Build the Courage to Work Smarter

© Jensen Group, 2015 Simplicity Project

Simplicity ToolkitBuild the Courageto Work Smarter

SAP has partnered with The Jensen Group, the premier expert on organizational simplicityto provide you with some of their tools and insights

These documents are segmented into one of three areas of focus...

Research Organizationaland

LeadershipSimplicity

Personal andTeam

Simplicity

by Bill Jensen

The Jensen Group • 1 Franklin Place, Morristown, NJ 07960 • USA • 1 (973) 539-5070email [email protected] • http://www.simplerwork.com • twitter: @simpletonbill

All content developed by and intellectual property of the Jensen Group © copyright 2014-16, and should be attributed as such

ONE OF THE JENSEN GROUP’S FASTPAK SERIES:

TOOLS DESIGNED TO DELIVER LASTING RESULTS IN 5—10 MINUTE INCREMENTS

Easy Ways toBuild the Courage

to Work Smarter

© The Jensen Group, 2014-16 Courage to Work Smarter1 (973) 539-5070 www.simplerwork.com

The CourageYou NeedYou know you want to get out of that meeting, or hit Delete a lot more than you do, or walk out on a deal,or on a job, or ask for a promotion, or push back on a performance review. Or, or, or...

FastPak Tool Guarantee: This tool is guaranteed to get you through daily implementation challenges,delivering lasting results in 5—10 minute increments.And if you use this tool repeatedly, you can become a star go-to teammate... Yes, by being more courageous!

This FastPak’s Strategy and StrengthGetting you what you need to get work donein a world of MoreBetterFaster.Sometimes, even more important than having an idyllic relationship with your manager or teammates, is just gettingwhat you need to do your best. This FastPak doesn’t care if your situation requires high courage or next to no courageat all — use this tool and you’ll get you whatever you need...faster!

What FastPaks Can’t DoCreate world peace......or the workday equivalent thereof.Let’s be realistic about what you can expect for just a few bucks, OK?!

2


3

ThreeSimple StrategiesCourage to work smarter comes in all sizes and degrees of riskiness.Here are the top three highest return/lowest risk approaches.

Keep Track More“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” • “The first step in tackling any problem is understanding the problem.”Most of us say we don’t have the courage to do things without even understanding what’s happening or why.There’s a reason all 12-step programs begin with self-awareness! You will be amazed at how much courage you discoverjust by keeping track of what’s happening and why.

Delete MoreBoth in Electronic Deletes (emails/IMs/invites/voicemails/attachments, etc.) and in Face-to-Face Deletes (“Gotta go,can’t stay.”): Everyone wants your time attention and they want far more than you have to give. The secret to big returns,for the absolutely smallest investment, is in how you tackle all requests for time and attention. Delete, delete, delete!

Speak Up MoreMost people work harder instead of smarter because they never asked the right questions, or didn’t speak up(in a politically correct way) that would help them work smarter. Time to tackle that challenge.

�

�

�


THEPRIME DIRECTIVE

4

Respect 14401440 drives almost every single situation in which you feel youmust exercise some form of courage.1440 is the number of minutes in a day.Behind most every task, most every request: Getting it done NOW is still too late!Far too many decisions and far too many tasks are driven not by strategies, plans or what’s right —but by what can be done right away! Which means you must...

Realize that much of what’s being askedof you wasn’t supposed to be yours...The number one behavior in business today:Moving To Do’s from our plate and onto someone else’s.Too little time, too many To Do’s, too few resources.... So what do you and every one of your teammates do?We all try to move our To Do’s onto someone else’s plate! Which means if you keep saying Yes at the rate you do now,you will never have enough time for your own To Do’s! Your day will always be filled doing other people’s tasks.And that scenario is only going to get worse, never better!

Respect yourself moreIf you do not increase your courage to work smarter, you are disrespecting yourself.How? Since there are only 1440 minutes in every day, taking on so many other people’s To Do’s and requests meansyou are stealing time from someplace else in your life — from someone or something else that truly matters to you.

