Reflections on Perception

I’m foolishly recovering from a fortunately small and easily removed metal fragment in my eye. Reflection number 1 is “all the gear, all the time, no matter how short or quick the job is”.

I work a lot on my own in my shed, and have a pretty high standard on safety gear. And I took a “shortcut” which has taken a lot longer to resolve than slowing down for the couple of minutes to get my safety specs from where I used them last. Working in company, we can keep an eye on the safe practices of others around us. Alone, not so much. If you work alone a self prompted review (preferably without a GP) is well worth it.

The perception of shortcuts and too busy pop up regularly in the coaching work I do with leaders. Themes like:

• It’s faster to do it myself

• I haven’t got time to give people the reasons for what I'm asking, they just need to get on with it.

• I know I should do more about health, exercise, sleep, food, etc, but I don’t have time.

There are many like these, and I can relate to all of them. The short term may show a tempting illusion of being faster, but ultimately all these “shortcuts” involve do-overs or repairs of some kind. A couple of useful questions are:

• How can I build capacity and strengthen relationships as I do this? While doing so may take a little longer, in the long run the trust and capacity built will speed us up.

• What are the negative consequences of this “shortcut”?

• What are the actual risks of rushing this?

Not surprisingly, today I’m feeling more one-eyed about this than I might otherwise…And I’m counting my blessings.

The Busy Dillema

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I was working with a leader (let’s call her Beth) last week who echoed a familiar theme. Busy! Not just with ‘busy work’. Beth faces a continual assault of important things joining her action list. Much of it is ‘Mission Critical’ - left for too long it becomes both important and urgent. Like many, she feels the timeframe for action is getting compressed. The result? Close range focus and compelling reactivity. Both feed the sense of urgent transactional pressure. So how the hell do you add clarity in the midst of that!

One of the simplest levers is to look for recurring patterns and see if you can inject clarity early. Beth works in human services and has an important customer whose service sometimes reaches a crisis point where their family gets involved. At a minimum, this requires some careful communication. At worst it results in a formal complaint and mandated response/action. The urgent (and important) requirement to respond adds pressure to Beth, her team and the person receiving the service.

When we unpacked it in detail, most of the issues arise because the family doesn't have enough information about what is happening. The family, Beth and her team spend hours (sometimes days) resolving the situation. When Beth contacts the family regularly to update them on the service, the larger concerns are dealt with while they are still manageable. It adds clarity for everyone. Adding a regular call or visit to update the family saves time and adds value for everyone involved.

The challenge for Beth is she is genuinely busy. The service is mostly going well. Making those regular calls will be in competition with many other urgent tasks. AND proactive action like this always creates clarity, capacity and alleviates pressure.

What are the recurring pressure points for you? What action could you take to add clarity and reduce the pressure?

Bulls and Boardrooms

I stood on the sideline of the auction yards, hoping to buy a bull that (in my opinion) was the finest animal on the lot. It would be a great addition to the farm breeding stock. Two bids later, I stepped back and watched the price climb. Maybe I was right about it being the best bull. It sold for the top price. I eventually secured a lesser bull. I made the decision without supervision and using someone else's money. The farmer I worked for was a master of delegation. He had given me a signed blank cheque and sent me to the annual sale alone. His instructions were simple. “Buy the best bull you can. Don’t spend more than $1500.” When I got back I told him about the best bull, and together we admired the one I had purchased.

I’ve often thought of him when I lead others and work with leaders. One of the most significant roles of a leader, all the way to the boardroom, is delegation. Despite delegating all the time, there’s often unnecessary friction because we don’t always do it well.

What that farmer did very well was define the task or territory - Best bull possible at or below $1500. My task was epic for my age and experience, but the parameters were crystal clear. I knew precisely what was in and out of my authority that day. He also backed the decision I had made.

When we are delegating, we can reduce friction significantly by clearly discussing what is in and out of the territory. Sometimes there will be grey areas, in which case discuss the triggers to refer back for more information or support.

And get really good at accepting the outcomes of delegated territory. Questioning or criticising decisions and actions makes it much less likely that people will want to act for you next time round.

How and where could you improve your capacity for delegation?

