May 2013
 |
| Learn the purpose behind the chart and the Blackberry. |
As I mentioned last month, my two Accountability Partners and I have reinvigorated "Todd's Results." The overall intent is to make my accountability program more "meaty" and less "rote." Thus, at our May planning meeting, we evaluated the tasks in each of our three focus areas and ...
- Kept the most useful "Routine" tasks, yet changed them into a checklist format requiring little discussion.
- Added more "Substantive" tasks to focus on moving the business forward, achieving the "intent" of the tasks, not merely the "mechanics."
Our goal was to have fewer tasks, yet increase their effectiveness by better linking
them to strategic goals, while increasing the depth and future-orientation of the task.
The three of us just met to go over my May results. How did this go? Extraordinarily well! As planned, we quickly dispensed with the "Routine" tasks, allowing time for in-depth discussions on the "Substantive" tasks. I described what I did and was quizzed on specifics, then we all discussed my performance against the intent of the task. Finally, we agreed on the “Substantive” tasks for the upcoming month.
One of my Accountability Partners said "I am thrilled with the results! This is EXACTLY what I wanted to see happen!" In May, because I was VERY focused on completing a smaller number of key tasks, ONE month of SUBSTANTIVE tasks seemed comparable to FOUR months of ROUTINE tasks. In other words, my effectiveness shot up – the whole point of restructuring the "behind the scenes" of "Todd's Results."
Lesson learned? During May, while I was doing these tasks, nothing FELT different. Yet once we sat down and reviewed the month, my results and actual effectiveness were MUCH improved! To me, a fewer number of deeper activities FELT like a larger number of surface activities – or, as John Maxwell would say, "Activity Is Not Necessarily Accomplishment."
