard and burning out is too common a situation. In our quest to achieve we try to over achieve. (I wrote about this in ‘ish: The problem with our pursuit for perfection and the life changing practice of good enough’.)

If we are driven to work and achieve, how do we stop?

Unfortunately we can tend to adopt a type of relentless persistence where we just don’t give up! Persistence is a great characteristic but there are times when it’s dangerous to continue. We see it in working long and late hours, not taking a pause or break, all for productivity.

Equally damaging to our progress and well-being is resistance, to reject or obstruct and get in the way of getting things done. We block progress by putting up barriers. Or we may hear a mentor or coach suggest we need to ‘get out of our own way’. This is resistance.

Where is there progress, productivity ...and wellbeing? It’s in sprint and rest or ‘intermittent persistence’. It’s being ‘on’, really on. And then to be off, to rest and recover, reflect and consolidate. And then to go again and be ‘on’.

Persistence is good.

Intermittent is better. 

Do you ‘work' the chat box

More training sessions and meetings are online than ever before. But many of these feature just a few dominant voices, taking up most of the air time.

Facilitation skills are needed more than ever.

How do you get people more involved, engaged, participating, learning and contributing? Don't undervalue ... the Chat Box! The chat box in your online webinar/meeting software is a brilliant source of engagement.

Sadly, many presenters, leaders and speakers don’t ‘work it’ and they get caught up in their content and slides, fall behind with the comments or run out of time and miss the gold that’s right there in front of them. Participants in meetings and workshops want to engage and contribute.

The chat box is one place where you can leverage ideas, input, suggestions, questions and comments. It is a skill of being able to work with your content plus an agenda, plus the participants contributing via the chat box. 

How you handle a problem

When you were most recently working on a problem, a conundrum or a tricky situation, how were you handling the problem? Were you talking about it? Say, sitting around a table with other people, just talking it through? Or were you ‘handling the problem’? Did you actually get your hands on the problem?

When we physically work with a problem, see, feel and imagine the pieces of it and move things around, we solve it quicker.

If we do, that means the l-o-n-g meetings we’re in (where we are usually just talking about the problem) will be finished sooner! We'll come up with better ideas and solutions and we generate a greater range of possibilities.

A product development team at a consumer goods business used cards with the key issues, challenges and obstacles written on them. They moved the cards around on the meeting table.

Seems simple, right? Engagement, participation and buy-in was boosted, and people more clearly understood what the details of the issue were all about.

Try not to just talk about the problem - but get your hands on it! You'll bring more people into the work to be done.