There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to do your best and demonstrate the following qualities on the way towards achieving your goals.
Discipline: This involves deciding on the strategy for achieving your goals and translating this into the disciplines you can follow to deliver the goods.
Dealing With Dramas: This involves following your chosen disciplines to deal with any dramas on the way towards delivering the goods.
Delivering The Goods: This involves continuing to follow the disciplines and doing your best to deliver the goods.
Imagine that you want to follow elements of this approach when doing a piece of work. This can involves focusing on the following themes.
Discipline
Great workers prepare properly. They often start by decision making and focusing on the disciplines they can follow to deliver the goods. Bearing in mind what they can control in the situation, they aim:
To clarify the goals they want to achieve;
To clarify the strategy they want to follow to achieve the goals;
To clarify how they can translate the strategy into action – such as disciplines they can follow – to do their best to achieve the goals.
They then rehearse the specific things they can do follow the disciplines: a) to do superb work; b) to build on successes; c) to deal with setbacks – such as dramas – on the way towards achieving the goals.
Such workers rehearse following their chosen disciplines plus how to manage any challenges along the way. They then aim to move into action, get some early successes and perform superb work.
Sometimes things go smoothly. They follow their routines, get results and keep building momentum. There may be times, however, when they encounter the following experience.
Dealing With Dramas
Great workers deal with dramas on the journey. They then aim: a) to recognise what is happening; b) to clarify how to manage the situation; c) to return to following their disciplines on the way towards the goals.
They do not get distracted by such issues or their own emotional ups or downs. They do not, when working in organisations, get caught up in turf wars or game playing. They do not get side-tracked by individuals who choose to be dramatic or have serial problems.
Such workers anticipate the potential dramas they may encounter on the journey. They then explore the follow themes.
How can I prevent these dramas happening? How can I deal with any dramas if, despite my best efforts, they do happen?
How can I buy time to think? How can I focus on the real results to achieve in the short-term and long-term? How can I do my best to find possible solutions to the dramas? How can I implement these solutions?
How can I return to following the required disciplines? How can I get a quick success? How can I continue doing good work on the way towards the destination?
Imagine that a person has taken these steps. They have taken the time: a) to manage the situation; b) to refocus on their goals; c) to return to following their chosen disciplines. This can lead to the next stage.
Delivering The Goods
Great workers do their best to deliver the goods. Sometime they can do this by following their chosen disciplines. Sometimes it can also involve doing something further.
They may then choose to be daring and aim to do something special. They may do this after following their disciplines but recognising that it requires something extra.
Such workers may then build on their strengths and produce a superb piece of work. They may also add that touch of class that enables them to reach their goals.
There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to decide on your strategy and follow your chosen disciplines. These provide the platform for dealing with dramas on the way towards delivering the goods.
Let’s return to your own work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you with, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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