Don Graumann's Blog, page 11

Not being heard? Be more direct.

Are you afraid to offend? If your message is not being heard, shouldn’t you be more direct? You can be direct without being disrespectful.

Do you know your Point of Diminishing Returns?

Do you know when you hit your point of diminishing returns? When you hit it, do you power through or shift work to a more productive time? OK to power through on administrative work. Not OK for thinking work as quality will suffer.

Does your Scramble crowd out the Important and Strategic?

Do you allow your daily scramble to crowd out important things like explicit team objectives setting and meaningful 1-1’s with your team?

Shouldn’t you be ready for your day?

What % of the time do you feel ready for your day? If it is lower than 80%, what behavior / practices should you add, modify, or remove?

Moments of Truth or Body of Work?

Would you rather that your value be judged via a few key “moments of truth” or your longer term body of work? I strongly prefer the latter with the former adding some excitement.

33% Less yields 50% More

If I had 33% less to do, I would get 50% more done. Do you isolate and stay focused on your true top priorities?

Say “no” to “very good”...

Say “no” to “good” or even “very good” to make room for “great”. If you don’t, you may not even realize you are missing the “great”.

A Narrative Style is Not Storytelling

Do not confuse having a narrative style with storytelling. The latter maximizes connection. The former is sometimes just using too many words!

Sending Emails & Ownership

Without acknowledgement, sending an email does not transfer ownership. Don’t be the one “throwing things over the wall.”

Are you planning for the unplanned?

Are you ready for the unplanned? Are your top priorities & risks isolated so impact can be assessed quickly? As an important event approaches do you run scenarios?