On Timeliness...

Do you know anyone who has achieved success in life without having the habit of meeting time commitments?

As I write this I'm thinking of petulant actors/actresses exerting their will on frazzled directors...that behind-the-scenes movie cliché, where one person disrupts everyone else's plans and schedules.  On top of that, I'm thinking of the 1992 comedy movie 'Noises Off', which combined this behind-the-scenes movie cliché with a plot that is all about humorous consequences that could happen when people fail to meet time cues in live theatre. 

While we can laugh about people messing up timing in movies, we seldom laugh about it in real life. 

There are many sayings that capture our consensus view/wisdom around time and timing, as examples - 

• Time waits for no man.
• Time is of the essence.
• Timing is everything.

Yet, almost all of us mess up timing, at least once in a while. We forget appointments. We arrive late for meetings. We fail to meet project deadlines.

Some people are habitually late. [Most families have at least one of these types...always late while the meal is overcooking or the cake & ice cream is on hold...waiting.] 

Some people are intentionally late. [They act like 'The Royals'...or like they are, by far, the most-important person at the meeting.]

Some people completely lack any talent for timeliness. [Like they have stormy clouds of confusion around their watches and calendars.]

***

It seems to me timeliness holds lower priority now than it did a few decades ago. 

Do you agree?

How do you feel about timeliness - 

• Do you want others to be on time?
• Do you want to be on time?

On the Nature of Decisions

Every one of us makes numerous decisions every day.

Many of our decisions are small, like - “What shirt should I wear today?” Some of our decisions are larger with more serious consequences, like – “How should I go about firing this employee?”

Some decisions trigger strong and challenging emotional responses, like – “Should I tell this person my true feelings?”

Other decisions involve trade-offs between goals, like – “Should I stick to my diet or eat that chocolate-dipped ice-cream cone?” ¹ [Often these decisions pit short-term rewards against long-term rewards.]

Some decisions involve massive risks involving money, reputation, relationships, etc.

Decisions involve the study of past and present data and the forecasting of future outcomes.

This is just a sampling of the ways you can sort decisions before you make them. If you take the time, and it will be a surprisingly large amount of time, to analyze the decisions you make in a 24-hour day then you will discover the wide variety of decisions you make. You will be able to consider the ‘nature’ of your decisions and you will be able to categorize your decisions by their ‘nature’ and confirm the frequency of each major type of decision.

But – odds are you will never do that 24-hour exercise.

Perhaps, you will buy into sorting your decisions into two types/natures: easy decisions & tough decisions? This simple sorting will be a very good first step toward understanding then planning the types of decisions you face regularly.

On the Method of Decisions

There are also numerous ways to make decisions.

Decisions can be knee-jerks and blinks, relying on unconscious responses, emotional waves and intuition.

Decisions can be crafted by masters and orchestrated by maestros. Capturing this in a shorter description - when we make decisions we can “Plan the Work and Work the Plan” [paraphrasing Napoleon Hill].

This article is about planned decisions, which can be sorted into 3 'methods' ²:

• (Individual) Command Decisions – where the decision maker, alone, makes the decision
• Consultative Decisions – where the decision maker seeks advice from others then, alone, makes the decision
• Consensus Decisions – where the decision is made by a group of people who commit to a shared decision and the actions required under the decision

Consultative and consensus decisions involve trade-offs, as examples:

• time spent on the decision,
• value of information used to make the decision, and
• level of buy-in or commitment to the decision.

As psychologists and judges will confirm:

• the ‘nature’ of the decision is important,
• the decision outcome is important, and
• the procedure or ‘method’ used to create the decision is important...especially if you want people to "buy-in".

Sorting Decisions by ‘Nature’ and ‘Method’

Simple tools exist to help people think through and sort out their decisions - examples include Pareto's Principle [80/20 Rule], Covey's Time Management Matrix and Berne's Transactional Analysis. Much time and effort can be saved by using these simple 1-page tools to sort out the best ways to make decisions. Also, these tools can be used to reduce decision-making conflicts and increase decision buy-in. It is a good idea to have a number of these tools in your decision-making toolkit. You can use them to set your personal decision-making rules and you can use them to communicate with others on your decision-making teams.

Here’s a starter tool you and your decision-makers can use to create a picture of the way you sort decisions by 'nature' and 'method' -

Footnotes

1. As a general rule: when decisions align with goals they promote good habits; when decisions do not align with goals they promote bad habits.
2. Brian Tracy recommended these categories. 

A strong desire to achieve promotes self-confidence.

Positive self-image and high self-esteem promote self-confidence. 

Sense of purpose and goals promote self-confidence. 

A commitment to take action promotes self-confidence. 

Affirmations promote self-confidence. 

Strong personal values for fair play promote self-confidence. 

Positive thinking, especially about other people, promote self-confidence.

Willingness to serve others promotes self-confidence.   

Truthfulness promotes self-confidence.

A keen sense of justice promotes self-confidence. 

'Planning your work and working your plan' - that also promotes self-confidence. 

These are some of the important messages Napoleon Hill embedded in his Self-confidence Formula. Hill understood self-confidence is a fragile thing...easily disrupted...time-consuming to build...energy-consuming to hold fast. 

Self-confidence is a habit. It is a good habit. 

Good habits don't just happen. Good habits require planning. Good habits require ongoing work.