Don’t be busy, be productive

August 24, 2013

The term Busy is probably one of the most used words in the daily business communication routine.

“How are you keeping? Busy!”

Well! Reflecting on the usefulness of this perception, I think that it is time we should try to change our focus and verbalize our response in another way.

-How are you keeping?

-Productive!

But, what are the differences between the two?

What is the difference between PRODUCTIVE vs BUSY?

I think that the main difference is the consciousness, intent and planning placed on the word Productive. This is important because, as Dewight Middleton once said:

“We tend to treat labels as real, rather than as representations of reality.”

Well, interpreting this in the business environment Productive is a positive / result oriented term that changes our focus.

You can think of it as a self fulfilling prophecy, positive labelling or the first step towards shifting our mindset to be creative and do the right things first.

Becoming conscious about our actions and project delivery is a good first step towards becoming more creative and innovative. As discussed also here, innovation is a key skill for the future (read also here and here for a practical guide to innovation).

The word Busy has a fuzzy element to it.

It is like the word multitasking, another overused term that brings to mind professionals, in the form of the Indian goddess Kali, that try to answer phone calls, type emails while completing a study all at the same time (but more on this at a later post).

On the other hand, the word productive has the conscious intent build into it e.g.

Productive towards achieving what?

The great Peter Drucker explained Productivity (for knowledge workers) in this way:

“Productivity for the knowledge worker means the ability to get the right things done. It means effectiveness.” Peter Drucker – The Effective Executive

Hence, the conscious intent as implied in the word Productive is a key to increasing effectiveness.

First Actions Towards a Productive Mindset

A great way to slowly shift your mindset is to plan the week and the day with productivity and effectiveness as your primary targets.

There are various blogs dealing with this matter (a great one is manager-tools.com) but in essence, two tips make for a great start:

Plan the week ahead

Every Friday, take 15-30 minutes out – preplan some quiet time and note down the answer to the question:

What are the three most important projects I needs to progress/achieve next week?

A great blogger, Michael Hyatt, has suggested to even create an Ideal Week schedule.

Plan the day

Every morning before you turn on your computer note down the answer to the question:

What are the three tasks I must complete today?

So, how are you being productive today?

[Image credit: 123rf.com]

Filed under Continuous Improvement, Effective Communication, Productivity, Team Development Series Tagged with , , ,

The first step to a successful negotiation.

August 16, 2013

There are many guides that provide expertise and tips on how to prepare, plan and conduct a negotiation.

Reflecting on my experience, the essential first step to a successful negotiation is this:

Embrace fully the second position.

THE THREE POSITIONS

In a negotiation there are effectively three positions:

1st position: Your position

2nd position: Your counterpart’s position (i.e. the other side) and

3rd position: The position from an independent observant of the negotiation.

In a lot of negotiations that fail, I have distinguished that, the outcome is dependant on a very simple element. The fact that one or both sides do not fully understand the drivers, concerns and/or the position of their counterpart (the other negotiating side).

Effective communication is the responsibility of both sides. However, even if the other party is a poor communicator you need to make every effort to understand fully their position and give it a fair go.

In essence, how can you expect your counterpart (the other side) in a negotiation, to listen and understand, when you may not have spent the time and energy to understand his/her positions, concerns, pressures and targets?

Hence, a simple and effective advice is to try to see things from the other’s perspective.

Then built a value proposition that:

i) creates value for the other party as well as,

ii) covers your own requirements.

Understanding the business, the drivers, the cost elements and the market is the key, the first step towards a successful negotiation.

Trust, which is the core element of a successful relationship, depends on it. As a consequence, successful category management and effective sourcing strategies rely on it as well.

This is a simple piece of advice that is often overlooked.

Did you embrace the second position the last time you were at a negotiation table or, you had to work with a supplier or customer to resolve and issue or create a solution. What would you have done differently?

Filed under Effective Communication, Effective Negotiation Tools series, Procurement Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Innovation: SCAMPER – A Practical Guide – Part 2

August 13, 2013

In the previous blog I discussed the different facets of innovation and introduced SCAMPER as a great creative thinking tool for everyday use by all of us. I also looked at the first two of SCAMPER’s methods. Substitution and Combination. Now, let’s look at the rest – SCAMPER.

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Adapt something to it

As part of my team’s practices we are developing a tradition of making small presentations about our successes and projects to the rest of the team. These presentations have been adapted to have different uses. We use those for:

a) sharing successful stories, best practices and knowledge on complex projects with the rest of the team,

b) as training, after the presentation I provide feedback to the presenter on how well the presentation went and what could be improved in the future based on a specific checklist developed.

Hence, one simple event can have multiple uses and have value on a 360 degree ankle. At a later post I will share the list put together for assessing the presentation in a quantifiable and very straight forward way.

Back to SCAMPER though and Adaptation: You can extend the thinking by asking questions like: What other contexts can I put my concept on? What can I emulate?

Modify or Magnify it.

