Everybody to the Limit

Scoble hits the pause button: It's becoming clear in my life that I can't do it all.

Amen! This is a huge focus for our organization, so much so that our current series is on bridging the gap between our priorities and our commitments (you can watch or listen online here). In fact, we built a cool .NET web app to track your time and priorities, called Retrospective. The reality of where we spend our time can be somewhat startling.

Here are the three principles we emphasize as a staff:

Say No to the Good and Yes to the Great

We come across hundreds of good ideas every month - new programs or ministries, new web features or marketing ideas. In order to utilize our time and resources effectively, however, we must say no to many of these in order to say yes to those few, great things that truly line-up with our purpose and will have the broadest possible impact. And because of our intense focus on those few things, we can do them with excellence.

What are You Subtracting?

This follows directly from the first principle. Don't tell me what you're adding, tell me what you're subtracting. As your team or organization grows, you must constantly re-evaluate what you're doing to see if it is still effective and still in-line with your purpose. If it isn't, you need to drop it and move on.

Over the past year, we've subtracted four significant pieces from our main website that were not central to the purpose of the church. Now we can spend more time and resources on the great, instead of the good.

Only Do What Only You Can Do

Every person brings unique talents and passions to their work. Once those talents become clear, systematically work to strip away as much as possible so you can focus all of your creative energy on what only you can do. Develop your strengths, not your weaknesses. You will thrive and so will your organization.

Read Jim Collins and Andy Stanley for more.

Comments

[Chad Baker]

Your comment on "What are you subtracting" is a great reminder to any business. Maintaining programs or processes that no longer support the current goals of the organization need to be replaced or removed. I imagine the concept works in all aspects of life...

[Winnetta]

Your post really hit home with me. It seems like there is never enough time in the day and by the end of the week, I am wondering what I have accomplished. I have been following the current series and realize I do need to do some "subtracting".

[Brian Bailey]

All of our instincts are to keep doing what we're doing. Momentum (or intertia) is a powerful thing.

But saying no is equally powerful, and freeing. Letting go of things that aren't working or have become a burden is a great relief. Inevitably we are happier AND more productive, personally AND professionally.