This is the second in a series of Play notes about leading well during different times such as this one. “This not that. Here not there. And here’s why…” With daily distractions, project deadlines, and competing priorities, our teams can get unfocused. Add something like a global health challenge and they’ll likely get really scattered. […]
The sages tell us that all our power is in the present. Any time we spend regretting, blaming, or trying to figure out stuff in the past will more likely distract us than help us. Don’t worry about repeating mistakes. We’ve already learned what we could. Set it aside. The future’s calling. In your […]
Running around, overwhelmed, and (truth be told) only just keeping it together probably isn’t what we signed up for. But it is not necessary to be like this to be successful. We can be effective leaders (with or without title) and be mostly at ease. Impossible, you say? But it is so! We can become leaders […]
Planning fails when we use it to control the future. Seeking to control the future comes from a distrust or fear about it. And it can’t be done. Planning works when we use it to prepare for the future. Anticipating a desired future with quiet excitement and taking sensible preceding steps are great ways to […]
They tell us that we should set goals that are specific. But if we shoot for ‘specific’, we may end up with ‘detailed’. And detailed goals aren’t helpful. They tempt us to plan and manage every aspect along the way to the goals. Such a focus blinds us to innovation, better ways, and serendipity. Here […]
There are three types of planners: the worrier, the fool, and the sage. Worriers plan out of fear of what could go wrong. Their plans can reduce risk…and reward. The opposite are the fools. They boast that everything will be fine. So they don’t plan. They may hit a home run occasionally…and they strike out […]
There are two ways to achieve a goal. Both work. One involves planning a series of steps that logically flow from one to the next. We then act based on our plans: “Make it so.” Most of us think we use this method most of the time. The other is more freeform. Much more freeform, […]
Because they are complex (and filled with people who tend to be quite complex themselves), organizations of any size are notoriously difficult to change. The assumptions, unknowns, and hidden dynamics normally overwhelm even the best change plans. To change an organization, let’s forget about big project plans. Instead : Let’s study the current situation and […]
We face a huge obstacle when we set goals, make plans, and strategize: we worry over the “hows” too much. Instead, let’s focus on the most desirable “whats” and then worry about the hows. In fact, to the extent we can clearly focus on our most desired whats, the hows (and the whens and the […]
Sometimes we underplan our career. We float, wander, take the first offered opportunity, then take the next offered opportunity, etc. We end up feeling lost as if our career has sort of just happened to us. Sometimes we overplan our career. We say we will take Job A to get us to Job B in […]