Tara Rodden Robinson :: The Productivity Maven

Leveraging failure

2009-11-06T08:28:53-08:00

Success and failure are sometimes viewed as opposites and mutually exclusive. After all, if you’re a success, then you’re not a failure, right? However, to be successful means to fail--a lot. To illustrate, consider the research of Phillip Cassey and Tim Blackburn. Cassey and Blackburn looked into publication rates of successful scientists and found that the people who published the most papers also had their papers rejected more often. Turned out, these eminent scientists were more successful because they risked (and experienced) failure far most often than their less successful colleagues.

One guy who has given failure a lot of thought lately is Frode Odegard. Frode is a real go-getter, entrepreneurial jet-setter. By anyone’s standards, Frode is a successful guy. However, his latest endeavor is called The Failure Project. His idea, put simply, is pursue failures. But productively. Instead of worrying about failure, actively go after it and fail forward, rapidly and relentlessly. By speeding through what doesn’t work, and reaping insight, you’ll experience more and greater success than if you waited to try to get it “right” the first time.

One of the tricks of leveraging failure is to gather insight and determine what went wrong. In other words, fail forward. Turns out, there’s a right way to do this. In some innovative research conducted with the Israeli Army, scientists determined that failure is amazing helpful even when experiencing success. The researchers found that when a project is a total failure, it doesn’t matter whether participants focus on what went wrong or what went right; the only thing that mattered was the after-event review. Interestingly, successful projects were leveraged when participants carefully reviewed what went wrong (even though the project, as a whole, was successful).

So here’s your challenge: during your weekly review (you do these, right?), find something that worked (a success, in other words) and unpack it. What went wrong in the midst of the overall success? Then pick a failure and unpack it (it doesn’t matter if you focus on what went right or what went wrong, just think it over). What insights do you get? What do you learn from this that will make a difference next time?

And stay tuned. Next week, I’m interviewing Frode for my podcast--more to come on the power of failure!

Exercise is the Killer Productivity App

2009-11-04T07:12:05-08:00

Just about every day, even when I don’t feel like it, like today when I have a cold, I put on my ugly gray sweat pants and go downstairs to put in 20 minutes on my elliptical trainer. When I arrive at my desk afterward, the edge is off and my ability to concentrate is improved dramatically. Paired with a short planning session, during which I identify what will make my day a success, I find that I am far more able to focus on what’s important, screen out self-generated distractions, and stay on task.

There is a growing body of evidence showing that exercise increases a sense of positive well-being. It stands to reason that as you feel better about yourself, you sense of self-efficacy (meaning your own ability to be effective) should also increase. To take advantage of this simple, inexpensive productivity tool, just get out of your chair and take a walk. When you feel your concentration slipping in the middle of the day, and you start craving email to entertain yourself, try some exercise instead. You’ll be amazed at how much more productive you can be when you take time for yourself, too.

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Do I really want to do this? An Interview with an Offer

2009-11-02T08:18:16-08:00

In a recent blog post, Steve Demaio gave some great advice about figuring out if you should say yes (or no) to assignments that come your way. His first point was “interview the offer, not just the person making it.” This was such great advice that I decided to take him up on it, and I invited an offer in for a conversation. Here’s the transcript.

Me: Hi, Recent Offer, thanks so much for coming in!

RO: You’re welcome! I’m excited about what we’re going to do together.

Me: That’s what I want to talk to you about, actually. Before I say yes, I’ve got some questions for you.

RO (looking surprised): Oh. Okay. I didn’t know you’d have questions. I mean, really, I’m a hot offer. I expected you’d say yes right away.

Me: I just want to make sure we’re a good fit.

RO: Sure, I understand. I already know you’re right for me and I want you to be happy, too. Fire away!

Me: What would working with you be like?

RO: I have to admit, I’m pretty demanding. You’d have to put me first. Sometimes, people tell me I don’t play well with others.

Me: Oh? How’s that?

RO: I tend to push other projects off to the side. I’m really competitive. And I like to be first.

Me: What about objectives?

RO: Well, those aren’t well defined. I have a tendency to get easily distracted. You know, chasing those bright shiny objects!

Me: Are you saying that the target moves?

RO: Well, I prefer to call it being responsive and flexible.

Me: Got it. How much time would we be spending together?

RO: Lots! Days, nights, weekends.

Me: Hmmm...this isn’t sounding so good to me.

RO: The good news is you’ll get to learn a lot. New skills, new technologies. And I’m all about helping people. You’ll get to help people.

Me: I like helping people, that’s true, but I’m not sure I have the bandwidth for you. Would I be able to delegate?

