5 Steps To Get Ideas Into ACTION!

By Linda Feinholz, “Your Success Catalyst”

There’s nothing so marvelous as being able to look back at the end of aday, a week, a month or a year and see everything that’s been achieved! I don’t mean crossed off of a list, but rather put on a ‘done’ list that lets you appreciate what’s been accomplished. And too many entrepreneurs and professionals have too short a list!

If you’re like most people who are running a business, as an owner, an executive or an independent professional you get to the things on your To Do list in an ad hoc fashion. In truth, you have more on that list than you will ever get to. But wouldn’t you agree with me that inconsistency in putting things into action creates inconsistency in your results?

Successful leaders and managers don’t escape from having full To Do lists.They’re just very effective at keeping their attention on the High Pay-Off activities that will get them to the results they’re set on. The reason they can act with such consistency is the clarity of their goals and their ongoing system of step-by-step techniques are keeping them on track and avoiding distractions.  If you were to follow these folks around for a day you’d be able to spot what they’ve learned to do. They use repeatable techniques that systematically move ideas off of lists and into action. Here are the 5 steps they’re using that you can use to boost your own effectiveness on a daily basis.Step 1 - List It All

High Pay-Off results require being able to focus your time and attention, and you cannot do that if you are trying to hang on to all your ideas in your mind. Get them out and on paper where you know the idea is ready for you to give it the attention it deserves. Success Catalyst subscribers who listened to the free audio mini-course learned a technique for listing ‘everything’ and report that this immediately frees up their mind and attention. 
Step 2 - Prioritize It All

The tighter you evaluate the things on that list, the shorter your list will grow. This is particularly so if you use a tool like the Daily 4-in-1 sheet that came with the audio mini course. When you designate each item as ones you’ll take action on ‘today’, or ‘tomorrow’, or ‘delegate today’ it becomes immediately apparent which ones you know will have a High Pay-Off if they get attention versus what you’d vaguely “like to give attention to because they seem like they ‘might’ be worth pursuing.”

Step 3 - Assign It To Get It Done

It may seem that if you’ve decided what you’ll take care of and what you’ll delegate, it’s get done. Sorry! All that means is that you’ve made a really good list! Now you need to set those items up to be shifted from ideas to action and that means each of them must have an ‘owner’. If the owner is not you, then you need to notify the person you’re delegating it to that they are being given the accountability and responsibility for that action.

Before you hand it off, decide what the goal is for that activity, and how you’ll track and monitor that it is being accomplished. Be sure that the person taking it on knows what you expect, AND that they are in agreement with what they’re supposed to be handling and how you’re to be notified of its status.

Step 4 - Supply the Resources

It may have taken 5 minutes to decide ‘who’ should be doing the task,and 5 minutes to notify them, but without resources no progress is going to take place. There is nothing more certain than ideas won’t move into action if the support system doesn’t exist to guarantee action can take place!

Action requires investment and your role is to guarantee that the action has a realistic likelihood of taking place. That means you need to put your wallet behind your assignments. What’s needed? Staffing? Computers? Supplies? Time? Your next step is to ensure those resources get lined up and made available so that the idea isn’t just moved onto yet another To Do list!

Step 5 - Calendar It

Action requires commitment and follow-through is only guaranteed if time is blocked out for uninterrupted attention on getting it done. Your strongest guarantee of action is… putting it on the calendar for attention and action. If the idea is on your To Do list, then it should be on your calendar. The same holds true if you’ve delegated it - it needs to be on the other person’s calendar. And that includes the status meetings where they’ll report back to you that it’s being accomplished.

Make these steps techniques that you use and you’ll soon find yourself consistently ticking things off of your To Do list and being able to rewrite them on your ‘Accomplishments’ list. And you’ll know that the rest of your team is handling their To Dos as well.

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Ideas, Inspiration | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Goal And You Can Change It All!

You will get off track. We all do. Be clear about the specific measurable result you are aiming for. Until you can speak the ‘what, by when’ in plain language you haven’t created a destination you or anyone helping you can use to check and verify if efforts are going to get you there.Ask yourself

“What specific, measurable, observable result do I want?”

