“It’s people that are difficult,” Marion began. “Keeping a machine productive is easy. I can calculate its capacity and then stack work in front of it accordingly. But people aren’t machines. How can I calculate capacity and then stack work in front of people?”

“Machines are easier,” I replied. “Machines work the same way, day in, day out. People don’t. People are subject to daily changes and long term changes. As a Manager, you have to stay in front of that growth curve.

“When you look at the role of each of your team members, let’s start with these three questions.

• What is the work that is necessary in each team member’s role?
• What is it that you do, as a Manager, that is helpful in their work?
• What is it that you do, as a Manager, that hampers their work?

Marion smiled, “Well, I already know that.”

“Perhaps, but you might compare notes with your team members.” -TF

“It’s the difference between work and non-work,” I said. “Both work and non-work are states of mind. Non-work is an unconscious state of mind. Work is a conscious state of mind. Non-work just happens on its own with no particular direction. Work only happens when there is a purpose.”

Nathan and I had been discussing a simple start to a meeting where he asked each team member to contribute a piece of good news to start the meeting.

“So, you are connecting this exercise at the beginning of the meeting with a state of mind?” Nathan asked.

“Absolutely,” I responded. “Thoughts drive behavior. And if your thoughts connect to a purpose, then you are more likely to engage in work. If your thoughts are not connected to a purpose, then your behavior is likely to be unconscious and non-productive. How you think is everything.” -TF

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Our next Leadership class in Fort Lauderdale starts April 23. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Phillip arrived at the appointed time. “I think I am ready,” he announced. “You asked me to think about where we will be, what our target is.”

He described in some detail the three goals his team had set, what success looked like. It was my turn.

“So, now that you have painted this picture of the future, what habits will serve you? What do you need to do every day, every week that will deliver consistent results?”

It took Phillip some time to get cranked up. “My team is a sales team. Our job is to be in the field talking to prospective customers, every day. We sat down yesterday and looked at how much face time we really have with customers. We were shocked when we mapped it out. Only forty five minutes a day, on average for each of the five days last week.”

“So, what do you need to change?” I asked.

“I know it doesn’t seem like much, but we are going to try to double our face time. Ninety minutes per day spent with prospective customers.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

“We have been in the rut of just waiting for the phone to ring, so we haven’t been thinking very far into the future. We have been just reacting. As a team, by 5:00pm on Friday, every week, we will have met and shared our appointment schedules for the following week. We are going to keep a rolling calendar 7 days into the future. The target is to get seven hours of face time scheduled by Friday for the following week.”

“Good,” I said. “I will see you here on Friday. I would like to sit in and see how this works for you.” -TF
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Phillip was interested because his team performance, heck, his performance wasn’t getting the results he expected. It wasn’t getting the results he wanted. We were talking about habits.

“So, how do I pick the right habits? Just tell me what to do and I will do it,” Phillip asked, sounding this side of desperate.

“I can’t tell you what habits to choose,” I replied. “You have to pick your habits, they have to be yours.”

“Yes, but where do I start? Everything sounds like a Boy Scout promise. Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly.”

“That’s not a bad list, but a random list of Pollyanna habits will only get you to a random destination. You have to be much more deliberate. You asked where to start? Where do I always want you to start?”

It took a second to kick in, but Phillip knew the drill by now. “You always want me to start where I plan to finish.”

“Exactly. Work backwards from your destination. You have to build into your thinking, those habits that will carry you in the right direction. Here is your assignment. Meet me here tomorrow with a word picture (your vision) of what life is like when you get there. Then we will talk about the habits you may want to choose.” -TF
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Our next Leadership Program in Fort Lauderdale begins Monday, February 26. Visit www.workingleadership.com.

“Seventy percent of goal.” Phillip was exasperated. Month end review was not kind.

“So, what is causing the shortfall?” I asked.

“Well, for the past two years, we have only had to answer the phone, but the market is getting tighter. We are trying hard to get more proactive, but it’s not enough.”

“So, what has to change?”

Phillip was quiet. I knew he had been working long hours, but not getting the right results.

“Look, Phillip, what happens to us in life doesn’t happen because we choose it or want it. In life, you will never ever get what you want. You will only get what your habits deliver.

“If you want to make a change, you only have to look at your habits. What you are doing, over and over, day after day, delivers the consistent results you receive. An occasional effort brings an occasional result.

“What are your habits? What habits do you choose to make a change?” -TF

Marcus was already in the conference room when I arrived. He had some papers spread on the table. I could tell by the look on his face he already had the answer. We were drilling down on an installation project that was under water.

“I knew when you asked for the production reports,” he started, “that we would find the problem within 30 seconds.”

“And?” I queried.

“You don’t even have to read the reports. The first three weeks, things are very repetitive. So repetitive that, starting in the fourth week, you can tell someone just photocopied the reports from the week before. The only change is the date at the top of the page. Then starting in week six, the reports stop.”

“And what does that tell you?”

“Well,” Marcus grimaced, “the quality of these reports follows exactly the real production curve in the field. We were meeting targets for the first three weeks. Things began to slide in week four and by week six, things went to hell in a hand basket.

“This is a very repetitive job, and it is very apparent that the weekly planning process just stopped. Everyone figured they would just keep working instead of stepping back to check progress and adjust. It seemed so simple, they lost the discipline of planning.

“The managers probably saved three hours per week in planning and checking, but lost more than 180 man hours in productivity. And they didn’t even know it until it was too late.”

“What’s the lesson?” I asked.

“Don’t get lulled in by the appearance of simplicity. You still have to plan and check. In this case, the payoff would have been three hours to save 180 hours.” TF