It's more than just the game

In watching my kids and the various sports teams they are involved with, one thing is apparent:  the athletes that put in extra time to develop their skills fare better in the game.

Some of the athletes on the team rely solely on scheduled practices to get them ready for the game.  In other words, they do what is required and not much beyond that.

In contrast, the "high performers" on the team tend to do more than that, such as practicing skills & drills on their own time, doing conditioning and weights to strengthen themselves, etc.  These “extra” activities make those players better athletes in general and you can see that in their performance on the field (and they also tend to experience fewer injuries).

There is something to be learned there about business, too.  Are you a “show up for practices and games” kind of person, or do you work on your skills, conditioning, and other aspects of self-improvement away from work? 

For me (while I’m not always consistent about it), this kind of extra conditioning involves reading, attending webinars / seminars, benchmarking with other people to share skills, and things like that.  It also involves trying out different skills in other environments such as some of the scouting, church, and other teams I’m involved in (it’s much safer to try out a new “influencing others” play in volunteer roles, and it can be fun).

What about you?  How do your sharpen your saw away from work?  If you have any best practices to share I’d love to hear them.

Get your Outlook Tasks directly on iPhone

When I jumped into the iPhone pool last year, one of the big surprises was just how hard it was to sync my Notes and Tasks from Outlook (our company uses Exchange, and I use the heck out of Outlook).

Version 3 of the iPhone firmware solved the Notes problem, as it will now sync Outlook Notes directly into the Notes app on the iPhone.  Not so for tasks (No task app on the iPhone?  After 3 versions?  Really?)

Taking the iPhone to Task

In searching for a way to automatically sync tasks to the iPhone, here were my requirements:

• Must offer the ability to sort / group tasks by Category (for GTD) and due date.
• Solutions should be as simple as possible (the fewer moving parts the better, no re-entering text, etc.)
• Must support offline viewing and updating of tasks, through a native iPhone app
• Reasonably priced

The most popular apps (I sampled systems like Remember the Milk, ToodleDo, Nozbe, Google, and several others) had (at least for me) show-stopper issues: 

• Some apps required syncing from Outlook to a service in the cloud, then from that service to my iPhone, and many of these required me to pay an additional fee for a subscription account.
• Some apps required me to run a separate desktop app alongside Outlook.  Yuck.
• Some apps provided only web-based viewers (not iPhone apps), which meant I couldn’t get to my lists on the plane or in areas with no data coverage.

Luckily, I have found one solutions that works quite well, and meets or exceeds my requirement.

My favorite task solution for Outlook and the iPhone [so far]

My favorite solution so far, is an app called iMExchange (available in the App Store for $7.99).  iMExchange syncs directly with Microsoft Exchange, and can bring in your Tasks and Notes (for those of you still running a pre-v3 iPhone OS). 

iMExchange also creates a local, cached copy of your Tasks and Notes so you can access them even when you aren’t connected to the internet.  Once you’ve synched (over the air), this means you can access your tasks, add new tasks, update the status of existing tasks and so on from the iPhone.

I’ve found that the flexible sorting options (see screen shot at right make it easy to work within the Getting Things Done methodology from my phone).

As an added bonus, since the app connects directly to your Exchange Server, you can edit your Out Of Office message and adjust your Out Of Office status directly from your iPhone.  Pretty cool bonus.

Bottom line:  If you use Microsoft Exchange / Outlook and the iPhone, I think you’ll like iMExchange for managing your tasks while on the go.

How Did That Happen?

I got an advance copy of a book called “How Did That Happen? (Holding People Accountable for Results The Positive, Principled Way),” and am pleased to see that it was released recently.  That means there is nothing stopping you from picking up a copy, right?

Roger Connors and Tom Smith, the book’s authors, have done a very effective job of grappling with some of the key issues that inhibit accountability, and provided some practical, prescriptive methods to help increase the level and consistency of accountability in your organization.

A lot of books about accountability are hard to act upon unless you are the “king of the world” – the head of a company, division, team, etc.  This book isn’t like that.  Sure, you can wield more might if you’re in charge, but there is a lot of advice in here designed to help you improve your own accountability, and to insist on more accountability from others – whether they are your peers, bosses, or even friends & family.

Rings of Accountability

The authors use a model that consists of an Outer Ring, which deals with setting appropriate expectations; and an Inner Ring that deals with managing unmet expectations.  This is all about having an effective “Accountability Conversation” that keeps people clear and aligned about what’s been committed, and what’s expected.

One of the things I really like about this book is the large number of “tests” you can use to determine where gaps exist that may negatively impact Accountability, each accompanied by specific processes and techniques to address any gaps.

There are also a number of stories of accountability in action, which help illustrate the points.  These stories helped crystallize the concepts for me throughout the book.

