Fed up with the push for productivity

The drive to ‘do more’ or to ‘make the most of our time’ was wearing a bit thin pre-pandemic. 

We’d reached a kind of ‘productivity fatigue’. 

James Clear, quoted in a Fast Company article by Aytekin Tank says that “Productivity is getting important things done consistently. And no matter what you are working on, there are only a few things that are truly important.”

We are more interested in - and it turns out, motivated by - progress... and so making ‘meaningful progress’ is what matters. 

When we do that, we’re more likely to be ‘productively creative’ in the long run. 

Sounds like the ideal result. 

Worry less about whether you’re being super productive. 

Focus more on whether you’re making progress on the things that are meaningful to you. 

Do you know how you solve problems

It’s a curious question because we can often blaze ahead problem solving ... without being aware of our process for how we’re actually doing it. 

Perhaps we’re on auto pilot, not conscious of what we’re doing or too busy in the details of the problem solving task to think about it. 

We can’t get better at a critically important skill like problem solving if we’re not tuned in to it. 

The World Economic Forum suggests problem solving is right up there in the skills we need for today and even more frequently in the future. 

So how do you solve problems? 

▫️Do you get all the information you can? 
▫️Assess your options? 
▫️Generate some alternatives? 
▫️Try out some solutions? 
▫️Experiment a little?
▫️Consult with respected peers? 
▫️Try a Google search to see what others have done? 
▫️Or phone a friend? 

Each of these is part of a suite of problem solving tools and techniques. 

As you work through solving your next problem, challenge or tricky situation, make a mental (or physical or digital) note of what you do... and how you do it. 

There’s greater 
▫️possibility, 
▫️efficiency and 
▫️creativity 
on the other side of our awareness. 

Bringing 3 skills together

A skill on its own is good. Another skill... even better. Three skills? Three times the goodness! 

The skills and capabilities we have work well on their own. But when they’re combined and integrated - even better. 

Working with a group of business analysts recently, we took the three skills of :
- questioning 
- facilitating
and
- visualizing 
and integrated them. 

Beyond just using the skills on their own individually, one then the other, then the other ... we used all three at once. Integrated. 

Engagement was better. 
Elicitation of requirements was easier. 
Progress was faster. 

These three skills can work well with each other, leverage each other and make our roles and challenges easier. 

For the team of business analysts, it was an experience I call a ’skills lift’.

Greater confidence and capability. 

And an exponential return on one, two, three skills, multiplied and amplified when they’re working together. 

The combination of knowing and doing

There’s a time-saving acceleration we gain when we learn a new skill, a professional insight or a pro tip. 

It’s a big benefit of learning. 

Whatever the skill, knowing some valuable and impactful techniques lifts our game. We gain efficiencies and reduce waste. 


- Otherwise we’re in WASTEFUL practice: we don’t know and we don’t do, bumbling along. 

- When we don’t know but do the best we can, there’s a kind of INTUITIVE practice. Perhaps we’re going with our gut. There is opportunity for learning and validation of what you’re doing; formalizing a skill. 

- When we know a skill, but don’t do what we know, we can be locked in a kind of HABITUAL practice. The opportunity here is to modernize and bring new practices to our toolkit. 


So where to aim for? 

Ideally, where you know a skill or technique and you use it: DELIBERATE practice. 

Skills have been learned, and they’re being applied. 

Little waste and great effects! 

Plot what you know - and what you’re doing with it. 

Fresh skills we want to learn

How does a team adapt in an environment of change like the world is experiencing now? 

What skills do leaders need to better lead in these times?

Remote work, extreme uncertainty and ongoing complex change are impacting so many sectors and organisations. 

Old learning topics like body language, negotiation skills and time management are being overtaken by more contemporary, practical and inspiring skills. 

These skills are more related to today’s workplace and aligned to the capabilities people need to be able to work better together. 

Plus they’re the kinds of skills people want to learn!

They are: 
Ingenuity 
Empathy
Creativity 
Curiosity 

Facilitation 
Visualization 
Experimentation 
Improvisation 

Sensemaking
Listening
Learning
Collaborating.


These kinds of skills help us stay relevant and motivated in the learning ... as well as the daily application.