Give your people a to-don't list...

Oi, oi, time for a quickie?

I've been researching OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) for the past few months (don't worry, this 'quickie' isn't about OKRs) and, yesterday, I came across a fascinating conversation on YouTube between Margo Georgiadis (Ex COO Google and CEO Ancestry), Deidre Paknad (CEO WorkBoard) and Jeff Richards entitled "OKRs for High Growth".

The single most important take-away from the whole conversation was CLARITY.

Okay, so they were talking about how OKRs help provide clarity but, regardless of the model you use, it was really all about how clarity was the single most important responsibility of a CEO and the board.

What you should do, is only half the story...

At one point, Deidre emphasised that it isn't enough to be clear about what SHOULD be focussed on. It's just as important to be clear about what SHOULDN'T be focussed on too.

Telling people what IS important causes some in the organisation to think, "Okay, well someone else will sort that, I'l carry on with what I was already doing".

This meant people, who could have contributed to achieving the organisation's objectives, were still not available because they didn't think the direction applied to them.

By making it clear what the organisation WASN'T going to do, those people said, "Oh! You mean me too then?"

Only at that point was the whole organisation finally aligned.

This could be happening to you, right now!

Only this week, I've talked with two directors of global businesses whose people are struggling through overwork.

What became clear from our conversations was that, while the CEOs of both organisations had been clear on the ten initiatives they wanted delivered this year (and?let's be clear, ten is a lot!),?neither had been clear on the relative priority of those initiatives (the trade-offs between them), and therefore what the organisation should avoid doing.

So what's the big deal?

The heads of each initiative were running around trying to secure scarce heads who could be part of 'their' initiative.

As a result, the resource pool in both organisations was diluted and those who 'get shit done' were trying to achieve everything, despite the cost to themselves and their people.

So much time was dedicated to deciding what was more important and little was being done to deliver the initiatives.

So, ask yourself the following:

"At the end of this year, would you rather deliver one or two things really well, or deliver none of ten?"

Create a to-don't list

Being a leader isn't easy, because saying 'no' isn't easy –?but it is a fundamental part of the job.

Very few organisations have enough people (and expertise) to deliver everything at once.

The best thing you can do to give your people time to lead is to let them know what's vital, instead of what's wanted.

So as well as providing clarity on what you want, also provide clarity on what you don't need right now.

You'll be amazed at how much your organisation will get done, how quickly and how much simpler managing those initiatives becomes.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this so, feel free to jump into the comments.

See you next time.

Love,

Paul

Want to find out if your organisation is struggling with focus?

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