Tag Archives: FranklinCovey

Do you treat yourself like you do your car?

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Character and Competence, Discipline, Uncategorized

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Does anyone else think their car feels cleaner, faster and snappier as you drive away from a passed MOT inspection? Or is it just me?

By the same token, how do you feel when you leave the dentist after a clean and polish? Or when you’ve filed all your paperwork?

The reason for all this contentment is because your essential maintenance is finally complete and you feel that you have a fresh start available to you. Despite the fact that most of us consider ‘maintenance’ to be in the pile of ‘things I HAVE to do but which don’t achieve anything meaningful’, our brains recognise that completion of those things is an enabler to carrying out of more important things. Our brains are cleverer than we are.

Think about it. How well could we do what is important if we didn’t, at some point, carry out the foundational ‘unimportant’ admin and saw-sharpening that supports us? How well could we write and research if we didn’t maintain our computers? How could we get around if we didn’t maintain our transportation? How could we charge clients if our billing records weren’t up to snuff?

How embarrassing is it when your pen runs out of ink just at the signature stage of a contractual negotiation?

Maintenance is a way of ensuring effectiveness at the front end, folks.

That goes as much for ‘you’ as it does your ‘stuff’. It’s all very well you accepting this advice and setting about checking your pens for ink, your pencils for lead and your car’s service schedule for late oil changes, but what about you?

Your body needs to be properly maintained constantly if it is to enable success and effectiveness in all of your roles. Eat too much and you slow down while your body digests it. Poison it with alcohol or excessive caffeine and you make it jump before it plummets again. Fail to exercise and the lubricants clog and congeal and eventually need changing. If they CAN be changed.

Your brain needs to be fed and nurtured, too. That doesn’t solely mean intellectual data input, it also means that stuff which calms the neurons, like music and (paradoxically) silence in nature. Although from a work perspective, keeping up to speed with practice and protocol changes is a necessary activity if we aren’t to become redundant in an intangible way – or worse, a tangible, ‘go-work-somewhere-else’ kind of way.

Take a few minutes today to find out if there is anything you need to know or do to improve your relevancy at work, and to ensure that the only tool through which you do everything – your body – will remain capable of serving you for longer. Like until you are 101, not up to ‘65 and knackered’ There are plenty of apps, books and facilities providing advice and equipment for these purposes.

You can also ignore all three of those and just take the odd moment to sit quietly and enjoy the silence.

Keep your saw sharp. It’s a cutting edge philosophy.

Taking your (de)briefs down properly.

20 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in Character and Competence, General, Uncategorized

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A LinkedIn post yesterday spoke of a person who’d received their ‘Debriefing’ certificate. Hands up, my first thoughts were ‘who needs to be trained in criticising?’ Uncharitable, and definitely a bit closed-minded.

Particularly so because while I have not myself been on such a course, I have had input that could easily be described under the term ‘debriefing’, from a good friend. So I have been trained. Whether it is the same level or content I may never know.

Most debriefs celebrate either ‘what went wrong’ if the project failed and will be heavily laden with ‘I told you sos’ from those who were never asked their opinion beforehand and feel piqued, or who were asked – but said nothing. They would be the types heavily reliant on hindsight. Of course, the same people would also contribute on a successful operation’s debrief, but would be claiming credit or, at least, that their contribution was the ‘bit’ that made everything work.

The problem, as far as my good friend would be concerned, is that both focus only upon the majors – they focus on went wrong (failed project) or celebrate what went right (successful project).

Both debriefs fail, therefore, to see a broader picture that would better serve the next event.

My friend, on the other hand, said all debriefs should rely on just three questions.

  1. What went well?
  2. What did we learn?
  3. What will we do next time?

This set of questions is brilliant. It allows for the ‘good’ stuff to be celebrated first. A positive start, creating a positive environment for the next question.

The order of the three questions is also brilliant because without using the word ‘wrong’, the second question invites people to both own and solve the problems they have identified, rather than just focusing on the fact “it was someone else’s fault and I would have done it differently but I wasn’t asked”. (See above.) It is solution focused but does not avoid the issue that the solution will address. It lets people contribute to a better end rather than just allow for a typically selfish hit job on somebody else – who frequently won’t be present but that’s a different post. (Guilty, and ashamed.)