Think about cappuccinos and lattes (the coffee lovers in Melbourne will understand). On one hand, a Cappuccino is 1/3 coffee, 1/3 milk and 1/3 froth. On the other, the latte is 1/3 coffee, 2/3 milk. Not much of a difference but, some people are avid supporters of one or the other. I am sure the person that came up with the idea is feeling quite proud about the effect a bit more milk (or a bit less froth) has.

In this context you can also think of what else could be added, extra features, extra functions, frequency, what can be exaggerated and so on!

Put it to some other use

An interesting example could be the use of a T-shirt as a personal message board – I am sure you have seen them around. Another familiar one would be the use of Facebook for company marketing whereas the platform was first conceived for personal interaction.

Eliminate something

I guess over time we all start to get full calendars, filled with meetings and “urgent” projects. A good exercise is the following: Every 3 or 6 months go through the list of meetings and standard reports and establish a) what adds value b) what is absolutely necessary c) what can be consolidated or merged into another report or process and d) what can be delegated? Then modify, scrap, merge and delegate what is necessary. Repeat after a set period as a matter of process.

In this context you can also think of what else could be omitted, subtracted, what rules could be eliminated/consolidated / made simpler, what is not necessary, what can be delegated.

Reverse of Rearrange it

Michalko, in Thinkertoys, mentions a great example worth repeating:

“Consider the alphabet: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. These twenty six marks have been arranged in countless ways to make you laugh, cry, worry, wonder, question, love, hate, and ponder. They’ve been rearranged to form the words in Hamlet, Tom Sawyer….and the general theory of relativity”.

I think the above example says it all. When you think about how 26 marks are used and the diversity they provide, this truly provides perspective that as the saying goes:

“You are only limited by your own imagination”

In this context you can also think if we can change the sequence, the pace, the schedule, the pattern.

Well, that is SCAMPER. For inspiration, please also have a look at a great compilation of quotes about innovation here. You can also look at a range of questions and thoughts on SCAMPER here.

Happy SCAMPERing!!

[Image credit: 123rf.com]

Filed under Future Trends, Innovation, Leadership Tagged with , , ,

Innovation: SCAMPER – A Practical Guide – Part 1

August 11, 2013

Nowadays, when we think about innovation we mainly think revolutionary products with Apple or Samsung dominating the conversation. Innovation though is more common than some people believe.

The question is, how can we learn to tamper into our creativity and become ourselves innovators and change agents.

SCAMPER is a great creative thinking tool that can enable us to do just this. Let’s look at how.

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First of all, let’s define “innovation”. According to Ulwick, from his book “What customers want“:

“Innovation is not the result of thinking differently. It is the result of thinking deliberately (in specific ways) about existing problems and unmet needs.”

Innovation is all around us, in processes, in products, in ways of expression.

Below are some examples of innovation that is changing the world:

  • Key Wi Fi patents (developed by CSIRO – go Australia!!)
  • The Internet
  • GM food technology
  • Vaccines
  • DNA
  • Self-Managed teams
  • Kaizen
  • Personal Computers
  • Democracy

In a previous blog I highlighted the importance Innovation will have as a key ingredient of success in the very near future.

The rhythm by which we innovate is accelerating. Innovation is becoming so inherent to everyday life that we do not seem to recognize it anymore. It has become routine, second nature.

On the other hand, we see that some people still consider the “Innovators” as “other-people” and fail to fully appreciate the power all of us have when we introduce innovation as an inherent part of our daily lives.

I think that a practical tool that we can all use daily can go a long way. Over time, I have come across a few models that can stimulate creative thinking.

One of the best ones is SCAMPER (referred in Michalko’s book: Thinkertoys).

Michalko contends that:

Everything new is just an addition or modification to something that already existed.

SCAMPER is a technique for creative thinking. The acronym stands for:

  • Substitute something
  • Combine it with something else
  • Adapt something to it
  • Modify or Magnify it.
  • Put it to some other use
  • Eliminate something
  • Reverse or Rearrange it

I will not go into an elaborate analysis as there are plenty of resources here and here you can refer to learn more. I will just give some examples to highlight how this model has been used.

Substitute something

We all love music. During the last 10-15 years we saw LPs substituted by CDs, then CDs were substituted by iTunes (and other such services). Now, iTunes is in the process of being substituted by services like Spotify and Pandora. In this case the channels used for acquiring and “consuming” music have been substituted.

A useful way to think about substitution is by asking questions like: What can be substituted or Who e.g. ingredients, materials, process or procedure, place, approach are all candidates for substitutions and so on.

Combine it with something else

A simple example are the multipurpose tools e.g. the Swiss knife. This is an item that has a very diverse use, it can become a spoon, a knife, a can opener etc

You can also think of combining ideas, materials, purposes, people, uses and so on.

In the next blog I am detailing how the A, M, P, E and R can be viewed and put into practice.

[Image credit: 123rf.com]

Filed under Future Trends, Innovation, Leadership Tagged with , ,

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