Tag: values

Good and bad start

FabrizioLeave a comment

Start the day with something that motivates you, something you can be proud of, something that is valuable.

A bad way to start the day is by checking emails and instant messages, and getting caught in answering each one of them (as well as the new ones as they come in).

A good way to start the day is by shutting down email and instant messages app, and writing that blog post that’s been on your backlog for weeks.

A bad way to start the day is with a meeting.

A good way to start the day is by dedicating your full attention to that deliverable that is waiting for your feedback.

A bad way to start the day is by checking social media accounts and a few potentially interesting websites.

A good way to start the day is by going offline and drafting the full content calendar for next quarter.

Socially responsible

FabrizioLeave a comment

Many companies claim that they will be changing the World – or the way the World does this and that. Few even actually understand what changing the World means.

In Finland, a local grocery chain has declared themselves “bully-free zone” (article linked in Finnish). And it’s a fantastic win.

Not because it’s their business. Not because they make money from it. Not because they are getting free publicity.

But because it makes sense.

  • Bullying is a problem, in Finland like anywhere else.
  • Bullying happens mainly at school or around schools.
  • In Finland in particular, kids go to school and back home on their own, from as early as 7. That makes the journey home-school-home a problem for a bullied kid.
  • This grocery chain has a lot of local stores, often not far from schools.
  • Stores employ familiar adults (you shop there every day), they are open long hours, they are well lighted (Finland gets long dark days in winter), and there’s typically other people around.
  • So, they promote that every employee at their grocery chain is a safe adult for kids to turn to when bullied.

It must be one of the best executed corporate social responsibility campaigns ever.

The bane

FabrizioLeave a comment

Busy is the bane.

And sometimes, you are busy. So much so that being busy becomes a description of your permanent self, more than a temporary state.

To get out of it, make a list of the things that are making you busy. And ask yourself two questions.

  1. Are those things my responsibility? Because if they are not, you are doing somebody else’s job.
  2. Could those things be somebody else’s responsibility? Perhaps a colleague who is looking for an advancement, or a freelancer who is looking for more work.

Once you unlock that conversation with yourself, you are ready to start setting boundaries and delegating.

Dreams

FabrizioLeave a comment

If your dream is something you are 100% sure you will be achieving, something you are comfortable with, something you have already done before, that’s not a dream.

If your project is something that no one else has ever achieved, something that is not well defined, something that will take years to complete, that’s not a project.

Using the right definitions and assumptions for the right thing will bring you close to success.

Focus and clarity

FabrizioLeave a comment

Whatever you are working on, and whatever the meaning of good, cheap, and fast is in that context, it’s always important to remember that you can’t have them all at the same time.

Focus is key. And again, just like yesterday, the more people are involved in that project, the more important it is to give them clarity.