An article in 2008 on “Why You Need Quiet Time“  covered some of
the health benefits, including strengthening parts of the brains
that would normally decline with aging.  Yes I need that, being a boomer.

But the thought I wanted you to chew on was Rikki Fowler’s
statement in the article, “”Silence allows the creative process.
It’s giving the right mind space, so it can say its piece.”

What if this year you need to be more creative than you ever
have been before?  What if business as usual is not in your best interest?
What if creativity is your CRITICAL SUCCESS factor this year? 
Would you properly resource it, make sure it was emphasized?

What if a lot of the old rules, especially financial ones, don’t work so
well?  Maybe your job is uncertain, your house, previously heralded
as the investment that you couldn’t go wrong with, is now under water?
The future looks uncertain.

What if it isn’t new year business as usual this January.  You know set
new goals, dust off the strategic plan, get down to business and crank…

What if more then ever, it was critical to take some time
and stop
and be Quiet,
because it’s time to pay attention and be creative. 

Maybe we all share a lot in common with Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz,
and we’re realizing more than ever that “Toto, I don’t think we’re in
Kansas anymore.”  Life isn’t looking as familiar as usual.

A recent article my friend Greg Vilkin sent me, The Joy of Quiet,
does a great job of reminding us that in one generation we have
gone from gaining greater and greater access to information,
instant access, to overwhelm and the need to unplug.

One casualty of being plugged in all the time, is that we lose
time to be quiet, which is a prerequisite for being plugged into
ourself.  The quote from Michael maller, from a half century ago, is
even more valid today, as he warned, “When things come at you very
fast, naturally you lose touch with yourself.”

So beyond the health of your brain and other organs, maybe there’s
a lot of good reasons to make sure you get some quiet time regularly
as this new year kicks off.  Here’s a couple of recommendations to consider:

Recommendations:

1. Take some time to be quiet and listen to yourself.  We all need listening
     to be able to connect, including connecting with our self.
2. Listen to the conversation going on in your head. 
    Listen to the rules you’ve made up for your self about life.
    Listen to the promises you’ve made to your self.  
    It all needs some attending, and quite possible creative new approaches 
    and options.
3. Finally, if you’re like me, put the quiet time on your calendar, otherwise
    it gets nudged out by all the sound and commotion around.  If you don’t
    block it out… it won’t happen.

Have a creative, blessed, tremendous year in 2012 and guard your
quiet time, there’s treasures in that space.

Well, actually here’s the 15 second sound byte first.
      On the road to improvement, 
      we encounter what we are adverse to address,  
      yet it turns out that addressing what we wish to avoid
      … is key to improvement.

So here’s how it started. Well at least most recently.  First I get
Patrick Lencioni (author of books like the Death of Meetings,
and 5 Dysfunctions of Team), latest blog talking about “sins of
omission” in the organization.  Here’s a brief quote:

“See, in most organizations, the biggest problems arise not because
leaders are actively promoting the wrong behavior, but rather
because they’re passively doing so by allowing people to get away
with this behavior without impunity.

The most common reason that leaders commit sins of omission is
simply because they just don’t feel comfortable confronting people
about what they are or are not doing. Instead, they look the other
way and hope that the problem goes away… This is a moment of
great humility. And a moment of truth.”

OK, first gut check.  Are you, like most people, adverse to giving
feedback, does it make you uncomfortable, do you avoid it?
… do you get the “clutchy feeling” and look for a hole in the floor?
… especially if the person is likely to get defensive?

I think the answer is, the world over… ABSOLUTELY. 
What was your answer? _____________

So then I get another email from a CEO who said that he got
too busy to deploy ManagePro, where ManagePro represented
his intention to get his organization to improve, progress, and be
better at delivering accountable results.

What was quite obvious, is that being busy, was correct, but only
partially so.  What was really happening was that along the
road to his best intentions, some members of his management
team resisted, even defied his intent to improve things, and he
stopped the process, in this case deploying ManagePro, so that
he wouldn’t have to confront members of his team.

OK, second gut check.  Do  you, like this CEO, stop short of
improving things if it means you have to confront people
on dysfunctional behavior at work?

Again, I think the answer is, the world over… ABSOLUTELY.
What was your answer?_____

Yes confronting stuff that doesn’t work is not fun.  It makes a
majority of people turn the other way… or tip toe out of the room.
However it is a necessary part, right along with affirming what is
working, to succeeding on the path to improvement.

