Stop Doing What Doesn't Matter

Remember: your job is to generate better results in your organization's highest priority outcomes!

If you keep that one statement in mind, you can much more clearly decide what to do and what not to do on a regular basis. This one idea can provide a booster shot to your career because now your time, talent and energy is completely focused on moving the business forward.

Far, far too often, employees act as though their job is to attend meetings, write reports and drop everything whenever a crisis pops up. Not true! Your job is to accelerate the most important results in your organization. This is much easier said than done.

To improve a specific outcome, there are usually three to five key things you can do to make a real difference. However, there are three to five hundred things you could actually do at any given moment. Consequently, it is much harder and more important to decide what NOT to do than it is to decide what to do. This is the crucial skill of management: deciding what not to do! This is risky stuff. You may end up deciding not to attend certain meetings, not to create certain reports and not to drop everything for the crisis of the moment. Once you make that decision, have the guts to stick to it. Here's a four-step method for clarifying what to do and what not to do:

The Ultimate Filter Method

1. What are the most important outcomes for our organization to achieve?
2. What can I and/or my team do to accelerate better results in these areas?
3. What are we currently doing that is not improving our most important results?
4. What activities am I considering doing that will not help to improve our most important results?

Once you clarify what will help drive better results, do it! And do it with excellence.

Once you clarify what will not help drive better results, don't do it! And don't do it with a passion.

Remember: it takes guts to be a great executive, but that's why there are so few of them!

Republishing Articles

Each month my e-newsletter gets republished in approximately 20 blogs, on-line publications, and internal publications for businesses, universities, and not-for-profit organizations. If you would like to republish all or part of my monthly articles, please send me an e-mail at dan@thecoughlincompany.com with "Republishing Article" in the subject heading. I will send you the article in a word document. All I ask is that you include my name as the author of the article and a short paragraph at the end of the article about me with a link to my website.

Take care and have a great month!

Dan Coughlin Back to Newsletter Page

P.O. Box 1245 Fenton, Missouri 63026
Phone 636.825.6611 Fax 636.825.9831
E-mail info@thecoughlincompany.com