We need to think differently about time and how to make the most of what limited time we have. To that end I have developed the 24 hour Business Building Process.
The idea is as follows:
A key manager briefs the rest of the organisation about a challenge they would like some help on (this could be done once or twice a week). The brief should be tight, focused and actionable.
It is much better to say we would like some new ideas on how we could reduce customer waiting times in the next 30 days at a cost of less than x dollars rather than we are looking for some customer service ideas. Being focused begets creativity.
It might be say at 9.00am on a Tuesday. By Wednesday 9.00am anyone (or any team) in the organisation can respond with their ideas or possible solutions.
By 9.00am the following day (Thursday) the leader must have responded to all participants and publicly recognised the three best ideas. These could win a dinner for two for example. This stage addresses the main problem with employee suggestion schemes–they take too long to give people feedback.
The benefits of this process are as follows:
• You generate a range of new, exciting business ideas when you need them. This stops people from procrastinating.
• Everyone has an opportunity to contribute their creativity.
• A sense of focused creativity energy is created.
• It is a chance for new team members to shine and develop new skills.
• If the process works in one division or team it can be rolled out to the rest of the organisation
• It helps to build a more innovative organisation.
I would love to hear from anyone that gives this process a try. I have used it with groups when we have gone away for a 2 day conference and it works!
Yours at Speed.
I have never really liked the expression work-life balance. For a start why would you want to have work before life? Isn’t work part of life? Perhaps life-work balance might be more appropriate.
Better still, why not call it Life Choices. There are some circumstances where you simply do not have a choice, you need to finish a project or put in the extra hours or there is no-one to pick up the kids.
But there are occasions where people have choices. Do you really need to check your emails at 11.0clock at night? Just because we can should we actually do it (this is a message to myself as much as anyone).
Do you really have to work back late at night? Do you really have to work on the weekends? It seems to me that for many of us we can make these life choices everyday and for the most part through habit and a misplaced sense of guilt we place most of our energy in our work rather than or as well as our home life.
If you believe that life is full of choices it feels more empowering. You can control your choices and how you spend your time. You are in the driving seat. you can control if you start on a project or procrastinate. You can decide to spend your time watching your kids at sport or not.
So, no more trying to obtain a mythical work-life balance. Aim to make healthy, sustainable life choices–everyday.
I was intrigued by a recent Harvard Business Review Article by Teressa M Amabile and Steven J Kramer (Jan-Feb 2010 , What really motivates workers, pg 44-45) that suggests that what really motivates employees is this:
‘making progress in one’s work-even incremental progress-is more frequently associated with positive emotions and high motivation than any other workday event.’
The idea that making headway or receiving support that helps people overcome obstacles is a beautiful, simple idea that intuitively rings true.
There is nothing more frustrating that working for a boss that cannot make up their mind or does not give you the resources for you to do your job as well as you can and to come home at night feeling that you have accomplished something.
One of the guiding principles of Speed Thinking for example, is just to start. It doesn’t matter where you start but to start. Then evaluate, build and finally develop an action plan (each stage is 2 minutes). The concept behind this 4 step process is to get people moving so that they do not filter or over-analyse their responses particularly in the start stage.
The emphasis on making progress also means that small business owners perhaps have the opportunity of feeling more energised and motivated that employees in large organisations as they are less reliant on others to get things done. In my case, for example, what often limits me are my own energy levels not what others are doing. If i do not make any progress then it is usually up to me.
The message for all team leaders and coaches?
Aim to set realistic goals, provide the appropriate resources, make timely decisions and teach the right skills (e.g. Speed Thinking) and recognise progress. Helping people to making progress is a simple, fast, motivating idea and practice.
Ken Hudson
I have just read a wonderful book by Richard Wiseman called 59 seconds (Pan Books).
http://www.richardwiseman.com/
The premise of this research-driven book is that there are real and effective ways of bringing about meaningful change quickly. This is exactly what I have experienced with my Speed Thinking idea. People are often amazed at what they can achieve in a literally minutes (this way of thinking revolves around 2 minute bursts).
Wiseman in his latest book refers to the Zeigarnik effect which is named after the Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik who noticed that waiters could remember an order if the bill remained unpaid but seemingly not as well when the customer had paid their bill. It seems that paying the bill brought some form of closure to the transaction which allowed the waiter to move on. We all no doubt have experienced this when studying for an exam–we just hang on to what we have to remember then a few days later we struggle to remember much of the material.
