Hi
Thank you for being a reader of Transition Edge. Please feel free to forward it to friends who you think might enjoy it too.
I’m Grant Symons. I convene Transition Edge to help us understand how we can transition to a low carbon sustainable world using leading thinking and practices.
Whether you are a director, CEO, head of department, business owner, team leader, work on the frontline or do the real work of holding down the home duties, you will know how important focus is to productivity and ultimately success.
Last week I met with a colleague for breakfast and during the conversation we touched on the importance of knowing yourself, knowing those around you and knowing where you are headed. We contemplated that with those things in place we would expect the odds of success emerging from our individual and collective efforts to be improved. Of course there is a constant energy and effort required in any endeavor and it turns
out that less friction, less dissonance and less distraction does wonders for increasing the odds of making progress and ultimately being successful.
After the conversation I reflected on just how many potential distractions and disruptions there are that can pull us off course or cause us to lose our focus and dissipate our energy. It occurred to me that it might be of value to some of you if I shared the practices I use (well.....most of the time!), not because I think they are right, but because they might provide an
idea that works for you.
Through my career of constant change, projects, assignments, gigs - I have found the following to be most useful.
- The focusing question
- A brisk walk
- Structured and deliberate commitments to colleagues
The all time great focusing question in my opinion is: The 'One Thing' popularised by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. It goes like this: “What’s the ONE Thing I can do / such that by doing it / everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” There is a trick in applying this, which is to do so at multiple levels. For example, once in a while I will apply it at the contextual and
strategic level and then follow that up with weekly and daily for any important focus.
A brisk walk seems to do wonders. Apparently it is much better if it is in the bush/nature and we are walking over undulating ground. This makes your brain work overtime and together with the increased blood flow and rhythm of walking - ideas, conscious and subconscious thoughts seem to fall into place. I have had many AHA moments walking my local bush track, but these days have to write them
down promptly before I forget them !
It is great being part of a team. Whether it is family, business, a project, sport or a mission of any sort - every team is built on a set of agreements and commitments. Working together, plotting, estimating and planning all lead to the need to maintain focus and direct our energy purposefully. Combining this one with the focusing question and the brisk walk can be a killer app.
So there we have some options that might boost your focus and returns on your invested energy. Let us know how you go...!