What’s obvious in our business is people buy ManagePro explicitly with the
intent of using it to improve their organization.  You know, hopefully get
rid of or around the effects of those behaviors we are adverse to address. 
Instead, deploying ManagePro seems to make those dysfunctional attitudes
and behaviors all the more obvious, as you create a transparent platform,
for documenting plans, follow through and results.  Oh boy.  Now what are
you going to do?

Bottom Line:
So here’s what I would like you to consider.  On behalf of the survi-
vability of your own aspirations, on behalf of the healthiness of the
organization you invest your life working at, on behalf of just a
healthier world… steel your nerves, uncurl your toes, keep breathing
and start to tell a little more truth about what works and doesn’t at
work.  We’ll all enjoy work more if we do.

Top or First in Your Mind:

Here’s the first working premise:
1.Whatever you put first or at the top of your mind’s focus,
2. you end up spending time resources on
(you literally buy with seconds from your life), and you do so
3. becomes it’s at the top (foremost in your attention),
4. not because it is the most valuable.

Ries and Trout gave an interesting twist to the concept of what’s first in your
mind when they wrote about it years ago in their 22 Immutable Laws of
Marketing.  Their first law is that it is better to be first (into a market) then
“better”.   We now know that that’s more accurate when defining the initial
cycle in a market…often better catches up and suplants first, ex. “Apple’s
iPod wasn’t the first MP3 player, but it beat out the ones that came before it. 
But what if that applies to your brain and how you personally manage
information?  I think it does.

Let me restate it another way (ultimately it will be better when you put it into
your own words).  You might want to think about what you let in to occupy
your top of mind thought process.  Be careful what you raise to the top
of your attention list, it eats your resources, regardless of
whether or not it is valuable.

So think about this, you’re working on something important, should you keep
checking your email to see if anything has come in (e.g. replace top of mind)?

Should you keep listening for the sound of incoming tweets, IMs, how about
Outlook’s display of the Desktop Alert? 

What’s your answer?  Having lots of availability, turns out to mean, in part,
that you have lots of opportunities to replace what’s first in your mind, over
and over again throughout the day.  Does it work for you? 

The answer is no, probably not.  It would be like drawing a hand of cards,
and someone keeps changing one of your cards as you’re trying to work out
a strategy.  Ultimately you would get access (view) to a lot of cards, but it
would be very slow going in terms of putting together a strategy.  So there’s
something about fixing the card deck and not reshuffling or drawing that
can be important at times.

Actually, if you can tolerate being focused, not introducing
something “new” to your attention scan, to the number one spot
in your deck, it makes completing almost any project easier and quicker to
complete. 

So be careful about how accessible you make the number 1 spot in your
immediate focus.  Look around your desk, your monitor, I bet there’s some
distractions you have lying about that are just waiting to grab the #1 spot,
even though they can’t justify it based on value.

This brings up the issue of multi-tasking.  Actually lately it seems multi-
tasking gets a bad wrap.  I just got another email for a course So You
Think You Can Multitask: in which Dr. Joanne Cantor is to demonstrate
just how inept your brain is at multitasking, how information overload
reduces your creativity, and how recent brain research shows that constant
connectivity to our devices is antithetical to doing good work.

OK, that all makes sense.  I don’t deny that multi-tasking (trading multiple
topics through your Number 1 brain space in rotation) can prevent you from
having access to the kind of focus you need for some, maybe even a lot of,
tasks.  But actually most executives I know, multi-task rather successfully
off and on all day long.  So how do they get away with it?

Get this – the key is to to have different gears, to be able to switch,
to treat your mind like a transmission.  Sometimes  you shift into multi-
tasking, and when the road warrants it, you then switch to another gear,
maybe a lower gear, let’s call that single tasking.  The key is - How easily
can your brain process the tasks(s) you are working on.  If you can do it in
your sleep, you have a lot of extra neurons waiting around for something else
to do.  If it’s very challenging, better put your calls on hold, your IM on
Out of Office, and turn off the mail notification, #1 in your brain needs to be
reserved for all of your undistracted focus.

The key is actively matching your mental gearing or single vs multi-tasking to
the task demands, as opposed to what other people demand of you, or perhaps
what your preferred pattern is.

It’s an interesting process isn’t it?  Looking at what drives us, or should drive
us to place a task in the #1 spot on our attention list, and how much effort we
put in place to protect it in that spot… versus almost invite any intrusion. 
Maybe I should retitle this blog the lost art of creating and working priority 1. 
I certainly see that reflected any many ManagPro company portfolio’s I get
exposed to, and how how they have far too many items designated as Priority
one, then they can possibly focus on effectively.