Now look at the activities you have planned for the next two days and put a star next to the ones you know will get you to that goal.
Every other item on that list should have either the name of the person you are going to delegate it to, or an ‘X’ drawn through it as you discard it!

May 29, 2007 | Filed Under Ideas | Leave a Comment 

5 Steps Get Low Pay-Off Out of Your Life

By Linda Feinholz, “Your Success Catalyst”We each face the same issue when we’re immersed in a topic or a challenge: We get lost in a forest of low pay-off ideas that show up and lose sight of the High Pay-Off choices right in front of us. And the more lost we feel, the less certain we become of what path we should be taking, what activities should get our attention.Successful leaders and managers don’t escape from running into low pay-off opportunities, they’re just very effective at keeping their attention on the High Pay-Off activities that will get them to the results they’re set on. Highly responsive management teams may look like they’re racing to their success, but don’t mistake this speed for reaction on the fly.

The reason they can act with such velocity is the clarity of their goals and their ongoing system of step-by-step techniques is keeping them on track and avoiding distractions.

Here are a set of steps that will boost your own effectiveness and accelerate your getting those results you’re seeking.
Step 1 - Set your goal

High Pay-Off results depend on having clear goals to use as you plan your day, week, project and so on. 
Make sure your goal is written down and keep it where you can see it. Put it in your electronic day-timer as the first thing that comes up on your screen every day or tape it on the front of your phone. Memory can be fleeting and attention is easily distracted. Use that specific goal to start every day with a fresh look at how each planned activity will serve to get you to that destination.

Step 2 -Set your ‘alarms’

Highly effective people get their results because they track when they are drifting off course. AND they do it rapidly. They set up mechanisms that signal when they are being pulled away from their destination, distracted by new information and ideas. You’ll observe them get meetings on topic and stay there with ‘ease’ and watch them continuously carve distractions out of complex projects. You can adopt the tools they use and have them become your own skills too.

Create ‘alarms’ so that you can quickly check where you are in your own work. One technique is to use the last 5 minutes of each hour to ask if what you’ve been paying attention to is keeping you heading toward your goal or not. Then reset how you’re using the next 45 minutes. Do this at the beginning and end of every meeting and  to pre-set the start of your agenda for follow-up meetings and over time you’ll be the one others model themselves on as well.
Step 3 - Assess The Situation

At times new information being presented really is worth the attention and evaluation to see if you should be resetting your efforts in ways you didn’t expect. The High Pay-Off approach is to gather all the available information and carefully assess whether any of your activities, and even your goals, ought to change. But even this action should be done in a focused way.

Be sure that you have gathered all the information that needs to be considered. Then, calendar uninterrupted time to go through that information in a systematic fashion, reviewing all the information, discussing it with everyone who might have insights on the value and impact of the potential change in action and direction so that all the relevant ideas make it onto the table at the same time.

Step 4 - Simplify, Sort & Select

Once you have the information out on the table, it’s time to evaluate it all from the top, starting with the goal. If there is no compelling reason for the goal itself to change, then the goal becomes the first element of your assessment tools. Every next idea and opinion needs to be judged against the question “Will this increase how effectively we reach our goal?”

Every idea can then be listed, prioritized and assigned the energy it warrants for getting you to that goal!

Step 5 - Take Leveraged Action

Highly successful entrepreneurs, executive and professionals know they cannot do it all themselves. They practice Do-Delegate-Discard sorting rapidly so that they are focused on their own High Pay-Off list, and so are the folks they’ve delegated to. They understand that it’s impossible to accomplish every single thing that could be listed as a To Do. Not only do they discard the low pay-off from their own list. They also encourage and reward others on their team for doing the same.

Make these steps techniques that you use and that you set for your entire team. You’ll create the systematic process for keeping everyone focused on “High Pay-Off.”

May 24, 2007 | Filed Under Ideas, Organization, Processes | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Worry And You Can Change It All!

Is someone ‘baiting’ you? They may think they’re being helpful and offering advice. And they may be delivering their suggestion with so much emotion that you become distracted from the real issue: Is their input useful or a distraction?

