It has been a crazy week for me. Rather than leave you without anything, I am borrowing a post from my personal blog, Dan In Focus. Enjoy!
Want to complete a goal? Want to make progress toward one of those resolutions? Of course we do. That is why we make goals and resolutions in the first place. Here is a little secret from the business world: Measure it.
“What gets measured gets done, what gets measured and fed back gets done well, what gets rewarded gets repeated”
-- John E. Jones
I have used this guidance for years at work. One experience I am quite proud of came early in my management career. I led a large team that was trying to reduce the number of support calls we had to escalate to the engineering team. We were given a set amount of time in which we could attempt to fix the problem before we had to send it up the chain. I had talked with the team, passing on the challenge to increase our percentage, which was languishing around 60%. The goal was 85%. Nothing happened.
I was required to report back to the senior management monthly on this and other metrics (measurements). I created a nice graph, showing the percentage for the last few months with a line at 85%, showing the target. When I was done with my presentation, I posted the graph right out side my door. I didn't say anything to anyone about it. I noticed it took 10 minutes before someone walking by noticed it and stopped to look at the graph. Soon, the word spread I had a graph of our performance posted and everyone came by to look at it. I didn't say a word, just kept working in my office. No one asked me anything about it, either. I left it up all month.
The next measurement jumped to 70%. Again, I posted the chart showing the improvement outside my door and didn't say anything. The next month we hit 85%. The month after that we hit 90%, where we settled out for the next several months. I kept posting the chart, but added another measuring our next problem area. That too improved without my having to say anything about it.
It is a strange phenomena I have witnessed time after time. When something is measured and posted, it improves. So how do we apply this to our personal goals? We have to find a way to hold ourselves mentally accountable. Some folks can do with all by themselves, making a goal and never miss it. I need more help, though.
As I said before, I am trying to lose weight this year. One of the strategies is to record everything I eat. Even though the iPod app I use is quite easy to use, it is still enough of a pain for it to discourage me from eating a snack sometimes. That act of turning on my iPod and recording the food is enough to help me choose a salad instead of a cheeseburger. I love to see how many calories I can save for dinner. Of course there are days when I blow it, but if I faithfully record it, it is okay. Just having it stare at me for the rest of the week pushes me to make up for it later in the week.
Another tool I have started using is Daytum.com. A friend put me on to this one and I love it. It is real easy to track progress on any goal. It then allows me to show a graph of the progress. I have used this website to track my exercise, book reading and wood turning. You can see my results here. Having it out there on the web puts just a little more fire under it for me. I know no one looks at it besides me (and now you), but having it public somehow fires me up. The friend who told me about it looks at it and quizzes me whenever we talk. She is supposed to, though. She is my coach.
That is the next way to supercharge your performance - get a coach. It doesn't have to be very formal, but having someone available to ask you how you are doing on goals really helps keep the momentum going. Knowing you have to account for your performance is very inspiring. Once a week, she and I call each other and tell each other how we are doing on our goals. Sometimes, midweek, when the going gets tough, we shoot each other an email. Words of encouragement help a lot to staying on the wagon.
Want to send your performance off the chart? Tell your kids. My coach shared this one with me. She told her goals to her kids and asked them to quiz her. Every day when she picks them up from school, they quiz her how many minutes she exercised, how many phone calls she made job hunting and so forth. If you want excessive hounding, get the kids involved. They won't accept excuses like adults will. They relish the opportunity to help, too. Don't have a kid? Find one. They are the most ruthless and relentless coach you will ever have.
Pick a goal with which you are struggling. Come up with something that can be measured daily. Share that measurement with a friend, spouse or child. Request they ask you regularly about progress. Before you know it, you will be hurtling along toward accomplishing your target. Buckle your seat belt.
Graph image courtesy of clker.com
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