1. Take a walk every day, then take a few notes afterward to capture and act on good ideas that I think of on the walk. Consider just going around the block in the morning - that's more doable.
2. Don't live every day as if it were your last (and take unreasonable risks). Appreciate each day as if it were your only day alive. Reflect on reasons to be grateful.
3. In team meetings, instead of reflecting at the end on "I like, I wish, I wonder" statements, ask yourself, what are you grateful for today? What is one big goal you have? What is one thing you can do today to work towards that goal?
4. Try something different to stand out and achieve things that have never been achieved before. Some ideas:

• In project, account or strategic planning, try using the Pixar storytelling rubric to write a story to envision how you want your endeavor/life to work out:
• Once upon a time there was ________.
• Every day, ________.
• One day, ________.
• Because of that, ________.
• Because of that, ________.
• Until finally, ________.
• Consider delivering a strategic road map this way instead of as a big Word document
• On a project, when thinking of an approach to solve a problem or design a deliverable, reject the very first idea you come up with - it's likely unoriginal and will probably not make an impact. The second idea may only be a tweaked version of the first idea, but at least it won't be totally predictable or boring.
• On a project, set clear standards for high performance. The very first time that someone is irresponsible or does not give their best effort, find someone to replace that person. Give the person one last chance to justify why they should stay. If they can't make a case for staying, they and the project are better off if they leave.
• On a project, consider doing a single lap around the block as a way to calm down or a way to time-box making a decision.
• Send e-mail as needed. Call people more often. Use a task list instead of your inbox to knock out tasks that need to be done. Only read e-mail on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Turn on an out of office message that tells people to call you on your cell phone if they need you to read something or respond sooner.
• Advocate a "No BS Risk Management" approach. Answer two questions (be ruthless and do not emphasize documentation as much as follow-through):
• What could happen or not happen that could us/our project to fail?
• What are we going to do about it? Take action now!

Labels: Walks

posted @ 1:00 PM