IF WE’RE SO BUSY, WHY AREN’T WE GETTING ANYTHING DONE?

Are you perpetually stuck in the weeds? This useful tool will help you find and root out the weeds in your business landscape.

• NOW VERSUS LATER. If you or your team is in firefighting mode, and not thinking about the future, you’re in the weeds.
• HOW VERSUS WHAT (OR WHY). If you are focused on constant action planning, and not strategies and outcomes, you’re in the weeds.
• INFORMATION VERSUS INSIGHT. If you’re focusing on data and processes, and not looking for patterns, you’re in the weeds.
• SUPERFICIAL VERSUS IMPORTANT. If you’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, and not adding value to the big picture, you’re in the weeds.
• ME VERSUS WE. If you spend time on individual issues, instead of empowering collective performance, you’re in the weeds.

To be fair, as CEOs we’re all guilty of jumping into too much detail. We know how to roll up our sleeves and get it done. But knowing how to let go and delegate the day-to-day opens up a world of possibilities.

Try this instead:

• DEVELOP A CLEAR STRATEGY WITH A HORIZON POINT. Pilots and sailors don’t solely navigate by looking at the spot they’re in but on the course they’re on. So should you.
• SLOW DOWN. There’s a difference between the competitive market advantage of ‘fast beats slow’ and rushed decision-making that doesn’t leave sufficient time to add value.
• HIRE COMPETENT PEOPLE. If your people can’t do the work, train them. If that doesn’t work, move them. Otherwise, you and others get stuck doing their work, and your own work, and nothing every improves.
• LOOK AT YOUR MANAGEMENT MODEL. If your business is always in firefighting mode, you have no control. Breaking the cycle is a real challenge and the hardest part is accepting that your leadership style might be reinforcing a hero culture, where people compete for how many problems they solve. When there are rewards for putting out fires, people find more fires.
• FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS. In 1956, Harvard psychologist George A. Miller wrote “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information,” one of the most highly cited papers in the history of psychology. The research found that humans can only focus on five to nine things at once. Since the date of publishing, and with the advent of technology and 24/7 distractions, the mythology of multitasking suggests that the magic number is actually closer to an average of three.

Nobody enjoys getting in the weeds yet people at all levels of your organization will encounter situations that distract from the big picture. Realistically, there will always be urgencies and deadlines that were due yesterday. Start devoting a few hours every week to strategizing dead ends with your executive team to identify opportunities and obstacles you may have overlooked, and work together to improve overall productivity.