GarthBox

Lest we forget, when we shine a light on a problem, we don’t make it more visible to just us, we make it visible to others, too.

Same can be said for being a light.

Stay Positive & Shine On

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I’d like to argue that good design doesn’t get noticed or appreciated.

That kind of design is seamless, intuitive and accessible.

There’s sexy design; design with appeal and intent on creating a wow factor. Design that’s for tradeshows; design to be used by .000001 percent of the population; design created with the point of breaking a mold; design that is meant to be noticed.

But good design? Good design is meant to go unnoticed or unappreciated because it either 1. helps to communicate the story of a brand (which is about the brand, not about the design) or 2. helps someone achieve their desired action in the smoothest way possible.

No one walks through a door thinking the door design was really good. But damn, when you push a door that is pull-only, you get a feel for what bad design is.

Stay Positive & Sometimes Going Unnoticed Is The Point

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The magic number for trying something new is a month. 30 days is enough to see if it sticks; it’s long enough to toy around with adjustments and improvements; it’s long enough to feel committed to it. It takes 30 days for habit to form – and the same can be said for a meaningful project.

Effective relationships are built around three layers of conversation. The first is a shared goal and vision. The second is talking through the hiccups of flubbers along the way together. And the third is downright fun stuff – it might not even be tied to the project you’re collaborating on. You need all three layers of conversation to feel fulfilled working together.

20 seconds is the amount of time before the lizard brain starts to really convince you to not do the thing you should do. In 20 seconds, all the excuses for inaction will come top of mind. That’s all it takes for the mental feet to hit the brakes. Said, differently, the easiest time to act is in the first 20 seconds of the idea arising.

Stay Positive & Play To Win

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That’s all energy really is–transferable. From one person to the next.

A hug at the start of an interaction is a transfer of energy. They might say “ah, she’s a hugger” but what they are really noticing is an immediate positive wave of energy that they’re not used to getting from others.

It doesn’t always have to be a hug, though. It can be the smile on your face when you walk into the office or the silly video you share to kick things off in a meeting. It can even be the kind of question you ask a person in the morning.

All day, every day you’re transferring energy with your interactions – might as well make sure it’s the good kind.

Stay Positive & The Best Part? That Energy Then Needs To Go Somewhere

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All you have to do when ice skating to have better control, more momentum, and a powerful drive is to bend your knees a bit more. That’s it. One slight posture change insanely improves your skating ability.

The same can really be said for a lot of work we enroll in, too, but it’s more of a mental posture change.

If you want to feel more fulfilled, inspired and energized about the work you’re doing, all you need to do is be more curious. That’s it. Greater curiosity results with greater quality of work (and joy in doing it).

If things aren’t going the way you want, you might not need a total reset or to drop the work altogether–you might just need a slight posture change.

Stay Positive & Adjust As Necessary

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Unpopular opinion time: Being given thirty minutes back in your day hurts productivity more than it helps.

And not only productivity, but attitude and emotional resilience, too.

When someone is signed up for a meeting, they’ve opted in, they’ve enrolled in the work you’ve set out to host. They’re mentally prepared (because they know about it) and will have reserved the will power to bring their emotional labor to the meeting.

The problem with ending early is two-fold.

First there’s a feeling of whiplash. When something is going one way and then it quickly redirects. It’s not fun in a car and it’s not fun at work.

The second is that more often than not, those thirty minutes given back don’t get used productively because the person mentally set aside the time to work on your agenda, not a different one, so the time back is processed as down time.

(Funnily, those who can more easily switch to something else and be more productive are the ones who weren’t prepared or fully enrolled in the meeting in the first place.)

My recommendation: If you see the meeting you’re running can end early – don’t. You can achieve much more with a redirection; perhaps playing out the topic of the meeting further downstream or pivoting to a brainstorm. Once people are in your meeting, they are there. The problem arises when the meeting is cut short and they leave. It hurts productivity more than it helps.

Stay Positive & Leaders Lead, They Don’t Cut Meetings Short

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You can have the most regimented process of project execution and QA, but spot checks always, always unearth either a hiccup/mistake that can be repaired or an insight/question that can help drive future work.

(And let’s be real, on the chance nothing is uncovered, the result is still a feeling of confidence and reassurance.)

Yes, a leader’s role is to trust the process, trust those doing the work and trust those QAing the work, but it’s also the leader’s role to reflect on it all – in other words, spot check.

And thinking spot checking is too micro-managy is just a cop out; a way to hide from potential issues or more work.

The impact is quite the opposite: it smartens the team, gives everyone a greater sense of how they can channel their skills to improve the work and downright shows you care about the project and impact you set out to have.

Stay Positive & Be The Spotter

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