Goal Setting For Efficiency

On why submitting something is better than nothing! Every so often, a student shows up in my office, and I ask "What do you have for me?" They look embarrassed or defiant, and admit they have nothing. This is a mistake. Like most advisors, I know that I am not going to receive perfect work in the early stages of a project, but I do want to know that you are progressing. You need to send me something, even if it is a simple summary of what you've been working on. Why? Because submitting "something" ... (1) Demonstrates effort and commitment: Advisors often value effort and steady improvement over immediate perfection. Example: Turning in a draft full of red ink corrections shows you’re actively learning rather than hiding behind fear of critique. (3) Facilitates feedback and guidance: Early drafts give your advisor an opportunity to shape your thinking before you've become too attached to your ideas. Example: Submitting a rough outline invites helpful advice, versus submitting a "perfect" paper too late to receive meaningful feedback. (4) Builds momentum and confidence. Consistent progress creates a sense of achievement, keeping your morale and motivation high. Example: Receiving praise like, "This is better than last time," feels motivating, whereas waiting until it's "perfect" can lead to burnout. (5) Allows for collaboration: Advisors prefer seeing work-in-progress, bc they ant to collaborate, identify and fix issues, before too much time is wasted. Example: Your advisor is more willing to brainstorm solutions if you show where you're struggling early on. (6) Prevents procrastination and stress: Striving for perfection often delays submission and increases anxiety on the part of the student, esp. that anxiety about an advisor expressing disappointment. Example: Showing incremental progress avoids the panic of last-minute perfectionism at 3 AM. As advisors, we know that you will never submit a perfect first draft - in fact, if you did, maybe you should be the advisor - but what we hope to see is steady progress, that is real, measurable, and leads to a stronger paper - and a healthier student-advisor relationship! Which makes for a happier academic life! #academicjourney #academiclife #submitsubmitsubmit

Mastering the Art of Zooming In & Out: A Leadership Superpower 🔍🚀 In today’s fast-paced world, leaders often find themselves juggling between immediate challenges and long-term goals. The key to success is the ability to zoom out for a strategic vision while also zooming in for impactful execution.  🔎 Zooming Out – Think beyond today. What will your industry look like in 10-20 years? What innovative shifts could redefine your space? Having a clear, future-focused roadmap keeps your team aligned and motivated.  🔎 Zooming In – Focus on the next 6-12 months. Identify high-impact projects that will push you closer to your vision. Prioritize, track progress, and optimize resources for maximum efficiency.  So, how do great leaders bring this balance to life?  ✨ Set a Bold Vision – Define a compelling future that excites and unites your team.  ✨ Identify Key Priorities – Choose 2-3 projects that drive significant impact and align with long-term goals.  ✨ Establish Clear Milestones – Break down the journey into measurable steps to track progress and adapt when needed.  ✨ Foster a Culture of Agility – Encourage flexibility so your team can pivot without losing momentum.  The best leaders think long-term but act short-term. They make strategic decisions while ensuring every step contributes to the bigger picture.  #Leadership #Strategy #Vision #Execution #GrowthMindset

Should you keep it simple and stick to one method of goal-setting...or is there benefit in adopting a hybrid approach? The answer can be determined by building your knowledge of goal setting methodologies and assessing your organizational size, maturity, complexity and change management capability. Many start ups and small businesses use simplified goal setting methods due to their size and limited resources. They might set SMART goals based on revenue, quality, customer acquisition, or product development, focusing on clear and attainable objectives. However, this approach doesn't always work when businesses get bigger! Larger, complex and diverse organizations generally use multiple goal setting methods to allow for a more nuanced and holistic approach to goal management. Some companies might set SMART goals for specific product development projects, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for strategic initiatives, and Balanced Scorecards for measuring overall performance, giving them a versatile approach. Others might use might use SMART goals for individual performance evaluations, Hoshin Kanri for strategic planning ( info on this approach in comments) and KPIs for tracking various operational metrics across different business units. Choosing the best methodologies for your organization requires involving employees, managers and other stakeholders in the decision-making process. You could also consider running a pilot program or trial period with different methodologies to assess their effectiveness in your specific organizational context. Remember...effective goal setting provides a clear roadmap for success, aligns efforts, motivates individuals and teams, and enables efficient monitoring and adaptation. The right methodology can drive performance and achievement. #goalsetting #goals #strategicplanning #strategicthinking #goalsettingtips Image source: SugarOKR.com

