Jan 2, 2009
My 2009 Goals and Resolutions
Each year on January 1, I enjoy a wonderful meal of “ragout,” a traditional French Canadian stew, with my family. Seated at the dinner table, we take turns sharing our goals and resolutions for the new year. Here’s what was presented last night:
- My 80-year-old mother-in-law kept hers short and to the point: “to not die.”
- My mother, tired at the age of 76 of shoveling her car in the winter, wants to find an apartment with indoor parking.
- My teenage daughter does not believe in goals or resolutions, so she chose to sit this out. (Her lack of goals seems odd to me considering she’s a disciplined and very driven high achiever, an honors student who views any mark under 85 as failure.)
- My youngest daughter wants to “land her axel” in figure skating.
- My wife wants to become a great squash player.
- My sister intends to get a better job.
- My sister’s boyfriend wants a vacation down south with my sister.
The great composer, Igor Stravinsky, once said that it’s important to end a piece of music sooner instead of later. You’re not looking to satisfy the audience; you want them to leave the hall wanting more. Each year, I break this important rule when sharing my goals.
Listing my goals and resolutions adds a brain-numbing, filibuster-like feel to the evening. Let me be clear: I have goals and resolutions. Lots of them. I keep them in lists. I then keep lists to keep track of my lists. Here are just a few of my 2009 goals and resolutions related to learning and work.
Make blogging a higher priority
For most of this year, I wrote a post once per week on this blog and a daily post on our group blog, Workplace Learning Today. In the last few months, my frequency posting to my personal analyst blog has dropped to once per month. Going forward, I intend to return to a weekly schedule.
Why? Blogging provides quiet time for reflection. In our more/faster/better world, it can be an oasis in a person’s weekly schedule. In addition, maintaining a blog is a great learning tool. Writing about a topic is, in my experience, a more effective way to learn than to simply read about a topic.
Continue finding ways to increase my productivity while reducing stress
I reread David Allen’s “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” this year. It’s a fabulous book. Putting his methodology into practice has never been completely successful for me. I’ve tried paper-based lists in notebooks, folder structures in MS Outlook, and lists in Google Docs. The problem has been a lack of one central repository for everything. In November of 2008, I discovered Nozbe, a fabulous online organizer that’s designed around David Allen’s methodology. For the last two months, I’ve used Nozbe daily for everything from listing my projects and next actions to using it to take notes in meetings, to using it to store important files. This is now the most valuable piece of software I use. I’d be lost without it. (BTW, that’s where I store my very long lists of goals and resolutions.)
Make deep dives into topics
The senior analysts here at Brandon Hall Research have annual goals. This year, I proposed a new addition to their goals. Under the section titled “Great team,” they are asked to identify a skill they’d like to develop. They will then be asked to deliver a one-hour presentation to the other analysts on what they’ve learned.
It’s ironic that, as CEO of a company that provides research about workplace learning, I have little time to spend learning at work. My days are filled with “doing,” and I rarely have a few hours to study something. From what I’ve read, this is a common complaint. Nassim Nicholas Taleb writes in the acknowledgments of his bestseller, “The Black Swan:”
“It is impossible to go very deep into an idea when you run a business, no matter the number of hours the occupation entails—simply put, unless you are insensitive, the worries and feelings of responsibility occupy precious cognitive space.”
I’m going to attempt to change this pattern in 2009. I’ll be blocking off time each week for work-related learning.
Out of fear that some of you are fidgeting and glancing at your wrist watches, I’ll end my list of goals and resolutions here for now. Please share yours.
Richard, I think this is an open and honest post. Your last comment about wanting to dive more deeply into a topic is one I’ve had sliding around my brain for a while. It’s like that last pile of stacked papers that you keep moving because you just can’t figure out how to address the pile without getting drawn into some C-priority vortex.
It’s hard to go deep if you can’t stay in one place (physically or mentally). I sometimes have the opposite problem; I stay too long in the one place.
Dave: Thanks for your comment. “Staying in one place” mentally is a good thing. That’s what “flow” is all about, eh?
Great post Richard. Your comments about productivity is something I can really relate to. I also was never completely successful with the GTD method for workflow. For me getting off track almost always involved either a major disruptive event (moving, family illness, etc.) or innovation. That balance – between innovation and productivity – is something I haven’t quite figured out how to manage.