The last question brings the answers to the first questions into a plan, rather than leaving everything hanging and allowing the detractors to carry on buck-passing.

My friend (John M, thank you!) used this trilemma of questions every time –and I mean every time – we did anything together, and it served me well. It must have done because he let me do things on my own later on, some great opportunities that his mentoring allowed me to take.

Which is another thing – keep hold of your mentors. They believed in you as much as you believe in them, and that’s a beautiful situation for any aspirant to greatness.

Learn the three questions, and apply them frequently. Even if you’re the only one present at the debrief.

Print your own certificate…………………

Hyrum Smith on Paper Planners

24 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in General, Time Management

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Hyrum Smith, co-founder of FranklinCovey and seller of thousands of Palm Pilots, was asked in 2009 about technology and planning. This is what was said.

Q; Technology today offers many electronic options for managing time, but I still love my paper Franklin Planner. Are we seeing a return to paper and pencil, or is the trend going toward electronic tools?

“My impression is that there is a surge returning to paper. I will never forget when 3Com brought in and put on my desk the first Palm Pilot. I played with it and thought it was a great toy, but no one will ever buy one. I turned out to be wrong about that. We strongly embraced technology at FranklinCovey and sold 10,000 Palm Pilots a week for several years, and then all of a sudden, we didn’t. People stopped buying PDAs. I thought, “I’ve got to try the Palm Pilot.”

I put away my paper planner for 13 months. I went to a PDA and I discovered that I could do everything in my Palm Pilot that I could do in my paper planner, but I wouldn’t. The reason I wouldn’t is because it took too much time. It was too hard to do. I came back to my paper planner because of the ease of the operation. What I discovered was that for managing tasks, appointments, and taking notes, a paper planner is four times faster than any electronic device. There is a whole host of reasons for that, but I will just leave it at that level. A paper planner for tasks, appointments— managing me—is four times faster.

Now, there is a place for technology. I carry a BlackBerry. I love my BlackBerry. What do I use it for? I can communicate my calendar to my people. I can download The Wall Street Journal. I can check my email. It is a wonderful phone. But for managing me in the heat of the day, my paper planner is more effective and it is faster. I have had letters from CEOs, senior vice-presidents from all over the country, telling me, “Hyrum, I’m back to my paper planner. I’ve got control back in my life.” In fact, just a year ago, a senior VP from Merrill Lynch went through our seminar. She said, “Hyrum, you trained me 18 years ago, I went to an electronic device 3 years ago, I lost control of my life. I went back to my paper planner and my control is back.” There is something about writing on paper that a human being likes.

The thing about those three things: tasks, appointments, and taking notes, and if I know how to retrieve those notes—the magic of the Franklin Planner is the retrieval system. The minute I write a note in my planner, I’ve given that note a root in time. I will always be able to find it. There are three different ways for retrieving information from a Franklin Planner. I can do it with lightning speed. If you don’t understand the mechanics of the Franklin Planner, you don’t understand why people would use that instead of technology. If you’ve gone through the class and you’ve been taught well how to use it, it is a dangerous tool. I’m a paper guy myself.”

I’ve spent a few hours pondering about using my smartphone for planning, but I can’t get around the size of the keyboard, the fiddliness of the note-taking facilities, the constant spell checking by me or machine, the fact that the phone will be gone at the end of a contract along with all that I record on it (no, you never really take the time to transfer it all), and the poor way the diary/task management software works in reality. Not to mention the fact that for all that tech provides, all smartphone users are still carrying around heaps of paper anyway.

If the leadership of companies like Merrill Lynch think papers I best, who am I to argue?

HAPPY STEPHEN COVEY’S BIRTHDAY DAY TO ALL!

Begin with the End in Mind – ALL the Time.