THEPRIME DIRECTIVERELATES TO YOU

TOO

What’s Behind EachThese meters tell the story of the risks, rewards and work involved

Keep Track MoreLowest risk: Deep awareness is the foundation upon which all future Yields are built

Delete MoreMany feel this takes great courage; In reality, it’s just a critical “maintenance” cost needed to focus your time and attention

Speak Up MoreHighest risk (if you’re missing skills); So the solution is to lower your risk by increasing your skills


5

�

�

�


6

Keep Track MoreCourage to work smarter begins with truly understandingwhat’s causing you to work so hard instead of smart

Spend five minutes keeping a list

Divide a piece of paper (or electronic log) into three columns: Label the left column Tasks/To Do’s; Label the middlecolumn No to Little Courage; Label the right column Big Courage. Over the next two days, spend about five minutesjotting down events during your day. Did you have a 15 second phone call where all that was required was a“Yeah, go ahead” response? Put it in the No to Little Courage column. Did you attend a difficult meetingwhere the boss wanted feedback, but there was no way in hell you were about to tell him that his idea was terrible?Put that in the Big Courage column. Do this for just five minutes.

Spend five minutes reviewing your Big Courage To Do’s

What were the three things that required the most courage? Name ‘em and claim ‘em.Now ask yourself “Why?” Why would those things take so much courage? What are the real and proven, not createdor imagined negative consequences. We’re willing to bet that you’ll quickly discover your Big Courage itemsfall into one of three categories:1. Fear. “If I did or didn’t do such and such, I’m concerned that...”2. Perception. “If I did or didn’t do such and such, my manager or teammates might think poorly of me.”3. Statistically Valid. “Nine out of ten employees who did such and such suffered these consequences...”Let’s not kid each other. Number 3 is not gonna appear on your list! It almost always comes down to 1 or 2.Both of which are within your power to change. You can devise a “safe” pilot activity to test that fear and prove it false.You can do other things to bolster people’s perception of you if you did “such and such.” The point of thesecombined ten minutes is to have that Aha: That you’re in control of a lot more than you thought you were!

�

�

1.


7

Do That Again...For up to one week:Five minutes every day for as many days in a row as you canSpend five minutes keeping a list... Spend five minutes reviewing what takes courage

Goal: Deeper Self-DiscoveryFear...and...The need to be perceived as being highly responsible...Dig deeper into those.Do you really have to be concerned about what happens ifyou hit Delete on that email?Will you really start being perceived as a bad teammateif you blow off some of those meetings that you know area waste of time?Sometimes those concerns are valid.But most of the time they are not.And all of the time, whether or not to be concerned aboutthose things is completely within your control.Spend a week digging deeper into what.

�

1.


8

Delete MoreCourage to work smarter continues with your first efforts to get rid ofsome of those “I feel obligated to”s that are killing you

Spend five minutes deleting email “I feel obligated to”s

New day: Take what you learned yesterday — that, if you size the action to match your comfort zone, you have thepower to start tackling those things that seem to take courage.

From our research, we’ve discovered that one of the most common “courageous” acts wasto take something off your plate, making time for something that you thought mattered more — essentially the act ofdeleting something. And the biggest deletion act that has the most immediate big impact is your inbox.So let’s start there...

Go through your emails, IMs, attachments, and apply your Aha’s from the Keeping Track exercise:• How many of those emails do you REALLY have to respond to?• How many are you responding to simply out of feeling of obligation or responsibility, but aren’t really necessary?• How many can you delete without there being any negative consequences (that really matter)?

From our research, we have found...

Most everyone is able to delete anywhere from10% to 50% of their messages just by doing this exercise

�

2.


9

Delete MeetingsCourage to work smarter continues with your first efforts to get rid ofsome of those “I feel obligated to”s that are killing you

Spend five mins opting out of one “obligation” meeting

From our research, we have found...

Getting out of “because I feel obligated to...” meetings or getting outof meetings that you know are a waste of time because “I feel I needto be responsible,” are the same as any other addiction...The first one where you try to say “No” is alwaysthe most difficult.We know that it’s tough for you to get out of meetings. That’s why your first step is the most critical.Examine all the Aha’s you’ve had from the exercise on pages 6 and 7, and take five minutes to really own the reasonsyou’re still going to many of those stupid or wasteful meetings. Take the first step based on what you’ve learned.Opt out of a wasteful meeting. Then take in the experience...Yeah...You can do this more and more, can’t you?!

