Towards a More Balanced Toolkit

I like tools that I can apply to multiple situations. There’s a place for incredibly specialized tools, too. I wouldn’t want to use a hammer to put together an iPod, for instance. But, when dealing with thinking, I like open-ended tools. Covey’s and Allen’s books are great open-ended tools. This means that a minister, a doctor, a marketing executive, and a gas station owner can use what they learn and apply it to their own lives. It becomes important, however, to understand which tool is right for which job. At the end of this post, I’ll give you a few up-stack tools to consider adding to your kit.
David Allen has created a useful tool through his work in Getting Things Done. His tool shows someone how to make good use of their time, especially in the area of organizing information. But it is a down-stack tool. It is something at the “feet on the ground” level. It is very important, and necessary, but must be “front-ended” by some kind of tool to focus you on what you’ve determined matters most to you. Let’s open this conversation up a little.
Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 8th Habit is an up-stack tool. (So is the older work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, but I think the 8th Habit does a better job of “skinning” the material in a more useful way.) It helps you sit down, decide what matters most to you, and then build methods to focus on what you’ve decided matters. But let’s go even further up the stack. How do you decide what matters most? In the case of this post, I’ll limit my discussion to you in your role as knowledge worker. I could easily tailor this to your own vocation (email me if you want to talk more).

There are a few levels of thinking you must engage in when considering what matters most in your vocation:

What matters most to your boss, and your boss’s boss, as dictated by the goals they set out for you.

What matters for your organization overall, such as the market, what’s going on in the industry, the economy.

What matters most to YOU in your own pursuits, your career development, and where you want to go next.

What matters most to your work/family life balance.

Once you have a better understanding of what you want to do, you need a tool to help you FOCUS your energies on those. Here are a few that I’ve seen and used, with some thoughts.

• Stephen Covey’s four quadrants First Things First planning- The premise is simple. Divide a square into four quadrants, and label them 1 – 4. Quadrant 1 consists of things that are urgent and important. Quadrant 2 are things that are not-urgent, but important. Quadrant 3 are things that are urgent but not-important. Quadrant 4 are things that are neither urgent nor important. Covey posits we should try to keep our “internal compasses” focused on Quadrant 2 activities. These are those things that are important but not immediately urgent. This seems like a good plan, but it’s a little complex to use as a way to stay focused. And it doesn’t address time. There is still the built-in notion that we shouldn’t use clocks, we should use compasses. Great, except try showing up 40 minutes late to a meeting and tell them that your compass work was dictating your time. I think there’s value in understanding how to break out the things that matter, but that we must use a more solid tool to convey this to “feet on the ground” activity.
• Steve Pavlina’s 50-30-20 Rule- I like the basic idea here, but not the drill-down. Steve breaks down tasks into 3 categories: A tasks, B Tasks, and C Tasks. A tasks deliver benefits over a 5 year time frame, B over a 2 year, and C over 90 days or less. My personal problem with this is that I can’t think in 5 year time horizons. I’m good for one or two.
• David Seah’s Printable CEO – This is straightforward. Assign the things that matter most points. Rate yourself against how many points you achieve throughout the week. Of the three I’ve mentioned before, this is probably the one to follow.

Takeaway

To better navigate your success, you should rely on a balance of tools with which to think about HOW you’re doing what you do. I split them into the categories of “up stack” tools, the ones used to better focus you on doing what you’ve decided matters most, and “down stack,” the ones you use to successfully execute against your goals and tasks, once you understand your focus. One size doesn’t fit all, but for the most part, if you want to see results against your goals, tools like these are what will help you succeed.

Finally, what are some of the “up stack” or “down stack” tools you use to achieve results? How do you know they’re working? What matters most to you?

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