In order to sort out whether their comments and suggestions are valid, you need to be certain of one single, simple thing:

“What outcome is my intention for this effort?”

Now look at the result you are getting. I mean look at the overall feedback you are getting about whether your initial purpose for your effort is achieving it’s intended result.

With that information clearly in mind, you can evaluate whether the ‘helpful’ suggestion being offered is giving you a great idea you may have missed, or is merely one person’s informing you that they are not your target audience.

May 21, 2007 | Filed Under Ideas | Leave a Comment 

Please! Let Me Reduce Your Stress!

By Linda Feinholz, “Your Success Catalyst”

I got an email recently from someone saying “I don’t have time to read your news letters. It’s stressing me out. You need to turn them into quick tips.”

I’ve given it a lot of thought and did some samples.

Here’s what that could look like:

“People and their organizations get further, faster and easier when they’re more productive. Since organizations accomplish nothing unless people are doing something, the people involved need to get more productive with their doing.

“So - Get MORE Productive… NOW!”

Hey, not bad! Next week I could put out this one:

“People are more productive when they’re focused.

So - FOCUS your attention!”

“People are more productive when they know why they’re putting the effort in.

So – Have a VISION and use it everywhere with everyone!”

“People are more productive when they have actionable plans

So – Have a PLAN and make sure it includes “who is doing what, by when?”

“People are more productive when they leverage the time, intelligence and efforts of others.

So – Direct, Delegate and DO everything efficiently”

“People are more productive when there is a repeatable system in place that reduces efforts.

So – Put SYSTEMS in place that you can use to train, evaluate and stabilize everyone’s efforts”

Gosh this is quick! I could knock these out and send out two lines every week!

But, you know. Now that I think of it, if that’s what you’ve been looking for, let me reduce that stress you’re feeling ~ just check in with the Catalyst Action Tips. And if that doesn’t do it, use the unsubscribe link down there, at the bottom of the page as you won’t need to see any of the ideas and techniques I reveal in upcoming articles  ;–)

If you get to wondering what I might have shared you can find it on my blog at www.LindaFeinholz.com

Meanwhile, everyone else: tune in next week for one of my regular articles with stories, ideas, examples and Catalyst Action Tips. They’ll help you recognize the patterns you use that get you the results you have today. And they’ll walk you through techniques that shift you out of your habits and patterns and find new ones that will work for you more productively so that you get the results you’re dreaming of.

In fact, the record shows that “People using Linda’s techniques increase their productivity 267%.”

In about 7 minutes a week.

See you next week.

May 17, 2007 | Filed Under Ideas, Productivity Tools | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Tool And You Can Change It All!

Forget what you’ve invested in time and money in a system that isn’t working for you. That’s a sunk cost and it’s wasting your time and attention in frustration trying to fit yourself to the tool.
Let’s get back to basics. Do you know how you do your best work? Think back over many situations, jobs, environments you’ve been in and ask yourself:

“What system was I using when I was my most effective?”

Now look at something that’s been taking way too long to get accomplished. How can you use the system that you found effective in the past to get more productive results today?

And if your answer was ‘the system I’m using now’ but you’re not being effective, go ask 3 other people how they’re doing it, or give me a ring. We’ll find the one that gets your results soaring!

May 14, 2007 | Filed Under Organization, Processes, Productivity Tools | Leave a Comment 

How To Fix the “Poof, Gone!” Syndrome

By Linda Feinholz, “Your Success Catalyst” 

If you’re like most busy professionals, the thought of sitting in meetings with consultants, or in day-long workshops to learn How To Be More Productive is not the highest item on your priority list.  

You’d rather explore new ideas, create products and services, develop a new relationship, or work with your clients…

In conversation with one of my clients this week, Sarah’s concern about ‘how’ she had to write her business plan was absorbing her attention. Constantly. She’s trying to find the perfect tool, the best system, the most productive way to stay focused on her goals and achieve them… and her ‘plan’ had her stalled.

