Goal

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

I write this article based on the insight of my conversation with my team in our monthly 1-on-1 call. I speak with each one of my team members. This article is a compilation of a whole week's takeaway. You can read more about the reason for it in the article?Restart.

How were three pillars of culture used to solve a bug in Probench?

The three pillars were clear communication, team collaboration and celebrating small progress. In this example, the team of 3 people used this practice to understand a bug and fix it permanently. While explaining, it sounded simple for the senior developer to communicate the issue and take it forward step by step. However, when we analysed the scenario, we realised that the primary thing that happened was that everyone saved a lot of time.

Here are some benefits we concluded

1) The team completed the task in 1 go and swiftly

2) There was no back and forth and frustration within the team

3) Bug was diagnosed in detail to avoid any rework

4) Team was delighted with how they solved it

5) Everyone played their part

We realised that time is critical for our overall progress as a team during this discussion. It helps us predict better and think through the problems. There is a phrase called measure twice and cut once. It signifies that the team doesn't do sloppy or patchy work.?

During my three months of conversation with the team, time was mentioned a lot. The problem of getting stuck, rushing and working under pressure. So it felt like we have discovered our magic mantra. I am personally happy to solve the problem of time for the team.

How can time be our keystone goal in building our culture?

Time is our goal to measure the outcome of our culture.?

I don't have to explain to you the value of time, its importance, and how it is a finite resource. Each one of us has 24 hours each day. We have seen a lot of examples of managing time. It's one common language.

For you as an individual: The lessons, skills and systems you learn about doing a task in half the time will only make you more productive. What it means to you is you will discover a skill that you can use for the rest of your life; what it means if you will be a master in managing time in your next job.

For our client: It means we can deliver a double amount of work we currently do. It really means that they can add 2X features in the same amount of time. Thus they can drive more innovative solutions for their business.

For our team: It can be 1 goal that each of us is aligned with and apply the solution in a way that needs less time. That really means as a team, we put in less effort. We focus more of our time on building products, tools, methods, processes, knowledge base, hacks, systems, code, scripts, etc. That will do all the work that we currently do.?

For our company, we can have more clients easily without increasing the number of team members. It really means that each team member enjoys the company's profit. Thus, the company makes money on the assets that the team member has built rather than on individuals. Therefore everyone can work four days a week and still get performance bonuses.?

How to practice the 2 hour-check point?

The core idea is to plan the 2-hour block of your day. That means you should have three blocks of work each day at least. The checkpoint is more like reflecting if your estimation has been on point. It's to learn what went wrong because it is easy to identify the gap for a small duration and make notes about it. Thus when you prepare your plan for the next day, you are more accurate.?

One of the common fear here is fear of failure. You are afraid that you will not achieve your task in 2 hours. It only means you either need to break the task in half or improve your skills to do it in 2 hours. It is not a reflection of you; you are not your job.

When you are not good at something, you should practice it more. You may also give an excuse you don't have time. I say it as an excuse because you will not improve until you stop doing more work with your current skills. Put some time aside to learn your craft.?

Let me share two examples to explain it in 2 different contexts

What is the process for a child to improve their handwriting? They write 1 page each day. Why only 1 page, and why not 100 pages in 1 day? Why not 1 page for a few days only? How does the handwriting look on day 1? On which day does the handwriting become the best? Does every child improve their writing on day 14? Isn't every child have much better handwriting after two months if they have not skipped a day? Have you recently written something on paper? Is it better than your writing from your school days?

The child needs daily practice and feedback. The improvement is slow and gradual. There is no guarantee of the best writing, but there is a guarantee that the handwriting will be 2 times better than the current.?

I will conclude this with 1 question asked Mahatma Gandhi. He had a daily practice of meditation of 1 hour. "Gandhiji, what do you do about your meditation on your busy day?" He softly replied, "I do my practice for 2 hours", as Abraham Lincoln mentioned the importance of sharping your saw. I see it as if you have more woods to cut. I will first sharpen my saw before getting to work. Similarly, when I have a busy day, I will block my three tasks of 2 hours and tell my boss or my client this is what I can do today and nothing else.

That's the culture we are cultivating when we say "Clear Communication comes from clear thinking"

How to guard your time?

It's one of the points we have in our culture's conduct. Let's understand why it is crucial to guard your time and from what? In high individual productivity, focus and concentration play an important role. It's called a state of flow. Here is a short intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znwUCNrjpD4. The reason is that more time doesn't mean more results. It would be best if you guarded it against distractions so that you can produce high-quality work in half the time.

It means you are more confident about delivering the results in the given time without any doubts. It means you are improving in producing outcomes each day and improving 1% every day.?

Here are 3 methods to guard your time:

1. Block 90 minutes and turn off all notifications, emails and phone
2. Plan all the steps you will do for the task in advance
3. At least have 2 blocks per day and measure the outcome

Could you share it with your colleague Now?