Richard – great post. I share your enthusiasm about Nozbe, it is also my number one application at work, what with 40 to 50 active projects at any given time. I’ve written several posts on my blog about Nozbe at http://johnkendrickonline.com
Happy New Year! John
Janet: I agree about disruptive events. I’ve gotten off track with GTD when I’ve stopped reviewing my projects and next actions lists due to whatever reason. Since discovering Nozbe, I review my lists daily simply because I’m in the software all day long. So, I’m still on track after two months.
My intent with GTD right now isn’t to get more done. It’s to get what I need to do done in less time so that time is freed up for reflection, learning, and playful exploration.
John: Thanks for your comment. You have 40-50 active projects? That’s amazing. I currently have 10. I look forward to reading your posts.
Richard: Nozbe seems to be an interesting tool… will check it out. And Nassim Nicholas Taleb seems to have got it bang on with his observation… i too need to work on breaking this pattern.
Ravi: About Mr. Taleb’s comment, I’m increasingly convinced that everyone can benefit from having blocks of time to think or to explore completely new skills or interests. Business leaders are always speaking about the importance of innovation. It isn’t realistic to assume that innovation will come from working all day on routine tasks.
Richard,
As always I can count on you for stirring the machinations of my mind.
I’m with your mother-in-law on this, if only I make it through the year.
The standard resolution as an HIV infected individual is that I make it through the year. As someone who has survived for 29 years my hope only grows greater.
Your post makes me reflect on my individual pursuits, and the walls of resistance I encounter.
Aside from me continuing my life, I have resolved to be more active in my volunteerism.
Alas I come upon further impediments. I found a group whose mission was to engage Dr. Dogs with patients to improve their recovery. I thought that with my fantastic dog, Dr. Zack, this was a perfect fit. I have time and Zack is the sweetest thing this side of a Godiva shop.
However, upon further investigation, I was required to have a TB clearance. Oh God the next wall, and I can’t get over it at the moment.
Maybe in the future I will, but now I’m feeling a little exasperated. I have time and I have experience but I can’t fit in Can I?
I’ll keep looking, but I feel hard done by that my piece of the puzzle has been rejected. Too many outties of my belly button.
Ever forward.
Marc: Thank you for your very moving comments. The standard new year’s resolutions we hear, “to get in shape,” “to lose weight,” etc. seem pretty trivial when compared to those of people with life-threatening diseases.
We should really have only two resolutions: to each day be grateful to be alive and to contribute positively to the lives of others.
Richard,
As I said ever forward, while sitting at my desk facing north what do I see in the here and now.
I live in a tiny little part of Toronto called the Pocket by long term residents. While ruminating and looking I see the Seniors Residence, the Day Care, the high school, the Mosque and the church. All separate. I feel in North American culture everything is separate, We need to bring these institutions closer together. So perhaps my New Year plan will be to do so!! It seems hopeful even if the officials say no.
Homework club using their cumulative knowledge as retired professionals, retirees as sitters for the next generation. Infants as evidence as to the requirements of parenthood.
I feel I’m on to something here and I try to make a go of it!
Wish me luck and reports to come.
Marc: One of the best books I’ve read is called Reclaiming the Fire by a Dr. Steven Berglas. In it, he speaks about something called generativity. Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson defines the term as:
“Generativity … is primarily the concern for establishing and guiding the next generation.”
As we age, focusing on generativity produces satisfaction and a sense of meaning.
Your project will be enabling generativity in others. Fabulous.
A gay man advancing generativity in others. What a concept! The human genome has quite a memory.
What about the others? Your blogger friends? Is this a path of pursuance? Because if I like what you say, I’m sure to like what they say!!
Marc: About my blogger friends, here are some you may enjoy:
http://www.brandon-hall.com/janetclarey/
http://www.brandon-hall.com/tomwerner/
http://www.brandon-hall.com/garywoodill/
http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/
Richard,
There are three types of workers: tactical, managerial, and strategic. As CEO, the majority of your work should be strategic, not tactical or managerial. I suggest your read Michael Gerber’s book, E-Myth Revisted, and Sam Carpenter’s book, Work the System. Both will give you ideas on how you can systemize your business so it can become a systems-dependent not an owner-dependent business.
Best regards,
Calvin
Calvin,
Thank you very much for your comment.
I agree completely that the role of CEO should be primarily strategic. I also agree with your analysis that businesses should be systems-dependent. (I’ve read the E-Myth and 4-Hour Work Week.)
We’ve made big changes at Brandon Hall Research this year. For one, we’ve changed our business model to one that focuses on membership. Internally, 2010 will feature a greater focus on having experts responsible for work in different business functions. In the past, we’ve all worn many hats and have been responsible for very different tasks. Going forward, people will only wear the hat that fits them best.