There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to do your best at the start, middle and end. Taking these steps can increase the chances of achieving success.
This is an approach that can be applied in your personal and professional life. It can be the key to building positive relationships, doing positive work and getting positive results.
Different people follow this approach in different ways in different situations. Let’s explore how they may follow these themes.
The Start
The way that people start things can set the tone. They may be starting a conversation, building a relationship, playing a sport, communicating a message, performing a piece of work or doing another activity.
Some people take this approach to starting a conversation. The paradox is that they may prepare for it by clarifying the destination – the results to achieve. They then plan how to do their best to achieve these aims.
They may create an encouraging environment and make a person feel welcome. Depending on the context, they may then simply have a conversation or, if appropriate, agree on the goals for the conversation.
Such a person may recognise that the words they say and the way they behave can set the tone for the conversation. This can apply when meeting somebody for the first time. They recognise the power of the old saying that:
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
They may also aim to set a positive tone when talking with their partner or meeting with a colleague. They recognise that the first few minutes can create a platform for a having good conversation.
Some people aim to start properly when doing a piece of work. Before embarking on doing a project, for example, they do their due diligence. Bearing in mind what they can control in the situation, they take some of the following steps.
They clarify the picture of success
They start by clarifying the real results to achieve and translate this into a clear picture of success. They also clarify the benefits of achieving the goal.
Bearing this in mind, they rate their motivation – on a scale 0-10 – to work towards achieving the goal. They make sure that it is at least 7+/10.
Imagine that a person has taken this step. They then move on to the next stage.
They clarify the chances of success
Bearing in mind what they can control in the situation, they rate the chances of being able to achieve the goals. They again do this on a scale 0-10.
Such workers are looking for at least a 7+/10 rating. Depending on the score they give it, they clarify the specific things they can do to maintain or improve the rating.
Imagine that a person has taken this step. They then move on to the next stage.
They clarify how to do
their best to achieve success
Great workers prepare properly and set things up to succeed. They clarify the key strategies they can follow to give themselves the greatest chance of success. They then take the followings steps.
They rehearse following these strategies on the way towards achieving their goals;
They rehearse managing any challenges they may meet along the way towards achieving their goals;
They again rehearse following their chosen strategies towards achieving their goals.
Imagine that a person has focused on these themes. They then move on to the next stage.
They aim to take control, move into
action and get some early successes
Great workers focus on control, clarity and concrete results. When moving into action they aim to, as far as possible, take control in the situation. Depending on their work, different people will do this in different ways.
A leader may shape a meeting by sending the goals and agenda for the session to the participants ahead of time.
A sales person may aim to front load their work by getting as many orders as possible at the start of year.
A football team may aim to take control of a match by winning the ball and imposing their style on the opponents.
Such people aim to get some early successes. These help to encourage people, develop confidence and build momentum. Getting the start right can provide the platform for moving on the next step.
The Middle
Great workers go beyond motivating themselves when beginning and finishing an activity. They also maintain high standards during the middle part of doing the work.
Different people motivate themselves in different ways at this point. Some do it by refocusing on the benefits of achieving the picture of success.
Great teams refocus on their purpose. Many teams returned to this approach during the Covid pandemic. One person described this in the following way.
“Our medical team found it tough during Covid. We were working long hours under arduous conditions but we all pulled together.
“We kept revisiting our purpose. This is to care for people and help them to be healthy. We reenergised ourselves by focusing on this calling and aimed to live it every day.”
One leader followed elements of this approach when preparing for a workshop with their leadership team. People had been working hard and had sometimes lost sight of their real goals.
The workshop gave them the opportunity to recentre and refresh themselves. Bearing this in mind, the leader sent the following message to people before the session.
Looking Forward To The Workshop
As you know, we are having a workshop next week. Looking ahead, I have set myself some goals for the day.
My goals are that at the end of the day, people are saying:
“We have revisited our mission and had a chance to add our ideas to the picture of success.
“We have refocused on the strategies want to follow to translate the mission into action in our daily work.
“We are again feeling a sense of mission and want to spread the word to our people and the world.”
During the day I will be asking you to each contribute the ideas that you have: a) to build on the mission; b) to translate it into action; c) to maintain our health in the process.
At the end of the session I will be asking for mission holders who want to implement the various parts of the strategies. I will then give them the support they need to deliver the goods.
Let me know if there any other items – such as themes or challenges – you would like to add to the agenda. I look forward to seeing you on the workshop.
Great workers continue to motivate themselves and others during the middle stage. One approach is for them: a) to recall what they have achieved so far; b) to remind themselves of the benefits of achieving the goals.
Such workers also keep reading reality. They can find it helpful: a) to build on what is working; c) to improve in the other areas. They then focus on the final part of working towards toward achieving the picture of success.
The End
Great workers are often good finishers in the areas where they excel. Such people embody some elements of what Daniel Kahneman called Peak-End Theory.
The theory says that, when looking back, people do not necessarily recall their feelings throughout an experience. Instead, they remember the way they felt at:
The peak times – the intense times – and the end of the experience.
The peak times may be pleasant or unpleasant. These are the memories that stay with us, as does the way we felt at the end of the experience.
An additional view is that people also remember how they felt at that start of an experience. For example, whether the start was welcoming, enjoyable or difficult.
This approach can be applied to how we remember certain experiences. These may include some of the following.
A relationship … A job you did at some point in our career … A sporting event, musical performance or other experience.
Many singers and other entertainers follow the Peak-End approach. The old rules apply: Start Big – Give Lots Of Highs – End Big.
Great workers may follow similar principles. They start well, maintain high standards and finish strongly. They aim to do this each day on the journey towards achieving their picture of success.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to do your best at the start, middle and end stages? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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