Seek out the Value
James Carter
Leadership & Culture ?? Field CTO @ Team Covalence ?? Developing cohesive and effective teams at scale
Focus on things that create the most value.
“Why are you doing that?”?
“I don't really know, <insert name here> just told me to do it”
All too often it seems people are spending more and more of their lives on auto-pilot. Thanks to structured work processes and meetings, hypnotic devices in our pocket, and the mind boggling complexity of life disabling our prefrontal cortex, our conscious minds are frequently in standby mode, and we’re just doing what people tell us to do, except if you’re called Zach de La Rocha.
A great way to be more successful, regain focus, decision making and control is to get good at thinking, talking and acting in terms of value.
Simply ask yourself, what value does this <act / task / project / meeting / process / product> create??
The more you do it, the easier it gets to identify this, and with this you are more able to articulate this to others and decide what to do that creates the most value, and what not to do because it creates little or no value.
??Think in terms of value: What value does this create??
??Articulate value clearly: Explain the value to others so they understand.
???Focus on value: Choose to do more of what creates value, and do less of what does not.
Long term this will help you:
? see and connect value with everything, and understand where value is created
? be able to articulate to others why they should do things and maybe even get them to do them
? prioritise the things that are really important and valuable to you
? say no to and stop doing things that create little or no value
Remember value is not just money. Money is a social construct, and a proxy for value, but there are many others. Time has value and is a lot more scarce than money. As you move through your career, you become a lot more focused on other types of value, such as the impact you can create for others.
What have you got planned for the rest of today/this week/this month??
What value do these things create??
Which of them will you do, which will you drop?
Seek out the value; identify, explore, and articulate it clearly to yourself and others.
Focus on things that create the most value.
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This content by James Carter is licensed under CC BY 4.0