I relieved her of that tension over what system, tool or plan she ’should’ be using: The fact is: It Depends.

It depends on who the audience is for the ‘plan’ and how she’ll be using it. Taking it to the bank? It needs to be business formal. Using it to stay on track on a daily basis? There’s the world of possibilities!

Sarah’s biggest concern is that she’s ‘supposed to’ keep herself organized with a specific system so she stays on track. I understand her concern.

I learned for myself years ago that I have “Poof, Gone!” Syndrome.

To be successful in business, you must have systems in place.  And the world is filled with systems ‘guaranteed’ to keep you focused, on track, and roaring ahead to success.

Since the mid-1980s there have been a flood of systems – everything from cute little cards that go in your shirt pocket, sophisticated computer systems that ‘ding’ to remind you of your next item on your calendar, and enormous expensive ‘organizers’ that every single thought, meeting and commitment are captured in.

You can even use your organizer to bench press during meetings to keep your upper body tone!

There are just 2 problems they don’t mention in fine print on the cover of the latest books, or the advertisements for workshops and other productivity tools. The reality is those systems are NOT meant for everyone! And, once people pay for them, they feel trapped into using them even if they don‘t work well for them!

They’re meant for the people who that particular tools or approach works for. Take me for example: I want to see my entire week at a glance, so that I can change and update it anywhere, anytime. That means using paper-based calendars that show my entire week, not just the day, and that I can write note on. So PDAs don’t make me happy. If I have a busy day and everything doesn’t fit on one screen… “Poof, Gone!”

The organizer system worked when I was in corporate environments, going from meeting to meeting, assigning and keeping track of multiple complex projects… but that’s not the work I do now, so it’s waaaay overkill!

And color-coded file folders perfectly labeled and stacked in a rack are the same as “poof, gone” for me!

I use ‘kangaroo’ pouch folders (product 515 from www.walshenvelopes.com) and now several of my clients do as well. They’re designed so that I can see the top 1/3 of the items in each pouch. I can cram things that relate to the topic or project in the same folder without them slipping out, stack them in a single pile, or line them up like a row of cards where I can see the top 2 inches of each down the side of my desk.

I can grab one to take with to a meeting as well. When I’m done with them I empty and reuse them or use the holes at the top of the pouch to fasten them in classification folders and put them in storage.

There are two keys to using a system that improves your productivity.

1 – Systems Need to Be Useful

And “useful” changes. Sarah isn’t planning on taking the plan to her bank. The good news is she doesn’t have to write a formal business plan to keep her business on track.

She works out of an office that no client will ever enter, so she doesn’t need a system that looks good for the public, she needs one that makes her personally more effect. Period.

2 – Systems Need to Be Used

And so back to ‘business plans.’ I used computer-based documents and systems for years… when I needed to share that information with other people it worked great!

Yet, when I laid out the new plan for my personal business last year, the moment I closed the document on the screen, or printed it out and put it between other documents… you guessed it, “Poof, Gone!”

I tried the project style To Do list in a spreadsheet. It was fabulously detailed, organized and complete. And “Poof, Gone!”

Then I used flip chart pages taped to my walls and created a “sticky note business plan” with six colors and 3 sizes of Post-It® Notes. I was able to keep track of my business goals and plans and activities with a quick glance. Every single one got done.
Sarah’s giving it a try this week. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Don’t get vested in a system just because you invested in it! Just as I’ve changed and adapted the tools and systems that I’ve used, I encourage you to take a fresh look at whether the formal tool or the “sticky note life” is the one that fits you best today.

Find the systems that work best for YOU, rather than the purveyors of specific systems. It’s a permanent cure for the “Poof, Gone Syndrome!”

May 10, 2007 | Filed Under Organization, Processes, Productivity Tools | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Choice And You Can Change It All!

What has you ready to yell, pound the table, rant and shout?Most often we have that type of reaction as a diversion from the feeling of embarrassment over how we think we’ll be perceived. So take a quiet moment and ask yourself

“What is it about this situation that embarrasses me?”

When you let yourself name it you’ll see you actually have some choices. One is to dive into all those rages and deflections. Another is to find someone to blame, yet another skillful deflection.

