I love shiny objects. There has never been a business process, program or plan that I couldn’t see a way to improve, do differently or innovate. New ideas energize me… and drive many of the people who work with me crazy. Several years ago, my former boss and mentor, Don McQuaig, dropped a quote on my desk that said:
“More organizations die of indigestion than starvation.”
The quote comes from David Packard, who with Bill Hewlett, founded HP on $500 and a vision.
If you’re at all like me and get energized and excited about new ideas, the dangerous blindspot that dogs that strength is the danger that you’re putting yourself (and your team) on a path to burnout. When you get your “juice” from creating or innovating, you may end up biting off more than you can chew… and creating an environment where your team is doing the same.
What’s helped me has been to push myself to continually revisit my priorities and use outside sounding boards (team members, coaches, mentors) to challenge my assumption on what we “absolutely have to do”.
It’s amazing how much you can actually cull a to-do list when you’re given a rigid requirement to only focus on the top one / two / three things that will make the biggest impact. So, what are you going to stop doing today?
Happy leading!
