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Do you remember your first job out of school? Like many young professionals it was a whole new world for me. I often felt lost and overwhelmed by my work. I wasn't sure what I was doing or how I was performing. I feared that it was only a matter of time before I would be "found out". My response was to work hard, put in long hours and show-up on weekends. Maybe working hard would "reveal the answers."
One day, my manager called me into his office. I thought for certain that I would be fired. Instead, he asked why I was working so many hours. Nervous and exposed, I told him I wanted to do a really good job. He looked me in the eye and told me something that has stuck with me ever since. "We hired you to make an impact not to be busy. Cut back on 'doing' and focus on your value-added."
That advice changed my outlook on work. I came to realize that I was spending a lot of time on things that didn't matter. Being busy was not adding value.
I shifted my frame of reference from task to outcomes. I started by focusing on the result and then planned backward on how to create it. I measured my progress against outcome measures not by checking off the activities I completed.
- Do people that report to you know what outcomes they are accountable for?
- Do they work smart or hard?
- Is there someone who is lost in the "doing" that needs to be saved?
- If you gave them less time to achieve the results, would they be forced to work smarter?
- How much of your activity is unrelated to the results you seek?
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April 2009