Roles, Goals and Eisenhower

3 exercises to connect your WHY to your WHAT

Over the last 30 years, I've had the opportunity to work with some incredible people spanning a diverse range of cultures, organisations, and environments. During this time, I've read and been taught hundreds of methods and tools designed to help me, my team, and the organisations I've worked with perform better. Since founding Resilient Ops, in it's original form 10 years ago, I’ve been able to refine these and develop systems that help cut out the cognitive noise of social media, reduce the friction and barriers to getting on with the work that matters, and ultimately create habits that enable me and my team to deliver effect at speed.

Below are three exercises I keep coming back to, especially at this time of year.

Values, Attitudes and Behaviours

The Values, Attitudes, Behaviours (VAB) framework is a psychological model that explains how an individual's core values influence their attitudes, which in turn dictate their behaviours. I first learned about the essence of this framework at one of the 埃森哲 Core Schools in St Charles, IL, in the 1990s. The Core Schools approach adopted by the firm remains, in my opinion, one of the key enablers of the growth and success of Accenture - teaching proven, high-impact methods universally across the organisation, fostering consistency and quality of delivery at scale.

Here's how each component works:

• Values: These are the deep-seated principles that guide an individual's life and are relatively stable over time. Values are the foundation of our understanding of what is important in life, influencing our priorities, judgements, and actions.
• Attitudes: Attitudes are shaped by values and represent our feelings and opinions about people, objects, and ideas. They can be positive, negative, or neutral and are more flexible and changeable than values. Attitudes are shaped by experiences, education, culture, and the influence of others.
• Behaviours: Behaviours are the actions we take in response to our values and attitudes. They are the most visible and changeable aspect of the framework. Behaviours are what we observe externally and can vary widely depending on the situation and our individual interpretation of values and attitudes at that moment.

As a coach and a leader, helping individuals identify, validate, and align their Values, Attitudes, and Behaviours (VABs) is crucial. It enables individuals to work out if they are in the right team for them, and it allows leaders to determine how well individuals might fit into their team.

There are loads of ways VABs can be integrated into leadership and management practices, but the simplest and most repeatable method is outlined below:

Preparation

• Set yourself up in a quiet space with a piece of paper, a pen and a glass of water.
• Draw three large columns on your paper or whiteboard and label them: "Values," "Attitudes," and "Behaviours."
• You can download and print out the template above onto a piece of A4 too.

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Identify Values

• In the "Values" column, list what you believe are your core values. These might include honesty, creativity, family, independence, etc.
• Aim for 5-7 values and rank them from most to least important.

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Reflect on Attitudes

• Move to the "Attitudes" column. Think about a recent situation or decision you have had to make and write down the feelings or opinions you had about it.
• Try to identify at least 3-5 different scenarios that accurately reflect your roles at home as well as at work.

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Record Behaviours

• In the "Behaviours" column, write down your actions in the recent past that reflect your attitudes.
• Be specific.

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Validate and Align

• Look at the alignment between your values, attitudes, and behaviours. Draw lines connecting them where they align.
• Reflect on any misalignments or surprises. Are there behaviours not supported by your stated values or attitudes?

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Questions for Reflection:

• Are there values I thought I had that aren't reflected in my attitudes or behaviours?
• Are there behaviours I'd like to change to better reflect my values and attitudes?
• How can I reinforce the positive alignments I've identified?

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Conclusion

• Summarise your insights and decide on one action you will take to better align your values, attitudes, and behaviours moving forward.
• Clean up your space and store your VAB chart where you can revisit it.

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I've found I get the greatest value from this exercise when I share the results with others. It can also be done in a longer and more interactive form as a team, typically in the forming stage or at the start of a new programme.

Roles and Goals

The Roles and Goals framework is often attributed to Dr. Stephen R. Covey and his book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." Covey introduced this concept as a means to more effectively balance the various roles (and associated responsibilities) we hold and establishing clear, aligned goals for each.

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I first got to use this with my friend, colleague, and coach Robert Herring on the back of a programme we developed for a client looking to rapidly develop their organisational agility and resilience. For organisations that put particularly high demands on their people, that blur the line between professional and family life, it is especially important to achieve as much alignment as possible on Roles and Goals.

Everyone plays multiple roles in life, such as parent, employee, spouse, friend, community member, etc. Acknowledging and defining these roles helps individuals allocate their time and resources effectively, helping establish a balanced pattern of life.

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Effective personal management involves setting specific goals within each role. By setting goals related to each role, individuals are more likely to attend to the most important areas of their life, not just the urgent ones. Not all things are equally important, though; effective people prioritise activities that bring them closer to their goals. Individuals learn to prioritise tasks based on their importance rather than urgency, focusing on what will most effectively fulfil their roles and achieve their goals.

Also, the roles we play are interconnected, and success in one often supports success in others. Recognise and leverage the synergies between roles.