And another choice is to use the embarrassment to focus your attention on the particular element of the problem that is most sensitive to you and use THAT to direct the action you’ll take to straighten matters out.

The first two choices stop everything dead in their tracks.The last one moves it all forward to resolution!

May 7, 2007 | Filed Under Processes | Leave a Comment 

Get Your Slipped Plans Back On Track

By Linda Feinholz, “Your Success Catalyst”

Have you ever had “one of THOSE days?” You know. The kind where you want to hit the “pause” button, then rewind and start over?  

I was ‘gifted’ with one of them this week.

It snuck up on poor unsuspecting me. Well, actually, I’ve noticed that’s usually how they happen - one event quietly and simply follows another until the only words coming out of my mouth are “Of course, that’s exactly what I ought to expect from a day like today!”

Briefly, technology crashed on every front, every deadline I was working toward was missed. And, when a quiet voice in me said “You never heard back that the agency that booked your airline tickets to Europe got the final payment fax…” I decided to pick up the phone and call.

“No Miss Feinholz, we didn’t get that fax. Let’s look at the reservation. That’s the one departing on June 14 for Paris?”

“That’s right.” I said.

“And returning June 22nd.”

“No, July 22nd.”

“No we show June 22nd”

“Well that’s wrong. I was on the phone for over an hour and we talked about all the stops I’m making in Europe, priced out trains versus planes and so on and we said repeatedly July.”

Can I cut the story short, please? I don’t want to relive it.

Suffice it to say, the return flight is booked on the wrong date, the flights are all booked at that price point. But, gosh, I could pay $1,400 more for the 2 of us to come back within 24 hours either side of that date… You get the picture.

Days that go to Hell In A Handbasket offer us 2 choices:

Choice Number 1 - Lose our heads and run around like… a chicken without a head.

What I wanted to do at that moment was go into a complete rant. I wanted to slam the phone down, pick it back up again, tell her what a hell of a day I’d been having, that this was the crowning moment and on and on and on.

But if we live long enough, we actually gain perspective.

Yes, I’ve spent weeks working on the itinerary for the trip I’m taking my niece on to celebrate her graduation.

Yes, I’d finally notified everyone of the itinerary including friends who are now making plans to join up with us on those last days.

Yes, it’s such a mega trip that I’m watching the costs.

But really, my reaction had two sources: aggravation about the costs, but also embarrassment that I’d have to tell people that my plans went awry and I’m not as competent as I like to think of myself every moment on every matter.
And no. It’s not the end of the world. It’s friggin inconvenient, bloody aggravating, outright pissing me off that I’m not ‘done’ with all the arrangements I thought were buttoned down… but it’s NOT the end of the world and I know it.
No calls in the middle of the night about dire events are involved, no hospital visits required, no health, safety or funerals involved. I know it because I’ve lived all of those repeatedly in this lifetime and this event doesn’t come 1/1000th of the way along that road.

So I could live in reaction, protecting myself against embarrassment or move on to…
Choice Number 2 - Step back and sort it out.

I stewed under my breath for 4 hours while waiting to hear back from the agency. That’s pretty short considering that in my 20s I would have spent days in a tizzy, telling the tale to anyone who would listen, working my way into a rant over and over again.

In the meanwhile, I focused on getting the technology glitches solved and prevented from occurring again in the future. Got documents prepared for a conference presentation, etc.

No I don’t yet know what the resolution will be, but I do know that I’m doing everything I can think of systematically, so that the best possible resolution can be found. The agency supervisor, who is the only one who can waive their policies, is working on it personally, I granted them some flexibility about the departure and return city and the exact times for the flights, and I got my attention back on what I can personally affect.

And, if the nearly six-week long trip loses or gains an extra day it will be part of the adventure.

Frankly, I really like living with Choice Number 2 a lot better than Number 1. Meanwhile, I’ll be using the hand basket to bring in some roses to enjoy while I wait for a call back from the travel agency!

May 3, 2007 | Filed Under Inspiration, Processes | Leave a Comment