Monthly Archives: June 2013

#158 Waiting

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The point of performance (POP) is where victory and defeat, success or failure is decided. Some examples of very brief or ephemeral POPs:

  • A 100 meters sprint in the Olympic lasts less than 10 seconds.
  • A free throw in basketball has to be made within ten seconds.
  • You get less than a minute to make a positive impression in your first meeting.
  • The tone for a phone screen for a job is set in the first few minutes.

The preparation for those few moments is much, much longer than a few seconds or minutes. In the case of the Olympics it is every four years. You get a few seconds or minutes to execute on a few years of preparation. Those who argue with this reality stand no chance of success. Actually, those who argue will have no shot at even being able to participate/compete.

Prepare for the next meeting with your boss or your customer as if it is the 100 meters sprint in the Olympics. Meaning, prepare well, relax yourself before the event, be absolutely in the moment, and surrender yourself completely as you do your thing. Don’t let those vital seconds and minutes overwhelm you. There will be another race waiting, whether you win or lose this one.

Life in the workplace is a series of short sprints. Be sure to pace yourself like a marathon.

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#157 The Random Question

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This is probably the biggest productivity loss in the workplace. The “random question.” The question that comes out of the blue, seems unrelated to the task at hand, to the priorities, or to a corporate initiative. The question that is asked to satisfy a curiosity.

People ask questions in an attempt to be helpful. But they don’t realize the corporate overhead being added when the receiver takes time to decode the question. Not to mention the frustration, or wasted time in answering frivolous questions.

The person asking the question will not feel it is random (of course not!). The person asking the question has the duty to be simple and clear when asking the question. If you are not getting an answer, it is likely you don’t have the attention of the receiver, or the receiver is simply out of bandwidth to answer your question. Don’t ask a question just because you can.

In a busy and fast moving workplace, the person tasked with answering the question has mere seconds to decide whether to ignore, deflect, or answer the question. A wrong choice could be career limiting.

Action items handed out by executives and senior managers sometimes fall in this category. The “problem of the day” is not as important as the strategic choices made in the planning phase.

You did have a planning session, right?

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