Getting Things Done
Tonight after work I painted part of the floor of my porch. It took me about an hour to finish the prep work that remained undone, paint the section of the porch floor, and clean up the brush and roller. It may not sound like much but we are painting the whole house this year and our house is a large, two and a half story home built in 1902. Painting the whole thing is daunting project.
So I have reframed the project in my mind.
My first goal is to get the entire screened porch done. Then we’re going to paint the front of the house. Then the south side (more visible to the street than the north side). Then the north side. Then the back. In my mind the project has turned into five projects – the porch and four sides. I’ve got a deadline for each part. With persistence then this fall the house will be green with white windows rather than the drab brown with even darker brown windows (yuck!). If it all works I will be happy and my wife even happier.
Why should you care about this? Because for the last five years we have lived in a house that we have wanted to look different. We have talked about how it could be different. We have noticed other homes as we drive around watching for other color combinations that we agreed were nice. We have talked and dreamed and talked and dreamed and… (you get the idea).
It was not a lack of vision that was our issue. It was the inability to get started doing something that was the issue. Now we have a plan. Our plan is in manageable pieces and we are checking things off a bit at a time.
One of the guiding principle we have come adopted for our work at A.R.E. is “being productive.” It isn’t as easy as it sounds! I think about the executive committee at the church where I am pastor. We are laying out a series of plans (dates, responsible parties, etc.) to carry out to get major outreach work done. I sit here aware that organizations have the same problem I have. Even if there is a vision they struggle to move to action. They end up dreaming and excited and then frustrated and cynical. It takes moving from vision to concrete plans and action steps to make things happen. We are working hard and (I think) getting it right. I will know more in October when all we have laid out has happened (or not!).
The next fourth Tuesday free webinar being offered by A.R.E. is on “Action!” – making things happen. We’ll be talking about some key ways to take the all important step from vision to action. It is a step that doesn’t happen in organizations without intentionality but good leaders can do things to move their work ahead.
- Dave Daubert
Comments