An Intro

I post ideas here about maximizing potential. The links within lead to clarifying definitions and/or sources that inspired the posts, so you can dig deeper into anything that attracts your attention.  The title comes from two things, 1) My incentive for posting is to widen the pipe that connects all of us to our highest potential possible, 2) A memorable URL that was available. If you're a maximizer too, I welcome your comments. 

Six Questions to Help You Achieve Your Mission

1. What are your top 1 - 3 goals?

Think about today, this week, this month, this quarter—in that order. Make sure today's goals support this week's, this week's support this month's, and so on until you reach the mission. If not, your ducks aren't in order. Seek guidance on adjusting them. Make sure all goals serve each other and the mission.

2. What are the biggest obstacles in the way of reaching those goals?

Inevitably, goals have roadblocks. Highlight them. Call them out. Pick them apart. Be ruthless. Your strengths should be what you use as much as possible in your work, but you'll need the strengths of others to round you out and bust through the roadblocks.

3. What resources/people are available to help overcome the obstacles? 

Who is available to help? There may be people in your periphery you're not considering, or someone who is looking for a challenge. Perhaps you can build a business case for a new position that would allow the rest of the team more time to focus on their strengths. Who are you underestimating that's looking for chance? Who has connections to others that are likely to pan out. Widen your focus if you have to.

4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each person on that list?

In order to manage effectively, you have to know the strengths and weaknesses of everyone helping you. If you don't, your team isn't performing to its highest potential. One way I keep track is a Core Strengths Document.

5. What is the most effective strategy to achieve your top goals?

You know your goals, your roadblocks, your team, their strengths and weaknesses. Together with your team, plan your work.

6. Does each of your team members know the answers to questions 1 - 5?

It's easy to assume that everyone knows your mission and how daily tasks relate to it. Don't. Make sure everyone knows the answers to 1 - 5. Better yet, make sure they are involved in answering at least some of them. The whole team has to own the whole mission, so you're working separately to achieve common goals. Once everyone can answer 1 - 5, work your plan.

How to Make and Use a Team Strengths Document

Managing a team that takes care of a wide variety of work, and inspired by research that argues a person's best work is achieved in their areas of strength and interest, I created a Team Strengths Document, which helps everyone understand our highest areas of potential and weakness, both as individuals and as a team.

Team Strengths Doc

The first column is a list of various aspects of the work - some specific, some over-arching. The first row is each team member's name with two rating columns under each name. In the first column under each name, the team member rates his/her interest in each area of work on a scale of 1-10. In the second, the team member rates his/her own performance in that area. In the last two columns, the whole team's ratings are averaged for each area. Ratings are color coated by rules to make the data more digestible.

For individuals, the greatest areas of growth opportunity are those with the highest scores in both the interest and performance columns. After that, look for high interest ratings that are next to low performance ratings. Most of the time, the person hasn't had the chance to learn and practice that kind of work to reach their potential. Together, the team can help each other with training, shadowing & experience to shore up those numbers.

For the team, the averages can show areas where you might be able to expand, others where you can seek group training, and others where you may need to focus your recruitment efforts. It's also been a great reference for discussions among the team and one on one.

To use the template, make sure you have a Google account and copy the sheet to one of your own Google spreadsheets, so you can edit and share it with your team.

The Pipe - This Isn't Just About Business

"It's called the zone, or Nirvana. You, know? You just get into it, and it's like you're not playing the instrument. You're the instrument and the universe is playing you. It's some kung fu stuff. I don't know. You're just in there, and you don't feel it. You're just flowing, and nothing can stop you."

--Qbert, from the documentary Scratch

It's been said many ways by many people, and Qbert nails it as much as anyone I've heard. I'm in the process of gathering everything I'm learning here about how to extend that "zone," to increase that "flow" - how to widen the pipe that connects us to that thing that's bigger than us, no matter what we're doing.

Turns out, the work required to connect to the "flow" doesn't provide the same transcendence of self as being in it. It ain't magic. It takes deliberate practice. Translation: hard work.

"Day in, day out. When I go to work, he's getting ready. When I get back from work, he's still practicing. When I go to sleep, still practicing - until I say, 'It's enough, or else I'll break the needles."
--Steve Dee's Mom, from the documentary Scratch

So, whether it's cooking, shooting baskets, painting, public speaking or introducing a new process to a work team, you're not going to be all that great at it right away. That's why it's so important to choose work that draws you in naturally - that attracts your attention and keeps it. You have to be willing to give your work a lot of sweat before it starts giving back to you beyond your paycheck - before it becomes meaningful.

Connecting to the flow is going to be a slog. Widening the pipe? More slog. So, find the stuff you like most about whatever you're doing, and keep working slowly and deliberately on it. Can't find anything you love about it? Time to sit down with your inner seeker and look for something else at which to excel.

Apart from loving the music, I love the movie Scratch because it threads a needle through discovering something brand new, to becoming the best in the world at it, to evolving the medium itself to higher impact. I'll close with a quote from Jazzy Jay that speaks to the passion it takes to do that.

"This wasn't just something we did for the money. We believed in this. I mean, when I left, I could play for 6, 7 hours outside. And, when I would come home, I'd set up my turntables and play for another 6, 7 hours. You know what I'm saying? It was something I had to do."
--Jazzy Jay, from the documentary Scratch

Build on Strengths

At work, do you have an opportunity to do what you do best everyday? 

Anything current written about maximizing that's worth your time should mention Marcus Buckingham (left above). His 1999 book, First, Break All the Rules, still holds water today. Synopsis... Another synopsis. Half a dozen books and dozens of youtube videos that followed have established Marcus as the world's expert on leveraging strengths as the number one method for maximizing on... well, on anything.

According to Marcus' research, the core elements needed to attract, focus and keep the most talented employees on a team can be measured by responses to these 12 statements:

1. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
2. I know what is expected of me at work.
3. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work.
4. I have received recognition or praise for doing good work in the last seven days.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, cares about me as a person.
6. Someone at work encourages my development.
7. My opinions seem to count at work.
8. The mission of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My co-workers are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. Someone has talked to me about my progress at work in the last six months.
12. I've had opportunities to learn and grow at work in the last year.

An experiment:

1. Managers, rate each statement from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 5 (Strongly Disagree) as you think your team(s) would on average. 
2. Using Google Forms, ask each of your team members to rate them individually - anonymously if you must.
3. Average the team's ratings in the last row of your spreadsheet.
4. How did you do?

Discuss...