by Rick Baker
On Jan 31, 2013
There are 2 ways to inject Value into your business.
When you boil it down - when you seek simple & boil it down - there are only 2 ways to inject Value into your business.
To inject Value into your business:
- You can improve the way you perform Routine work and
- You can improve the way you perform not-Routine work.
Both of these 2 types of work can be strategic and tactical; both of these 2 types of work can be thinking-work and action-work.
Again seeking simple, there are 3 types of work:
- Routine work...work that is systematized and handled with pre-defined process...the process may be formal [as examples: work-process manuals & checklists]...the process may be informal [as an example: word-of-mouth]
- not-Routine work...work that is intentionally done without systematization and process [examples include: skunk work, innovation, & creative thinking]
- Gray-Zone work...work that is neither Routine nor not-Routine...it is work that is neither prescribed nor expected...it may be beneficial & it may be wasteful...it may involve pleasant surprises & it may involve unpleasant surprises...it may go without saying or it may be ignored...this works tends to happen to us rather than happen by us [examples include: firefighting, Ho-Hum actions, & browsing the Internet]
Leaders need to create business cultures that promote:
- improved Routine work,
- improved not-Routine work, &
- reduced Gray-Zone work.
The keys to getting this done...
For Routine work:
- help your people understand the Routine work is an essential ingredient of success
- show your people how Routine work serves its goal-oriented purpose
- identify your people's talents & strengths and make sure their roles & tasks align with individual talents & strengths
- keep an eye on each individual's motivation...are individuals self-motivated? If Yes, then good. If No, then Why? Is this individual one of those people who has been soured by a poor past experiences with supervisors, managers, & leaders? You can or at least may be able to overcome that. Is this individual soured by life? You will not be able to overcome this. Is this person un-motivated because Routine work does not align with his of her Talents & Strengths? If so then you will need to address that by using strengths-based-business techniques. [i.e., remove the Gray-Zone]
For not-Routine work:
- help your people understand not-Routine work is the best way to inject Value into your business
- help your people feel comfortable taking risks & accepting failures...build or re-build trust in open communication
- provide people the time they will need to learn and practice creative thinking
- educate your people about creative thinking...you may be the first person who has helped them this way so make sure it is done right [non-judgmental environment...making sure every creative experience is enjoyable]
- know your people's Talents & Strengths
- separate Ideation & Intellection
- reward ideas & insight
- again, make sure it is fun or it will fail!
Of course...there are many more ways to improve performance of Routine work and not-Routine work.
Here's the big picture...
Note: in real life the performance curve is blurry...this is not an exact science...this is directionally correct.