I am not a great fan of finite numbered lists, Five Dysfunctions, Six Thinking Habits, Seven Habits of Highly Effective, and so on. However, trying to summarise my approach to helping businesses I found that I had created a list. A list of eight short sentences that run like DNA through my approach and attitude.
This is no eight-step book or contrived mnemonic (another pet hate) but is worthy of reflection. Identifying this DNA has meant that all our ways of working can be checked against the list. They almost always do.
In no particular order:
Keep it simple but powerful
Simple is not simplistic. Simple is free of clutter and gets to the point. It is unpretentious and avoids unnecessary complexity. But it must be highly effective.
Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler [Albert Einstein]
Everything conspires to make things more complex. Complexity must be avoided, or at least reduced, at all costs. That doesn’t mean you should dumb things down.
Be practical and results-focused
A good dose of theory never hurt anyone, but it has to be relevant. Or it has to be made relevant. I am all about action and results. Anything else I am highly suspicious of.
Share stuff that works
You should share tools, tips, techniques and ideas when you know they actually work in practice. In your own business or one that you have been involved in.
Start with the end in mind [Steven Covey]
I never tire of this approach. If you don’t know where you are going then any road will do. We need clarity and we need to go through the process of thinking through where we wish to end up and why, as well as thinking through how we might get there.
If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got
[This one is attributed to all manner of people including Anthony Robbins, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Mark Twain…]
We often create self-limiting beliefs and find it difficult to imagine what we could achieve with a different approach.
Change is uncomfortable but the results can be life-changing… for the better
Change is often uncomfortable but ends usually justify the means. You shouldn’t avoid doing something just because it is difficult to do.
We’re all responsible for whatever life we have!
Too many people allow an external locus of control to dominate their lives. They blame everything and everyone else for where they are and refuse to take ownership or control of their circumstances.
Maybe I should write another book?