Skip to content →

Tag: increase initiative and productivity

3 questions for a winning week

Published September 11, 2011 by Jo Jordan

“It’s time to get up. The time is 6:30.”  Who in the world does not get up to those words or some close equivalent?  And who does not turn over and wait for the reminder ten minutes later, “It’s time to get up.  The time is 6:40”.

Psychologists spend a lot of time wondering situations like these where we just cannot gather the will power to do something – or when we appear to procrastinate. Sports people have simpler explanations.

  • Are we trying to take charge of a game?
  • Do we have some energy and pace?
  • Are we paying attention to what needs to be done right now?

Or alternatively:

  • Have I thought through what it means to have a winning day (rather than just a day)?
  • What do I need to do right now (rather than what others need me to do)?
  • Am I enjoying focusing all my attention on the task of the moment?

Knowing these questions probably won’t make me better friends with my phone when I am woken before I am ready to wake up but it sure makes planning my week a lot more fun.

  • What is winning to me?
  • What needs my attention right now?
  • Am I enjoying this?

I hope these questions help you turn some tiresome weeks into weeks that are easier and more enjoyable.

CHECKOUT SIMILAR POSTS

Leave a Comment

Leadership parables

Published November 15, 2008 by Jo Jordan

Weekend special.  Leadership from the top or from the bottom?

Good pic for a lecture on leadership and organizational design.

obama1.jpg

obama2.jpg

Customized shoes by Van.

For those mulling over HR and the recession

Have we organized the work in the organization so every person on the edge can use their skills, and the situations that arise in their patch, to advance our cause?

The genius of the Obama campaign machinery is that they provided the resources to do a good job (communication channels, how-to-do manuals, moment-to-moment goals e.g. make 100 000 calls) and let people get on with it!

Let’s tell the stories of what works well and do more of it?

What are the great HR stories where we have helped managers focus the management system to (a) reduce management cost and (b) increase initiative and productivity?

And did we manage to pass on the gains to the workforce?

Mmmm, lets publish the success stories of  HR and the recession.  The press will do a fine job for the downside.

See you on the brightside?

Leave a Comment