#TheThreeMinuteChallenge

The Three Minute Challenge: Automating Your Routines — #TheThreeMinuteChallenge

by Joe & T.J. | Nov 13, 2019 | #TheThreeMinuteChallenge, Daily Habits, Decision-Making, Focus, Learning to Lead, Principals

Automated_Routines

The average person makes upward toward 2,000 decisions every hour. If you’re a leader, or key decision-maker at work, you can increase not only the amount of decisions, but the difficulty of them. The challenge is that decision-making is a mental task, and expert Mike Erwin argues that when we exert our mental energy over-and-over, we can become fatigued. And when fatigue sets in, it can result in poor performance. The last thing that leaders want is poor decision-making performance.

What is fascinating is that the human brain has to process five times as much information as it did in 1986. The problem with this increase in processing overload is that the brain isn’t even aware when it’s tired or impaired. We just keep making decisions even when we’re making bad ones. Unfortunately, we’re often not even aware of our poor choices until it’s too late.

One key to better decision-making is to automate routines. Daily routines not only help to create space for better decisions, they reserve your decision-making energy for when tough decisions need to be made. Take time for the following three challenges–only three minutes each–and you’ll see a marked difference in how you feel about your next big decision.

#1: Prioritize Blocks of Time–Everyone operates on a unique time-to-energy continuum. This means that your greatest points of energy, for your most important decisions, occur at regular intervals. Dan Pink addresses this in his book When, which we highly recommend. The challenge is to block time in your day for your biggest, most important projects. Take three minutes at the beginning or end of each day, and be sure to block time for what matters most to you. Here’s a resource.

#2: Keep Clear Routines–We mentioned that Steve Jobs and President Obama made very limited choices regarding what to wear each day. This saves decision-making energy for other more important aspects of life and work. Clear routines can help to keep your exerted energy low and your decision-making powers at their greatest strength. Take three minutes and decide upon the aspects of life and work that you simply do not need to make a decision about each day–what to eat for breakfast and lunch, what route to take to work, what brand of coffee to use. Eliminating certain simple decisions is the catalyst for more or better decisions in your day or week. Here’s a resource.

#3: Slow Down–Automating routines is not the same as automating decisions. Routine automation is about finding simple ways to quit making decisions so that you don’t make decisions automatically when they need more thought and consideration. With the steady onslaught of information and distractions we get each day, we often make decisions with our emotions, while multitasking, or without the proper information to be accurate. Next time you have to make a decision–even if it feels like a quick and easy one to make–slow down, take a deep breath, take a short walk, and use just three minutes to be your calmest self whenever possible. Here’s a resource.

Stay tuned for more challenges, reflection questions, leadership models, podcasts, and more by following dereka206.sg-host.com. It’s our job to curate, synthesize, and communicate so that you can lead better and grow faster. In a world plagued by nothing but noise, we help you by getting to simple.

TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.

Joe & T.J.

#TheThreeMinuteChallenge: Defining Your Core Values

by Joe & T.J. | Nov 6, 2019 | #TheThreeMinuteChallenge, Core Values, Decision-Making, Education, Feedback, Learning to Lead

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Everyday we are faced with countless situations that require us to make a decision. The wild aspect of decision-making, that we need to wrap our minds around, is that many of the decisions we make are influenced by undetected external inputs that range from color schemes to how questions are worded. Erik Qualman’s mind blowing socialnomics 2017 video reports that 93% of our purchasing decisions are influenced by social media alone. Who would have thought that George Orwell’s 1984 notion of Big Brother would manifest in the form of a Facebook post. Just being aware that many of our decisions are often hijacked by our surroundings is precisely why the first part of our decision-making model forces us to review and rely upon our core values. Before making any decisions, we must always ask ourselves what we truly believe in and why. Writing down your own core values is a pivotal first step for a structured and more effective decision-making process. There’s no doubt that you have already considered your values as an exercise–in your head or even on paper. But reviewing them, articulating them often, and keeping them in written format anchors them for use. Prior to enumerating your values, though, we embrace the notion that everyone should have a personal vision statement. Below you’ll find our personal vision statements. The goal is to be very clear about your vision and values (V2) so that you can refer to them on a daily basis. The more you do so and the more readily you can retrieve them in written format, the more likely you are to make decisions that align to them. The greater the alignment, the greater your own personal harmony. We share are our personal vision statements below:

T.J.: To construct meaning in a simple way and to share learning as a tool for serving the needs of others so that the resulting power of knowledge brings family, friends, followers, and fellow leaders together with a pure acceptance for one another and with lasting positive impact on the world.

Joe: To pursue life’s greatest gifts for myself and for those I love, lead, and follow by unearthing my own personal strengths, by finding joy in simple pleasures, and by loving without reservation.

