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I've lost track of the times I've been told in
someone's positive or naive thinking mode, "No
problem," only to have the no problem become one. At
the time they said it, there might not have been a
problem, but they didn't factor in workplace
potholes, speed bumps, detours or traffic stops.
Like a high-wire acrobat in a Cirque du Soleil
performance, winning at working necessitates the use
of safety nets with your work, too.
If
you're on a project team or dependent on
information, research, systems development, creative
materials or work from anyone, their ability to
deliver what you need, on time, can pose challenges
impacting your results and credibility. So can
direction changes, budget cuts, project
enhancements, staff or boss changes, timetable
adjustments and a host of others.
People who aren't winning at working often believe
reasons outside of their control mitigate their less
than optimal performance results. But they're wrong.
Come annual increase time, your boss won't remember
the problems you had. She'll remember if you
delivered what was expected or you didn't.
People who are winning at working understand the
importance of delivering results. They also
understand that in order to consistently do that,
they need safety nets to protect them from a fall,
enabling them, and their teams, to build performance
trust. There are many ways to weave your performance
safety nets. Here are four favorites of mine.
One, work in parallel tracks. People typically work
in a linear fashion, so changing your approach
allows you to work through theirs. I'm currently
using four parallel tracks for my new book, Hitting
Your Stride (Capital Books, January 2008). These
include: building an audience (platform); writing
the book; developing marketing approaches; and
learning the book business. So, when waiting on
issues outside of my control in one area, I move
ahead on another track.
Two, help them, help you. Information crucial for
you to move forward may be low on someone else's
priority list. So help them help you. Write the
copy, then get their okay. Develop the spec, straw
person or outline and have them sign off. Complete
the funding documents and shepherd them through the
approval process. Write the proposal and give it to
them or their staff for review. Bottom-line? Figure
out a way to help them help you.
Three, use pre-established lifelines. Work lifelines
are comprised of people you know that you can tap in
case of a crisis. Maybe they're friends or family or
colleagues, but by nature of your relationship, you
know they will do most anything for you, and you for
them. My husband is one of my lifelines, known to
show up as an extra pair of hands, solve a technical
crisis at 3:00 a.m. or jump into problem solving as
options fail.
Four, have a specific plan B. The operative word is
specific. Most people think about a Plan B when plan
A unravels. But the time to think about B is when
planning A. Working the details of your preferred
plan alerts you to elements at risk, so figure out
if x does happen, precisely what you'll do. We did
that during the 2006 blizzard that closed Denver's
airport. Wanting to see our two-week old
granddaughter at Christmas, Plan B included packing
our car for a 1,000 mile trip before we went to the
airport, in case the flight was canceled.
"No
problem" problems will emerge. So, people who are
winning at working expect the unexpected and plan
for the unplanned to insure their performance
success. They understand, as Napoleon Hill put it,
"The majority of men meet with failure because of
their lack of persistence in creating new plans to
take the place of those which fail."
(c)
2007 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.
Sign up to receive Nan's free eColumn, Winning
at Working, at
www.winningatworking.com.
Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in
management, most recently with QVC as a Vice
President. Currently working on her first book, Nan
is a writer, columnist, small business owner, and
instructor.
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