05 Sunday Oct 2014

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In the book First Things First, Stephen Covey wrote about how we should begin our lives with our legacy in mind, and he went further by writing in this (mainly but not exclusively) time management book that we should plan each week with the same objective – a plan that we would execute during the week to ensure that by the end of that week we had achieved what we’d set out to do.

Stated within those pages but not as clearly to me as he had intended – my fault, not his – was the idea that Begin(ning) with the End in Mind applied to everything we do, not just life-, work- or daily-plans, but even the most routine stuff.

This was brought home to me last week when I went for a long run and limped home afterwards because I had neglected to consider the condition of my feet, specifically a ruddy great toenail that decided towards the end of my run to incise the adjacent toe and cause a rush of blood into my sock.

I consider this concept to be the reason why I love using my personal planning system. It does look nice and it is exceptionally convenient to use, but the most practical benefit for me is that when I put something down in it, whether it be a task or an appointment, I am immediately pushed to thinking about what preparation is needed for that item.

If it’s an appointment, what paperwork will I need, what travel plans are necessary (maps, then satnav – always!), what else can I be doing while I am travelling/waiting/in the area, etc. If it’s a task there are similar considerations, like have I got the tools/equipment/skills/money that I need and, if not, where can I get it and what else can I get/do while I’m collecting it. (That’s a skill developed after a day where I visited a hardware store 5 times in one day – that’s another story.) If the plan involves other people I can look towards deciding what they can or could bring to the party, what their needs are and what I can do about them.

The final, practical benefit of a paper planning system is that when these thoughts arise I am already sat in front of the very thing I need to make the plans and plan the actions that have arisen just out of the one, original intention. Of course you can do all that on a tablet, although the jumping between programmes can be a nightmare for the slightly less e-inclined.

(I know, Samsung S-Memo, Evernote and the undoubted i-equivalent do have their uses but pen and paper is a lot quicker unless and until you’re used to them. What’s more, paper’s batteries never run out and paper never crashes. And you can file paper for EVER when your hardware gets full or old.)

Since everything we do has an objective (or we shouldn’t be doing it – what is the objective for watching soap operas?), then everything we do has an End in Mind towards which we should plan, and in respect of which we should execute that plan. Many generals have said “Planning is everything, but plans are nothing”, reflecting the older adage, “No plan survives initial contact with the enemy”, but their point is always – planning is a necessary and fundamental part of success. Once you know the End I Mind you can change the plan. But if you don’t know the End, or you don’t have a Plan, you haven’t started yet.

The only sad part about getting good at this? Is that you get so good that you don’t notice you’re doing it.

Weekly Challenge

Consider obtaining some sort of planning system – electronic or paper, it’s up to you and you don’t have to take my absolutely true, effective and unarguable word that paper is better. Take your time and really consider investing in a quality system (Daytimer, Daytimer UK, Franklin Covey or FranklinCovey UK, TimeSystem US or UK, or Filofax, the bigger you can manage, the better) Then learn how to best use it in your own situation, and commit to doing so for at least 31 days. By which time you’ll probably be a lot better at doing what you want to do, when it needs to be done, and at the level of execution excellence you seek.

Which is the end you have in mind, surely?

 Blog Part

Last week I said my weight loss for the previous 7 days had been disappointing. This week I ‘only’ lost 2.5lbs but as long as that carries on I’ll be at my target weight at around the intended point. I’ve also discovered that I can no longer eat heavy meals (and not THAT heavy) without feeling bloated and uncomfortable afterwards, which will pay dividends. Tony Robins opines that eating poorly is one of the causes of ‘the common cold’ because the symptoms of a ‘common cold’ are only the body trying to divest itself of all the rubbish we tend to eat around Thanksgiving (USA) and Christmas (everywhere). It may be true – the last two weeks, after eating a heavy meal, my nose has been blocked for the next 24 hours, whereas the rest of the week it feels fine. Food for thought. (See what I did there?)

For some reason running has been feeling harder but the times are sound. This suggests that I am running faster at first, so getting puffed out, then slowing down to reach the distance in the same time. Logical, but does it mean I’m hitting my maximum speed? I hope not because it means that no matter how far I run I’ll run at 8 and a bit mph! Which means a sub-2 hour half marathon if/when I get there, but never any better.