For example, I enjoyed the discussion of the difference between Complete Alignment, and “Complyment,” in which people aren’t fully bought into the mission.  I must say, I’ve seen the symptoms of Complyment far more than I should.

Likewise, there are tools to test for “Hands & Feet” and “Hearts and Minds” so you can gauge the level of buy-in and commitment to the things you feel are important.

My favorite new concept:  Phantom Reality

Of all the concepts in this book, the one I keep thinking about over and over is “Phantom Reality,” which is “an inaccurate description of how things really are.”  This is caused by things like misreading the situation, refusing to believe / acknowledge facts that don’t fit your world view, and poisoning your outcomes by expecting the worst.

I really want to get better at recognizing and dealing with the trap of Phantom Reality, since this is the phenomenon that causes you to get blindsided by things you should have seen coming, but chose to ignore.

It’s not easy to see your own blind spot, but this book provides some tools to increase your chances of catching yourself believing a Phantom Reality.

Customize the tools to fit your style

Before I wrap up, you might be wondering if these tools will work for you.  After all, each of us has our own style, preferences, and ability to tolerate ambiguity.  You’ll be pleased to know that there are also tools in the book to help you analyze your own management and accountability “style” and preferences, and that you can adopt and adjust the tools differently based on how you work.  For example, if you are a micromanager, there are tips to help you tone it down a bit and give people room to breathe; if you’re a hands-off manager, there are tips to help you exert a bit more active control.

I’ve just scratched the surface in this review, but I can confidently recommend “How Did That Happen?” to anyone who wants to up the level of accountability in their world – whether that’s by improving your own skills, or helping others work together in a more accountable way.

Work The System - for free!

Last year, I reviewed Sam Carpenter’s excellent management book, “Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less,” (read my review of Work The System here).

I found this book to be very practical, partially because it was written from the perspective of an entrepreneurial business person who has been able to create a sustainable, vital business.  But the real “hook” for me was Sam’s personal stories about the challenges he faced as he built his business, how he got through the challenges, and how he “codified” his learning into things the rest of us can use.

The book has been very well-received and won “Best Non-fiction Book of 2009” at the New York Book Festival.  Sam has also recently found a new publisher, which should really help in sharing his experience with even more people.  That’s good news.

And I’ve got even better news: YOU can get this book for free!

You heard me right - Sam’s been kind enough to allow me to offer each of you a free PDF copy of “Work The System” for the entire month of September. 

Getting your free copy is pretty easy:

1. Go to the Work The System book site.
2. Find the “Special Book Promotion” link and click it.
3. Follow the instructions, and enter the password “Dwayne sent me”
4. You’ll get your link to download the PDF of Work The System.

Once you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear what you think – and whether it resonates with you as much as it does with me.

Go with the Flow to get into the zone

I was chatting with my friend Matt the other day about productivity and how hard it was to get started on some tasks.  He pointed me to a model called “Flow,” which was developed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.  According to Csíkszentmihályi, “Flow” happens when you are engaged in a highly challenging activity, which is also an activity at which you are highly skilled.

When I read about “Flow” it seems analogous to the feeling you get when you are “in the zone” and performing in what seems to be an effortless way.

Diagnose what’s happening

I’ve printed out a copy of the “Flow” diagram at right and have been using it to help diagnose why I’m avoiding certain tasks.  For example, I don’t really like doing my expense reports.  I find them to be time-consuming and tedious, so I procrastinate like crazy.

There is no “tedious” zone on the diagram, but my feelings most closely match the “boredom” part of the diagram.  That makes sense, since that indicates an unchallenging task that I have a reasonable ability to do.

In a case like filing expenses, there isn’t much I can do to make the task more exciting, so I just batch them together and get them done through sheer force of will (combined with threats from our Finance team that I’d better get them in by quarter end if I want to get reimbursed).

In other cases, when I’m avoiding tasks because I don’t have sufficient skills to be competent at a challenging task, I have two dominant paths I can take:

1. Increase my skill level (which could be through practice, study, or asking for help from someone more skilled), or
2. Alter the task in some way to make it seem less challenging.

Intersection with productivity best practices

In the past, I’ve often gone for option one, but that can be time consuming. 

In my recent “meditations” on the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology, I’ve found that option 2 is more achievable than it seems at first glance.  By breaking the difficult challenges down into less daunting subprojects, then translating those into discreet next actions, I can take some of the difficulty out of the work.

I’ve tried this with a number of challenging projects lately, and I’ve managed to get them unstuck through this method.

If you’re interested in more thoughts on this topic, there are a couple of good resources that I know of:

• An excellent book, “Find Your Focus Zone,” that takes best practices from performance coaches (athletes, artists, etc.) and enables anyone to get better at getting “into the zone.”
• An interesting article by Kevin Chiu, discussing how the Flow model integrates with GTD to solve procrastination.