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Similar to the VAB exercise, you can work through your own Roles & Goals using the approach below:

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List Your Roles

• Write down all the roles you currently play in your life. Think broadly and include personal, professional, and community roles. Common examples include parent, friend, employee, manager, volunteer, caregiver, etc.
• Aim for 5-7 roles to keep it manageable, but don't leave out any important parts of your life.

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Reflect on Each Role

• Next to each role, write down your current responsibilities and any immediate thoughts or feelings about that role.
• This helps set the stage for understanding where you are now and what you might want to change or focus on.

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Identify Synergies and Divergences

• Look for overlaps (synergies) or conflicts (divergences) between roles. For example, skills or values exercised in one role that benefit another, or where demands from different roles might be causing stress or conflict.
• Mark each synergy or divergence with symbols (like "+" for synergy and "-" for divergence) next to the roles involved.

Adjust and Prioritise

• Based on the synergies and divergences you've identified, think about any adjustments you might make. This could involve shifting time and energy, setting boundaries, or seeking support to better manage conflicting roles. This might involve asking yourself whether you really need to maintain a particular role.
• Make brief notes on potential adjustments next to each role.

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Set Specific Goals

• Now, set 1-2 specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for each role. Consider how these goals can enhance synergies and reduce divergences.?

Reflect and Commit

• Review the goals for each role and commit to taking one small step towards one of the goals this week.
• This immediate action reinforces your commitment and starts the momentum.
• Place your list somewhere visible to refer back to as required.

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We live in a VUCA world, and roles and goals will evolve over time. Regularly review and adjust your roles and goals to reflect changes in your life circumstances. I try to review mine every quarter and do the exercise in my notebook so I can easily check back on it if I feel a need a bit of course correction.

Eisenhower

The Eisenhower matrix is a time management tool attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States and a Five-star general during World War II. He is often quoted as saying, "I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent."

The Matrix is divided into four quadrants:

1. Urgent and Important (Quadrant I): Tasks that require immediate attention and also align with long-term goals and values.
2. Important but Not Urgent (Quadrant II): Tasks that are important for long-term success and satisfaction but do not require immediate action.
3. Urgent but Not Important (Quadrant III): Tasks that demand immediate attention but do not contribute to long-term goals or values.
4. Neither Urgent nor Important (Quadrant IV): Activities that are neither urgent nor important, often considered distractions or time-wasters.

Covey adapted the Eisenhower matrix, helping it gain popularity, and other variations include personalising the labels of the quadrants to fit specific roles or contexts, like work, home, or study. Numerous apps like Priority Matrix , Asana , and Todoist have integrated the Eisenhower matrix principles, allowing dynamic sorting and reminders to embed the method into the digital workspace.

To prioritise tasks based on your Roles and Goals, follow the steps below:

Review Roles and Goals (Optional)

• Quickly review your identified roles and their associated goals so they are fresh in your mind.

List Tasks

• Write down all the tasks you believe you need to do for the day or week ahead. Don't worry about order or priority at this stage.

Assign Tasks to Quadrants

• For each task, decide whether it is urgent, important, both, or neither.
• Place each task in the corresponding quadrant of the Eisenhower matrix.
• Consider the impact of each task on your roles and goals as you assign them.

Prioritise

• Focus on Quadrant I (Urgent and Important) tasks first. These should be done as soon as possible.
• Next, look at Quadrant II (Important but Not Urgent). Schedule time for these tasks, as they often contribute significantly to long-term success and well-being.
• Decide how to handle Quadrant III (Urgent but Not Important) tasks. Can they be delegated or done quickly?
• Minimize or eliminate Quadrant IV (Neither Urgent nor Important) tasks. These are your lowest priority. Delete them but don't forget if you've picked up the task from someone else, let them know you've dropped it and why.

Schedule and Commit

• Transfer your Quadrant I and II tasks to your calendar or to-do list, assigning specific times to each.
• Make a commitment to review and adjust as necessary at the end of the day or week.

Regular Review:

• At the end of each day or week, review your matrix. What worked well? What didn't? Adjust your approach accordingly.

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This exercise can help align daily and weekly actions with your more strategic roles and goals.

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One evolution of the Eisenhower matrix that's worth looking at if you are interested in optimising work across teams is the Sung Framework developed by Christine Sung and a team at Montana State University-Bozeman . It introduces the notion of FIT when looking at Task allocation across teams, the intent being to better match work to people who are CAPABLE as well as INTERESTED in a particular type of work or task.

As we come to the end of 2023 and get revved up for 2024, I wanted to thank all the organisations and people that in some way have contributed to this article and on how I think about delivering effect.

Organisations

埃森哲

British Army

Royal Marines

简柏特

美国麻省理工学院

美国斯坦福大学

People

Robert Herring CBE

Carlo Gagliardi

Gianni Giacomelli

Sameer Dewan

Ezra Schwartz

Neil Miller

??Aimie Chapple

Clive Whitehouse