Are you making choices as if your best work is ahead of you?

On Wednesday, I logged into a live-streamed press conference being held at the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin. The members of A-ha were making an important announcement.

A-ha is best known for its 1985 hit single and award-winning video, "Take on Me." At the time, it filled the summer airwaves around the world and has been rerecorded or sampled by at least 12 artists, most recently Pit Bull and Christina Aguilera in their song Feel this Moment.

Take on Me Video

A-ha is much more than a band to me. This group has exemplified the "best work is ahead of me" mind-set over their 30 year career. They experimented with different styles on each of their nine albums, supported important causes, recorded a James Bond theme song, The Living Daylights, played for the largest audience on record (198,000 in Brazil), and disbanded twice to work on solo pursuits―they confidently followed their united and separate paths.

A-ha's music has been part of my life's soundtrack as I followed my path. Their third album, Stay on These Roads, traveled with me when I left my first post-university job to fulfill a personal goal of backpacking through Europe. Also, their eighth, Minor Earth, Major Sky, was my travel companion during my first global change management role when I traveled weekly. The "best work is ahead of me" belief was with me both time.

At the press conference, A-ha announced they were reforming for two-years, releasing a new album, Cast in Steel, and embarking on a major tour.

Morten Harket said, "I knew that this would be a real genuine effort. We have never been ones to look back...all three of us are doing this because we know we can create something new." It caused me to think if I was making choices as if my best work is in front of me. If not, I would need to make some changes.

How about you? Are you making choices as if your best work is ahead of you? I hope so.

Phil

You're Only as Good as Your Opportunities

I read an intriguing quote from the actor Ethan Hawke: "One of the most frustrating things about acting is that you're only ever as good as your opportunities." This struck me as a profound insight: people are only as good as the environment in which they are in.

I have seen this phenomenon play out during organizational change. People perform at their worst in a poor work environment, regardless of their skill level. On the positive side, people perform at their best in an engaging and supportive environment, regardless of the level of change. 

An important part of Change Management is creating an environment where people can successfully adopt new ways of thinking and behaving. It's difficult to build because everyone (including senior leaders) are wrestling with their own transition. If done well, however, they choose hope over despair and in so doing remove their own barriers to adoption.

My second reflection was that Ethan was frustrated by his reality, whereas I found it elating. If you are only as good as your opportunities, you need to find the best opportunities so you can thrive. Networking through public speaking, seminars, association meetings, newsletters and this blog has provided me with many opportunities. Most of them have taken me in directions I wouldn't have thought of or found on my own.

If uncovering opportunities is the goal, how do you find them? Here are some tips on uncovering opportunities that will enable you to be your best:

• Believe that your best work is ahead of you -- some people stop looking because they are in maintain mode
• Make connecting with others a priority -- as Ernest Hemingway said, "You make your own luck"
• Help others find new opportunities -- your generosity will be appreciated and reciprocated
• Define what a good opportunity means to you -- they are easier to spot when you know what they look like
• Give yourself flex time in your schedule so you can seize them -- I am working on this one
• Evaluate the details before agreeing to an opportunity -- it might be a burden in disguise
• Thank those who connect you to opportunities -- gratitude is linked to satisfaction and it will remind you to return the favour 
• Tell people you are looking for new opportunities -- many will become your ambassadors

This week, I had a great call with someone I had been introduced to by email. It turns out we had the same manager at different companies when we worked in Europe. What are the odds? I want to connect him with an opportunity. The odds are very good.

Phil

How to Write for People You Don't Know

In business, we are often asked to write to people we don't know. It could be an email to someone you need information from or a reply request that includes a group of unknown recipients. You must communicate with strangers. 

Many business people spend most of their time crafting their message instead of thinking about the people who need to understand it. They write in a style that works for them, assuming that it will work for others--instruction manuals, help desk scripts and earnings statements are good examples of this approach.

This weekend, I will be writing a guest blog post for an audience I don't know. They are student members of a financial association. Since I am not a student and don't belong to this association, I am taking extras steps to ensure my message is not lost in translation.

Here is the process I am following to align my message with my readers interests:

• Meet with the association's communication coordinator to better understand reader preferences
• Review a topic list of articles published this year to identify themes and titling
• Read the latest two issues to study style, tone, structure and length of articles
• Visit other student sites, such as Talent Egg, to better understand student needs
• Create a draft and review it with the coordinator
• Gain feedback from readers to learn for the next time

I remember speaking with a leader who was frustrated by his employees' poor knowledge of the company's strategy. He had spent a lot of time writing about every aspect of his plan. Why didn't people get it?

It turns out that his writing style was jargon filled and complex. His desire to share every detail left people confused, bored and annoyed. Before long, people stopped reading.

Getting to know the people you don't know is the only way to effectively write to them.

Phil

10 Tips on Managing Yourself through a Crunch Time

Most people experience spikes in activity that appear to be greater than the hours available to complete them. There's much to do and so little time to do it in. Does this sound familiar?

My challenge in crunch times is not changing my behaviour to accommodate the extra work. I try to cram everything into my existing schedule, which causes frustration and stress. I even take on new activities, which increases the pressure.

What I have realized is that you need to adjust your thinking and actions as soon as you realize that a heavy workload is coming. Here is how I plan on managing one I am about to take on:

• Block off time on your calendar to complete key tasks―they can't be compromised and need to be protected from less important activities
• Maintain your fitness―sustained energy is necessary to effectively complete a period of high performance
• Negotiate new timelines if your work exceeds the available time to complete it―attempting the impossible leads to poor quality
• Track your time―measurement leads to improved effectiveness
• Say no to new tasks―this is easier and more effective than trying to adjust your existing commitments to accommodate new ones
• Let everyone know you are entering a crunch time―intense focus can be misinterpreted. Also, this discourages people asking you take on new tasks
• Mandate a six hour sleep rule―any less and you quickly reach diminishing returns 
• Set an end date for when the crunch period is over―if not, the crunch pace can become your new norm
• Capture lessons learned―throughout the period, ask yourself what is going well and what could be improved upon?
• Reward yourself and those close to you―celebrating acknowledges sacrifices made and helps frame the experience as worthwhile

Spikes in activity are common in most roles and professions. It's a side effect of today's constantly changing work environments. How you manage them determines whether you crunch the work or the work crunches you.

Phil