Bottom Line:
#1 in our focus, our attention, our brain, is a very important place.  On some
level we put off everything else in deference to what’s #1.  So be careful.
Guard the number one spot from distractions you have control over,
including an array of collaboration tools. 

And be sensitive to the tasks you’re engaging in, and get heads up about
switching from multi-tasking to single-tasking when the value/challenge
/immediacy of the tasks requires it.  You’ll like the results and your brain
will thank you for it.  Is that possible?  It sounded good when I wrote it, so
I’m leaving it in.;) 

But honestly what do you need to do to make this all work better starting
tomorrow?  I start by  confirming my priorities are value-based, then
“landing” my priorities on my ManagePro calendar and blocking out time. 
They aren’t really number 1 if they don’t get priority on my schedule. 
How about you?

Here’s how the pieces go together for me, in 4 simple statements:

1. Project management is nothing more than being accountable to work smart.
2. Working Smart is working in a way that’s accountable and respectful to people and the Outcome.
3. Management’s biggest challenge is holding others accountable to work smart. (Biggest failure is more accurate)
4. The biggest frustrations at work come from working with people who aren’t accountable to or respectful of persons, or being subjected to work processes that don’t add value to the process of reaching the Outcome.

Think about that first phrase and let me know your reactions. Here’s a couple of ways it gets worded in my brain.

Project planning, updates, planning the work and working the plan, focusing on priorities, coordinating with others, collaborating with others, being sensitive to time and dollars and quality… they’re all just characteristics of working smart and being accountable to people and the Outcome.

How about dealing with stakeholders or resource allocation? It’s all part of being accountable to and respectful of people and their time and needs.

How about using technology or setting priorities, or managing time? It’s all part of being accountable to the Outcome. Accountable to use the best tools and prioritize your resources to reach the outcomes that are most important. You only need to plan if it helps you reach the outcome. You only need to estimate time and report on progress if it helps you and other’s deliver on time, within budget and at the quality level needed.

Bottom Line:
Project management boils down to a single concept for me… accountably working smart. And working smart reduces to a “head’s up” manner of working that is sensitive to people and the Outcome, and making the adjustments to reach both within your time and resources.

Links:

Working Smart – 3 Keys

Working Smart – Habit & Comfort

Work Smart Software

Let’s get a definition going to start. Here’s my working definition:
Working smart is a style of working based on the decisions you make and how you manage information in the process.

This blog is going to be short and to the point, but conceptual – and I’m aiming it at those of you who would would like to get more done with less, not those who reframe working smart as making money without working… there’s plenty written about that already.

Sometimes you just need some practical tips. There are some great blogs and web pages out there that cover practical tips that I don’t want to duplicate. See the following as some examples:

Working Smart with teams,  General life choices, Saving an hour a day, Working Smart at the office

So let’s get to it.  From my vantage point, working smart and managing information converge on three basic practices I use.  Strengthen any one and you work smarter.  But why just do one, do all three.

1. Use information (and time) with intentionality.    Do it to start the day, do it all day long.  Think about your outcome and manage the information that will help you get there and let go of the rest.  This is essentially a take-off on the idea of think before you act, but it has huge implications when it comes to managing information, since most of us are so awash in it.    

Here’s what this doesn’t look like – going through the paces,  whether that is working as usual, putting your time in, dutifully reading through your email.  Be intentional with how you manage life and information. But then that requires that you think (“What’s most important to accomplish today in terms of outcomes?”) not just work, which leads to the next key.  

2. Prioritize your focus.  There’s not enough time to do everything.  You don’t have time to put everything neatly away, there’s not enough time to stay up on all the topics of interest, not enough time to read all the email and blogs coming in.    Manage information based upon what’s important – which is defined by the first step.  Identify and live with intentionality.    That brings a relatively narrow focus, or as the movie “City Slickers” defined it, “know what’s number 1″ – and I would add to it, know what’s number 1, and how you plan to get closer to it today.

Your job is probably not to be the “library of congress.” To have everything neatly in its place, or to please everyone.  It is, for the purpose of this blog, to work smart, to live smart, and when that comes to managing information, it means narrowing the focus based upon your priorities and desired outcomes.   That’s where you want to spend your time, that’s where it’s most important to track and manage information.  

I don’t need to get everything done, just the priority one items. And on the priority one items, I need a system that allows everyone who touches that to work in a coordinated, collaborative, up-to-date manner, anything short of that isn’t working smart.

