Can you get things done better and faster by actually slowing down? Speed has many benefits but also some drawbacks in that speedy decisions can be less thought through and have unintended consequences that can take you by surprise, wasting time, money and energy later. Instead, consider trying out some of these strategies:
When setting goals:
- Thinking up 2 others ways you could achieve this, to make sure your first one was the best or quickest. This often throws up other alternatives or choices.
- Give it a break before actioning, even an hour or two gives your mind the opportunity to mull it over and avoids those things that spring to mind ‘when it’s too late’.
- Visualise your action or goal clearly in your mind, does it look right? Is there anything missing? Does this take you towards your goal or outcome?
Think through the ‘why’ carefully:
- ‘Why are we doing this/ not doing this?’
- ‘How is doing this linked to our mission and purpose as a business?’
- ‘If we decided to not do this, what would happen?’
- ‘Are there any untended consequences of doing this we need to consider?’
- ‘Are there any other ways we could do this?’
If you can brainstorm these questions honestly and openly, it should give you a good solid base from which to design the next steps.
Download John & Karens Guide to Goal Setting instantly
John and Karen’s book Time Mastery; Banish Time Management Forever will help you to lead in a way that gets everyone moving at the right pace and get you better business results in the process. You can buy it from Amazon in paperback or e book version.
