Strategic Discipline Blog

Are there any implications your business can learn from the Egyptian Revolution?  Multipliers co author Greg McKeown predicts events like this and the Libyan revolution may foreshadow undercurrents that will impact your business.   As we’ve noted in this blog before the two most critical elements of leadership are the ability to predict and delegate.   Just like Scrooge in Dickens Christmas Carol these events may foresee what’s ahead for business.

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Topics: Bringing Out the Best In People, change, Topgrading, Multipliers

We’ve all met people who bring their enthusiasm and passion to work with them.  Greg McKeown who co authored the book Multipliers with Liz Wiseman is one of those people.   It reminded me of the significant difference that we need to be aware of in our organizations: are our people fueled with enthusiasm and passion for what it is your business does for your customers?  A good question to develop a subsequent blog around.  
Greg’s passion surrounds his pursuit of a question that’s driven him even before writing and contributing to Multipliers, “How can we access more of the intelligence and capability already inherent in people everywhere?”

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Topics: Accountability, employee performance, manager, Multipliers

Let’s review the key steps to developing rituals and establishing change and introduce key number five – enlisting support.  Here are the five keys:

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Topics: Discipline, change, leadership, rituals, habits, support

Have you ever had a hard time establishing a new habit or routine?  As noted in my last blog, Discipline Rituals – What We Resist Persists, we derive a certain amount of comfort or safety doing what we’ve always done. That’s why it’s so difficult to change.  Even the most powerful commitment to change is often counter balanced by an unconscious or subliminal commitment not to change.  Exposing our fears to not changing is key number four in building effective rituals.

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Topics: Discipline, priorities, rituals, routine

In my last blog Discipline Scheduling - Three Keys to Building Effective Rituals we looked at three keys to building effective rituals.  The three keys are:

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Topics: Discipline, rituals, precision and specificity

How important is it to specify the time you are going to do something to predict accomplishment?  Precision and Specificity is one of the three key to establishing effective rituals.  Researchers have found that even chronic procrastinators are eight times more likely to follow through if they set a specific time to complete it.  Here’s an example from Be Excellent at Anything that illustrates the importance of precision and specificity. 

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Topics: time management, rituals, precision and specificity, routine

How well do you get things done?  Do you get your daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly priorities completed on time?  How well do your people do at this? 

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Topics: Discipline, priorities, rituals, precision and specificity

One of my clients got me involved in Sports World, a non-profit organization that speaks to students about making positive choices.  In preparing for our second effort in my area I’ve recognized how powerful their message is even to business.

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Topics: Discipline, priorities, rituals, habits, top priorities

If you’re an athlete or have watched sporting events you know that it’s recommended to stretch and jog before engaging in strenuous activity.  Does it make sense that you should train your people to do the same thing in your work environment?

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Topics: People, productivity, rhythm, routine

Last blog, Tortoise or Hare, Which Discipline do you Follow, we discussed three fundamental principles for sustaining high performance.  Let’s look at the first principle, that we cannot expect growth or improvement in any dimension of our lives without intentionally and regularly challenging our current capacity.

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Topics: leadership, use of energy, stress