Quick tip: Many meetings are initiated via email. Respond “Yes...Tentatively.” That way you’re perceived as a good guy.Then just don’t go. When you next see the meeting host, apologize, but they’ll remember that you initially said Yes!

If you’ve followed the five-minute exercises up to now, here are your results so far:For at least one day, anywhere from 10% to 50% of your emails have vanished, and you’re still OK.For at least one day, one stupid meeting went away, and you’re still OK.

�

2.


10

Letting Goof what no longer serves you

Why have we focused on emails and meetings?

Goal: Deeper Self-DiscoveryWhile these two things may seem overly transactional to you,they are at the core of most people building more courage towork smarter.It’s not necessarily the biggest, bravest acts that matter.It’s gaining breathing space you need to finally stop being pressuredby the tyranny of the urgent, and focusing more on what trulymatters. The projects that matter. The co-workers who matter.Your family.

If you’ve followed these exercises, so far you’ve not only eliminatedsome stupid work (allowing you to work smarter), you’ve gainedsome time back. Now, working smarter includes reflection:What are you going to do with those extra minutes you’vejust gained? More hurry-hurry urgent work?Or doing things that truly matter to you, your career, your family?

�

2.


11

Speak Up MoreCourage to work smarter gets stronger and more real when youstart — appropriately — questioning some of what’s going onaround you. Goal: Change the exchange, in five minute chunks

Discover the unsaid. Asking these questions of those involved...• What would success look like for this project? • What do you wish you could have changed last time?• Help me understand what you’re trying to achieve... • What else is on your plate besides this project?• What’s connected to this project that’s driving the deadline? • Even if they are minimal, what tools/support/resources are available?• Thanks for your confidence in me! Why’d you think of me? • Help me understand the connection to my quarterly goals...• What’s worked in the past? • Once I hand this back to you, what happens next?

Explore alternative solutions

• Here’s how I’d start...What am I missing? • Ya know, Alpha Team had a problem like this...How about if we...?• Which of these three approaches do you think is best? • What if I presented two solutions that stayed within the budget?• What’s connected to this project that’s driving the deadline? • Even if they are minimal, what tools/support/resources are available?• Are there others who should be involved in this? • Could I set up a mid-point check-in with you?

Contract for the next conversation

• Roger, Chief! Can we set up a debrief talk afterwards? • A lot fell off my plate doing this: Can you help me find a way to• I’m glad you’re thrilled with how I delivered on this! — avoid that next time?

Now, can we talk about...? • I’d like to make suggestions to help do this even betternext time, OK?

�

�

�

3.

No.DISCLOSURE ALERT:Consider this sectionto be the Lite versionof the How to Say NoFastPak. That tool isa deeper dive of thissection, with a lot morewhy’s and how to’s


12

Discover, Explore, Contract...

Remember the number one behavior in business?(Answer: Moving To Do’s onto each other’s plates)

Much of your “courage” involves other people’s To Do’s!The reason it’s so important for you to speak up more is thatmany of the things that you believe require courage to get out of,weren’t your To Do’s in the first place! They were somebody else’s!(Your boss’s, your teammate’s...others you don’t even know!)Dig a little deeper into why you’re getting a specific To Do,(without saying ‘No’ or questioning the integrity of that person.)Much of the time, what looked like courage to you,actually only required somebody asking the right questions.And much of that time, most people will find that clarificationprocess helpful. Our research has shown that “courage” is onlynecessary when the situation is treated as confrontational.When it’s simply “clarification,” the level of courage requireddrops significantly.

3.


13

Why This Tool Worksin Building the Courage to Work Smarter

Most every exchange that seems like it takes lots of courageis more about creating fast clarity and on-the-fly deeper thinkingthan it is about conflict. Within five minutes or less.

Each of the three steps here covers critical implementationdetails that you’ll need even if you can’t avoid conflict.So — worst-case scenario — you’ve gotten more of what you needto succeed! That’s a win for any level of courage!