Great leaders keep their vision and values on the WIRE:

Write out your personal vision statements. Share it with us online, be bold!
- Joe & T.J.
Identify and write down 3 to 5 core values that support your vision.
- Share your values with a person who you trust and ask for feedback.
Reflect each day about the use of your vision and values for decision-making.
- Read them in the AM to start the day, use them for decisions throughout the day, and reflect before bed that you stayed true to them as a leader.
Evaluate your vision and values frequently.
- Put your vision statement and core values to the test each quarter by revising them to match your growth as a leader.

Stay tuned for more challenges, reflection questions, leadership models, podcasts, and more by following dereka206.sg-host.com. It’s our job to curate, synthesize, and communicate so that you can lead better and grow faster. In a world plagued by nothing but noise, we help you by getting to simple. TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster. Joe & T.J.

#TheThreeMinuteChallenge: Don’t Limit Risk-Taking

by Joe & T.J. | Oct 23, 2019 | #TheThreeMinuteChallenge, Creativity, Culture, Disruption, Innovation, Leadership, Learning to Lead

It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult. ~ Seneca

Organizations that drive innovation, and feed people’s creativity to think in new and challenging ways, reward risk-taking to create new boundaries. And although leaders often realize the importance of creating a culture of innovation and creativity, their day-to-day actions and reactions to the business side of things can communicate the contrary. For creativity to be a norm, people require time and space, which can quickly be compromised in any fast-paced, bottom-line driven environment. Instead of lifting the talented rebels (who were hired to catapult the company forward), leaders can put people in a position to protect the status quo, favoring basic levels of control and compliance.

It’s unfortunate, but creativity is more often stifled than sustained. Even in organizations that do well with innovation, creative minds can learn quickly that real risk-taking will only be questioned to death. Unless leaders are truly willing to support and reward risk-takers, most people will succumb to conventional thinking. In most cultures, the risk, then, becomes in taking risks versus the other way around.

The problem is that without innovation and the freedom to explore, human capacity is diminished and workforce engagement is stemmed. No one enjoys working in a stale environment with the humdrum of tedium. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. With the right focus on creativity, leaders can bring innovative ideas to the surface. It starts with a creativity framework for growth through reflection and change.

Challenge Yourself–TPA: A Framework for Growth Through Reflection

Think: When was the last time someone presented an idea that contradicted the current program of work? What is your general response to discord and objection? When someone does take a risk, do you admonish, ignore, or reward it? If you want others to stick their necks out for the sake of doing things differently, you have to do the same.

Plan: Pick one initiative, activity, or program that needs new life breathed into it. Assemble a team of people and push their thinking to make improvements. Then, support the ideas they generate. Being supportive of new ideas is the way that leaders model their expectations for creativity, not necessarily by having new ideas themselves.

Act: Be sure to reward risk-taking by being vocal and supportive of the people who push the existing conditions. You cannot just “allow” creative people to exist, they need explicit support. Next time someone has a new idea, use public praise to back them up.

Stay tuned for more challenges, reflection questions, leadership models, podcasts, and more by following dereka206.sg-host.com. It’s our job to curate, synthesize, and communicate so that you can lead better and grow faster. In a world plagued by nothing but noise, we help you by getting to simple.

TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.

Joe & T.J.

#TheThreeMinuteChallenge: Over-Prescribed Recommendations

by Joe & T.J. | Oct 16, 2019 | #TheThreeMinuteChallenge, Creativity, Engagement, Feedback, Goal Setting, Leadership, Learning to Lead, Listening, Long-Term Decision-Making, Motivation, Principal Leadership

The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake. ~ Jim Collins

Getting stuck in the rut of tightly wound management techniques is easy for leaders to do. When a leader desires a specific outcome or things begin to go awry, emotions quickly take over. Fear of failure, limited confidence in oneself or the team, and overly high expectations can manifest in over-prescribing recommendations versus unleashing the talent in your department. You might aim to hire very creative people, but if you squelch their input, you also significantly diminish their output.

The fact is that all of us can fall into the routines of a micromanager. The minute something seems to go wrong, take too long, or seems far too gone, it’s easy to want to step-in and take over. We allow our emotions to govern our actions. Rather than being guided by sound leadership practices, we manage too tightly and our actions work in the short-term by simply accomplishing a task rather than keeping sight of the bigger vision. The problem is that these low level leadership responses will always crush creativity. Anytime you find yourself micromanaging people, or even taking on the work of a teammate (or subordinate), you’re replacing any of their ideas with your own. Doing so will only erode trust, a social construct between two people that can take years to build but minutes to break.

The only antidote to over-prescribing your directions, orders, and opinions is to create teams where collaboration is expected and the vision is clear. In fact, when teams are empowered through an acceptance of diverse thinking and psychological safety, they do more and faster.

Challenge Yourself–TPA: A Framework for Growth Through Reflection

Think: Are our projects assigned to teams or individuals? Are our teams diverse and inclusive so that we capitalize on new and creative perspectives? Are people free to express their opinions in a safe environment? As the leader, do I manage the people or the teams too closely?

Be a visionary, not a contributor.

Plan: List the current teams (or individuals) who are assigned to your various initiatives. Plan to add new people or new structures to the project management phase of the work so that you gain maximum creativity from the group. Then step away and appoint only one person to report back the findings and solutions to you.

