Don’t Do Quick and Dirty Work
Years ago, before the emergence of Squarespace, Wix, and the host of other DIY website builders, I worked in a web development shop, where we built websites from scratch. Our sites could take weeks to up to months to build and publish depending upon complexity.
It always surprised me how often business owners would come in and say they needed an ‘emergency’ site by the end of the week. They assured us they needed nothing fancy, weren’t concerned with how the design looked, and the site didn’t need to do anything special.
Cut Your To-Do List in Half
Now, stay with me. This is not click-bait nor is it meant to be snarky or clever. I actually do use old-fashioned pen and paper for my weekly planning and to-do lists (here’s why). Recently, I downsized from 8 ½ x 11 paper to 5 ½ x 8 ½.
Why?
Understanding the Difference Between Busy-ness and Results
My wife started raising honey bees this year. I don’t know if the right term is “raised,” tended to, cared for, or watched after. I’m not sure. All I know is that when she gears up with her mask, gloves, and protective gear, I stay far away from them.
The other thing I know is that the same bee comes to my office window every day. How can I tell? Small scar above its left eye. Anyway, this bee comes to the same corner of my window at the same time every day, and buzzes around for about 15 minutes.
3 Ways to Not Run Out of Gas on Your Next Project
After many years of listening to friends extol the virtues of a ZTR (zero turn radius) mower, I finally got one. Two words: Game Changer! It cuts lines so straight, the grass is so even, and time is so saved. The only downside? It burns more gas than my previous, smaller mower. One can with my old mower would last about three mows; now, I’m fortunate to get 1 ½ mows out of my new lawn beast.
Use Fewer Words
I’m going to throw myself under the bus.
At times, I’ve been accused of being a bit wordy. Sometimes it’s when I talk, other times email, and yet other times it could be a presentation. In my defense, I lean towards wordiness for the sake of being thorough, but can see how fewer words benefit the recipient.
Case in point, I recently drafted the following for an email:
Be A Problem Solver
Michael worked in the warehouse. Other employees wore shorts and T-Shirts; Michael wore slacks and a tie. Yet others would show up late and leave early; Michael would show up early and stay late. Many complained about their job; Michael looked for ways to make things better.
Someone asked him why he dressed and worked the way he did. He replied that he was acting as if he had already moved on to his next position in the company. And certainly owing to that attitude, his next position came soon enough.
What’s Your Definition of “Done”?
You order a pizza for delivery. The person on the other end of the phone says it will be delivered in 30 minutes. An hour passes and no pizza. You call to see what’s up and are told, “Yep, it’s done. It’s sitting right here in front of me.”
They are technically correct but fundamentally wrong–because your definition of “done” differs from theirs. The pizza isn’t doing you any good on the counter at the pizza shop. It needs to be delivered to your house for you to realize any benefit.
Is Your Work Day Filled with Empty-Calorie Activities?
Sugary snacks, chips, sodas... all satisfying, all filling, and all not good for you. Food companies spend a ton of money to find out what will appeal to consumers when it comes to junk food. For example, did you know the ideal breaking point for potato chips is four pounds per square inch (4 PSI)? Frito-Lay does.
The problem with empty-calorie junk food is that it crowds out the space needed for healthy and nutritious food. Our workday can also fall victim to empty-calorie work crowding out productive work that yields results. Consider the following 3 examples of junk-food activities that can quickly fill up our day versus the healthy alternative.
Apply this Aviation Technique to Work Through Business Problems
Mentour Pilot is a YouTube channel hosted by Captain Petter Hornfeldt, a Boeing 737 pilot who talks about flying, how aviation works, and what goes on behind the scenes in the industry. He bills his channel as “The Number One Channel on All Things Related to Aviation.”
Captain Hornfeldt recently outlined how pilots deal with mid-air emergencies in an episode called, “How to Deal with Crisis.” He referred to the acronym PIOSEE, which stands for Problem, Information, Options, Select, Execute, Evaluate. I figured if this fram
One Way to Gain Control of an Out-of- Control Project
The experience was harrowing. We were towing a dually truck on a trailer from Louisiana to Georgia and had just gotten on the interstate. My father was behind the wheel with my brother-in-law next to him, and my son and I were in the back.