The insight behind the Zeigarnik effect is that just starting a project can create a form of mental energy or anxiety that is not satisfied until the task is completed. This effect has important implications for combating procrastination. If you can start a project, even for a few minutes will create a mental restlessness to complete the task at hand.
This is where Speed Thinking can help. The first step in the Speed Thinking 4 step cycle is to start–just to start, it does not matter where or how and there is no right or wrong place to start. And the start step is a 2 minute burst.
The key message? Just by starting a project even for a few minutes will help you to overcome procrastination. As Richard Wiseman suggests, ‘research shows that the ‘just a few minutes rule’ (i.e. work on the activity for a few minutes) is a highly effective way of beating procrastination and could help people finish the most arduous of tasks’ (Professor Richard Wiseman, 59 Seconds-Think a Little-Change a Lot, Pan Book, page 98.)
So rather than put it off–just make a start and do it quickly.
Ken Hudson.
We seem to live in bipolar world–the ”haves’ and the ‘have nots’ you might be thinking. But there is another division which is equally profound; the time rich and the time poor.
My parents who are retired, seem to have all the time in the world. They lead simple, uncomplicated lives and no doubt become frustrated when they call us and want to end the call reasonably quickly.
My wife and I are both time poor. Somehow we need to manage our business, being a parent, friend and having time to ourselves. Time seems to be the most shortest resource.
The solution?
Perhaps a time management course?
Well i think that we all could do with some skills around prioritizing and better organizing our lives.
But is this enough?
What if we could not only manage time but create more time for ourselves.
But how do you create more time? Well one way is to think quicker–i have developed an entire thinking system around helping people to think better, faster e.g. for most everyday decisions you are probably better off by making a quick decision rather than spending hours agonizing over it. Guess what? Over a day or a week you will have created perhaps hours more time for yourself.
I was reminded of this the other day when a colleague who is aware of my work was struggling with a presentation and asked himself, what is a quicker way of doing this? in an instant he had the answer–contact the person who most knows about this topic and see if he has a presentation that he could adapt. By doing this he saved hours of his own time and produced a better quality outcome.
Thinking quicker is not about haste. Sometimes by thinking more at the beginning we can move quicker at the end.
Ken Hudson
www.thespeedthinkingzone.com
Many people believe that there are two types of decision-making. The first is the classic approach which is calls for a precise defining of the decision, developing a number of options and then carefully considering each approach and then deciding on the right decision. This approach has many apparent benefits–it is rational, people believe it is objective, unemotional and there is a formal process. The facts will decide which way to go. Detractors of this approach might point to the fact that it is timely and assumes that you know the outcome of every possibility.
The other approach is to use your intuition to make decisions. Using this style a person can make decisions based on their experience and judgment. It is usually quick, decisive and can be creative. Some people might argue that it can be wrong, it is difficult to teach and it is an internal process that is hard to substantiate.
But can you have both? Can you have quickness with structure? Can you have rigor as well as relying on unconscious processes? It is my experience that you can have the best of both worlds. My creation of Speed Thinking enables people to create ideas, solutions or decision options at lightning speed (i.e. nine in two minutes) but because of its four stage process (i.e. start, evaluate, build and action) the better ideas can rise to the top through an iterative process. What’s more it can be learned and taught to others.
In a time-poor, fast-moving world, individuals and leaders have to make timely decisions. The adage, time is money is a perfect description of this new world. But it requires a new way of thinking, deciding and acting–one that can synergistically combine two previously opposing ways of thinking. Speed Thinking is one such way.
We all believe that to make a good decision you need to take your time, carefully create and consider all the options and then make a final choice. This is what many people consider the ideal decision-making process. Yet in the real world when:
- Time is short
- Perfect information is not available
- You do not know the full impact of your possible decisions and/or
- And you do not know what your competitors might do.
Then is spending more and more time on a decision a smart and effective thing to do?
My experience is that it is not particularly for day-to-day decisions. In these circumstances when tine is short and the implications of a decision are not far-reaching and the risk is relatively low than you are much better off making a quick decision (what’s more if it does not work out as you intended than you can quickly make another one).
But how can you improve your chances of success? Here where an intention to make a decision and practicing making decisions is important. But often this is not enough. You will need a range of decision-making tools. I have listed one of these below:
The tool is called My Heroes:
Step 1. In the next two minutes list nine heroes of yours. These could be your dad or President Obama etc.
Step 2: Then select one of these at random and think about the decision in front of you. What decision would your hero make in these circumstances?
Step 3: Select another hero and repeat the process. Remember to really become that person.
