Deliberate Design

In a day and age where unending stimuli is competing for our attention - work, life, ads, social media, and more, along with the never-ending to-do list, it’s understandable that we can sometimes feel like we do not have enough time.

Here’s a reflection prompt for you:

How much of your day-to-day is deliberately designed by you vs. a reaction to the day happening? What would your days look like if you controlled your time and how would you approach the structure?

As I think about both my personal and professional life - I have missed holding myself accountable to my highest and best self. Every time I have rangled myself back to sanity, I use the same framework I apply as an operations executive. I will outline a high-level framework below.

1. Clarify your key outcomes - 

1. Business - Net profit margin? Revenue growth? Customer acquisition cost? Customer satisfaction? % of repeat customers?

2. Personal -  VO2max? Grip strength? Squat personal record? % of time spent with family? # of brunches with friends? # of vacations taken a year? Annual dividend income?

2. Priorities your priorities - 

1. Business and personal - if everything is a priority, then nothing is. Everything cannot be #1. Review step 1 and prioritize them from most to least important. Sometimes your outcomes are related to each other - reflect and rank. 

Executing these first two steps allows you to get clear with yourself on what matters most to you. This arms you with the ability to say, “no” clearly anchored in alignment with the best interest of your business / you. This also streamlines where you will make investments to accelerate your results and increase effectiveness. 

1. Quality over everything else. 

1. Business and personal - create projects, take ground, or invest in resources to get to your key outcomes. You can go the long road and self-educate yourself to master all elements of your business or you can identify experts to partner with to help get your business where you want it to go while learning along the way. This is a journey until you have a repeatable system that performs consistently - once you have reached that point, be unrelenting in producing quality over everything.

2. Appreciate the process.

1. Business - constant pressure and overload will lead to your burnout and any partners, employers, or contractors you may have. Focus on sustainability - you have chosen the right things to focus on to get you the outcomes you're navigating towards and now it’s execution. This leads to a healthier you, and a healthier team which can help increase alignment to purpose, and employee engagement and reduce turnover.

2. Personal - you know where you are heading, now it’s the repetitions and time to execute. Enjoy the process of execution and improvement - progress over perfection. This leads to a healthier you individually and in relation with others that can also inspire others to take part in their own journeys. 

3. Be proactive.

1. Business - if you are seeking to increase revenues, decrease costs, and so on, look toward your customers and have a clear understanding of their evolving needs. Be proactive and curious in always seeking to understand your customer the best and providing them value to meet their needs vs. pushing to the items you think they want. In engineering terms, this is called a “pull-based system” where a business is responsive to actual needs, rather than “pushing” tasks through a system. This can lead to more effective business operations.

What are some tactical actions you can walk away with right now? Reflect and jot them down in your notebook or journal. 

Here are some practical ways to inspire some thoughts:

1. Strategic Planning - what is the desired end result and how will you know when you are there? Quantify it. Periodize long-term goals.

2. Time Management - structure your days with the right balance of “thinking time” and deliberate project time. Commit to not losing your time to the ‘reactions of the day.’

3. Project Selection - implement a system to take in and prioritize projects based on alignment to your vision and key objectives. Not every project is worth doing right now (or indefinitely).

4. Performance Reviews - have transparent reviews and discussions on how much ground has been taken against the key outcomes vs on volume of tasks being done

5. Culture - take accountability for your actions as a leader to impact culture in every interaction. Provide clear communication, transparency on expectations, tools, and resources to be successful, and holding yourself and the team accountable, supports a thriving culture and organization.

Overall, businesses and individuals can achieve greater operational effectiveness through clarity, prioritized work, appreciation of the journey, and periodic reviews to gauge progress. It’s a shift from doing everything, all the time, immediately, to do the right things well.