The One Thing That Causes More Dropped Balls Than Anything Else

For people or for teams who feel stuck or like they are always waiting on external factors to move them forward:

Give yourself or your team an accountability audit.

This assesses how clear your team is on their responsibilities, and where the gaps are. This is critical for pinpointing the systematic flaws that are enabling dropped-balls and missed opportunities.

It means accounting for achievable goals, not tasks that just took up time

Phone calls are not achievable goals that move you forward. They don’t add value to the customer or client.An email is not a task you achieved, your users don’t care how many emails you sent or how well intentioned they were.Closing the deal adds value, so that counts.Launching the book adds value, so that counts too.Accountability means tasks that are measurable.Accountability means thinking about the end user or customer first.Accountability means looking at the task list and interrogating impediments with a fury.It means facing reality and being honest with yourself about what actually needs to happen to hit the goal.

2 Minute Action:

Define the results you want/your goal.Call your best friend and ask them to text you every day until you get it done.When you start making excuses for why you didn’t make progress, you’ll either realize that you’re making excuses or you’ll continue to believe those excuses and see the same results.It’s up to you.

How To Do Anything You Want

There are no tasks, there are only stories.

This concept is directly from Jeff Sutherland, one of the creators of Scrum (Agile).Here's the idea: a "user story" is a way to describe the problem a user (or customer) faces.It's formatted like this:As a < type of user >, I want < some goal > so that < some reason >.This helps keep the task "user-focused" and pointed directly at the true need of the customer.For a story to be “ready” for work. It must meet the INVEST Criteria:

• Independent - actionable and completable on its own. No dependencies.
• Negotiable - Until it’s being done, it needs to be able to be re-written. Allowance for change is built in.
• Valuable - It actually delivers value to a customer, or user, or stakeholder.
• Estimable - We have to be able to size it.
• Small - The story must be small enough to be able to estimate and plan for it easily. If it’s too big, rewrite it or break it into smaller stories.
• Testable - A story must have a test that it must pass for it to be “complete.” Write the test, before you do the story.

For a story to be “done,” it must meet any conditions or tests defined by “Testable.”Testable just means "pass/fail."If stories are really ready, teams can double output. If stories are really done, they can double output, again.This takes discipline and it takes clarity.

2 Minute Action

Convert your to-do list from tasks into stories.Too hard?Does that mean you don't do it at all?You know better.Make it smaller and just convert your first task.Do it again and again. You'll get the hang of it.

What Love and Respect Means In a Professional Setting

I respect and love you so much that I have to tell you the truth.There’s nothing else I can do other than give you my raw honesty.If I didn’t like you as much, it would be easier to sugar coat it and walk away.

You’re not yourself.

I don’t know what happened.The behaviors I’m seeing aren’t what I normally see from you.This isn’t you.I want the old you back.

2 Minute Action

Quick, honest conversations that start with love are more powerful than yelling or “scaring people straight.”It’s up to each of us to look out for each other.Pick Simone in your life who isn’t acting like they used to.Take a second to ask how they’re doing and what’s up.Sugar coating breeds distrust.Being too nice breeds resentment.Being honest and assertive brings people together.