Are You An Achiever?

So much more is possible…if you execute!

You don’t know what is possible until you try!

Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.

We could go on and on, but the bottom line theme that is common and critical to any endeavor is to take action.

Step One:  Execute

You must execute or there is no tomorrow.  As the markets, products, customers, suppliers and culture change, eventually you may realize how far behind you have gotten without time to make up the distance.  Whether the changes in your environment are quietly incremental or violently fast, you need to be able to weather change.  The best way to do this is to create an expectation with your team that adapting to change is part of their job.

There is no “magic bullet” or one answer.  Today, you have to bring quality to the table at a great price and on time.  You cannot rely on one focus; you must be using several different “answers” at one time to cause success.  The people waiting for the perfect answer will never find it.  The reality is that success is messy and typically made up of a series of missteps and problems where wisdom was learned and applied the second time and third time…and eventually success started to happen more often than not.

Another part of taking action is trying something new that you have never tried before and learning from it.  In manufacturing, this is called rapid prototyping.  Whether it is a new product, process or way of doing something, you try it quickly without it being exactly right, learn from the experience and then try it again several times over.  The Wright Brothers would take enough extra parts with them when they were trying to fly since they knew they would crash five times that day.  It was not negative thinking on their part; it was being realistic and prepared to keep learning and adapting their process and strategy accordingly.

Step Two:  Learn

If you do not know specifically or cannot describe what you learned from reading a book, executing the plan, talking with Frank, using the sales process with a prospect, etc. you will not be able to improve on what you just did.  You then become the person that is like a duck (every day is a new day and not building on what you learned yesterday).  You become a person not with 20 years experience, but rather a person with 1 year of experience 20 times.  After every interaction, ask yourself loudly and out loud, “What did I/we just learn?”

Step Three:  Share

It is important to write down what you learned.  Put it in a journal.  Create a training manual.  Talk about it with a co-worker or your spouse or even add it to your newsletter.  Part of our job as leaders is to “spread the word”.  As we spread the word, we also cement it into our being and are more likely to continue learning and taking these actions.  The success from the actions drives us to more successful actions.  Sitting around thinking about it does nothing more than to have us continuing to sit around thinking.  Learn and share your intellectual wealth.

Step Four:  Combine

Pay attention to the tools that we and other organizations teach.  With your real world experience, you have a context to know what types of tools you are looking for and how the tools can fit into what you do.  By building an understanding of what works and what does not, you are able to more efficiently and effectively take action.  In this way, you also do not “buy a system” or “drink the Kool-Aid”.  Rather you bring in the pieces of other approaches to move you forward most effectively with your specific organizational culture.

Step Five:  Repeat

Depending on the strength of your team and organization, every week or month choose a new project that can dramatically change the game.  Do something with it.  Learn.  Share.  Combine and then Repeat.

Summary

If you take action, dramatic forward progress is possible every year.  Some months you will go backwards, but every 12 months you will have accelerated capabilities and outcomes.  This leads to better opportunities, healthier lives and enhanced achievements.  You will find that so much more is possible because you took action!

An Offer For You

If you, too, believe so much more is possible… with action, we will deliver a complimentary 2-hour Exploration Session to the first 5 respondents to this newsletter.  Act today to execute, learn, share, combine and repeat!

If you are interested in learning more about our unique process for passionate business leaders in which we address all of the obstacles you face and help you use innovative strategies to protect and enhance your organization, contact us at 800-786-4332 or jsabatini@appliedvisionworks.com.