440: How To Get Better Results

THE Leadership Japan Series by Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

We have so many things pulling us in different directions at the same time, we can get a bit overwhelmed by all the work we have to do. How can we get the right focus and make our effort better coordinated? There is a simple method we can use which is very quick and simple. Firstly, we need to take a brief moment and draw a focus map of what we need to be working on. How do we draw a focus map?

In the center of a piece of paper put a small circle around the one or two words which make up the key area of focus. Now add separate related words which come to mind that fit this category and then circle those words to make sub categories. On the page, these circled words will be arranged around that original central circle like planets around the sun.

For example, we might think of key topics like Better Time Management, or Better Followup, or Better Planning, or Better Communicator, etc. Taking one of these topics as the center circle, in a few minutes the list of related words will soon come forth. This is because we have all of these thoughts inside our mind and we just need the chance to release them. These related words become circles surrounding the center circle.

If we take a concrete case and make the key focus in the central circle “Better Time Management”, for example, some related sub category words to surround that idea might include words like: prioritisation, block time, procrastination, Quadrant Two focus, to do list, weekly goals, daily goals, etc.

In a short period of time we have developed sub categories for us to work on, in order to improve our time management. By physically arranging these words around the central idea, we engage our mind through visual stimulation.

Having done that, we now apply a template to help us decide just what we are going to do about each of these sub categories.

There are Six Steps.

1. Choose the Area Of Focus, for example in this case, we might choose prioritisation:
2. What has been my attitude in this area?
3. Why is this important to me and my organisation?
4. Specifically, what am I going to do about this differently?
5. What results do I desire?
6. How is this going to impact my Vision?

A completed version might be like this:

1. Which Area Of Focus: Time Management with the sub-category of Prioritisation
2. What has been my attitude in this area? I know I should be better organised but I never get around to taking any action to improve the situation, because I don’t choose activities based on priorities
3. Why is this important to me and my organisation? Well, if I am better organised I can get more work done and I can be focusing on the prioritised areas of highest value. This will make me more productive and I can contribute more value to the organisation.
4. Specifically, what am I going to do about this differently? I will start by buying an organiser with To Do Lists in it and a calendar to block out time for the highest value, highest priority items. I will start each day by nominating what I need to get done and then prioritising that list and only working through the list in that priority order.
5. What results do I desire? My best time will be spent working on the most high value tasks which produce the results with the greatest impact.
6. How is this going to impact my Vision? I will be better able to achieve it because my efficiency and effectiveness will go up dramatically compared to what I am doing now.

We could repeat the same process for the other words we thought of like: block time, procrastination, Quadrant Two focus, to do list, weekly goals, daily goals etc. This is a simple system which is highly efficient and effective. Whenever I need ideas, this is my go to tool and I go to it for a couple of very good reasons: it is very fast, goes very deep and produces excellent, practical, applicable ideas. Try it for yourself.