Ready Ready
A Quality of Thought: “Ready Ready”.
Take a look at your ToDo list. And ask: “Is every single item on this list a Ready Action?” And that’s Ready Ready!
I remember being in a session with a client and, as an expert in agile methodologies and their application in her business of fashion technology, she reminded me of the agile definition of “Ready”: summarised as clear, concise and immediately actionable.
“Ready Actions” are actions that are set to go. No ambiguity. No other obstacle in the way. No further preparation required. No friction. Ready Ready.
Sounds obvious – and it is. But it’s also a rule of productivity we frequently overlook. And if we want to be at our most focused and effective, we have to take to heart the crucial difference between Kinda Ready and Ready Ready.
What gets in our way? We don’t want to forget the big projects and initiatives. It’s useful to think at the upper, more strategic levels. And our brains enjoy chunking like-activities.
These are all useful thinking strategies. But they also encourage us to contaminate our task list (where “task” is an all-together different level of focus) with big categories of work (for example: “Gender Equality Initiative”) and immediately unactionable actions (for example: “Hire a new finance manager”).
Find a new home for your big, strategic initiatives. And a new way to capture the key milestones within them. Reserve your ToDo list for Ready Actions. And that’s Ready Ready.
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Dan Beverly is a leadership and performance coach helping women in leadership achieve their highest potential.
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