SMART goals are dumb. Definitely outdated. They were literally coined in 1981 by John T. Doran in the Management Review. That's 43 years old. Oh and psst - your team hates setting them. Why? Because the acronym is fundamentally flawed: Specific: Limits creativity and hampers your ability to adapt when new information emerges. 🤔 Measurable: Sure, you know when you've achieved it, but does it drive meaningful, impactful outcomes? 📉 Attainable: Keeps you comfortably within your comfort zone—hardly a place for growth. 🛋️ Realistic: Another word for attainable. It encourages small thinking and boxes you in. 🚫 Time-bound: While deadlines are important, meaningful goals need built-in milestones that keep motivation high and the dopamine flowing. 🎯 In short, SMART goals keep us stuck in mediocrity, lacking purpose and innovation. So, what’s the alternative? Enter the PIC Framework: Purpose-Driven: Every goal should connect to a deeper mission or value. This alignment not only motivates but also gives each goal a clear "why." 🎯 Impactful: Goals should aim for outcomes that matter—shifting the focus from what's easily measurable to what's truly transformative. 🌍 Challenging: If your goals don’t make you a little uncomfortable, you’re not aiming high enough. Embrace the discomfort as a sign of growth and ambition.💪 Want to innovate your goal setting? Here's how you can bring PIC to your organization: Start with Purpose ➡ Align goals with the organization's mission. 🌟 Define Impact ➡ Focus on meaningful outcomes that drive the business forward over easy measurements (especially, for the sake of a great dashboard). 📊 Set Challenging Objectives ➡ Encourage ambition and innovation - yep, even if it scares you. 🚀 Embed Milestones ➡ Keep motivation high with regular wins - not just a potential bonus at the end of the year. 🏆 Foster Reflection ➡ Regularly review and adapt goals as needed. 🔄 (In other words, setting a goal in January and refusing to change it because you set it, even though you have new information, is well...ridiculous.) By moving from SMART to PIC, you create a culture of purpose, impact, and challenge. And who knows - maybe people will finally start to buy-in to the goal setting process and actually like it! 🌟 #Leadership #Innovation #GoalSetting #BusinessGrowth #PurposeDriven

Forget Hustle Culture, Embrace Harmony: How the Wheel of Life Revolutionizes Your Well-Being The relentless grind. The glorification of burning the midnight oil. Hustle culture might be splashed across headlines, but it shouldn't come at the expense of your well-being.  In today's whirlwind world, achieving a life filled with balance and self-care can feel like a distant dream. But what if there was a simple tool to help you prioritize both and craft a life that's not just successful, but deeply fulfilling? Enter the Wheel of Life. This powerful tool, developed in the 1960s by Paul J. Meyer, a pioneer in life coaching, offers a visual snapshot of various life domains – career, health, relationships, personal growth, and more. By assessing each area and assigning a rating based on satisfaction and fulfillment, we gain insight into where we may be thriving and where there's room for improvement. The circle, resembling the spokes of a wheel, organizes the most important aspects of your life, such as: ✅Family ✅Health ✅Wellbeing ✅Career ✅Finances & more But how exactly does the Wheel of Life empower you to prioritize balance and self-care? Buckle up, because we're about to delve deeper: 1. Holistic Assessment: We often compartmentalize our lives. The Wheel of Life encourages a holistic view, recognizing well-being is multifaceted. 2. Priority Setting: Struggling to carve out "me" time? The Wheel of Life helps pinpoint areas where balance and self-care are most crucial. Maybe it's setting stricter work boundaries, prioritizing exercise, or nurturing relationships. This tool clarifies your priorities. 3. Goal Setting: Once you've identified areas for improvement, the Wheel of Life empowers you to set actionable goals. This could be establishing work-life boundaries, committing to a fitness routine, or scheduling quality time with loved ones. Clear goals propel you towards greater balance. 4. Tracking Progress: The Wheel of Life isn't a one-time fix. Regularly revisit the exercise to track progress. Celebrate achievements and adjust strategies as needed to maintain balance and self-care. 5. Accountability: Sharing your Wheel of Life with trusted connections – friends, mentors, or coaches – fosters accountability and support. Open dialogue and feedback keep you motivated on your well-being journey. The Wheel of Life is a game-changer for prioritizing balance and self-care.  It helps you cultivate a life that's not just successful on paper, but deeply fulfilling and sustainable. Let's ditch the burnout and embrace well-being! How do YOU prioritize balance and self-care? Share your tips and favorite tools in the comments!

