by Richard Martin
People brag these days about being so busy that they can’t answer all their emails, or even all their phone messages. Busyness and hurriedness are praised as if they were virtues. Notice I didn’t say efficiency or effectiveness. We confuse being constantly occupied and on the run with performing at a high level and being effective.
If you can’t take time to look to the future, or to assess where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re headed, then it’s time to slow down. Slowing down to go faster and to be more effective and efficient only seems paradoxical. But if you never take time to think, or even to just let your mind wander, how can you come up with innovative ideas, creative approaches, and unusual perspectives? As the old saying goes, haste leads to waste. But it also leads to habits and well-worn paths. As I learned in the army, it’s on the usual path that ambushes occur. If you want to seize and maintain the initiative, you must do something unusual. And if you’re too busy to plan, you’ll always be in reaction mode and will cede the advantage to others.
What can you do if you’re harried and “too busy to plan”?
- Set aside regular down time to rest and recover.
- Do an after-action review after each major undertaking to generate lessons learned and incorporate them into your processes and thinking.
- Use your best time for the most impactful thinking, forecasting, and planning. In other words, don’t try to do your most important work when you’re tired, worn out, and in a rush to get home or get on the next flight.
- Don’t do busy work when you travel. Use that time to read, think, let your mind wander.
- Read a lot in a lot of different areas, including fiction, history, philosophy, and science.
- Exercise and do recreational activities regularly.
- Play games and listen to music.
Think I’m being frivolous? Well, research shows that top performers in all fields undertake deliberate practice, which is difficult and draining, and then rest regularly. How can you come up with your best ideas and think things through when you’re constantly running from one thing to another?
Not only is it undignified, but it undermines your performance.
Richard Martin’s Business Readiness Process:
- Ensure vigilance through situational awareness.
- Do preliminary assessment of tasks and time.
- Activate organization or team.
- Conduct reconnaissance.
- Do detailed situational estimate.
- Conduct wargame and decide on optimal course(s) of action.
- Perform risk management and contingency planning.
- Communicate plan and issue direction.
- Build organizational robustness.
- Ensure operational continuity.
- Lead and control execution.
- Assess performance.
Contact me to apply the whole thing–or just a piece, as needed–to improve your strategy, your readiness… and your results!
Did you know that an infantry battalion only needs about 3 to 4 hours of prep and planning time to be battle ready? What are you waiting for to get the same benefits for your outfit?
Why Sunday and What Does “Stand To” Mean?
Sunday? I want you to get my insights and advice first and fast, so you can prepare and up your readiness and results before others even know what’s happening!
And Stand To? It’s the order used in the military to get forces to man the parapets and be in a heightened state of situational awareness and, yes, readiness, so they can face any threat or undertake any mission.
My name is Richard Martin and I’m an expert on applying readiness principles to position companies and leaders to grow and thrive by shaping and exploiting change and opportunity, instead of just passively succumbing to uncertainty and risk.
© 2017 Alcera Consulting Inc. This article may be used for non-commercial use with proper attribution.