Too much of your feedback to too many people creates confusion.

Act: Ask for feedback. The more you ask for feedback, the better people will get at giving it to you. Start with a trusted colleague and be direct. Don’t just ask for their reaction to your leadership. Use sentence stems, like “Where do you see me micromanaging?” Or “Where do we have limited creative output?”

Give space and time for a response. Act now.

Stay tuned for more challenges, reflection questions, leadership models, podcasts, and more by following dereka206.sg-host.com. It’s our job to curate, synthesize, and communicate so that you can lead better and grow faster. In a world plagued by nothing but noise, we help you by getting to simple. TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster. Joe & T.J.

#TheThreeMinuteChallenge: Passing Judgement

by Joe & T.J. | Oct 9, 2019 | #TheThreeMinuteChallenge, Creativity, District Office Leadership, Learning to Lead

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh the thinks you think if you only try. ~ Dr. Seuss

The real genius of any creative endeavor is that it requires action to become something tangible, something more than an idea, speculation, or plan. A willingness to try, to take risks, and to work toward an imagined reality are all necessary to achieve any desired result. However, success is neither binary nor linear. Just because we do X and then Y does not guarantee that we gain Z. And the path toward our vision is always filled with twists and turns, highs and lows. It’s for these reasons, and many more, that creativity is a necessary component in every great organizational culture. That said, it’s rarely as explicit as it should be. We seldom see or hear of strategic plans with areas completely dedicated to creativity and innovation. Yet, breakthroughs and break-froms both require imagination and the type of unique thinking that moves us from the past and into the future. It’s why we must make changes in the way we lead so that we capitalize on creativity versus the mistakes we make when we squander it. The first low level leadership behavior we feature this month is passing judgment, which is unfortunately a common method to reinforce the behaviors, actions, and attitudes of our workforce. Undoubtedly, leadership and evaluation go hand-in-hand. But, great leaders are skillful in the nuances of positive reinforcement, both in celebrating what they want repeated and in using corrective action for the changes they want made.

Challenge Yourself–TPA: A Framework for Growth Through Reflection

Think: How often do I use praise versus criticism? Do I praise people enough for them to hear my corrective feedback when I give it? Do people feel psychologically safe in doing their best work?

Plan: Target specific behaviors that people need to exhibit that will reinforce their creative output–challenging the status quo, thinking outside-of-the-box, seeing new perspectives, valuing diversity, lifting others with compliments, using candor, etc.

Act: Verbally or in writing praise people as they engage in the above behaviors and attitudes at work. Provide praise any time you see or hear of someone who is acting in a creative way or supporting a creative culture.

Stay tuned for more challenges, reflection questions, leadership models, podcasts, and more by following dereka206.sg-host.com. It’s our job to curate, synthesize, and communicate so that you can lead better and grow faster. In a world plagued by nothing but noise, we help you by getting to simple. TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster. Joe & T.J.

by Joe & T.J. | Sep 18, 2019 | #TheThreeMinuteChallenge, Engagement, Leadership, Learning to Lead

Throughout the month of September, we’ve been writing on the topic of disengagement in the workforce. Our Employee Engagement Model identifies the 3 surefire ways that a leader can quickly create disengagement among employees. Fortunately, we also offer the perfect antidote for each of the three problems. This week we are focused on one of the most common missteps that leaders can make, which is to micromanage the people they supervise. This behavior is never effective in the long run, even if it is a calculated decision due to someone’s poor performance. And, although communication and outcomes can suffer when someone isn’t meeting the mark at work, we find micromanagement to be far more of a weakness on the part of the leader than due to any employee circumstances that may arise.

The leader may fear what might happen in any given situation if she is not heavily involved or may simply underestimate an employee’s capabilities. Regardless of the reason, it is a detrimental practice that limits an employee’s growth, slows down operations, and creates distrust. Ultimately, micromanagement will disengage the team.

Take 3 minutes to challenge yourself at work.

Challenge Yourself: Let’s Get RAW

Reflect–Review a recent conversation that you had with someone you lead who was in charge of a project or situation. How did the conversation go? Did you dominate the conversation or did you share the space? Did you empower the employee or did you provide too much oversight?

Act–Create a series of questions to use during your next meeting to create discussion and elicit thinking. Questions like, “Are there other viewpoints to consider in this situation?” or, “How would you go about solving this problem?” can be very informative because they open the door to new perspectives.

Write–For one week, identify each time that you micromanage a person or scenario and consider why you are reacting that way. Write down the situation and your reasoning. This activity will help uncover patterns in your own behavior so that you can change in the future.

Day of the Week	Micromanagement Situation	Why
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

Stay tuned for more challenges, reflection questions, leadership models, podcasts, and more by following dereka206.sg-host.com. It’s our job to curate, synthesize, and communicate so that you can lead better and grow faster. In a world plagued by nothing but noise, we help you by getting to simple.

Joe & T.J.