A Killer Checklist

I use and recommend checklists widely as a highly effective Capacity raising tool. A question I often get, especially from busy leaders who are implementing them for the first time is “How do I create a truly effective checklist?”. If you are making one for the first time, brain dump as many things as you can think of in appropriate detail. Then refine using these 4 elements.

1. Use it - The best checklists are the ones you use. A brilliant one left on the shelf is no use at all.

2. Storage - I store mine in a separate notebook in OneNote. Each has its own page. This means I can use it on any device and it updates to all of them.

3. Aide Memoire - the pre takeoff checklist I use is HTMPFFIC. It’s easier to remember that than the separate elements. (More on that checklist later). Is there a way you can make it more memorable?

4. Evolution - As you use it, notice how effective it is. Does it need evolving? Evolution could be simplified by grouping together or adding more detail. When I was instructing survival I simplified by adding “Survival Belt” to my list, rather than the 50+ individual items in the belt. When I pack for a presentation I separate Computer, Power Cables, and Adaptors because each is mission critical and they are stored in different places. I also evolve checklists by updating them on the spot if there are gaps or unnecessary steps. Over a few uses they become highly refined and effective.

The process seems slow when you are building a checklist, but they speed you up and reduce stress later. Well worth the investment.

I find the holidays a great time to practise. You can build checklists for relatively low consequence events and test them out. Planning/packing for holidays is a great one, because it's enjoyable.

Frontloading for Capacity

I’ve had a small store and ready room added to my office. My business had outgrown my office space. Even when I was relatively ordered and organised, it was cluttered. The store means I have spaces designed for frontloading.

Front loading = Removing future controllable stress.

An example is a shelf dedicated to the equipment I need for live, face to face experiences. There are 3 shelves. One holds equipment that I often use but not every time. One is essential equipment. One holds consumables I use in my presentations.

I recently flew to Sydney at short notice for a conference keynote. The shelf eliminated packing stress. I could quickly and easily see everything I needed, and load it into the carry on bag that is now stored under the shelf. Along with a refined checklist (more on this later), packing was quick and stress free.

When I’m done, I replace items on the shelf and restock what I used. This takes discipline. I’m not always great at that part, but it’s an easy investment now, for a future benefit. The better I frontload, the more Capacity I have to deal with high cadence periods of work.

What/how could you front load to increase your capacity?

Capacity for Empathy

People close to me have gone through some challenging stuff in the last while. Some of it has been personal, some professional. In every case it’s been caused or exacerbated by a lack of empathy.

We have no idea what is happening in the whole of someone’s life. We usually just see the parts we are directly involved in or that they choose to share. Firing harsh shots at people has impacts, often far beyond what you see, and certainly beyond what you intend. Growing our capacity for empathy is part of the success recipe.

Many people at the moment are tired and maxed out in all kinds of ways. If you are also at or past your maximum it can be challenging to find empathy. Here are some mindsets I find helpful:

• Assume people are acting with good intent, and to the best of their ability. What they are doing may not be ideal, but chances are they are doing the best they can with what they have.

• Be Kind. Don’t fire harsh/cruel/provocative shots. There’s a saying that is attributed to many people, who knows where it actually came from - It suggests “Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful.” It’s great advice. Ideally tick all 4, but I reckon at least 3 of 4 is the threshold. Be especially mindful of this if you are feeling hurt or unjustly treated. Start with yourself - sometimes we can be our own harshest critic - My inner voice can say unkind things to me I would never say to someone else.

• Focus on issues, not people. Help the people around you to do the same. A sub standard piece of work needs to be sorted, but don’t use it to attack the individual. Even if there are serious performance issues, deal with issues, don’t attack the person.

• If you do stuff this up (and all of us have moments where we are more reactive than we wanted to be) genuinely apologise and do your best to repair the damage. Extend grace to others when they are trying to fix things with you.

When we are overloaded, tired, sick, hurting, grieving or struggling in other ways, none of this is easy. But it always gets us further and faster than the alternatives.

Slow Death of an Option

Our leader from last week had decided to ‘kill off an option’. It turned out the decision was quickly and easily made when examined in the light of Capacity and her intended direction.

Implementing the decision will take longer. It’s tempting once a decision has been made, to rush toward the end state. Sometimes we can and it’s the best thing to do. Sometimes we have to move slower.