Every week for the past five years, I’ve calculated a single number that determines whether I’ve been productive. It isn’t a revenue or product-related stat. It’s the percentage of my time spent on tasks I actually PLANNED to do. Giving yourself a weekly success score doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s been an insane productivity hack for me because it gives visibility into my work AND gives me something to improve upon. This concept came from Intercom co-founder Des Traynor, who created the perfect Venn diagram of productivity: find the overlap between your email, your to-do list, and your calendar so you can stop letting everyone else control your time. The solution is to track how much of your time aligns with your intentions, AKA your alignment score. Here’s what to do, using this doc that lets you sync your email, calendar, and to-do list: https://lnkd.in/gHyBvgKv 1. Work through your emails and identify which ones have actions. 2. Turn the emails into entries on your to-do list. 3. Slot each entry into a specific time block on your calendar (the template will do it for you). 4. Now, your to-do list has two new columns: when you’re supposed to work on a task and where it came from. At the end of the week, you get a chart that shows what percentage of your time is spent on your planned to-dos vs. reactive work. The system triages emails into different buckets, ensures the important ones make it to your to-do list, merges them with what you already planned to accomplish, then helps you allocate time for each task. Try calculating your score for a month and see what changes! And don’t feel bad if you’re not at 100%—for me, any week that crosses 50% is a good week. 🙂 Are there any productivity hacks you swear by?

𝗣𝗗𝗖𝗔 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 "𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘋𝘊𝘈,"our new boss highlighted as we worked to introduce process and quality standards in a new global sourcing organisation. With his background in engineering and quality management, he pointed out a crucial factor that often is under-appreciated in Procurement: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, it’s just as vital for optimising Procurement processes, strengthening supplier relationships, and realising cost efficiencies and foremost is a cultural shift. The famous Kaizen, builds the 𝗪𝗛𝗬 behind continuous improvement, emphasising the mindset of "𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿." But practical methodologies like PDCA turn this spirit into the 𝗛𝗢𝗪, a structured approach for meaningful, incremental change. Here's how PDCA gets applied in a real-time example: 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡: A bottleneck in the approval process is causing delays in submitting purchase orders. The goal is to reduce the approval time from 5 days to 2 days. Based on data & category patterns analysed a solution is identified. 𝗗𝗢: A small pilot is run with reduced approval steps for low-risk, low-value orders for certain categories. 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗞: After six weeks, they measure the results. The approval time has improved considerably but still is slightly above the target at 2.5 days. 𝗔𝗖𝗧: Since the pilot was successful, the approach is scaled across categories with the team continuing to fine tune the process with PDCA to hit the target. But PDCA is not only about processes, it is about improving also: ▪️𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 through regular target setting and KPI reviews ▪️𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 planning and proving realisation of saving strategies ▪️𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 and the review of pilots to scale upon success ▪️𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 and shared responsibility by involving everyone needed 𝗣𝗗𝗖𝗔 isn't a complex framework or the only tool in the toolbox of continuous improvement and problem-solving. But it’s a simple, effective way to turn continuous improvement into a daily practice for everyone in the team. Looking back at numerous improvement projects, it enhanced our approach to streamline procurement practices in a systematic way and helped to embed a culture of continuous improvement. ❓Do you use PDCA. ❓Where is it applied in your organisation. 👇Let’s discuss in the comments. #continuousimprovement #kaizen #pdca #procurementexcellence #qualitymanagement