I’ve focused a lot of attention on spreading the word via social media (like this site, Facebook, and Twitter – @3resolutionsguy). I’ve also started readying myself for some more goals, because after I lose weight and assuming I stay where I get I will have to have something more to focus on. Like a new job……..

The Importance of LIVING Your Personal Mission Statement (PMS)

28 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by in Character and Competence, Discipline, General, Purpose and Service

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As the weeks have passed on my efforts to be more compliant with the Three Resolutions I have become more and more convinced of the power of the PMS, and therefore the importance of the PMS.

Some sceptics would argued that a PMS isn’t necessary. Many of those who so argue miss the point. They may be successful; they may produce results at a high level of excellence; and they may have great relationships. I know people who fit those descriptions, at least as far as I can tell, and no, they don’t to the best of my knowledge ‘have’ a PMS. They don’t seem to have a written down constitution and set of value statements. (Or they won’t admit to having one because that’s seen to reveal a character flaw in this world of self-standard judging.)

What these nice, pleasant, successful and productive people have is an unwritten PMS and/or set of unwritten value statements. They know what they want and how they’re going to get it in a principled fashion, and they set about doing that. Good on them, and may that continue.

Some of us, though, like the idea of having these things written down as (a) a reminder of what we are doing, why and how we will do it and (b) as a public declaration of those things so that we can be held to account when we wander off course.

In the context of (a) we recognise that there will be occasions when, through fatigue, overwhelm, stress or even danger we might not quite act in accordance with our values and we want to remind ourselves that those are the very times when we MUST so act. In the case of (b) we recognise that sometimes we are not strong enough in ourselves to act in accordance with our PMS and it would be nice if, just IF, our friends, family, colleagues and others would support us in getting us back on track instead of either pulling us off track or taking the mick because we have ‘failed’.

The public declaration of my PMS on this website, on my t-shirts (5, not 4 as I said a while ago) and all the other visible ‘declarations’ in terms of the edited highlights (7H-3R) have those motives. Some people who I respect, like and even love think it’s fun to take the p**s. So be it. It gives me a chance to exercise its stated intent on character to an even higher level. (But look to yourselves for your own intent and see if you want your actions to reflect your character.)

But even the simple act of putting my PMS on my laptop as the main screen wallpaper has caused me to execute in its regard. I’ll be surfing away or working on something routine when I see the PMS glaring at me, and despite my fatigue and (slowly wavering!) dislike for running I will change and go out there and do what I have declared I will do, because it addresses all Three Resolutions – Discipline (Resolution1), Character (Resolution 2) and Service (I’m preparing for a sponsored event and to support a team effort). The same applied to the hours I’ve put in the last two weeks on the Professional Investigator’s Manual and a colleague’s PowerPoint presentation – it’s about the Mission, and the Mission serves me and makes me better, while also serving others.

Eventually the PMS will be emotionally tattooed on my sub-conscious but for now, and even after that happens, the words I wrote – no-one wrote them for me, they are my words, my intent and my focus – will remain where I place them. In public, both pictorially and (I intend) visually in what I do and how I do it.

Now go and write yours. Then live it!

Weekly Challenge

I just told you! Go and write yours. You have 7 days, and I’d love to see them in the Comments section when you’ve finished. If you’re stuck, try http://www.franklincovey.com/msb .

Blog Part

Hit the wall on a run this week but ran through it. I say run, more of a struggle. My weight loss was only half a pound but the (ahem) waste disposal system is a bit slow and I expect next week’s results will compensate. I mean the weight, not the other thing. I am but 5lbs behind schedule, now.

But I was so productive and positive it hurt, so the concepts of Discipline-Character-Competence really are working for me.

I’m also developing next year’s A4 (letter sized) personal planning system, creating DIY forms and all the paper I’ll need to manage myself for the 12 months after my current Daytimer expires. (Dear FranklinCovey/Daytimer/Filofax – you need to go A4, 2 pages to a day with a 4 ring binder for us Brits.) I’ve prepared my planning diaries up to 2017 so I’ll not be buying an industry-designed planner until at least then. Unless their pretty catalogues start tempting me as they tend to do whenever they plop on the hallway mat…….

