Self-Leadership - The Key To Being Productive (eBook)

Personal Effectiveness

Effective - What Does It Mean?

One speaks of an effective product, for example a medicine, if it offers a useful effect. DIN ISO 9000/2005 defines effectiveness as the extent to which planned activities are realized and planned results are achieved. Definitions that you probably know are: achieve the right result with as little effort as possible or do the right things right. How do we actually measure effectiveness? Basically, we will check in many cases whether a set goal has been achieved. We will retrospectively determine the actual effort and put it in relation to the result. Effectiveness can also mean correct and error-free function in a technical context.

When we transfer this onto the level of personal effectiveness, we usually understand it as achieving our goals and using a reasonable amount of resources, for example to successfully implement a project. But even finding and setting the right goals for us can have a significant impact on our own effectiveness. What is appropriate for me? How can I achieve an intended effect? The difference between effectiveness and efficiency is crucial: we will not be able to focus our energies meaningfully on our success unless we first define what it means for us to do “the right things” (effectiveness), and then do them right (efficiency).

Factors For Personal Effectiveness

In a workshop with customers, we devoted ourselves intensively to the question of effectiveness in the actions of managers. Together we have derived the following factors, which we believe have leverage:

• I influence effectiveness through personal learning.
• I work with trial and error, if necessary, and the consequences drawn from it.
• I set specific goals and measure their achievement.
• I use the results of the measurement to optimize my processes.
• I recognize disruptive factors and reduce them.
• I focus on adding value.

Effectiveness, according to the suggestions of individual workshop participants, can be influenced by suitable methods, with the focus on quality management with the approaches kaizen and continuous improvement. We examine, according to the essential insight, what worked, why that was, and ask ourselves specifically what we can also standardize and repeat if necessary.

What many managers currently underestimate drastically in terms of personal productivity is the level of distraction, especially through digital tools. The fact that they make themselves permanently available and that they implicitly expect their employees to do so is misconduct with dramatic effects. If it is customary to put the smartphones on the table in meetings, then productivity is drastically reduced: attention is split, we anticipate interruptions and – at least unconsciously – do not concentrate fully on the meeting. Effective use of our instruments looks different, which has long been proven by scientific studies. The previously mentioned researcher Alexander Markowetz sees the use of smartphones or tablets as a central cause of productivity losses and a decrease in satisfaction.

Current Approaches

If we want to steer ourselves effectively, then we should take a closer look at the conditions of effectiveness. Which factors play a special role, which current scientific findings can help us to find the right goals, to set ourselves on course and to be effective and thus successful according to our standards?

A number of publications have appeared in recent years, some of which provide us with very practical answers to these questions. As a selection, I would like to present two approaches that are particularly relevant:

1. Deep Work: Good Work

It is no surprise that constant interruptions are one of the key productivity killers. Cal Newport, whom I mentioned earlier, systematically examines how we can still do valuable work in a world of distractions.9 At this point, I would like to emphasize that although this approach primarily targets so-called knowledge workers, it also applies to every committed craftsman. The key message: we have to learn to focus on what is real and what creates value. Newport coined the term deep work and defined it as follows:

He emphasizes that this deep work is an essential skill today that is becoming increasingly rare, but nevertheless more important because it can add value.11 In contrast, Newport also defines the rather superficial activities, he calls them shallow work, and defines:

Newport also supplies an equation for productivity:

So if deep work can add value in times of digital distraction, then the ability to concentrate is of great importance. With reference to neuroscientific concepts, Newport points out that by focussing on the development of specific skills we are “effectively cementing the skill“ in our brain.14

In the book mentioned here, Newport also addresses the role of social media, which, in his opinion, almost without exception hinders the desired deep work; he quotes George Packer, an author of the New Yorker: "Twitter is crack for media addicts".15 And he criticizes that companies confuse business with productivity. This coincides with my observations in German companies, which focus more on the cult of presence than on rewarding results.

The author underlines: “A deep life is a good life“ and “There’s a gravity and sense of importance inherent in deep work […] if you spend enough time in this state, your mind will understand your world as rich in meaning and importance".16 We can conclude that this applies not only to the area of working life, but to all facets of our existence. We will go into the deep work approach several times in the further course of this compact book.

2. Ego Depletion - The Declining Willpower

Do you know the situation that you have a project in front of you, for example an important presentation, which would need an undisturbed, focused turn but which you find difficult to spend the time for? Your activities as a manager are diverse and there is always an urgent task during the day that is supposed to call your attention. You will probably wait until all of your colleagues have left the office to work on the project before finally getting started. However, you now feel tired, have limited motivation after a long day at work. So the demanding project will have to wait another day. Do you simply lack self-discipline or are there deeper causes for it?

Your willpower is by no means an infinite reservoir that only depends on your discipline in order to constantly draw on it. No, it is rather a muscle that also wears out with intensive use. This is one of the key messages in the approach to the willpower of Roy Baumeister and his colleagues.17 The authors call this concept “Ego-Depletion“. Depletion – this term originally comes from mining and describes mining, especially of raw materials.

Our willpower is a finite resource that is exhausted when it is used, as shown by Baumeister and colleagues in test series.18 In a nutshell, we have limited willpower, which we use for tasks or decisions of very different types.19 The will is required specifically for tasks in the following categories:

1. Control of thoughts

2. Control of emotions

3. Impulse control

4. Performance control20

In the context of an effective (working) life, these insights seem particularly important to me because they show that every decision from this reservoir makes use of willpower without distinction. If we choose, we need energy. That alone has far-reaching consequences. If I deal with decisions early in the morning like: What do I wear? What am I eating? How do I go to work? Which emails actually require which reaction? and so on, then I'm already tapping the reservoir. And, according to the authors, this applies not only to serious decisions, but also to trivial ones.

Another finding from the book by Baumeister and Tierney: the reservoir of willpower must be replenished. This requires conducive conditions, such as regeneration through sleep, meditation and relaxation techniques (see also field 2: Body, Soul, and Mind and the chapter on self-motivation, both here in the book). Look for signs of a low level of willpower since then we are much more susceptible to frustration and inappropriate behavior towards others – also because our judgment might be clouded. In this state we shouldn't make any important and possibly far-reaching decisions.

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We recognize from the current scientific studies which factors influence our productivity directly or indirectly. In the concept of selfguidance and especially in the model of the seven fields, which we will examine in more detail in the second part of this compact...