Only 8% of people achieve their goals. Here's why (and how to join them): I've seen it happen too many times: → Everyone's excited at the kickoff → Progress starts strong → Then... silence → Finally, the quiet death of another big goal But it doesn't have to be this way. 4 frameworks that can help you reach your goals: 1. Locke & Latham's 5 Principles ↳ Think of it as your goal-setting compass: • Clear goals (no fuzzy targets) • Challenging but possible (stretch yourself) • Get buy-in (motivation matters) • Regular check-ins (stay on track) • Break it down (make it manageable) 2. Simon Sinek's Golden Circle ↳ Start with WHY (your purpose) ↳ Then figure out HOW (your process) ↳ Finally define WHAT (your metrics) 3. B.S.Q. Method ↳ Big goals (your north star) ↳ Small steps (your daily actions) ↳ Quick wins (your momentum builders) 4. MASTER Framework ↳ Measurable (track your progress) ↳ Achievable (keep it realistic) ↳ Specific (crystal clear targets) ↳ Time-bound (set deadlines) ↳ Evaluated (regular reviews) ↳ Rewarded (celebrate wins) You can even mix and match based on your needs: ✅ Purpose Path for inspiration ✅ Step-Up for big projects ✅ Clarity Method for personal growth ✅ Action Framework for detail And remember: It's not about perfect frameworks. It's about consistent action. The best goal-setting system is the one you'll use. Pick one approach. Start small. Keep going. And join the 8%. What helps you stick to your goals? ♻️Find this helpful? Repost for your network. Follow Amy Gibson for practical leadership tips.

Time is a limited resource So why do we treat it as though it was unlimited? Time is the most valuable resource we possess. Like capital in your business time is finite. You only have a set amount of it each day, and once it’s spent, you can’t get it back. Just as a business must carefully budget its financial resources to remain profitable, you must budget your time wisely to maximize productivity, personal growth, and well-being. If you had raised money to move the business forward, you wouldn’t waste it. Instead, you’d stick to the plan, prioritize, and allocate it toward things that truly matter. The same principle applies to time, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: effective time management is essential for success, happiness, and achieving long-term goals. Here are my eight thoughts on how you can better manage your time. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: none of these are new, and all are hard to achieve but I believe if you are not managing your time then you risk increased stress, failure to deliver and missed opportunity. 1. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧  We read about prioritisation every day, we trial apps and techniques to get better at this so why is it so difficult? I believe the challenge is that we still try to do too much and spend too much time trying to be perfect. So for example I will write one article today (this one) and I have 20 minutes to get it published. And if I missed a tpyo, that's ok, I can fix that later. 2. 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 I switch off the phone, and alerts and focus solely on one task at a time. Complete this action then pick up the next one. I've found that multitasking decreases my ability to make progress and hugely increases stress levels. 3. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐍𝐨 A tough one for me, but hopefully I'm getting better. 4. 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 If there is a subject to discuss schedule the meeting, focus on this point and when a conclusion is reached, thank everyone for their time and end the call. 5. 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 I am good at only a couple of things so I outsource as much as I can. It requires trust, things will go wrong, especially early on but if you persevere it is a game changer. My outsourcing partners are awesome! 6. 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 Do not work on a task without a deadline set by you. This is a time-killer especially when working on things we love doing. 7. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 Turn those repetitive tasks, into habits so you get them done almost without thinking. Like brushing our teeth they stop being tasks and become part of life. 8. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 Allocate time to play, to discover new ways to do things, to educate yourself, to learn from others. Time is a non-renewable resource, and once it’s gone, it's gone. By treating time like capital and carefully budgeting how we spend it, we can maximise our ROI. Your time is valuable, treat it that way!