RO: Uh, no, not really.

Me: I see. What about compensation?

RO: Well, I can’t really compensate you for what you’re worth. But you’ll get tons of valuable experience! Money can’t really buy that!

Me: Well, Recent Offer, you’re very tempting. But I don’t think this is going to work out between us. You’re a great offer. I think you’re going to be highly successful. With someone else.

RO (stunned): I can’t believe it! You’re turning me down?

Me: Yes, I am.

RO (crestfallen): Wow, this doesn’t happen to me very often. Most people say yes right away. They’re always afraid I won’t come back around. Of course, that’s not true. There are lots of other offers. Truth is, we’re a dime a dozen.

Me: Thanks again for dropping by. Anything else I can help you with?

RO: Sure--can you refer me to one of your friends?

As you can see, interviewing an offer can be really revealing. You may uncover new information that makes the offer irresistible, or you may find that the offer isn’t so great after all. The next time you have a chance, interview your own offer and see what you learn. Just a short conversation may save both of you a lot of headaches.

What does "under control" look like?

2009-10-30T09:31:15-07:00

It’s been a particularly good week. Part of the reason that things turned out so well was that I treated myself like I treat my clients. I coached me.

My self-coaching session began with looking into what was my desired outcome. On Wednesday, I wanted mostly to feel “in control.” That meant knowing what I was supposed to be doing and doing it. One thing I know about myself is that when I exercise first thing in the morning, it takes the edginess off and improves my ability to focus as well as boosting my mood (particularly after listening to this song). On dark days, light therapy helps, too. I combined getting light with journaling and by the end of my Morning Pages, I identified three or four top priorities for the day.

From there, I knocked off the things that felt important and then focused on clearing some stale, nagging incompletions. I cranked widgets and the reduction in stress was amazing. Just taking these items off my list gave me a sense of freedom. I reminded myself that if it’s on the list, I deemed it important enough to do. No more excuses, then, about not having time or something not being important “right now.” Right now is all I have, so it’s all important. Right now.

One task I took on was one I’ve been resisting: creating my sales forecasts and budget for 2010. By giving myself permission to start in the smallest possible way (open the spreadsheet and quit right there if I pleased; what my clients may recognize as a “brief daily session”), I actually got going and figured out what it was about the whole process that made me feel itchy in the first place. I scratched the itch. With that handled, I was off and running, enjoying the sense of possibility and excitement that looking forward to a new year can bring.

When you find yourself feeling like I did--out of control, spinning your wheels--stop and ask yourself what in control looks like. What do you want to end the day having done? What would make this day a success? Pick three or four actions. Don’t be afraid to be brutally simplistic (e.g., “open the spreadsheet”). Then, just crank those widgets. Your results will amaze you.

Join me, The Productivity Maven, for the first in my new teleclass series on November 5, 2009 at 4 pm Eastern. To register, click here.

Focus, organziation, and being in control

2009-10-28T08:42:00-07:00

Yesterday, I had a big block of time all to myself. With that amazing abundance came an unexpected side effect, I felt out of control. I spent way more time spinning my wheels than I would have liked: I was distractible, out of kilter, off my game. I finally latched on to one task (a rather big one that had been stalled) and completed it (and you can hear the result here). Whew! The experience left me thinking about what it means to be “in control.”

Focus is the ability to manage your attention in a way that’s appropriate to what you’re doing. When you're driving, for example, your focus is broad--the road ahead, what’s coming up behind, the cars around you, your speed, road conditions, and all the rest occupy a full sort of attention that shifts from one place to another in a flowing sort of way that allows you to be fully present (that is, as long as your not trying to talk on your cell--or god forbid, texting--while driving). The other sort of focus is very tight, narrow, and one-pointed. This is the attention required when you’re working on one task to the exclusion of other stimuli.

Organization is a measure of knowing where things are. “Things” is a deliberately loose term that covers everything from computer files to car keys, the time of your next appointment to your mom’s birthday, what your boss expects from you to what you’re waiting on from your direct reports. Being well organized means you know what the status of your projects is, or you can easily find out, without dithering around too much.

Being in control means mastering both focus and organization. There are times when you need the firm control that allows you to be a happy worker bee: cranking widgets, churning through what needs to be done, nose to the grindstone. When you’re ready for that, make sure you know exactly where everything you’ll need is before you start and practice the narrow sort of focus that doesn’t tolerate interruption.

Focus and organization are two of the Seven Dimensions of Productivity. Want to learn more? Join The Productivity Maven for the first in her new teleclass series on November 5, 2009 at 4 pm Eastern. To register, click on the button below.