"Don't confuse activity with achievement." -- John Wooden, American college basketball coach.
Output, Not Busywork: The True Key to Productivity |
All my career, I've personal fought my tendency to "stay busy," as if by doing so, I'll inevitably be more productive...as if constantly getting things done, one after another, were somehow enough to ensure success. Intellectually, it takes very little effort to refute this tendency, though the proof never seems to get through to the people who need it most-from the $100-an-hour executive micromanaging his $10-an-hour assistant, to the teams who spend fifteen hours a week in meetings and spin off report after report, trying to figure out why they aren't more profitable.
Hard work is necessary to succeed in any job, but you have to work on the right things. As former Intel CEO Andrew Grove once noted, "Stressing output is the key to improving productivity, while looking to increase activity can result in just the opposite." Grove offers a unique perspective on work and productivity. Born András Gróf in a Hungarian Jewish family in 1936, he and his mother barely escaped the Nazi occupation of their country during World War II, when Hitler's troops rounded up 500,000 Jews and deported them to slave labor camps. His father wasn't so lucky.
After the War, Gróf and his family faced Soviet-inspired fascism and 1956's Hungarian Revolution, a popular uprising brutally quashed by the Communist government. During the confusion, Gróf escaped to the West, changed his name, and entered college with little more than a passion for learning. By 1963 he'd earned a B.S. and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. His success as a researcher in the semiconductor industry eventually propelled him into management, where he excelled. By the mid-1990s, he was widely regarded as one of the best businessmen in America. Points to Ponder If you're having trouble determining whether your team is productive or just busy, assume the latter. Productivity should be glaringly obvious. But if any doubts linger, consider these points:
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1. How measurable are your goals? Everything you do should be aimed toward accomplishing something profitable. Clarify your goals with your team if they are confused about the current priorities. If you can't tell how a team member's daily activity moves you toward your goal in some way, it's suspect. Always track the results of your efforts to reach your goals with easily readable metrics.
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A Special Message from Laura |
Napoleon Hill's book Think and Grow Rich made a profound impact upon me as a young adult. So when I was asked to be featured in an interview on "The Power of Self-Discipline" with his grandson, J.B. Hill, and fellow speaker Jim Cathcart, I was thrilled. That recording, along with 16 other recordings with experts such as Ken Blanchard, Brian Tracy, and Harvey Mackay, have been compiled into an album called "17 Principles of Success" and released by Nightingale Conant.
As an introduction to this amazing resource, Nightingale is offering the complimentary "Napoleon Hill 17 Success Principles Reality Plan." It will motivate and inspire you, while giving you added focus, as well as the action steps that will propel you to greater levels of achievement, contentment, and successful living. Each component of this download serves a different purpose. One will give you the focus you need to change your life in dramatic ways. The next will present high-impact ideas that will keep you motivated and on track. And the last will reinforce Napoleon Hill's amazing principles, so you can improve who you are and what you accomplish. Please feel free to share this gift with friends and loved ones.
Laura
Thanks for reading! Make it a productive day.™ |
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All Articles (C) 2013 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. This information may not be distributed, sold, publicly presented, or used in any other manner, except as described below. Permission to reprint all or part of this article in your magazine, e-zine, website, blog, or organization newsletter is hereby GRANTED, provided: (1) The ENTIRE credit line below is present, (2) the website link to www.TheProductivityPro.com is clickable (LIVE), and (3) you send a copy, PDF, link, tearsheet, etc. of the work in which the article is used when published.
This credit line MUST be reprinted in its entirety to use any articles from Laura Stack: (C) 2013 Laura Stack. Laura Stack is America's premier expert in personal productivity. For over 20 years, her speeches and seminars have helped professionals, leaders, teams, and organizations improve output, execute efficiently, and save time at work. She's the author or coauthor of 10 books, most recently, What to Do When There's Too Much to Do. To invite Laura to speak at your next meet or register for her free monthly newsletter, visit www.TheProductivityPro.com. |
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