3.  Get green with information – recycle it!  People that work smart recycle critical information.  What do I mean by that?  Think of working smart as documenting and tracking that high priority information in a way that is useful over and over – by numerous people. One input, multiple outputs.  It’s capturing and storing information in a way that makes it available at your finger tips, but also capturing it in a way that it helps you and others plan, track, adjust priorities, allocate resources, review results… and the list goes on.  

Not getting green with information, looks consistently like storing information in a means that is easiest at the moment – but unavailable without a lot of work to anyone else who might need it.  Not being green means managing information in a way that requires little effort on your part, but is unavailable to anyone else who needs to collaborate or coordinate with you.  Not being green means managing critical information in places like your personal todo list, your brain, in a spoken conversation, on a piece of paper.    I can’t read it from over here, neither will the other people your team, nor can I pull it up in a couple of clicks.

You can see why we put such an emphasis upon using the information management and work smart capabilities of ManagePro, because most of us need to take advantage of technology tools to work smarter – it has such large potential payoffs.

Bottom Line:

You can affect how much you and others work smart, especially as it interfaces with managing information, by focusing on the following keys:

1.  Use information with intentionality, with ongoing reference to outcomes and time remaining.
2. Use the focus of priority and apply it to every time you touch information.  Carefully manage priority one, let go of most of the rest.
3. Get green with information.  Information that fits the first two criteria, needs to be documented in a manner (in a database) that is re-useable and very accessible to whom-ever you are collaborating and coordinating with.  This is partly a personal information management discipline and partly a using the right technology. 

Link:

Working Smart and the Comfort of Habit

Working Strategically – the Missing 4th Step

Asking for a definition might produce an interesting comment.
Let’s say for the sake of this blog that we use Ben (who I know)
at Scratch Media’s working definition:

“Working smart means choosing the most efficient use of your time
and energy before you act. (… “Think-then-do”.)”

If you continued to ask, “How do you know you’re working smart?” I bet
you would hear a very interesting flip. Beyond noticing that people
dance a bit on that question, if you are like me, you would hear
them flip or switch from talking about working smart, to talking
about working hard.

Why?  Are we confusing the two? 

Actually, if you ask people to “work smarter,”  you will find the
mental translation from working smart to working hard to be even
clearer.

In fact if you ask people to work smarter, and/or purchase
software to help them work smart, what you will likely hear
back is not only a flip between working smart and working hard,
but also a bit of a push back that will sound like either:

1. I don’t have time… “I’m already working as fast as I can… I don’t
have time to add one more thing…” (you know like working smarter).

2. I don’t have capacity… “I’m already working as hard and long as I
can, I can’t stay longer or add one more task/requirement to my work load.”

In both situations, working smarter, when it comes to managing information,
looks like an additional task to an over burdened schedule – not a
way to reduce the work load.

This is important.  Working smarter looks like an intrusion upon
our current work habits, and God love us, we are creatures of habit…
we like our habits.  We may even buy software to help us work smarter,
but it doesn’t mean we use it (read change our habits)… because that
would feel like more work.  Changing habits is tough work.

I don’t know if this is just true in the US, but in the US when it comes
to managing information we struggle at working smart, it feels like
low value drudgery to many… but we are good at working hard.

Interestingly, what comes back to the prompt to work smarter is usually a
push back, not a “Sure, help me, or teach me how.” Think about that for a
moment. How did we get to the point where working smart is not
something we have time or capacity for?

Most of us struggle with, if not resist the challenge, the prod, the invitation,
to work smarter… although we wouldn’t admit it to others and certainly not
to ourselves.  We don’t work smarter for all sorts of reasons, even though we
live and work in the information age.

Why?  I think in part because it involves changing habits which provide
some level of comfort.  We get comfortable with our habits, our way of
working, and then we defend against changing them. 

If you think about it, sticking with old information management habits,
as fast as things change, is probably the opposite of working smart.

Bottom Line:
Most of us manage information in all sorts of ways that are personally
comfortable, but a long way from working smart.   And in so doing make
work harder for ourselves.

But before I finish, let me leave you with perhaps the biggest secret to
beginning to work smarter.  No, it doesn’t have to do with buying our
ManagePro software.  Here’s a hint, it involves no work, just changing
what’s between the ears.   Well actually that is work, but not on the timecard.

The biggest secret to working smarter, is to stop assuming (defending)
that you already do work smart, and embrace the need, the opportunity to
continually improve at working smarter.   That’s it.  That’s the shift.

Today; give yourself a break.  Stop defending that you’re already doing
everything possible, and start looking for opportunities to learn to work
smarter, and I’ll share some tips for managing information that will help
you get a step up in the next blog.