How do you Get Things Done?
When I first start working with a client we develop awareness of their current experience. Since people hire me to help with follow-through we pay lots of attention to how they get things done – how they work and how they don’t work. In order to make lasting positive shifts in our daily experience we need to get a clear picture of our current work experience.
Know your equipment Know the course
The overworked Global Creative is so busy tending to immediate demands and obligations that it is difficult to get perspective on their work experience. Waiting till it’s done for you (formal eval) can have dire results. Doing your own informal eval or 360 review is a good idea and can give you insight into necessary adjustments in getting things done.
The busy Global Creative often gets things done as fast and quickly as possible tapping into the urgency in the moment. A car race is a good analogy here – the car representing their brain, the race course representing their daily actions and maneuvers.
Are you like a top fuel dragster using up all your fuel (and attention and energy) in the first 1/4 mile?
So what? I like to go fast and straight, Cam!
What if your race course is a serpentine road course?
Every day professionals are faced with emerging challenges and split second decisions. Their race course is rarely straight and true but rather more like a road course with hair-pin turns, nerve wracking finishes and the chance for victory. The executive with high energy ADHD can race through the day at breakneck speed, wheels screeching at every turn (responding to the latest and loudest) but this can also leave him and his team exhausted at the end of the day. Inattentive type, low energy ADHD folks who struggle with task activation can spend too much time back at the garage under the hood adjusting every little component of the race car (checking email or fine tuning their lists). Truth be told everyone has about 2 hours of daily access to their pre-frontal cortex - the executive function region of the brain responsible for successful decision making and transitions like timely starts and finishes to an action.
Both would benefit from a more casual tour of the race car and of the race track. Take a practice lap (do a few key actions you are paid to complete) and look around:
Notice how the car responds. Notice how it doesn’t. Are you getting the most out of your vehicle?
Notice those who are ready be your pit crew (support people).
Notice the lay out of the course (your daily responsibilities and obligations).
Ask for informal feedback. Are you running the race you need to be running (adding stand out value)? What is the expectation? Are you trying to break the course record when what is expected is a consistent showing?
Are you consistently finishing in the top 10 or showing up as a DNF (Did Not Finish)?
Are you trying to race a dragster (one and done) in an off-road race like the Baja 1000 that requires stamina and long term strategy?
If you are white knuckling it around the track then finessing your vehicle, having a sense of the layout of the track, and accessing your pit crew (delegating to key supporters) can seem impossible. Drop down a gear and notice your surroundings. Real race car drivers spend hours on the practice track refining skills, optimizing equipment and developing a winning strategy. Once you have accurate awareness of your equipment and your mission then you can really make things happen.