when lacking information, go to the best source

I had a boss that liked to give directions before she understood the full task at hand. She would tell me what she thought I should start doing based on her current understanding. Unfortunately, her understanding represented a small percentage of what I needed to act effectively. In these situations, I went to the source. Because of the team-based nature of the job, a team lead was usually better informed and closer to the information. Instead of taking my manager’s word and running in my own direction, I would go to the source. The team lead might not always have much more information than my boss provided, but usually that person held meaningful context for the request. It’s common to receive first instructions that are ambiguous. The 80/20 rule helps us recognize that 20% of the details will get us at least 80% of our solution. Lacking details is not a reason to refrain from action. It’s a signal to get more information. I’ve often found that going to the source of information provides valuable context even when my information doesn’t increase or improve. As a result, I’m able to get the ball rolling in the right direction without wasted efforts.

remove the one thing that causes you the most pain

Right now, you likely have the best job you've ever had. Compared to any previous job, your current job has more positives. That doesn't mean it's perfect or even that you like it. You could hate your current job and it is still the best job you've had. You considered it in comparison to all previous jobs. This gave you the perspective to make a better choice during your last job search. Despite turns in the economy and other setbacks, I've liked each job more than the last. This is largely based on a simple but effective technique. Every time I considered a new job, I thought about what I most disliked on my current job and eliminated any options that contained those attributes. Naturally, over time the ratio of positive to negative has shifted favorably.

Today I have one big item that causes an outsized amount of discomfort. Despite company policies, my boss is hyper-focused on overtime hours over an imaginary threshold. Colleagues on other teams tell me they never talk about overtime with their boss. My experience is that every time I get put on a last-minute or large project the overtime naturally follows. This in turn leads to difficult conversations around my hours and, worse, my capabilities as a professional. In a simple 80/20 analysis it's clear that a direct solution is available to me. Manage the overtime hours that cause the pain. I know I have a variety of options.

The solution is easier to see with the problem identified. The same goes for your situation. You can immediately improve your situation by identifying which single issue causes you the bulk of your pain. Once you identify that, it will be easier to identify solutions to your specific challenge. At that point it becomes a matter of testing and execution. Test the easiest solutions first and find the solution that yields the result you want. A double Pareto approach is to eliminate your biggest source of pain with the smallest input that gives the biggest gain. Applying this approach will immediately shift your mindset to give you an immediate improvement in job satisfaction. That works much faster than finding the perfect job.

make the phone call, you'll be forced to speak from there

I called a political representative to let my voice be heard. I wrote down the number and it took maybe five minutes to leave a message for my representative. The hardest part was getting the phone number. Once I had the phone number I was mostly out of excuses. If you want to be heard, pick up the phone.

two tries told me all I needed to know

I wanted to try a hair product so I purchased it at a local store. I used it twice before deciding that it just didn't work for me. Because I kept my receipt I was able to quickly return the used product for a full refund. This allowed me to try a product at no cost to me and return it easily. Often an official trial or sample is not available for a product. Get creative in testing a product before committing to it. One or two uses of the product gave me all the insight I needed. No amount of online research or asking others could give me that quick and complete insight.

find and address the core concern

During a conversation about my learning plan my boss was expressing concern about how much time I was planning for each module. I sensed her concern about completing all learning prior to customer meetings. Once I identified the core concern, the conversation quickly resolved. My boss just wanted to hear that I was on board with presenting to customers near term. Reminding her of my successful certifications and stating that I was ready to go on customer meetings without my learning plan is all she needed to hear. One concern was more than 80% of the call.

you need less information than you think to take action

Starting a recent project, I read the quick start guide and only 3 out of 144 slides from the instructions. Based on this reading I clarified the objectives, requirements, and framework of the assignment which provided the critical understanding to act. In this case, I gleaned all of that from roughly 3% of the associated materials.

time constraints focus your efforts

My training team was 40 minutes late returning from lunch. We discovered that we were supposed to be prepping for a presentation and only had 15 minutes left. We pinned down the key points of our message, recycled some content held between us, and established the responsibilities of each person. Based on our presentation we were selected as the winner out of five teams. Other teams spent about an hour prepping. Some clearly over-thought their message. Because we were constrained on time we got to the heart of the message and left out the low value fluff. With 25% of the time invested versus the competition we obtained 100% of the win.

showing your work = 20%

Place the puzzle pieces face up. The puzzle is easier to solve when you can glimpse pieces of the picture. Show your work. Some concepts are easier to understand after pulling them together in a single view.

how to speak with a celebrity

I went to a town hall where the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world was speaking. I positioned myself next to the aisle and waited for the end of the meeting. When the CEO finished speaking I stood and waited for him and his bodyguards to pass. As the CEO was walking up the stairs of the auditorium aisle I waited for his view of me to open then confidently said, “Thank you.” He was clearly not expecting anybody to say a word to him but reacted quickly. His head swiveled to me as he smiled and brightly responded, “See ya!” My associates behind me didn’t see or hear my side of the conversation but were all surprised to see the personal acknowledgement I received. I’ve since used this story multiple times to tell others how I’ve spoken with a top CEO.

ad-hoc visuals, greater impact

What if you were trying to pitch an idea with marker on whiteboard or pen on napkin? How could you convey a memorable message with a drawing? After drawing a symbol, simply explain it. This will convey the meaning to the audience and give a visual cue by which to remember the concept. Your goal is to convey a concept, not to sell a work of art.

Make a template your 20% input

Create templates. Creating a time entry template saved me not only time in entry, but also a notable amount of cognitive strain involved in counting hours on a 24-hr clock and matching against an associated activity tracker. The template took care of counting, time per day, total hours, manual entry in web fields, and start and end times. The template eliminated more than 80% of the steps in the process and the steps eliminated were the most time consuming and cognitively challenging.

smalltalk, less = more

A five second joke is just as effective as a one minute joke during small talk and prevents an awkward lapse in attention from the listener. 92% of the laugh comes from 8% of the joke.

Good but not good enough

My experience with making purchases online is limited mostly to niche items and books which I intend to keep or utilize for a known and specific purpose. I don't buy stuff online just to try it out. Thus I found myself at a strange place recently where I wanted to return something big and expensive purchased through Amazon. My thoughts had changed on the object as well as the problem it was solving. It was a functional and appreciated solution to my problem, but I knew I could do better. In fact, holding on to the purchase was getting in the way of taking action toward a better solution. So I turned to an expert, a woman. This expert shopper not only regularly returns items both online and in-store, but does so frequently enough that she has various return policies memorized. She informed me that on Amazon the process was terribly easy. Find the order, click the return button, print the label, and deliver to the UPS store. Had I not asked the question, I'd still be holding on to a large, expensive item and missing out on a better solution. Not only did inquiring about how to make a return provide a nudge toward action, but I was also encouraged to take the next steps necessary to move toward the better solution. While my original solution yielded at least 80% of the desired results, my new solution will yield greater results with fewer moving parts, less associated clutter, and more simple operation. While I confess that my labor investment is increased by these changes it is important when applying the Pareto Principle to not settle for unacceptable results in the name of minimizing inputs. The quality of inputs is more important than the quantity.