Why Using This Tool is So CriticalFirst, simply keeping track of situations where you feel courage is needed will be a huge help!You’ll likely discover patterns that reveal it’s not really about courage, but about avoiding conflict.They’re not the same thing!But most every difficult and “courageous” act is triggered by and rooted in implementation —a task that must get done. Following the steps in this FastPak focuses you on fast clarity with no conflict andlow risk. Regardless of how each situation turns out, you will either be uncovering courage you never realized you had,or discovering that the act didn’t require that much courage at all — just clarity and discipline.


Measuring Successin Building the Courage to Work SmarterObviously, the ultimate measure is that you are working smarter!We may not be able to guarantee that 100% — (hey, sometimes we all have to do stuff that we know is stupidjust to keep our jobs!) — but if you use this tool repeatedly, each time you’re in a situation that you believe requirescourage —here’s what we can guarantee within one to five uses of this tool...

Increased Alignment with Your Managerand with Your TeammatesYour use of this tool is guaranteed to put you, your teammates and your manager “on the same page” faster with a lot

less effort — as far as agreeing on truly matters and what doesn’t, and as far as what unnecessary work can be dumped

so that you’re working smarter more often than working harder. Related and equally important: Increased ability to

manage and meet everyone’s expectations, especially your own!

Increased Efficiency and EffectivenessYour list assessments + increased deletions + the conversations driven by this tool with your teammates and bosswill help you get more done with less effort.

Increasingly Viewed as the ‘Go To’ PersonYou will model working-smarter behaviors more often. Which only serves to make you more valuable whenworking smarter is required! 14


Because one FastPak can’tsolve for everything...All in this FastPak comes from the Jensen Group’s ongoing two-decade study, Search for a Simpler Way,as well as Bill Jensen’s best-seller, The Simplicity Survival Handbook.There, you’ll find 32 ways to do less and accomplish more, such as:

How to delete 75% of your emailsHow to go to fewer meetings and get more out of themHow to ignore most corporate communicationsHow to give executives less information and still keep them happyHow to deal with teammates who (unknowingly) pile it onHow to get the orientation you deserveHow to decide: Stay or go?

Another terrific resource isCrucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillanand Al Swistzler. We’re proud to recommend and showcase someone else’s work. This book delves into great detailabout conversations where (1) the stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong.If your difficulties in saying No involve more than the transactions of getting stuff done — if there are deeprelationship issues between you and others — Crucial Conversations is the perfect follow-up to this FastPak.The authors address three aspects of a crucial conversation: (1) managing our own style under stress,(2) dialogue techniques, and (3) what to do after you’ve reached shared meaning.At the core of the book is the theory of emotional intelligence, popularized by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book.Crucial Conversations notes that, when it comes to emotional intelligence, we are often at our worst in stressfulsituations, and offers tools and tips to stop you from doing the things you know you shouldn’t!

15

Buy from Amazon

Buy from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Tools-Talking-Stakes/dp/0071401946

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0738209120

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0738209120


ABOUT

Mr. SimplicityTHE BIO OF A SIMPLETON

Bill Jensen makes it easier to do great work.

He is today’s foremost expert on work complexity and cutting through clutter to what really matters.

Bill has spent the past two decades studying how work gets done. (Much of what he’s found horrifies him.)

He is an internationally-acclaimed author and speaker who is known for provocative ideas,

extremely useful content, and his passion for making it easier for everyone to work smarter.

His first book, Simplicity, was the Number 5 Leadership/Management book on Amazon in 2000.

His latest books — The Courage Within Us and Disrupt! Think Epic, Be Epic — reveal the secrets of

success through bold ideas and by unleashing your own greatness.

His next book is on the Future of Work

Bill is CEO of The Jensen Group, whose mission is: To make it easier to do great work.

Among the Jensen Group’s clients are Bank of America, GE, NASA, the US Navy SEALS,

BBC, Philips Lighting, Chevron, the government of Ontario, Pfizer, Merck, L’Oréal Italia,

Johnson&Johnson, Guangzhou China Development District, and the Swedish Post Office.

Bill's personal life fantasy is to bicycle around the globe via breweries.

•

•

•

1. Out of clutter, find simplicity

2. From discord, find harmony

3. In the middle of difficulty liesopportunity

Albert EinsteinThree Rules of Work

Leadership & Management

Build the Courage to Work Smarter