Time to think it through

How much of your time at work is spent thinking? Not the thinking you do in meetings, or when you’re working through your ‘to do’ list. Just time out, on your own, learning, unlearning, browsing ideas, deliberating, speculating, calculating, all in search of what could possibly go right (as opposed to spinning the wheels of worry inside your head about what could possibly go wrong). If it’s above 10%, then no need to read on, and see you next week.

What’s the issue?

1. It’s easy to attend meetings and work on your to do list, because the outputs are tangible, and both are as demanding of your attention as a social media video clip of puppies. But part of your job as a leader is to think about doing things differently and better, which is an act of creativity, and creativity needs time out.
2. Creativity – brainstorming for example - is most certainly a team sport, but teams run the risk of group think, and they can prematurely marshal your thoughts before you’ve had a chance to get adventurous.
3. Thinking isn’t a good look. If people come into your office and you’re staring out of the window, they might think a) you’ve taken the recent lunch ‘n’ learn session on mindfulness a step too far, or b) the pressure’s finally taken its toll.
4. High performance is about achieving results, which ultimately is all about doing stuff. But whilst thinking about stuff is a pre-requisite to and facilitator of doing stuff, thinking and doing are often perceived as opposites.

Activities to consider

1. Consider the possibility that your mind might be capable of creating ideas beyond anything you’ve imagined so far. There’s really only one way to find out, and that’s to crowbar some space into your schedule.
2. Yes, creativity is a team sport, but it also benefits from some alone time so that you can give your thoughts the freedom to explore unlikely avenues without having to consider how it will be received and without having to justify it.
3. Leadership is about getting work done through others. So if you do some leading by giving work away, that will enable you to do some more leading by thinking about change.
4. Remember that productivity happens one of two ways a) efficiency, which is doing the same thing better, and b) effectiveness, which is doing it differently. ‘Differently’ opens up a world of possibilities, limited only by the amount of time you are prepared to think about it.
5. Regular readers will know by now that at HPC we define adaptability by 3 key skills, the first of which is Curiosity; the curiosity to hunt for opportunities to be seized and threats to be managed. None of that is likely to happen sitting in a meeting or head-down-bum-up, earthworming your way through your to do list.

Try this

Block out half a day a week in your diary for thinking time. That might sound like a lot, but it’s 2 x 2 hour sessions. If that’s too much, start with one session and see how you go.

At HPC, we developed Adaptability Based Leadership with the express purpose of raising productivity through more engaged, better led staff. If that approach resonates, contact me and let’s get you started on the next phase of your journey towards mastering leadership.