Her decision executed well will require some planning time, pitching her most preferred alternative to her current boss, plus recruitment and training time in a tight market. All up, that may take 8-12 weeks.

She’d love to rush forward, but the higher value comes now from doing it well. That will set her up for longer term success.

Do the options you need to kill need a quick death or a slow one?

Decide - Choosing Leadership Capacity

I was coaching a dynamic younger leader who has some ambitious goals for herself and business. The biggest barrier she faces is Capacity. Her week is filled to bursting point with highly focussed activity. We mapped the week, and there is very little space. She is very efficient as well, so the gains from doing things better are small and far between.

What really stood out was one massive commitment she has. It’s important, but not aligned with where she is heading. I asked what is stopping her from moving on from it. It is a potential opportunity. It’s aligned with her values and she feels she could make a difference by following it. I was reminded of advice from one of my mentors Matt Church. Matt, unpacked the meaning of the word decide for me - it literally means “To kill off options”. For me, that insight was liberating.

Every day as leaders and in life, we are faced with more options than we have capacity to deal with. Many of them are exciting, interesting and valid.

The young leader said, “I’m just spreading myself too thin”.

Can you relate to that? I know I can from time to time, although I’m getting better at it.

“Killing an option” is a useful frame. It doesn’t mean that it’s a bad option, in fact it’s only a challenge if it’s a great option. If it’s not 100% aligned with our primary direction and highest order priorities then kill it off (at least for now). Doing so liberates time, energy and headspace which all = Capacity.

Are there options you need to kill?

Increasing Capacity

I recently did a VO2 Max test. It’s a measure of aerobic fitness - The higher your score the higher your capacity for physical work. It’s a measure of my current ‘set point’ for aerobic Capability. It wasn’t great. Above average, but only just.

Any aspect of our leadership also has a ‘set point’ for capacity. It’s the limit we can currently hold.

There are 2 ways to increase Capacity

1. Make more space by removing other loads. For leaders examples might be outsourcing low value tasks, focussing on highest order priorities, removing distractions (eg turning off message notifications). In my VO2 Max example this would be like accepting my current time to walk 5km, and making the time by prioritising it over, say Netflix. Making space is about priority and choices. Removing or reducing something to make more space for something else.

2. Increase Capability. For leaders examples might be increasing skills in delegation, decision making, critical thinking, direction setting, team leadership or technical abilities related to role. For my VO2 Max, I could build up to running 5km. Now I can cover the same distance in less time. Capability is about learning, stress testing and developing either skill or resilience for a level of work. BTW that usually requires making some space for it, at least in the short term.

What could you let go of to create greater Capacity?

What could you focus on to create greater Capacity?

What areas could you develop greater Capacity in?

Now… I’m off for a run.

Capacity Building

Bonita Nuttall makes a really important distinction between Capability and Capacity.

They are clearly related. If we have a higher level of Capability, we are more likely to be efficient and effective, which positively impacts Capacity. But if we are already filled to Capacity, there’s no room to exercise capability.

Finding Unusual Links

What have financial forecasting, survival and leadership capacity got to do with each other? This Friday I’m joining Michael Ford, CEO of Castaway Forecasting on Nick Samios’ Lunch Money podcast.

We’ll be exploring what leaders can do in messy, unpredictable and uncertain times. Among other mindsets, we’ll be talking about the value of forecasting possible outcomes to the situation you are in. This isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about maintaining mental flexibility to deal with a range of possibilities. Let’s take a doomsday prepper and an athlete who is sure they will win. Both are forecasting.

The pessimistic prepper invests time and resources to be ready for a bleak future. If their scenario comes true, it’s the best ‘I told you so’ story in history (assuming there’s anyone left to tell). Any other scenario will likely see them completely unprepared.

The athlete’s envisaged win is way more positive than the prepper, but if reality strays from their perfect outcome, they may be just as stuck.

Leadership includes the capacity to imagine many different outcomes, play them through and anticipate what you might do differently. The key is not to buy into them. Winning forecasts add pressure if you are losing. Doomsday forecasts add pressure if something unanticipated comes along. Consider many possibilities. Hold them lightly and accept whatever reality throws at you.

If you’d like to listen to the Lunch Money podcast episode here’s the link.