Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work

Let’s back up a couple of steps and revisit the notion of control, influence, and respond, which was introduced in the first chapter. Sometimes the biggest improvement opportunities start right at your own desk. On many occasions, I have seen apparently large organizational stumbling blocks virtually dissolve as a result of the exercise of asking t

If individual leaders lose sight of the larger purpose and vision, they will tend to become a bit myopic in their focus on unit performance. In extreme cases, unit performance can outstrip the larger goals of the organization. Oddly enough, the more myopic or narrowing of focus, the more the number of priorities is likely to grow.

Start by reviewing your list of tasks, projects, or to-dos, and then ask these three questions about each item you have cited: 1. Who needs this done? 2. Why do they need it? 3. What difference will it make?

Before you can accurately analyze your choices, you need a complete list of what’s on your plate right now.

Managing an Overwhelming Workload 1. Challenge each item on your list: • Why is this on my list? • What goal, objective, or management process does this support? • Does it still matter? • What would be lost if I stopped doing it? 2. Review your list of tasks that are no longer relevant with your boss for agreement. 3. Make a new, shorter list of on

What do exercise and refrigerators have to do with workarounds? In the world of work, unfinished tasks, projects, and objectives all hold a certain amount of your mental energy, attention, or focus. When you get something done, whatever energy, attention, or focus you had invested in that incomplete item is released and becomes available to you. In

If an organization is going to efficiently change directions, adopt new strategies, or simply set new goals, a worthwhile exercise would be to ask three basic pruning questions: • Based on the new direction, strategy, or goal, what should we start doing? • Based on the new direction, strategy, or goal, what should we stop doing? • Based on the new

On the work front, many of us have tasks to perform that lack the kind of clarity found in exercising, especially in terms of a defined purpose, outcome, and deliverable. If you can assign yourself these attributes for your work, you may notice that you actually start to feel the same kind of response as when you exercise.

You can start by taking a comprehensive look at the list of things you have on your plate and then simply asking yourself three questions: “Why is this on my plate?” “What difference does it make?” “Who would notice if I didn’t do it?”