Step 4: Keep repeating this exercise until you feel ready to make a decision. Often there is a consensus among your heroes on what to do.
Using this decision-making tool you will great enhance your chances of making a good decision in minutes.
This is a note for all managers, leaders or business owners who are faced with a big decision. It is inspired by a recent article I read about Kevin Roberts who is the Global Chief Executive of the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi (Australian Financial Review 18/5/09, pg 43).
Kevin has a three day rule for his key managers:
Any manager that has a key problem must get it to him within 24 hours.
He guarantees to make a decision within 24 hours then they have 24 hours to execute the solution.
Kevin observes that this three day rule, ‘gives our people a great sense of liberation and a sense of massive speed.’
There are many things to admire about this concept. In a time-poor, speed driven world, important decisions can be made quickly. Particularly in a service business there can be no bottle necks. It is also a very effective way of having the CEO to stay involved in the pulse of the business and cut-through the many layers between the client and the CEO.
My only problem with this approach is that it is very Kevin Roberts centric. What is Kevin gets run over by a bus or moves on. I think it is better to build an organizational-wide, speed-decision capability rather than it revolving around one key individual.
What do you think?
Ken Hudson
Hint: If you cannot answer this question quickly then perhaps you do. You might be one of the estimated 20% of adults who consider themselves as chronic procrastinators. This continual delaying of decision-making can sometimes lead to detrimental impacts in our business and personal lives. But let’s face it–we all procrastinate at one time or another in our lives. But why do we do it?
Here are some common reasons:
- We seek perfection e.g. we need every bit of information before making a decision
– We would rather dream than do anything
– We constantly worry about the results of our decision (hence it is better not to make a decision at all)
– Sometimes we just need a deadline or crisis to make a decision – We are just do not care either way about the decision or the decision options are virtually the same
– Because we need to micro-manage every decision we end up not making a decision at all (as we have too many to make).
Perhaps in some cases it might be for a very good reason, you might be waiting for some new information but most of us would benefit from becoming a more confident decision maker.
Here are 4 ways to break-out of the procrastination cycle
1. Use the 80:20 rule — decide what are the 20% of decisions that impact on the 80% of your life (e.g. what meetings should I attend this week, how many hours will I work today). Now make a quick decision on these only. By focusing on the few important decisions you won’t feel overwhelmed and you will make better decisions.
2. List nine pros and then nine cons of any decision. Do both in two minutes then make a final decision?
3. Similar to the above process but in this case list the nine rational elements of a decision (e.g. in considering a new job–a rational consideration might be the pay level) and the nine emotional factors (e.g. what if i fail?) then make a decision. Remember to do these quickly so you do not filter.
4. Escape thinking about any decision as being right or wrong. You will never know in advance and you can tie yourself up in knots. It is better to think about it as does this decision keep things moving or will it improve my learning or does this move the business along? By thinking along this dimension then you will be more able to actually make a decision and sleep better afterwards.
Keep deciding!
Dr Ken Hudson.
Our youngest daughter wanted to play competitive soccer this year after playing a shortened version of the game at school. Like any good parents, we encouraged her to give it a go. This all sounded fine and i left for a business trip to
I have not coached before but did play soccer for many years at a reasonable level. After one training session our first opponent was an A grade team that had been together for three years. As you can imagine this is a daunting assignment at the best of times but as a coach i faced a number of other small mountains:
- One of the kids dropped out an hour before the game leaving us with the basic 11 players
- Our new goal keeper after letting in a few goals burst into tears and was last seen out of her goal heading off with her mum never to be seen again.
- Our star striker had a tennis grand final to go to which left us with nine players.
At half-time we were down six nil. As a coach you have five minutes to try and rally the girls, parents and yourself that all is not lost and develop plan ‘C’ (plan B had gone out the window with the disappearing goal keeper). After a moment of panic i totally rearranged the team, strengthened our defense, found a new keeper and with nine players we lost the second half three nil.
To their great credit our girls never stopped trying and ten minutes after the game had already moved on (parents and coaches it seems take a little longer).
This experience no doubt, is repeated in thousands of sporting fields around the country. Decisions need to be made instantly, the environment changes rapidly, the competition reacts and all this happens in a blink of an eye. Yet coaches and managers of all shapes and sizes can make literally hundreds of decisions throughout a game without resorting to decision trees, cost benefit analysis or forming a committee. Can we learn something from being a soccer coach that we use in the rest of our lives?
Being a coach is one of the best things you can do as a parent and it might just teach us all how to be more confident, decisive decision-makers and it can be incredibly rewarding.
Ken Hudson
