When life gets busy my natural tendency is to go into “get ‘er done” mode. I am all about the lists and multitasking with the goal to most efficiently mark items as complete. Tick! Done!
When I am self-aware enough to step out of the auto-pilot task master cycle I know in my heart that how you do something is every bit as important as what you do. For me, this is evident in the daily routines with the Toad. There are lots of different ways to get dinner prepared, piano practiced, lunches made and laundry folded before bedtime – some of them involve laughing and working together and snuggling and talking about important things and others – the more task-
focused way – involve barking instructions, repeatedly announcing the time, yelling and voicing my frustration.
The three wicked questions below not only check yourself and your auto-pilot tendencies but also forces you to think through and be accountable to both the what and the how of your actions and interactions.
Try this out this week at work – and at home!
- When you arrive at work are you lost in thought about your day or so hurried to get to your desk you can't actually remember what you said or how you interacted with the people you met on the way?
- Is your primary focus moving the piles of tasks across your desk or on gauging whether or not the communication among your staff and between you and your staff is positive?
- Where have you set the bar? Clue: look at how your staff behaves, that's where you set the bar.