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.

you're more efficient when the time is precious

I was working on the weekend when I had a realization. I was more efficient in my work when it was eating up my precious weekend. Think of 9-5 Monday - Friday as weekend time to preserve your personal time by working more effectively and efficiently.

direct your question clearly to the target audience

I was working on a team project where we were addressing questions from a customer. I had to rewrite my questions after they weren’t communicated properly to the customer. Direct the question you need answered to the target audience the first time. Vague questions waste time and probably won’t get communicated appropriately. In my case I directed several customer questions to my team. These internal questions were basically ignored. Your question is most potent at the source. Expect it to lose power as you lose control of it. If you transmit the question intact to the final recipient it will retain more of its power.

suggestion for task batching

Schedule mundane, low-cognitive activities for the same time as a webcast or other listening-only activity. You get two tasks done while increasing your enjoyment of both.

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.

win the championship while keeping practice in perspective

During a training my team kept our focus on the key goals. We prepared for the main objective during the time allocated for mini-assignments. As a result we won the grand championship with a more polished, complete, and effective presentation. Instead of getting lost in the weeds, we kept the view of the forest. Our advance work saved time and stress in the final preparation leading up to the competition.

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.

What and Why

I attended a training session that included opening presentations and instruction followed by hands-on lab work, all completed remotely by web conference. The lab consisted of a script to follow with software in a demo environment. The script provided an excess of information that distracted from the core goal of becoming familiar with the software. The greatest benefit of the training came from reading the lab overview and following the prescribed steps through the software. In other words answering the ‘what’ and ‘why’ and then stepping through the interface provided the most learning. All the other details were less critical to the core concepts and quickly forgotten. Thus spending any serious time focused on those non-core details was inefficient.

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.