My 2015 Planning System, courtesy of do-it-yourself forms, a Dymo printer and a Filofax leather binder that cost £2 in a charity shop. You’ll note my PMS behind the plastic divider…..

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Self-preservation through Unified Living

09 Saturday Aug 2014

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Living your values, it is generally accepted in the personal development field, is the best way to ensure high personal self-esteem and life-long happiness. Charles Hobbs (TimePower) and Hyrum Smith (FranklinCovey) both specifically address how living in accordance with your highest universal principles – your own set of genuine, conscience driven rules and standards – is the best way to feel successful, because it is intrinsic (part of you) and no dependant on outside approval, social acceptance or material wealth. Living your values means serenity and peace. And violating them brings anxiety, guilt and even depression.

How do I know this? From experience, that’s how.

A couple of days ago I was merrily driving along, using the correct driving principles as taught to me by skilled police drivers, and adhering to the speed limit when a chap drove up behind me so close I couldn’t see his headlights. Considering we were in a 30mph limited road which was on the approach to a roundabout this seemed a bit silly, but I didn’t bite. I just raised my hand in a circle, separated the finger and thumb, and indicated thereby that perhaps the driver may consider pulling back a tad. He did so, and I gave him the thumbs up. Just as he accelerated hard and overtook so that he was still on the wrong side of the road as we came to the bollard at the roundabout entrance.

Now, if I had been proactive and used the stimulus/response gap to think ‘he’s a nutter so I’ll give him space’, things would have been fine. However, in that instant, I chose the ‘oh, we’ll see who can get to the gap first then, shall we?’ reactive technique. As it was, there was just enough – by inches – space so that no collisions occurred and I was able to add a verbal description of the driver through our mutually open car windows before we went I our separate directions.

And for the rest of the day I felt really off.

I felt off because I had failed to act in accordance with my unifying principle ‘I demonstrate high levels of skill and patience in driving.’ I felt off because I had not considered that circumstances like this lead to potential confrontation and while I am not fearful of ‘it’, confrontation is such an open ended activity. If I win the immediate confrontation I have no guarantee that it stops when it is over, especially these days when violence and revenge and utter stupidity seem to be the watchword of people whose first response is reactive thuggery, rather than being dragged slowly towards that end. Would I find that he would torch my car, find out where I live and threaten my kinfolk? If there had been a rumble, even if I had won what could the legal consequences have been? Was I prepared for them, did I want or need such inconvenience? And if the road hadn’t been wide enough, was I prepared to spend money and time repairing my car because I was reactively miffed?

Over the remainder of the day (and my reaction still irked me at bedtime) it occurred to me that, occasionally, it is not the highest ideals that we find hard to live up to, but the tiny ones. Say we choose to study, and do so diligently towards a professional qualification. It’s hard, but it’s doable. At the same time we resolve to be patient, and then someone jumps into the front of a queue and we go nuts. In many ways the patience objective is the easiest – easy to understand, easy to see ourselves doing it, easy to define – but the stimulus to challenge it can be too sudden and we have no time to think (correction, we do not take the time to think) and so we fail.

It’s a lesson we should all consider to be valuable. We have failed, so next time we won’t. It’s a demonstration that we are compliant with both the First and Second Resolutions. We discipline ourselves to be patient, deny ourselves the counterfeit sense of righteousness that the offending behaviour can engender within us, and our character shines through (with some competence in patientology).

Next time – just drive off ahead of the tailgater, or let him go. Let him offend and endanger someone else – I am too important to me and to my family and friends to suffer because of my own ego.

As are you.

Blog Part
Only two pounds lost this week but the running programme continues apace (see what I did there?). This weight loss means (if it continues at 2lbs per week) I may miss my 1/9/ target but as the months differ in lengths I anticipate that any slide back will be compensated for by 1/10/14. The diet remains easy to comply with, too.