We had just about hit 60 MPH when an 18-wheeler flew by. We all felt the trailer being pulled left in the semi-truck’s wake. The trailer then swayed right. The swaying continued, increasing exponentially in magnitude each time until our truck also became caught up in the morbid physics of being jerked from side to side.
Business Lesson Learned from Ordering Korean Bibimbap
A Korean restaurant that serves bibimbap opened near my office a couple years ago. I had no idea what bibimbap was or even how to pronounce it, but was game to give it a shot. Once queued in the line at the counter, I looked at the menu up on the wall. It was in an entirely different language that I didn't speak. Uh oh.
Survey Says? You Need to Do Better.
Companies spend big bucks on customer surveys. Why? Because they want to know how they are doing and areas to improve. As a matter of fact, they can’t get enough feedback. Marketers are typically disappointed with low response rates, viewing every bit of feedback as the gift that it is - where a customer took the time and effort to complete a form or questionnaire rather than take their business elsewhere.
Two Ways to Keep a Boat Out of a Ditch
My friend Ron was looking forward to a beautiful summer’s day on the lake with his boat. He and his family were in the truck towing the boat when something odd happened. The boat that was supposed to stay behind him for the duration of the trip was passing him! That’s right. He looked in his rearview mirror and noticed a very familiar boat in a very unfamiliar position, not behind him, but right beside him. He reduced his speed and watched in terror as the boat veered left and crossed the median into a ditch.
Limit the Options, Limit the Tears
Kathy stood in the cereal aisle at the grocery store and cried. She was staring at way too many choices. She had lived on a small remote island for the past decade where options were limited to a few choices of this, a couple of that. Made things easy. Now back in Atlanta, she was overwhelmed by the rows and rows of cereal boxes, and the challenge of making the right choice.
3 Reasons Ya’ Gotta’ Have a Framework
We all know what a framework looks like. It’s the steel grid of a skyscraper emerging from the ground of a construction site. Or, it’s the metal skeleton of a vehicle creeping along an assembly line towards completion. A framework is the essential supporting structure of a building, vehicle, or object. It’s what everything else is attached to, filled in, and made ready for use.
‘Tis Better to Have Asked and Be Told NO Than to Have Never Asked at All
My brother-in-law is a plumber. He keeps all kinds of plumbing tools and equipment in his truck: pipe benders, borescopes, plumber’s torches, wrenches, pneumatic tools, augers, etc. You name it, he’s got it. As a professional, he knows how to use each one to get the job done.
It would be troubling to hire a professional plumber who asked YOU for a hack saw and basin wrench or worse yet, how YOU would fix the problem. That’s not why you hired a professional!
A Guide to Rating Employees on Annual Performance Reviews
I walked into my manager’s office with a bit of a swagger and a smug look. “Everything for this week is done,” I said. “All project plans have been updated, the communication plan has been revised, the issue with the integration team has been resolved, and I even called the customer and gave them an update on next week’s plans.”
Expecting kudos and accolades, my hopes were quickly dashed.
Start Doing Employee MicroReviews (and How)
Think about the microcosm in which we live. We have microwaves, microphones, microbreweries, and even Micronesia; but, no Micro-Reviews. Why is that? Because we as managers have a tendency to put our employee reviews off until the end of the year, creating a pressure-cooker couple of weeks to cram them in at the beginning of the year.
This year, try doing microreviews.
3 Traits That Will Help Colleagues Looking for Work
I was on vacation when my manager called. “I’ve got good news and bad news. Which would you like first?” I opted for the good.
“The good news is that you can take a longer vacation.”
“Great!” I said. “What’s the bad news?”
“The bad news is that you can take a REAL LONG vacation.”
That’s not so bad, I thought to myself, and then asked, “How long?”.
“Forever….”
How Useful, Usable, and Used are Your Processes?
There’s a concept of product design that focuses on making sure a product is Useful, Usable, and Used. Designers do all they can to make sure their products meet all three criteria. How do your processes stack up in these areas?